A Luxury Gorillas and African safari Itinerary to Uganda and Kenya that Includes a stay at the Iconic Giraffe Manor & Solio Lodge ( Perfect For Honeymooners & Families)
Experience two bucket list wildlife destinations with this customizable intimate & romantic luxury Kenya safari and Uganda Gorillas Vacation package perfect for honeymooners, Couples & families to Masai Mara Game reserve and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This gorillas and African Safari Itinerary offers a unique blend of adventure and romance amidst the rain forests and savannah plains as couples or families share extraordinary wildlife encounters like gorillas, Chimps & Rhino trekking followed by luxurious accommodations, candlelit dinners and activities like diverse wildlife safari game drives, cultural tours, nature walks and giraffe feeding among others.
Our Kenya and Uganda safari journey also involves staying at the Giraffe Manor an iconic and exclusive hotel in Nairobi with a resident herd of wild giraffes who tend to visit every morning and evening.
Please note that this unique luxury Kenya safari and Gorilla Trekking Vacation package can be designed to your specific preferences including the duration, activity focus and pace of the trip. Please note that you can customize your trip with unique activities like hot air balloon safaris over the Masai Mara and personalized service to fit your interests and fitness levels especially for gorilla trekking.
This Kenya Safari and Uganda Gorilla trekking tour package is highly recommended during the Months of June to October and December to February but it can also be done all year around.
A Customizable Uganda and Kenya Safari Tour Itinerary to Inspire You:
Day 1: Arrive at Entebbe and Transfer to Your Hotel
Welcome to Uganda the pearl of Africa. On arrival at Entebbe International Airport, you will meet and greet with a representative from Engabi Tours and Travel who will welcome you to Uganda and transfer you to your hotel for overnight. He will brief you about your upcoming trip.
Accommodation Option: Hotel No.5 Entebbe
Meal Plan: Bed and Breakfast and all Complimentary Offers
Day 2: Flight to Kasese Airstrip and Transfer to Kibale forest National Park
After breakfast, you will be transferred to Entebbe International for your flight to Kasese Airstrip arriving in time for a road transfer to Kibale forest national park the primate capital of the world and home to 13 species of primates including chimpanzees.
Accommodation Option: Chimpundu Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 3: Chimpanzee Tracking
After your morning breakfast, your tour driver will lead you to Kanyanchu park headquarters for briefing from the senior park ranger. At 8:00 am you will join the rest of other trackers and transfer to the starting point which is 2 Km away from the park headquarters. Most often chimpanzee tracking goes for 3 to 4 hours.
While in the forest you may interface with primates including, Chimpanzees, the red-tailed monkey, L’Hoest monkey, baboons, white and black Colobus monkeys, grey checked mangabey, red Colobus, blue monkeys and pottos. Other animals include forest elephants unique from the common type, giant forest hogs and a striking tree species.
Accommodation Option: Chimpundu Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 4: Stay at Leisure at the Lodge
Today you will stay at leisure either spending a quiet day lounging on a sun bed by the hotel’s free-form, infinity-edge pool or in the spa and other in-house activities and experiences. In the Evening you may go for a nature walk in Bigodi wetland sanctuary, an eco-tourism destination managed by local people.
Accommodation Option: Chimpundu Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 5: Flight to Kihihi Airstrip and Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable forest national park
After breakfast you will be Kasese Airstrip arriving in time for a flight to Kihihi Airstrip from where you will be transferred by road to Bwindi forest National park arriving in time for check in at your Lodge. Renowned as home to half of world’s mountains gorillas, Bwindi is famous gorilla tracking destination. derived from the Rukiga word, “Bwindi” means a dark place, Bwindi rainforest has remained untouched since the last ice age 250, 000 million years ago.
Accommodation Option: Kiho Gorilla Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 6: First Gorilla trekking Experience
You will get up so early in the morning for breakfast and thereafter your driver will drive you to the Park head offices of Ruhija with your packed lunch. On reaching there by 7:30am you will be briefed about what to do and not to do while trekking after which you will be led by the ranger guides through the mist jungle. Trekking usually takes between to 8 hours or even a full day due to the location of gorillas. When you see them, it will be a great and fun time as you watch them and only 1 hour is permitted to watch them. Also ensure you carry enough water with you, hats, sun glasses, rain coats, and non-flash cameras.
Later return to the lodge and in the afternoon, you may go for a walk in the communities
Accommodation Option: Kiho Gorilla Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 7: Second Gorilla Trekking Experience
Today you will have a second chance to spend another one hour with the gorillas in another family different from the previous one or in Buhoma sector depending on your fitness which will give you additional opportunity for photography and experience. Later return to the lodge for lunch and spend the rest of the evening relaxing and later dinner and overnight.
Accommodation Option: Kiho Gorilla Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 8: Stay at Leisure at the Lodge
Today you will stay at leisure either spending a quiet day lounging in your room or in the spa and other in-house activities and experiences. You may choose to take a walk in the nearby communities.
Accommodation Option: Kiho Gorilla Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 9: Flight from Kihihi Airstrip to Entebbe International Airport
After breakfast, you will transfer to Kihihi Airstrip for your flight to Entebbe International Airport arriving in time for check-in and overnight.
Accommodation Option: Hotel No.5 Entebbe
Meal Plan: Bed and Breakfast and all Complimentary Offers
Day 10: Flight to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport-Kenya and Then to Masai Mara
On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Kenya, you will meet and greet with representatives of Engabi Tours and Travel who will transfer you to Wilson Airport for your flight to Masai Mara Game Reserve arriving in time for a transfer to your lodge and later an evening game drive. This vast grassland is teeming with life; plains, game including wildebeest, gazelle, topi, zebra and buffalo abound in the rolling savannah and never far away lay the predators such as cheetah, lion and hyena. By the end of today we hope that you will have learnt a huge amount of knowledge about Masai Mara’s resident wildlife as you game drive through the park.
