11 Days Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya safari

This is one of the classic wildlife safaris that combine the three east African Countries of Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya. This safari will begin in Kigali Rwanda and end in Nairobi Kenya. You will encounter a lot of attractions with the Kigali city tours before you transfer to Uganda to enjoy the endangered mountain gorillas in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park. The safari will continue to Lake Bunyonyi the second deepest lake in Africa and with (29) islands where you will do a canoe ride before heading to Kibale Forest national park to encounter the habituated chimpanzees. After trekking the chimpanzees, we shall transfer to Kampala where you will stay overnight as you prepare for the morning flight to Nairobi where you will engage in wildlife situations in bother Lake Nakuru national park and Masai Mara National Reserve. Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara National Reserve are the best destinations that you will encounter in this great safari experience. Lake Nakuru national park is known for flamingo birds and you will get a chance to see the wildebeest migration in Masai mara national Reserve. The visitors will have to acquire an East African visa which costs $100 and it will help them to move freely to these countries. The road trip will be led by our vibrant holiday safari guide who will explain to you all what you will encounter on this safari.

Detailed safari itinerary

Day 1. Arrival in Kigali- overnight stay at your hotel

Depending on the time you arrive at the Kigali International Airport, our guide from Vibrant Africa Safari will be at the airport to pick you up to continue with your 12 Days Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya safari. You will be driven to your hotel where you will stay as you prepare for your next morning safari activity.

Accommodation: Hotel des Mille Collins (Standard)

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 2: Kigali city tour and transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Welcome to Rwanda the land of a thousand hills, today you will begin your tour of Kigali once the safari guide briefs you about it, taking you through the well-known Gisozi genocide memorial site, where you can learn about the nearly 300,000 lives lost there in 1994. After lunch, you will tour the remainder of Kigali, including its local markets and the king's palace. Following your tour to the Kigali Genocide Center, the driver/guide will take you to some of Kigali's greatest artisan stores so you may pick up some keepsakes to take home as a reminder of your stay there. Inema Art Center, Ivuka Arts Studios, and Caplaki are the top art hubs. Supporting the local community, especially the women who work on the art projects, is an excellent way to show your appreciation for them by purchasing souvenirs from establishments like the Caplaki Handcrafts Co-operatives.

After the whole day Kigali city tour, you will have lunch in the city and after lunch, go on a transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in Uganda. Drive from Kigali in the northwest, cross the border into Uganda at Cyanika, and then arrive at your lodge. After checking in, unwind, eat dinner, and get ready for an amazing gorilla trekking experience the following day. The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is situated near the Virunga National Park and shares a border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The park's richness and significance to global ecology led to its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a catchment area for water that receives water from many rivers and lakes. Lowland and montane forests make up 124 square kilometers of Bwindi forest. There are 120 species of animals, 348 species of birds, and 163 types of trees in these huge forests. Chimpanzees, civets, elephants, giant forest pigs, golden cats, Colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, L'Hoest's monkeys, striped jackals, and mountain gorillas are some of the creatures found in the park. African green broadbills and cream-banded swallowtails are the main bird species. You will be amazed by the beautiful scenes of the Rwanda mountains and you will be reminded that Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills. After checking in to your lodge, you will be led by a guide from Vibrant Holiday Safaris to visit the Batwa pygmy cultural community in the evening. The Batwa originally lived in the forest but often had conflicts with the gorillas. The government decided to relocate them elsewhere to allow for smoother gorilla conservation activities. Retire to the lodge for the night’s stay

Accommodation: Ride4awoman (Standard)

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner

Day 3: Gorilla trekking experience and drive to Lake Bunyonyi

Today is the main highlight of your 11 Days in Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya safari. Wake up and enjoy a hot cup of tea or coffee, grab your packed lunch and head out to the park headquarters for a briefing about the dos and don’ts of gorilla trekking in Bwindi, you will also be allocated to a particular gorilla family and later set off with your head guide to the forest in search for mountain gorillas. Briefing for gorilla trekking takes place at 7:00 am by a Ranger at the Bwindi park head offices. All gorilla trackers must be at the park by this time and attend the briefing which is an overview of what to expect during the gorilla trekking. A gorilla safari in Bwindi forest offers you, several gorilla groups, to choose from. The Rangers will take into consideration your overall fitness. Gorilla tracking is challenging but you will find the experience awesome once you see the primates. It is always amazing to watch a family of mountain gorillas. You could spend hours just watching the little ones roll around and play. Mountain Gorillas are very playful and curious -don’t be surprised if they come too close to you. While with the gorillas, it’s important to listen to instructions from your guide. Never make sudden movements while with mountain gorillas.

