fielddays4008

I'm looking for travel/tour suggestions for a 3.5 week trip to East Africa, flying in/out Kigali from Feb 7 to March 3. Travelling solo, M49, Australian
I'd like to see:

* gorillas
* masai mara
* serengeti
*amboseli

I'm thinking of doing 1x tour in Rwanda or Uganda, and 1x longer tour covering Kenya/Tanzania. Not interested in Zanzibar or Mt Kili climb. Looking at lodges and/or comfort camping

Budget: up to $10000 USD

thanks

letswandertanzania49

Hello there!
warm greetings to you from Tanzania, my name is Chris, I am a tour guide in Tanzania, I saw this message And was happy to assist you with the planning, I am based in Tanzania and have contacts in East Africa particularly the countries you have mentioned you want to visit, let me give you a suggestion , I would advice to give at least 1 week in each country , and recommend the Gorilla trekking in Rwanda , alot can be done in One week there plus the Gorilla tour and also the cty tour, then you go to Kenya for the other week to visit maasai Mara and some conservation projects also the cty centre tour is cool! With the one week remaining then visit Tanzania for the Migration as you mentioned this time of the year is we should focus on the southern side of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro area. I will be happy to assist you further with the planning. Below is a rough itinerary for the 3 weeks.

Week 1: Rwanda
Explore Kigali, visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, and explore local markets.
Head to Volcanoes National Park for gorilla trekking and golden monkey tracking.

Week 2: Kenya
Fly to Nairobi, visit the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Giraffe Centre.
Head to Maasai Mara for a safari, visit Lake Nakuru National Park for flamingos and other wildlife.

Week 3: explore Serengeti National Park for the Great Migration.
Explore Ngorongoro Crater and nearby attractions, then head back home.

Feel free to contact me further .

Heimdall

Flying in and out of Kigali (from where?) makes it a little more difficult to plan an itinerary. Rwanda, IMO, is the best place for gorilla tracking, with several habituated gorilla families in VNP. Some are easier to reach than others, so you can choose a group partly based on your fitness level. I chose the Susa Group, which at the time was the largest, but also the most difficult to reach. Do some research on gorillas in Volcanoes National Park before your trip.

February is when the migration is in southern Serengeti, with the wildebeest calving, and lots of predator animals around. We saw mixed herds of wildebeest and several species of antelope as far as the eye could see as we drove through the shortgrass plains from Seronera Valley to Ngongoro Crater. It was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had. Frankly the crater was a bit of a letdown after seeing the migration.

LAX_Esq

That's an awful long time for a safari. Is this your first safari? I think I could be safari for a month and not get bored (I'm a wannabe hobbyist photographer and I love animals), but most people find safari exciting for the first few days and then are bored out of their mind and ready to be done with it and aren't even phased by seeing yet another lion pride. The first step here should really be doing some self-reflection to see if this is really what you want to do.

Also, a $10K budget over 3.5 weeks -- especially as a solo -- isn't going to get you far if you want any modicum of luxury. If you're fine with roughing it, you'll be fine.

And I second the comment above about flying in and out of Kigali. Can you do an open jaw, and fly out of Nairobi or something in Kenya/Tanzania instead of having to backtrack?