Hi,
Firstly ,I must thank all for this wonderful board. We have 4 more weeks to Kenya and all your reports have been so valuable.

We are visiting Ark,Shaba, Nakuru, Mt. Kenya and the Mara. I now wish I had planned better and included Uganda or Tanzania as well. I am checking with our outfitters in Kenya incase we can squeeze in 3 days with the gorillas.I would love Uganda but hubby has heard that Tanzania is great.

Do you think tanzania would be better or Uganda in terms of wildlife? Ofcourse the financial aspect is equally important and obviously availability.

Can we go by road to Uganda? And visas?

Whizforty

Ask them to check on the availability of gorilla permits in Rwanda as well. It's only a 2-3 hour drive from Kigali to PNV in Rwanda whereas it's a much longer drive from Entebbe to Bwindi in Uganda.

In either case, wherever you end up going, I would FLY between Nairobi and either Kigali or Entebbe. It's much too far to drive if you only have 3 days. Plus remember you still have a good 10 hour drive, I think, once you arrive at Entebbe to get to Bwindi. I'd try for PNV in Rwanda first.

I think you can get visas on arrival in either country.

You can fly from Nairobi to Kigali (it's an hour flight) on Rwandair/Kenya Air (they codeshare) and it's about $350 RT. The Rwanda gorilla permits are $375 but they are sold out until October. However, there's a pretty good possibility that some operator has extra passes or that someone dropped out. If I were you, I'd pick up the Bradt guide to Rwanda and email all the operators to see if they have gorilla permits during your time there. Those operators can also arrange transport/accommodation. You can arrange your flight by calling Kenya Air in the US or your Kenyan operator can arrange it. Good luck!

I wanted to squeeze in a Gorilla trek in August as well. I was looking about a month ago, but found that there were several permits available through different tour operators. You just have to e-mail them all and try to find something that fits in your dates. I think at this point you would have better luck in Rwanda, but you may be able to find something in Uganda as well.

In the end I decided that I wanted to spend more than 3 days in Uganda and Rwanda, so I'm planning a separate trip there for the future.


Jenn

P.S. If you are brave, a few companies did reccomend gorilla trekking in the Congo. They said they had been bringing clients there for about 6 months with no problems and the permits were easy to get there. I didn't think it was a good idea for me as a single female traveler.

Lucia, the flight price from Nairobi to Kigali has increased to $455 per person round trip

Yikes, that's high!

I wouldn't recommend gorilla trekking in Congo, even if tour operators are doing it. The first election in 40 years will be July 30th and no one knows how it's going to go.

Since you asked in terms of wildlife, Uganda or Rwanda would offer a different wildlife experience than Kenya because of the gorillas. In three days you would not likely be able to see more than the gorillas. However, in Rwanda there are also the golden monkeys in the same park as the gorillas.

In Tanzania you'd see more plentiful and varied game (maybe by adding the Ngorongoro Crater) than Uganda/Rwanda. This is especially true with a time frame of 3 days because the other game in Uganda or Rwanda takes more time to get to.

Visas are needed for Uganda and Tanzania but not Rwanda.

Rwanda works better for a quick, last minute add-on than Uganda. Getting to the gorilla location is easier with more convenient flights and there are more permits available.

You can drive to Uganda from Kenya, but I have never done it.

Your Kenya trip has a nice variety. If the add-ons don't pan out, there are advantages to staying in one country and concentrating on what it has to offer.

Good luck and not only might you be missing gorillas or Tanzania this trip, you are missing Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, Victoria Falls, etc. That's why so many of us return. You can't fit it all in one with one trip, or even several, no matter how well you plan.

PS--If this shows up a bunch of times, sorry. I can't seem to either preview or post my reply.

Regarding Rwanda gorilla permits: Last December, I got mine for 3 days in early August. Even then, I could not get all the days that I wanted.

Its true that theres so much to see in Africa and I am almost definite that I will return to this fantastic country. Perhaps I should just concentrate on one country this time. Is a quick 2 day trip to Amboselli possible from Nairobi or maybe Monmbasa? I had originally excluded Mombasa coz we have been to some wonderful beaches in the Indian ocean like the Maldives.But with some time on hand... we could possibly do that.

Whizforty

Amboseli would be a fine add-on in the time available. Unfamiliar with Mombasa

It's possible to add on a trip to Amboseli from Nairobi. There are daily flights or if traveling by road, it takes about 4 hours. I haven't been to the coast but high on my list of coastal areas would be Lamu. You'll need to fly there and there are daily flights from Nairobi.