We are well into the process of putting together a 3 week wildlife safari for summer of 2007 for 4 people. We've spent the last several months researching, reading comments online, talking to tour operators and developing a plan that fits our interests, accomodations and time restraints. This is what we have developed so far:

Day 1 – Arrival
• Travel:
o Arrive Nairobi
• Lodging:
o Sarova Stanley Hotel

Day 2 – Queen Elizabeth NP
• Travel
o Early flight to Entebbe/Kampala in morning
o Drive to Queen Elizabeth NP (5 hours)
• Activities
o Wildlife viewing as time allows
• Lodging
o Jacana Luxury Camp

Day 3 – Queen Elizabeth NP
• Activities
o Morning-Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura Gorge
o Afternoon/sunset boat cruise on Kazinga Channel
• Lodging
o Jacana Luxury Camp

Day 4 – Queen Elizabeth NP / Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP,
• Activities (Morning)
o Wildlife viewing: Tree-climbing lions
• Travel:
o Drive to Bwindi (5 hours)
• Lodging:
o Gorilla Forest Camp

Day 5 - Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP
• Activities:
o Gorilla Tracking
o Afternoon walk to Batwa village, if time allows
• Lodging:
o Gorilla Forest Camp

Day 6 - Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP / Parc National des Volcans
• Travel:
o Drive to Ruhengeri / Kinigi (5-6 hours)
• Lodging:
o Gorilla Nest Lodge

Day 7 - Parc National des Volcans
• Activities
o Gorilla Tracking
o Trek to Dian Fossey’s Karisoke Research Station and grave
• Lodging:
o Gorilla Nest Lodge

Day 8 - Parc National des Volcans
• Activities:
o Gorilla Tracking (different group) • Lodging:
oTravel
o Drive to Kigali (3 hours) (Clock – 1 Hr)
Lodging in Kigali

Day 9 - Kigali/ Serengeti NP•
Travel
o Fly to Arusha
o Drive to Serengeti NP -OR- Fly charter from Kigali direct to Serengeti NP (price options)
• Activities:
o Wildlife viewing
• Lodging:
o Serengeti Migration Camp

Day 10 – Serengeti
• Activities:
o Wildlife viewing
• Lodging:
o Serengeti Migration Camp

Day 11 – Serengeti
• Activities:
o Wildlife viewing
• Travel:
o Drive to Grumeti

Day 12
• Lodging:
o Grumeti River Camp
o Crocodiles)
• Lodging:
o Grumeti River Camp

Day 13 – Serengeti/Ngorongoro Crater,
• Travel:
o Drive to Ngorongoro Crater via Olduvai Gorge
• Activities:
o Visit to Olduvai Gorge/Leakey Dig Site
o Evening wildlife viewing in crater
• Lodging:
o Ngorongoro Serena Lodge –

Day 14 - Ngorongoro Crater
• Activities
o Morning wildlife viewing in crater
• Lodging:
o Ngorongoro Serena Lodge

Day 15 – Ngorongoro Crater/Tarangire NP,
• Travel:
o Drive to Tarangire
• Activities:
o Wildlife viewing
• Lodging Options
o Tarangire Safari Lodge Requested: Tent (not bungalow)

Day 16 - Tarangire NP
• Activities:
o Wildlife viewing (Elephants)
• Lodging Options
o Tarangire Safari Lodge

Day 17 – Tarangire NP / Massai Mara,
• Travel:
o Drive to Massai Mara (6 hours)
• Activities:
o Wildlife viewing
• Lodging:
o Mara Siria Camp

Day 18 - Maasai Mara
• Activities:
o Wildlife viewing
• Lodging:
o Mara Siria Camp

Day 19 - Maasai Mara
• Activities:
o Hot Air Balloon ride
o Wildlife viewing
• Lodging:
o Mara Siria Camp

Day 20 – Maasai Mara/Nairobi
• Travel:
o Drive to Nairobi for flight home
• Lodging (if needed, depending on return flight time)
o Sarova Stanley Hotel

We would greatly appreciate any comments, suggestions or thoughts in helping us fine tune our plans.

Could you tell us when in the summer you are going? It will make a difference in the responses for your Serengeti part of the trip.

What a comprehensive itinerary!

Looks good through Uganda/Rwanda. If you didn't have 2 gorilla treks in Rwanda, I'd say 1 in Bwindi is not enough.

Jacana Lodge is very near the bat cave in QE. If you like them, you'll absolutely love the bat cave. We also saw pythons that feed on the bats and live in the cave. You can enter the shallow cave and look at the pythons in the rocks. You could do it the a.m. of Day 4. That's when I went, before departing for Bwindi.

