7-Day Kenya & Uganda Gorilla Safari

Your safari begins with a morning pickup from your Nairobi hotel or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Drive southwest through the Great Rift Valley escarpment, passing the viewpoint at the edge of the valley where the landscape drops dramatically below. Continue through Narok town and arrive at the Masai Mara National Reserve by early afternoon. After settling into your camp or lodge, head out for your first afternoon game drive as the golden light draws predators from the shade. Return to camp for dinner and a briefing on the days ahead.

Rise before dawn for an early morning game drive when predators are most active. The Masai Mara is one of the finest wildlife reserves in Africa, home to all of the Big Five: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhinoceros. Explore the Mara River area where, during the Great Migration season from July to October, vast herds of wildebeest and zebra cross the crocodile-infested waters. Enjoy a packed bush lunch in the reserve and continue with an afternoon drive through different sectors. Return to camp as the sun sets over the Mara grasslands.

After a final early morning game drive in the Masai Mara, drive back to Nairobi in time for your afternoon flight to Entebbe, Uganda. The flight takes approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. On arrival at Entebbe International Airport, you are met by your Uganda driver-guide and transferred to your hotel near Entebbe or Kampala for an overnight stay. Enjoy dinner at the hotel and prepare for the drive to Bwindi the following morning.

Depart early for the drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southwestern Uganda, a journey of approximately 8 to 9 hours through rolling green hills and terraced farmland. Alternatively, a domestic flight to Kihihi airstrip reduces the journey significantly and can be arranged by C.A.T.S. The drive itself is scenic, passing through small trading towns and offering views of Lake Mburo and the lush Ugandan countryside. Arrive at your lodge near Bwindi in the late afternoon and attend a briefing on gorilla trekking protocols for the next day.

This is the day you have been waiting for. Report to the park headquarters early in the morning for a briefing by Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers. You will be assigned to a habituated gorilla family and set off into the dense forest with your guide and armed rangers. The trek can last anywhere from 1 to 6 hours depending on the gorilla family's location, traversing steep hills, muddy trails, and thick undergrowth. Once you find the gorillas, you spend one magical hour observing them at close range as they feed, play, and interact. The experience is profoundly moving. Return to your lodge for a well-earned rest and celebratory dinner.

After breakfast, visit a Batwa pygmy community near Bwindi for a guided cultural experience. The Batwa are the original forest dwellers who lived in the Bwindi forest for thousands of years before it became a national park. Learn about their traditional hunting techniques, medicinal plant knowledge, and forest survival skills through song, dance, and storytelling. This visit supports the Batwa community directly. Spend the afternoon at leisure at your lodge, enjoying the peaceful forest surroundings, or take an optional nature walk along the forest edge.

After breakfast, begin the return journey to Entebbe. Depending on your departure flight time, you may take a domestic flight from Kihihi or Kisoro airstrip to Entebbe, or drive back through the Ugandan countryside. Arrive in Entebbe in time for your international departure or an additional night in Uganda. Your driver-guide assists with airport check-in. C.A.T.S can also arrange a post-safari extension to Jinja for white-water rafting on the Nile or a Lake Victoria excursion.