Fastfrog27

We are looking to plan a two week honeymoon next November, and were hoping to spend one week gorilla trekking in Uganda and one week on the Maldives or Mauritius.

So far the options for flight paths seem a little ridiculous (up to 4 connections on each leg). Does anyone have any suggestions? Should we pick a European city or a hub or somewhere else?

I am also wondering if anyone can recommend a tour company for the Uganda section - we'd like a tailor-made safari with fairly high-end accommodations, but aren't looking to spend a TON of money.

Also, does anyone know on what percentage of trips you are unlucky enough not to see any gorillas? I want to make sure we have realistic expectations.

Thanks!

Patty

Are you referring to flight options between Uganda and Maldives or Mauritius? If so, you can fly one stop most days between Entebbe and Mauritius via Johannesburg. Maldives would be more complicated to get to. Possibly something like Entebbe-Nairobi or Addis-Dubai-Male.

If you're asking about flight options from home to Uganda and Mauritius or Maldives back to home, where is home?

sf7307

Flying from "home", whereever that might be - two options I know of from the West Coast of the US - San Francisco-New York-Cairo-Entebbe OR San Francisco-London-Nairobi-Entebbe. If you're in NY, obviously, you can skip the first leg. I think you can also fly through Dubai, but any way you go, there are a lot of flights involved. Yes, it's very difficult, and time consuming, to get there.

sf7307

Also, a <i>week</i> of gorilla trekking? You might want to reconsider that.

Fastfrog27

Thanks - I am mostly concerned about getting from Entebbe to either Mauritius or the Maldives - both seem like a bit of a bear.


We plan to spend 5-7 days in Uganda, gorilla trekking for some of it (perhaps 2-3 days?) It sounds like we will need a few days for travel as well.

sandi

November is also a &quot;wet&quot; season in East Africa, including Uganda or Rwanda. Doesn't mean there will be wet daily, but when it does and trekking through thick brush it can be quite muddy/slippery... something to consider.

Unfortunately, there are many destinations where it's not easy getting from Point/A to Point/B. Not impossible, but rarely non-stop; you have to expect connections.

If looking for a beach destination and you're not considering the Mombasa coast of Kenya (Lamu or Malindi Islands) or down at Diani; or Tanzania's Zanzibar, Pemba or Mafia Islands (down the coast as Ras Kutani)... then the Seychelles in the middle of the Indian Ocean are only a 3/hr flight from Nairobi. The SEZ, offer some lovely islands where you can split 7/days at wonderful lux resorts.

As Patty asked, from where are you traveling?

Fastfrog27

We could fly out off multiple places in the US - Las Vegas, Boston, or New York.

cruisinred

Did you check Emirates Air? I think they fly to both Entebbe and to the Maldives, so you'd connect via Dubai. They also have good connections from many places in the US.

atravelynn

Unlucky enough to miss gorillas--with 2 visits it is as close to a guarantee as you can get in Uganda.

If you are doing a week, with something like 5-6 visits, you'll see them for sure. Doing that many visits is highly unusual, but I once did 8 and am planning a 4 plus a golden monkey outing in Aug.

You might consider doing 2-3 gorilla visits and also visit chimps in Kibale. Or go to Queen Elizabeth Nat Park for savanna or maybe Murchison Falls.

I used Mantana in Uganda twice. I'll be going with Volcanoes in Aug. I've seen positive results with Great Lakes and Travelust.

Congrats on the wedding and honeymoon.

Bwino

Air Mauritius flies direct from Nairobi to Mauritius and from Johannesburg to Mauritius - about a 4 hour flight. They also fly direct from Capetown, Durban and Dubai.

The Maldives is great for a luxury hotel stay if you do not want to do anything else but relax. Mauritius has fabulous 5 star hotels and lots of other things to do as well outside the hotels.