10-Day Kenya & Uganda Wildlife Grand Circuit

Depart Nairobi in the morning and drive to the Masai Mara National Reserve via the Great Rift Valley escarpment. Stop at the valley viewpoint for photographs and continue through Narok to your lodge or tented camp. Arrive in time for an afternoon game drive across the Mara plains. Watch for lion prides resting in the shade and herds of elephant crossing the grasslands. Return to camp for dinner under the stars.

Spend the full day exploring the Masai Mara with morning and afternoon game drives. The reserve supports one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in Africa, including all Big Five species. Visit the Mara River to look for hippo pods and Nile crocodiles. During migration season, this is the site of the famous river crossings. Enjoy a bush lunch and continue exploring different areas of the reserve through the afternoon.

Another day in the Mara allows you to explore areas not yet covered. Drive to the Oloololo Escarpment for panoramic views or seek out cheetahs in the open grasslands. An optional early morning hot air balloon safari can be arranged for a bird's-eye view of the reserve. Visit a Maasai village to learn about traditional cattle-herding culture, beadwork, and warrior traditions. Afternoon game drive and sunset return to camp.

After breakfast, drive north to Lake Nakuru National Park, arriving by midday. This compact park is renowned for its large populations of both black and white rhinoceros, making it one of Kenya's best rhino sanctuaries. The alkaline lake attracts thousands of flamingos when conditions are right, creating a pink-tinged shoreline. Enjoy an afternoon game drive around the lake, spotting Rothschild giraffes, waterbuck, and tree-climbing pythons. Overnight at a lodge overlooking the lake.

A morning game drive offers one last chance to see rhinos and the lake's birdlife before driving to Nairobi. Connect with your afternoon flight to Entebbe, Uganda, arriving in the early evening. Your Uganda driver-guide meets you at the airport and transfers you to your hotel. Enjoy dinner and rest before the Uganda leg of your safari begins the next morning.

Depart early for the drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda, approximately 5 to 6 hours through the green heart of Uganda. Pass through Fort Portal and the Rwenzori Mountain foothills. Arrive at your lodge in the park by early afternoon and head out for a game drive along the Kasenyi Plains, where lions, Uganda kob, and warthogs are frequently spotted. Return to the lodge for dinner.

Morning game drive in the Ishasha sector, famous for its tree-climbing lions that rest in the branches of fig trees. This is one of only two places in Africa where this behaviour is regularly observed. In the afternoon, board a boat for a cruise along the Kazinga Channel connecting Lakes Edward and George. The two-hour cruise brings you within metres of hippos, elephants drinking at the shore, buffalo herds, and an extraordinary diversity of waterbirds including African fish eagles, martial eagles, and goliath herons.

Drive south from Queen Elizabeth through the Ishasha sector to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a journey of 3 to 4 hours through dramatic highland scenery. The landscape shifts from open savannah to dense tropical forest as you climb into the mountains. Arrive at your lodge near the forest and settle in for the afternoon. Attend the gorilla trekking briefing and prepare your daypack for tomorrow.

Report to the park headquarters at 7:30am for your gorilla trekking briefing. Rangers assign you to one of Bwindi's habituated gorilla families and you set off into the forest with your group, trackers, and armed escorts. The trek through dense undergrowth, bamboo zones, and steep hillsides can take 1 to 6 hours. When you find the gorillas, you spend one hour observing them as they feed, groom, and interact. Watch silverbacks display, juveniles play, and mothers nurse their young. This intimate encounter with our closest relatives is the highlight of any East Africa safari.

After breakfast, begin the return journey to Entebbe via road or domestic flight from Kihihi or Kisoro airstrip. If driving, enjoy the scenic Ugandan countryside with possible stops at roadside markets and tea plantations. Arrive at Entebbe International Airport in time for your departure flight. C.A.T.S can arrange a post-safari extension to explore Jinja, the source of the Nile, or to relax on the shores of Lake Victoria.