After descending to the starting point pick up your certificates and later drive back to your lodge for lunch and check out before heading to Lake Bunyonyi for canoeing experiences. You will tour and explore different islands with a help of a local guide. The trek, meet your driver/guide, and transfer back to the lodge where you will relax.

Accommodation: Bunyonyi Rock Resort (Budget)

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner

Day 4; Lake Bunyonyi - Boat canoeing and drive to Kibale Forest National Park

Today, wake up at your convenient time, be served breakfast and then go for your morning boat canoeing safari on Lake Bunyonyi which takes approximately 2 hours of the exploring the lake and visiting different islands of the lake with a local canoe guide who is well experienced about the places and all the things around. Lake Bunyonyi is framed with 29 islands of different size across the water making it view the most magical. Each of the 29 islands on Lake Bunyonyi has its unique interesting story behind it which your local guide will narrate to you during the canoeing safari such as the Akampene island also known as the “punishment Island” which was used by the Biga community to punish girls who would get pregnant before official marriage by isolating them there to death as a way to teach a lesson to the rest not to do the same mistake. So, poor men who could not afford to pay bride price, would go on this island to get free wives from amongst those that could have been exiled to this island. In an Africa society, it a disgrace for a girl to get pregnant before her official marriage and this would cause the family to lose its community respect so, this made parents to be strict to their girl children as a way of protecting them. After canoeing on Lake Bunyonyi, return to the lodge to check out, and then start journey to Kibale forest National Park with lunch being served enroute. Kibale forest national park is famously known for its biggest population of chimpanzees, amounting to more than 1500 individual chimpanzees, and some of these are well habituated for tourism and research. The park is also referred to as Africa’s primate capital, with 13 primate species recorded than any national park or wildlife reserve in Africa, hence making the park a primate lover's haven. The park is also home to East Africa’s largest population of the threatened and rare L’hoest’s monkey and red colobus monkeys. While at Kibale forest national park, you will see several primates such as the black-and-white colobus, blue monkeys, red-tailed olive baboons, grey-cheeked mangabeys, and over 375 species of birds. Along the way to Kibale Forest national park, you will enjoy the spectacular views of tea estates, several forests, and the shadow of the legendary Rwenzori Mountain that forms a mystic backdrop to the beautiful volcanic landscape. Have a stopover in Fort portal city to have lunch, move around the city on foot and later continue with your journey to the park to check in at your booked lodge. Relax dinner and overnight stay.

Accommodation; Rweteera Safari Park (standard)

Meal plan; Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Day 5: Kibale Forest national park – Morning chimpanzee tracking – evening Bigodi nature walk

After breakfast, meet your safari guide and transfer to the park information offices to join other guests for briefing about the dos and don’ts to follow while looking for chimpanzees in the forest, and how to behave before chimpanzees. Then embark on your guided forest walk to search for the intelligent chimpanzees the human closest relatives sharing 98.8% human DNA. During your forest walk, you may encounter other wildlife species both mammals and birds species such as others primates, Bush pigs among other and your guide will be able to give you much interesting information about everything that you will encounter which will make your walk so adventurous. Once you meet chimpanzees, you will spend with them a maximum of one hour to watch how they play in the tree branches, feeding and taking care of their babies and taking as many photos as you would want. After staying with chimpanzees for an hour, return to the starting point to relax, have refreshment plus lunch and then later in the evening the Bigodi nature walks to Bigodi Sanctuary swamp and community. Bigodi sanctuary swamp is punctuated by biodiversity and lovely sceneries, and is a paradise to bird lover’s with over 138 bird species and hosting eight species of primates these include the grey-cheeked mangabey, black-and-white colobus, l’Hoest’s and blue monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, and olive baboons plus other mammals like Bushbucks and mongooses can also be found here. The swamp is managed by the surrounding local community wish a purpose of preserving exclusive environmental features along with the wetland for future generation. So, during this walk, you will have an opportunity to spot several monkeys, and bird species. The Bigodi community walk, will take you through the nearby community to have a chance to interact with local people to know how they harmoniously live with wildlife species, take you through how they locally to their daily activities without applying the modern technology such as making nice gins from banana, making delicious coffee and making art crafts. After the walk, return to your lodge to relax, be served dinner and an overnight.

Day 6: Kibale Forest National Park – Drive to Kampala

In the morning, you will wake up at your convenient time, have breakfast and after checkout from your lodge and drive to Kampala passing through several community villages and enjoying the country side environment full of the local people and the local markets. Feel free to ask you drive to stop and ask anything that you feel you would to know. You will reach into Kampala in the evening hours to be received at your hotel for the for evening relaxation, dinner and the overnight stay

Accommodation; Fairway Hotel Kampala

Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 7: Kampala-drive to Lake Nakuru National Park

This is a relatively long journey of about 8 hours, and you will need to wake up early in the morning to start this great journey. You will cross the Malaba border to get from Kampala to Lake Nakuru. Though relatively long, there are different stopovers that you take as you experience the nature of both countries, including Uganda and Kenya. After clearing immigration, you will enter Kenya through the Malaba border after stopping in Jinja for the source of the Nile tour, and the Tororo Rock. You will continue with your journey and make a stop at Kakamega forest for the beautiful forest views and continue with the journey that will usher you in to Lake Nakuru National Park. Because you will be a bit tired, you will check into your lodge fresh, have dinner and have an overnight stay.