The odds of seeing tree climbing lions are 30% according to my guide. That matches my personal experience seeing them in the Ishasha region of QE.

If you have time when you return to Kigali after the gorilla tracking, it is very worthwhile to see the Never Again Memorial. I was able to see it after a gorilla visit, upon arriving in Kigali, just like you are doing.

"Day 9 - Kigali/ Serengeti NP•
Travel
o Fly to Arusha
o Drive to Serengeti NP -OR- Fly charter from Kigali direct to Serengeti NP (price options) "

I'd get some times for the driving option to be sure it is possible to cover that distance.

In the Serengeti, you may want to spend all 4 nights in one spot--wherever is best for the time of year you are going.
Just less moving around.

I'd also see if you really can drive from Tarangire to the Mara in 6 hours. Maybe--but that does not seem right to me. I've never driven it, though. Your other times seem reasonable based on my experience.

At the end if you can fly from the Mara back to Nairobi, I think that would be preferable to a long drive at the end. If you take the early flight out of the Mara, then you can do some shopping if you like. Or you can stay a little longer in the Mara (always my choice) and take the later flight which leaves mid-afternoon and gets in with plenty of time for your international flight home. Either flight allows you enough time for a final safari dinner at the Carnivore Restaurant if you are interested.

Should be a super trip.

Thank you for your thorough response and great feedback. We're planning on starting the trip mid-July, so that will put us in Tanzania towards the end of the month.
I understand your thoughts of staying in one place in the Serengeti, but we thought Grumeti River would be worth checking out.
Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

I visited Uganda and Rwanda in August 2003, and I had substantially the same first eight days (but I only did one trek in both of Bwindi and PNV). I only read thru the first eight days, but its an easy trip. You may not, however, be able to drive thru QENP to view the tree-climbing lions on the way to Bwindi -- we were told the southern sector of QENP was not that safe (incursions from DRC), and we had to drive outside the park to get to Bwindi -- nonetheless it was a very scenic drive.

Michael

Either Aug 2003 was an isolated time of danger in Ishasha or I was doing some risky lion viewing in Aug of 2002 and June of 2004. Yikes! The area was open to campers and we met several on both trips.

With more specific dates your Serengeti camps make sense.

Welcome home, Thit Cho!

Tokitae-
On day 7 in Rwanda, you have both gorilla trekking and visiting the old KRC site and Dian's grave.
Are you planning to do both on the same day? Or one or the other?

I don't think you will have time to do both as they both require several hours of trekking both up and down the volcanos.

If you only have the two days of trekking in Rwanda and one in Bwindi, I would focus on doing the gorilla treks and maybe save the gravesite visit for another time.

Divewop,
Yes, we were thinking about doing the gorilla trek and visiting the grave site in one day. One tour op had mentioned that we would use the same guide to go to visit the grave that we use in the morning on the gorilla trek. (I was told it was an additional $75) From your message that sounds like that was bad info. Our focus is the animals, so I think you are right about trying to do too much. Thank you for the suggestion.
T

Good point from Divewop on the gravesite. If you have time and energy, then a visit would be nice. I was thinking you could decide on a visit to the gravesite after your gorilla tracking. If you had to book the Fossey visit and pay for it in advance, then I would not make that commitment up front.

One other thought came to me on Bwindi. If you would like to arrange some time with the Pygmies who now live nearby, you could mention that to your agent. In the past I have visited their homes or they have come to camp to sing and dance or they have met us after gorilla tracking and put on their performance. They also have baskets and things you can buy. I believe there is a fee you pay for their dancing and singing entertainment.

I was told the Pygmies have been displaced from DRC by war or have been removed from the jungle to make a larger range for the gorillas. As a result they are are living a different life than they have in the past, when they inhabited the jungle, and they are trying to survive. The performances help out.

You could meet the Pygmies on that first day you arrive in Bwindi.

You'll have to do a trip report when you return.

Tokitae-
I don't think they meant to give you bad info on the gravesite visit and gorilla trekking in the same day, but it will be very tough to do.

Usually, you leave for Karisoke/grave the same time folks leave for gorilla trekking.
Karisoke is in between Mounts Bisoke and Karisimbi. Karisimbi is known for the Susa Group which is the toughest and longest trek of the gorilla groups to get to.

There may be a possibility they could be very close to the park wall and if so, it would only take a brief walk to visit them which would allow you to time to then trek over to visit the gravesite.

But in my experience, they have never been close to the wall. I wish!!

Karisoke/gravesite, in my opinion, is a little bit of a challenging trek too. It's a beautiful place, one of my favs, and worth it to be able to spend time up there once you get there. I don't want to see you have to rush up and down the volcano for time's sake.

