27 Days | Adventure, wildlife and relaxation in East Africa
Discover the astounding diversity of landscapes and wildlife in East Africa. Visit green-clad highlands, steamy rainforests, tropical beaches and epic grasslands in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zanzibar, enjoying unrivalled opportunities to get close to gorillas, lions, elephants, buffaloes, hippos, giraffes, flamingos and chimpanzees. This tour gives you an awesome itinerary, gorilla trek permits, plenty of included game drives, and key cultural experiences. How you spend the rest of your time is up to you! It doesn’t matter if you’re relaxing in the wild or taking part in optional excursions, the wonders of East Africa will remain vivid in your memory long after this tour ends.
Trip overview
- Start
- Nairobi, Kenya
- Finish
- Zanzibar, Africa
- Theme
- Overland, Wildlife
- Destinations
- Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya
- Physical rating
- Indicates how physically exerting a trip is, and how fit you will need to be to enjoy it. More info on physical ratings
- Style
- Basix
- Ages
- Min 15
- Group size
- Min 1 - Max 22
- Trip code
- YXOCC
- Trek through Uganda's steamy forests with expert gorilla trackers and a local ranger to seek out rare mountain gorillas. Spend an unforgettable hour in their presence, watching how they play, laze in the sun and groom each other.
- Head out on an early evening game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park, in the heart of the Great Rift Valley. This plat is famous for its rhino population, so you’ll have a good chance to snap a photo of these gorgeous beasts.
- Explore Serengeti National Park – a wildlife arena like no other – and look for lions, leopards, elephants and giraffes during daily safari drives.
- Embark on a hike through the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania, through mountains, rainforests and local villages, to the Irente viewpoint. Then, stop at a local farm on the way back for a picnic lunch with the locals.
- See what it’s like living in Zanzibar with a walking and street food tour of Stone Town – visiting the markets and tasting some local fare.
- Conditions in the forest where we track gorillas can sometimes be wet, muddy and hot. But the sheer thrill of coming across a habituated group of gorillas makes up for any difficulty. You need to be prepared and fit enough to walk for up to 4 hours – up and down hills. A top tip is to pack some gardening gloves to assist with any uphill climbs. See https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/gorilla-trekking for more information.
- We use our purpose-built overland vehicles for the duration of this trip. Please read the itinerary carefully for travel time estimates and see https://www.intrepidtravel.com/africa/overland for more info on this style of travel.
- You’ll be camping a lot on this trip, giving you access to more remote destinations at close proximity, plus the joy of staying right in the heart of the action.
- This is a participatory trip – a fancy way of saying you’re not just along for the ride, but you are part of a team! Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and help out with camp activities like food prep and washing up. It’s all about giving your new travel mates a hand, and everyone knows there’s nothing worse than trying to put up a tent on your own!
- As the early bird catches the worm, so the early camper sights the animals. There will be many early starts on this trip, either to make better use of the safari time or to beat the morning traffic on long travel days.
Itinerary
View the itinerary for departures between 01 January 2025 - 31 December 2025
Inclusions
25 breakfasts, 17 lunches, 21 dinners
Overland vehicle, 4x4 Safari Vehicle, Ferry, Minbus
Camping (with facilities) (18 nights), Camping (with basic facilities) (2 nights), Bungalow (2 nights), Hotel (3 nights), Hotel with shared facilities (1 night)
- Lake Nakuru - Overland Vehicle Game Drive
- Lake Nakuru - Morning Overland Vehicle Game Drive
- Queen Elizabeth National Park - Overland Vehicle Game Drive
- Bwindi National Park - Mountain Gorilla Permit & Trek
- Kericho - Tea plantation visit
- Masai Mara National Reserve - 4x4 Game Drive
- Loita Hills - Maasai Village Visit
- Masai Mara National Reserve - Full Day 4WD Safari
- Ngorongoro Crater - 4x4 Game Drive
- Serengeti National Park - Morning 4WD Safari
- Mto Wa Mbu - Village walk & local dinner
- Irente - Lushoto hike
- Irente - Local lunch
- Nairobi - City Experience Urban Adventure - USD55
- Kalinzu Forest - Chimpanzee Trekking - USD205
- Queen Elizabeth National Park - Kazinga Channel boat cruise - USD30
- Kisoro - Golden Monkey Trekking - USD160
- Kisoro - Rwanda Day Excursion - From - USD75
- Kisoro - Batwa Village Visit - USD35
- Kisoro - Coffee Farm Tour - USD35
- Jinja - River Nile whitewater rafting (full day) - USD140
- Jinja - Nile Boat Cruise - USD40
- Jinja - Source of River Nile tour - USD45
- Masai Mara National Reserve - Balloon ride (from price) - USD625
- Serengeti National Park - Balloon Ride (from price) - USD745
- Stone Town Tour - Dharajani Market, Joseph's Cathederal, Palace Museum, Forodhani Food Market - USD20
- Zanzibar - Prison Island Tour - USD25
- Stone Town - Handicraft & Music Urban Adventure - USD50
- Zanzibar - Spice tour - USD25
- Zanzibar - Snorkelling - USD50
- Zanzibar - Dhow Trip - USD35
Dates and availability
Important notes
1. A single supplement is available if you’d prefer not to share a room on this trip. The single supplement applies to all nights of your trip and is subject to availability. Please speak to your booking agent for further information.
2.This trip requires a higher non-refundable deposit (AUD 1000, USD 1000, EUR 800, NZD 1250, GBP 650, CAD 1000, ZAR 8000, CHF 900) in order to secure the included gorilla permit. Please note that we need to confirm availability of a gorilla permit if you are booking within 45 days of departure. The additional deposit paid at time of booking will be credited to the final balance of your booking.
3. An optional sunrise balloon ride in the Serengeti National Park is possible on this itinerary. Please see the itinerary above for full details of this activity. As the balloon only holds 16 people, places are limited and we recommend you book in advance. Please inquire when booking your trip to book this optional activity.
4. This trip is a combination of YXOG YXOP and YXON our most popular itineraries. As such the make up of your group and your leader may change on days 16 and 24.
5. The Zanzibar portion of your itinerary may have a few more passengers than the maximum group size of 22 as we have a crossover of trips starting and finishing in Zanzibar.
6.Some governments currently have increased foreign travel advice around security in place for Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. Please check your government’s foreign travel advice before departure and ensure your travel insurance covers all destinations and activities on your itinerary.
Want an in-depth insight into this trip? Essential Trip Information provides a detailed itinerary, visa info, how to get to your hotel, what's included - pretty much everything you need to know about this adventure and more.
Read Essential Trip InformationReviews
Filter by rating