Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda Combined Safari – 17 Days

This is an East Africa Combined Safari tour that offers the discerning traveler a chance to discover leading attractions and parks in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda on an extensive expedition.

Safari Overview:

Day 1- Arrival in Nairobi

Day 2 and Day 3- Amboseli National Park

Day 4- Lake Nakuru National Park

Day 5, Day 6, Day 7- Masai Mara National Reserve

Day 8- Serengeti

Day 9- Serengeti

Day 10- Ngorongoro Crater

Day 11- Tarangire National Park

Day 12- Kampala- Uganda

Day 13- Kibale Forest National Park

Day 14- Queen Elizabeth National Park

Day 15- Bwindi National Park

Day 16- Bwindi National Park

Day 17- Bwindi – Entebbe – Departure

Day 1- Arrival in Nairobi

Your Essenia Safari manager will meet you on arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport aboard an afternoon flight. Assistance to your vehicle and transfer to your city hotel. Assistance with check in formalities followed by pre safari briefing. Overnight Stay at Park Inn by Radisson / similar. Meal Plan: Bed and Breakfast Basis.

Day 2- Nairobi – Amboseli National Park

After breakfast, you will board your 4x4WD safari jeep and drive south east of Nairobi to Amboseli National Park.

Check and lunch at your lodge, followed by evening game viewing. Overnight stay at Amboseli Sopa Lodge / similar. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 3- Amboseli National Park

You will spend the day exploring various habitats and attractions in Amboseli. This park which is located at the foot of the snowcapped Mount Kilimanjaro offers stunning views on a clear day. It is also one pf the best places in Africa to view free ranging herds of African Elephants.  Lions, Zebras, Gnus, Spotted Hyenas, Cheetahs, Black Backed Jackals, Warthogs and Buffalos are among the regular sightings here. The swamp area is home to Hippos and a plethora of bird species including migrant ones. Overnight stay at Amboseli Sopa Lodge / similar. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 4- Amboseli – Lake Nakuru National Park

Early breakfast at your lodge. Depart by 0715 hrs for Lake Nakuru National Park with light lunch served en route. Enjoy evening game viewing around the park and along the shores of the Alkaline lake. Check in followed by dinner, with evening at leisure. Overnight stay at Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge / similar. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 5- Lake Nakuru – Masai Mara National Reserve

Breakfast at your lodge. Check out and enjoy a morning game drive before you depart for Masai Mara. Lake Nakuru is one of the best places to see Rhinos and the rare Rothschild’s Giraffes. Lesser and Greater Flamingos may be sighted here seasonally alongside Pelicans, Grebes, Herons, Egyptian Goose among others. Lions, Elands, Leopard, Gazelles, Impalas, Zebras and Jackals are among the predators and plains game found here. Proceed to Masai Mara arriving in the afternoon. Enjoy game drives before checking in at your lodge. Overnight stay at Mara Sopa Lodge / similar. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 6 and Day 7- Masai Mara

You will spend the two days exploring this world renown reserve during your game drives. Your expert safari driver / guide with in-depth knowledge of the vast reserve will help you locate Lions, Elephants, Rhino, Leopard, Buffalo, Burchell’s Zebra, Hippos, Elands, Spotted Hyena, Topi, Hartebeest, Warthog, Black Backed Jackal, Mongoose, Masai Ostrich, Secretary Bird, Marabou Stork, Martial Eagle, Vultures, Egrets among several other mammal and bird species that call Masai Mara home. You simply need to have your animal checker guide ready, and get ready for the adventure. Between the months of June and September, Masai Mara hosts the world’s biggest wildlife spectacle; the annual wildebeest migration when over 1.2 million wildebeest and Zebra cross over from northern Serengeti into Masai Mara in search of greener pastures, especially the red oat grass which is a delicacy to the marauding Gnus. If you travel during these months, your guide will dedicate time to trailing the migrating herds both in the savannah and along the banks of the Crocodile infested Mara River. Overnight stay at Mara Sopa Lodge / similar. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 8- Masai Mara – Serengeti National Park- 8 hrs + drive

Breakfast at your lodge. Depart with packed lunch for the Kenya / Tanzania border town of Isebania. After clearing with immigrations, meet your Tanzanian guide and proceed to Serengeti National Park by road. (There is an optional flight for this sector- check with us for more details). You will arrive in the late evening with en route game viewing. Overnight stay at  Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge / similar. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 9- Serengeti

Full day spent in Serengeti as you explore these seemingly endless plains. Your game drives will cover different parks of the park as you search for Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Black Rhino, Jackals, Hippos, Elephants, Zebras, Masai Giraffes, Baboons among others. The Serengeti is also home to hundreds of bird species. Overnight stay at Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge / similar. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 10- Serengeti – The Ngorongoro Crater

After breakfast, you will depart for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. With picnic lunch boxes, descend down the steep walls of the caldera for game drives on the Ngorongoro Crater Floor.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) is a conservation area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located 180 km west of Arusha in the Crater Highlands area of Tanzania. Ngorongoro Crater, a large volcanic caldera within the area, is recognized as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area spans vast expanses of highland plains, savanna, savanna woodlands and forests. Established in 1959 as a multiple land use area, with wildlife coexisting with semi-nomadic Maasai pastoralists practicing traditional livestock grazing, it includes the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest caldera.