Luckily, you shouldn't have to pay for the gravesite visit until the morning you are at PNV because it's not fully booked like the gorilla treks. Just play it by ear once you arrive. The guides at PNV will advise you if it can be done.

Atravelynn,
Good suggestion...keep the KRS trek as an option, if time allows. I also appreciate hearing about the pygmies, that is the first I have heard of them in Bwindi...definitely sounds interesting.
thanks
T

You can't visit the gravesite and trek the gorillas in one day...they have to be done on separate days unfortunately, same as the golden monkeys.

Your trip looks fantastic. But it does look like an awful lot of driving. Why drive from the Serengeti to Tarangire only to go back to the Masai Mara by vehicle. I'd try to add some flights in there to break up the long drives.

If it was me, I'd either do Uganda or Rwanda. I hear it's easier to access and see the gorillas in Rwanda over Uganda. But I've only been to Rwanda. I'd stay in Rwanda longer and spend more time in the country...go to Lake Kivu, etc...unless there is some draw to Uganda other than than the gorillas and tree climbing lions (which you may see in Tanzania).

Also, I'd look into the Virunga Lodge or the new Governor's Lodge instead of Gorillas Nest.

Lucia-
The new Governor's Lodge hasn't even broken ground yet so I doubt it will be available in the summer of '07.

Gorilla's Nest is adequate enough for the main purpose of trekking being so close to PNV and not minding the accommodation and/or sometimes lack of hot water.

Virunga Lodge is nice and I like nice too, and having stayed at both, for location's sake, I'd opt for Gorilla's Nest.

Good to know Divewop. I stayed at the Hotel Murabura in Ruhengeri...which I'd definitely recommend. It doesn't take all that much longer to get the PNV from there than it does from Gorilla's Nest and it's $30 a night and we always had hot water and it wasn't cold at all.

Lucia,
Thank you for your thoughts. I hear that the treking in Uganda can be a bit daunting...but, for us, that adds to the experience.
I think you are right about adding in some flights in Tanzania/Kenya segments to limit the driving. Not sure where yet, but I agree..we don't want to spend too much time in transit.
Thanks again,
T

I hope for 13moons' sake that the new Governors lodge is completed by summer 2007 (she's booked there)

Tokitae,
I'll just echo some of the logistics comments already mentioned by others.

Day 9 Kigali to Serengeti - As far as I know only Rwandair flies nonstop between Kigali and Kilimanjaro airport (near Arusha) and this flight only operates twice a week arriving in the afternoon. On other days, you'll need to transit via Nairobi and it'll also probably be afternoon if not evening by the time you reach Kilimanjaro airport. I don't believe there's any possibility to continue by road to the Serengeti that same day.

Day 17 Tarangire to Masai Mara - Not possible to drive in one day. Just the drive from Nairobi to the Mara takes 6 hours. You could consider driving from Tarangire to Arusha/Kilimanjaro and taking the afternoon flight to Nairobi, connecting to the Mara flight, and arriving in the late afternoon.

Day 20 - About 6 hours if you drive. At the end of a 3 week trip, you'd probably appreciate a 45 min flight back instead.

Good luck with your planning!

Patty-
Yikes! Do you know who 13 moons booked her trip through? I sure hope she reads this thread. And has a back-up plan.
My info on the lodge was told to me only two weeks ago from one of the scientists at the Karisoke Research Center in Ruhengeri.
And knowing how slow things move in Rwanda, even if they break ground soon, I don't know if they will have it completed by summer of '07.
However, I will continue to get updates as often as I can and keep everyone posted.

Coastal flies daily from JRO via Seronera to Kigali and back. It's a costly ticket, but if you're in Seronera, it's a whole lot easier than returning to Arusha, then Wilson to JKIA or to JRO to JKIA; hoping you make the afternoon flight to Kigali.

Agree with others, no way can you drive from Tarangire to the Masai Mara (and live to tell about it with a smile on your face; for sure your bottom won't be smiling).

- Tarangire to Arusha (min. 2/hrs); Arusha to Namanga (min 1.5/hrs); Namanga to Nairobi (min 3-4/hrs); Nairobi to Masai Mara (min 5/hrs... probably 6/hrs). Best to drive to Tarangire, then 1:45pm flight to Wilson to connect to 3pm flight to Masai Mara.

divewop,
It sounds like her Governors stay is self booked but I'm not sure http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34883298

Dates are here http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34889026

Maybe you could add an update there too.

Patty,
Thank you for your input on travel times, that is a big help. Our day 9 travel is on a Monday, so there is a flight from Kigali to Arusha that arrives around 2pm. Does that allow enough time to drive to Serengeti? How many hours drive is it.
The other flights you suggest make sense as well. This input is very helpful in putting together our final plan for a great safari. Thanks much.