Accommodation: Lake Nakuru Lodge

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner

Day 8: Nakuru morning game drive-afternoon game drive to Masai Mara National Reserve

Very early in the morning, you will be able to have breakfast and checkout of your lodge to start the wildlife runs in Lake Nakuru National Park. Lake Nakuru National Park is a popular destination that is known for having several large populations of flamingos and black rhinos in Kenya. While on game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park, you will be able to go for the evening game drives in search of giraffes, lions, rhinos and later visit Lake Nakuru, where you will be able to see the large population of flamingoes covering the whole lakeshore. You will leave after the game drive to Masi Mara National Reserve. Your safari takes you to the Masai Mara Reserve and into the domain of the Maasai, Kenya’s cattle-herding nomads, determined to preserve their traditions. This drive will see you make a stopover at the scenic view of the Great Rift Valley. The Great Rift Valley is always perfect in the mornings or evenings. The vast lands form the perfect v-shape with tarmacked roads at the base. Patches of vegetation dot the space, with the sun’s rays stretching far and wide to give a spectacular view. The mountains in the vicinity meet the foreseeable edges of the land, giving the feeling of an abstract painting never quite giving up that still life aspect. There are little stalls to get food or drink or use the bathroom. It's free to stop, and photography is allowed! You will make another stop at Narok Town to stretch your legs and buy anything you might need before going straight to your lodge for relaxation, dinner and an overnight stay.

Accommodation: Sentrim Mara

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner

Day 9. Masai Mara National Reserve: Full day game drive at Masai Mara with Packed Lunch

After having breakfast at the lodge or camp you will grab your packed launch and travel to Masai Mara National Park where you will be able to spend the whole day exploring the whole Masai Mara National Reserve. You will be able to do both evening and morning game drives with your lunch which you will sit and eat along the banks of the Mara River. In case you visit this great reserve from July to October, you will be able to see and watch the wildebeest migration which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Watch millions of wildebeests and thousands of zebras that move from Serengeti National Park to Masai Mara National Reserve as the animals are dramatically crossing the wonderful Mara River. You will be able to see a lot of wildlife animals that include Secretary birds, rhinos, water backs, hartebeest, elephants, heron and birds, and wildebeest migration among others. After spending the whole day in Masai Mara National Reserve, you will again go back to your lodge for relaxation and dinner, and overnight

Accommodation: Sentrim Mara

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner

Day 10: Masai Mara National Reserve-Morning game drives and Masai Mara Cultural encounters and transfer to Nairobi National Park

In the morning after having breakfast, you will go back to Masai Mara National Reserve for the early morning game drive to catch up with the early morning risers, especially the predators that become active in the morning which include wildebeest, antelopes, lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos, buffaloes among others. After the game drive, you will again go back to the lodge for the rest and have lunch and after lunch, you will be able to have cultural encounters as you will move to the community walks of the Masai local people where you be received by the warm welcoming people with their cultural dance and drama and learn more about their traditional cultures and norms and see how unique and interesting this tribe is and later you will start the journey to Nairobi where you will have dinner and overnight stay.

Accommodation: Airport Hotel

Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner

Day 11: Day Nairobi-Fly back to china

Today is the last day of our Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya Safari, you will wake up, have a relaxed breakfast and at around 11.am, the guide will drive out of the park and take you to a Maasai village. Here you will learn about the Maasai culture and have lunch at Narok as you get a transfer to Nairobi ( JKIA ).

You’re 11 Days Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya safari includes

• Ground transportation for all the 11days in a good comfortable safari van

• Part entrance fees for all the wildlife parks and protected areas in both Uganda and Kenya

• Kigali city tours

• One gorilla trekking permit per person

• One chimpanzee trekking permit per person

• Big five animals in Masai Mara national Reserve

• All game drive safaris

• Accommodation for all the 10 nights (standard)

• The services of the safari vibrant safari guide for all your 11days

• Mineral water for the whole trip

• Free masks

• Government taxes

• Meals at the lodges and enroute meals as stipulated in the itinerary

The safari does not include

• The visa to the countries

•The international flights

• Tipping

• All times related to personal expenses including laundry

• All alcohol drinks at the hotels

• All items not mentioned in the itinerary.