Accommodation Option: Sala’s Camp
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 11: Full Day in the Masai Mara
Today after breakfast, you head out and spend the rest of the day with game drives and activities in the Mara including the great migration Mara river crossing depending on the time of your travel. In between the game drives, a short lunch will follow and then you will continue with game drives as you look out for wildlife and explore the rich landscapes of the Conservancy. You will wind up your evening with a sundowner before heading back to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation Option: Sala’s Camp
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 12: Another Full Day in the Masai Mara
Today you will spend another full day with a picnic lunch exploring the Masai Mara and you will soon realize why this reserve is so highly regarded as the best reserve in Africa. Every year, millions of wildebeest, zebra, and Thomson’s gazelle pound their way across the savannas in an instinctual survival of the fittest. Another big draw card to the Masai Mara is its dense population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard which sometimes requires a trained eye to spot. Return to the lodge in evening for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation Option: Sala’s Camp
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 13: Optional Hot Air Balloon Safari over the Mara Plains and Stay at Leisure at the Lodge
If you choose to do an optional hot air Balloon Safari, today you will be transferred to the starting point of the balloon safari at as early as 6:00am from where you will a Start Balloon Safari and fly with it to explore the beauty of Masai Mara and view the wild animal up to 7:30 am. You will then take a bush breakfast until 9:30 am and continue with your short game drive as you transfer back to the lodge.
You will stay at leisure either spending a quiet day lounging on a sun bed by your rooms private swimming pool, visit Masai village for a cultural experience or engage in other in-house activities and experiences.
Accommodation Option: Sala’s Camp
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 14-Day 15: Solio Lodge Stay and Experience
You will spend the next two nights at Solio Lodge. There is so much else to see and do in addition to the wonderful rhino experience at Solio. Encounter an abundance of wildlife, sip cocktails with giraffes, gallop across open plains on horseback, watch wildlife come and go from the watering hole in front of the lodge and unwind with a massage beside a crackling fire.
Accommodation Option: Solio Lodge
Meal plan: Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 16-Day 17: Giraffe Manor Lodge Stay and Experience
After breakfast, you will be transferred to the Giraffe Manor where you will spend 2 nights experiencing with the giraffes living in a semi wild state at Giraffe Manor. The giraffes will come to a protecting wall to be fed when you can come eye to knee with the tallest animal in the world.
Make most use of your visit by following the Giraffe Centre nature trail up until the Gogo river. This is fascinating place to walk in the nature with bushes on either side and birds giving the most wondrous songs. Reach down to the river and search for giraffes in the wild as well but be careful as you must stay at least 15meters from the Giraffes. The trail will take about 1 hour going up and down in a relaxing pace.
Accommodation Option: The Giraffe Manor
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and all Complimentary Offers
Day 18: Departure Flight
Depending on the schedule of your flight, you will check out and transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport arriving in time to catch your onward flight marking the end of the tour.
Accommodation Option: N/A
Meal Plan: Breakfast
End of Safari
CONTACT US for information, Inspiration or a customized Itinerary and Quote
When is the Best Time to Book This Tour Package?
Tailor made trips that include a classic safari and gorilla trekking run throughout the year but the best time to book this tour is during the dry Months of June to October and December to February.
Uganda sits on the equator but its higher elevation means that it enjoys a pleasant climate with average temperatures of 25°C and cool nights. The rainiest Months are in March, April and May with shorter rains in October and November. Around this time you can still find gorillas and Chimpanzees but expect trekking to see them to be more slippery.
A Kenya safari on the other hand is not feasible during March, April and May since this is the rainy season with roads often impassable and the lush vegetation and falling rain making wildlife watching difficult.
Therefore to combine Kenya and Uganda to catch the Great Migration in the Masai Mara and watch Gorillas and Chimpanzees in Bwindi and Kibale respectively you must travel in July and August for the best chance of seeing it though September to October is still a good time to watch large numbers of Wildlife
Booking tips
Here are some tips we suggest For booking this Package:
Book For Right Season
The dry and wet season change the experience significantly especially for Masai Mara and to a smaller extent for the gorillas and Chimpanzee trekking.
Like we have stated before, the weather, landscape and the density of sightings are not good in the rainy Months March, April, May and November compared to the dry Months of June, July, August, September, October, December and February. Plan with your priorities in mind and not just your available dates
Book your gorilla permits early
Gorilla permits in Uganda get done early in the year given that there are limited numbers of people to watch a gorilla family per day for conservation reasons and permits are sold on first come first serve basis. We therefore recommend that you secure your gorilla permit at least a year in advance.
Please Note that Gorilla permits cannot be transferred or refunded but you are able to change dates provided you give a notice not later than 30 days to the tracking date. These strict rules are in place to prevent the illegal resale of permits and to ensure that the limited revenue directly supports gorilla conservation and local communities.
In cases of illness on the day of the trek and where the warden confirms it, partial refunds may be offered in Uganda often around 50 per cent particularly when arranged through a tour operator and if gorillas are not seen after completing the trek, which is very rare Uganda Wildlife Authority may offer a partial refund, typically around 75 per cent or the option to trek again the following day.
Physical fitness matters more for Uganda Gorilla Trekking
If you have mobility concerns or want a more accessible gorilla experience, inform us in advance so that we request the rangers to offer you a gorilla hike that is shorter and more manageable. We can also organize an African helicopter or porters to give you a hand
Pack layers for gorilla trekking
Bwindi Forest temperatures at altitude are significantly cooler than the Masai Mara especially early morning when treks begin. A light waterproof shell and long trousers are essential even in the dry season.