7 Days Gorillas & Maasai Mara

Your safari begins with a meet-and-greet at Entebbe International Airport. After clearing immigration, transfer to a lakeside or city hotel — a gentle start before tomorrow's flight or drive to Bwindi.

Depending on arrival time, stroll the Entebbe Botanical Gardens for colobus monkeys and African grey parrots, or rest by the pool. Your guide confirms tomorrow's departure time, gorilla-trek packing list and domestic flight details if you are flying to Kihihi or Kisoro.

Early breakfast and transfer to Entebbe for a charter or scheduled flight to Kihihi or Kisoro airstrip (approx. 1 hour 10 minutes) — the recommended option — or a scenic road transfer via Mbarara and the Kigezi highlands (8–9 hours). Lodge check-in with views over the Bwindi forest canopy.

Evening pre-trek briefing at your lodge: what to wear, porter hire at the trailhead, sector headquarters location for tomorrow, and photography rules within one hour of gorilla contact.

Early breakfast and transfer to park headquarters for briefing. With UWA rangers and trackers, begin your mountain gorilla trek into Bwindi's montane forest — trekking typically takes 2–6 hours depending on the assigned family's location. Porters are available at the trailhead and strongly recommended on steep, muddy trails.

Safari activity | Mountain gorilla trekking in Bwindi

Track a habituated gorilla family through Bwindi's montane forest with UWA rangers — one hour with the group on contact, then your gorilla trekking certificate on return.

On contact, spend one hour with the habituated gorilla family — silverback displays, juveniles tumbling through vegetation, mothers nursing infants. Return for your certificate and late lunch at the lodge. Optional afternoon Batwa pygmy cultural experience or community coffee walk.

Morning flight from Kihihi or Kisoro airstrip back to Entebbe (approx. 1 hour 10 minutes), or road transfer if preferred. Connect to Nairobi on Kenya Airways or similar — book an afternoon departure with buffer time for Uganda domestic delays.

Meet your Kenya driver-guide at Jomo Kenyatta or Wilson Airport and transfer to a hotel near Wilson Airport (for tomorrow's Mara flight) or Nairobi city centre. Briefing on Kenya park fees and Mara conservancy protocols.

Breakfast and transfer to Wilson Airport for a scheduled flight to the Mara bush strip (approx. 45–60 minutes) — or road transfer via Great Rift Valley viewpoint at Limuru (5–6 hours). Afternoon 4×4 game drive en route to camp in the Mara Triangle, Sekenani or private conservancy.

Safari activity | Maasai Mara afternoon game drive

First sightings on the open plains often include elephant, topi, giraffe and Thomson's gazelle — with luck, a lion pride resting in the grass before sunset.

First sightings often include elephant breeding herds, topi, Masai giraffe and, with luck, a lion pride on the short-grass plains. Sundowners at camp as the Mara sky turns gold.

Pre-dawn tea, then dawn and afternoon 4×4 game drives with packed breakfast. Explore the Mara River zone (migration season July–October), open grassland cheetah territories and acacia woodland leopard habitat.

Safari activity | Full-day Maasai Mara safari

Track big cats across the Mara ecosystem — lion prides on the plains, cheetah scanning from termite mounds, and seasonal wildebeest river crossings when herds arrive from the Serengeti.

Optional Maasai village visit through authentic community programmes only — we avoid exploitative stops. Return to camp for lunch and a short rest before the afternoon drive. Spotted hyena, buffalo and hippo pods in the Mara River are regular sightings.

Sunrise game drive or relaxed camp breakfast depending on your international flight time. Fly Mara–Nairobi (45–60 minutes) and transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for onward travel.

Alternatively, add a Nairobi extension — Giraffe Centre, Karen Blixen Museum or Kazuri Beads workshop — if your flight departs late afternoon or evening.