The property has global importance for biodiversity conservation due to the presence of globally threatened species, the density of wildlife inhabiting the area, and the annual migration of wildebeest, zebra, gazelles and other animals into the northern plains. Extensive archaeological research has also yielded a long sequence of evidence of human evolution and human-environment dynamics, including early hominid footprints dating back 3.6 million years. Several animal and bird species are found here. Lions, Elephants, Buffalos, Black Rhinos, Cheetahs, spotted hyenas, Impalas, Gazelles and others may be spotted here. Ascend to your lodge and spend the evening enjoying the crater views from the comfort of the lodge. Dinner and overnight stay at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge / similar. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 11- Ngorongoro – Tarangire National Park

Breakfast and check out, followed by a short drive to Tarangire National Park. This afternoon, you will enjoy game drives in this beautiful park. The park is named after the Tarangire River that crosses through it, being the only source of water for wild animals during dry seasons. During the dry season thousands of animals migrate to the Tarangire National Park from Manyara. The park is famous for its huge herds of elephants, Leopard and Cheetah sightings, baobab trees and tree climbing African pythons among several others. Overnight stay at Tarangire Sopa Lodge / similar. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 12- Tarangire – Kilimanjaro – Entebbe – Kampala

You will depart Tarangire after breakfast and drive to Arusha town and onto Kilimanjaro Airport where you will board your afternoon flight to Entebbe. Upon landing at Entebbe, met by your guide and transferred to your hotel in Kampala. Afternoon at leisure. Overnight stay at Cassia Lodge / similar. Meals: Breakfast, Dinner.

 Day 13- Kampala – Kibale Forest National Park

Depart from Kampala after breakfast for a fascinating drive through papyrus swamps and thick jungle of the Nile Delta to Kibale National Park, situated just below the Ruwenzori Mountains. Afternoon guided walk in the crater lakes area of the park for outstanding cultural and nature experience. Meals and overnight at Primate Lodge Kibale / similar Meal plan: (B, L, D).

 Day 14- Kibale Forest Chimpanzee Trekking – Queen Elizabeth National Park

Early in the morning, enjoy breakfast, then transferred to Kibale Forest Headquarters for briefing before setting off for a forest walk in search for chimpanzees. The forest walk will be guided to provide information not only on chimpanzees and primates but also on small organisms thus making it interesting. The walk will get you up close with other primates like Grey cheeked Mangabeys, Colobus monkeys and Red-tailed Monkeys. After chimp trekking drive to Queen Elizabeth ready for an evening two-hour scenic Boat cruise along the famous Kazinga channel, a worthwhile opportunity to see Hippo, Bufallo, Kobs, Elephants, warthogs among others. This trip also offers visitors a chance to see spectacular birds.  Dinner and overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge /similar Meal Plan Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Day 15- Queen Elizabeth – Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Begin your day with a cup of coffee. Depart your lodge and enjoy early morning game drive along the Kasenyi and Queens Mile which may give you an opportunity to encounter elephants, buffalo, water bucks, warthogs, lions, Uganda Kobs and a variety of birds. Thereafter drive through the Ishasha Sector; this takes you through the unique western rift valley escarpment. If time allows you may take on a mini game drive in the Ishasha sector in search of the famous tree climbing lions before proceeding to Bwindi forest National Park, where you arrive in the evening.  Dinner and overnight stay at Silverback Lodge/ Similar.  Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

 Day 16- Bwindi Gorilla Tracking

After a sumptuous breakfast, set off early with your guides to track the Gorillas.  This can prove to be a long and tedious activity but the thrill of your encounter will erase the difficulties of the strenuous trek. Be sure to bring jungle boots and rain jackets because the park is often wet. How far you walk will depend on the overnight movement of the Gorilla family since the last sighting of them in the previous day. You will spend time in awe watching the gorillas go about their activities. Each gorilla encounter is different and has its own rewards, but you are likely to enjoy up close views of adults feeding, grooming and resting as the youngster’s frolic and swing from vines in a delightfully playful display.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a magnificent green swathe of dense rainforest, so ancient that it survived the last ice age. A recently proclaimed World Heritage site, it’s one of the most biologically diverse areas on

earth and its unique flora sustains roughly half of the world population of mountain gorillas – believed to number just over 1,000. There’s also a substantial chimpanzee population and research shows that Bwindi is the only forest in Africa in which these two apes live together.

Time permitting, spend the afternoon on a community foot safari to explore the life style of the people living and surrounding the park. Return to your lodge exhilarated to relive the encounter with friends over a cold drink. Dinner and overnight stay at Silverback Lodge/ Similar. Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Day 17- Bwindi – Kampala- Entebbe – Departure + 11 hrs drive

Return to Kampala, then Entebbe, with lunch enroute and with a stopover at Igongo cultural centre to explore the life style of the Ankole and Bahima, thereafter proceed to the Equator Uganda viewing point arriving at Entebbe International Airport for your late evening departure flight to your next destination. (This is a long drive so we have an option for a scheduled flight from Bwindi to Entebbe available on request. Meal Plan: (B, L) End of services.

NB: With our extensive practical knowledge of East Africa, tailor making is our forte and we are always ready to listen to you. We customize safaris to suit your interests, pace and budget. All you need to is to share your safari dream with us, and we will expertly craft it to reality.