Discover the beauty and the (wilde)beests of East Africa
Spend 42 days travelling through the iconic vistas of East Africa. Seek out the rare mountain gorilla in Rwanda’s steamy jungle, enjoy thrill-packed safaris through lush forest and open savanna and finish in Victoria Falls. Be welcomed into small villages in Tanzania and Malawi, relax on sandy beaches in Zanzibar and track the Big Five in the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park. This overland adventure is a mix of locally-guided excursions and free time to follow your heart to the stuff you want to see.
Gorilla permits included! Seek out the rare mountain gorilla on a trek through Uganda’s steamy forests and spend an unforgettable hour in their presence.
Take two game drives through the Masai Mara National Reserve, looking for lions, zebras and wildebeest crossing the iconic plains.
Go looking for rare black rhinos on a safari in Ngorongoro Crater, a 20-kilometre-wide crater that around 25,000 wild animals call home.
Spend a night camping in Mto wa Mbu, a multicultural Tanzanian village where you can grab dinner with some locals and shop for crafts.
Discover the largest ruins in sub-Saharan Africa – Great Zimbabwe. A World Heritage site, the ruined city was first constructed in the 11th century.
This is an overland trip. That means you’ll be travelling with a group in a purpose-built vehicle, visiting remote communities, setting up your own tent, occasionally roughing it in the bush and getting the best possible chance to spot the Big Five. While the trucks don’t have air conditioning, they do have sliding windows which let in the breeze and make it even easier to take spectacular snaps of the local wildlife. For more info on this style of travel, see our Africa overland page: https://www.intrepidtravel.com/africa/overland
Conditions during the gorilla trek can be muddy and uncomfortable. But the sheer thrill in coming across a habituated group of gorillas, dominated by a great male silverback, outweighs any difficulty. You need to be prepared and fit enough to walk up to 4 hours – up and down hills. A top tip is to pack some gardening gloves to assist in any up-hill climbs. See https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/gorilla-trekking for more information.
Camp in the Serengeti without fences between you and the animals. Your leader will brief you on the safety measures the group will need to take for the two nights spent in the park.
At Usambara Mountains the group will do a easy hike to the beautiful Irente viewpoint.
The overland vehicle is large enough to seat up to 22 passengers and carries all the camping equipment needed for the duration of this trip.
As the early bird catches the worm, the early camper sights the animals. There will be many early starts either to make use of the better safari time or to beat the morning traffic on long travel days.
You may also want to check out our Africa Encompassed Southbound trip if you have more time to explore in Africa.
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. This trip is a combination of YXOG, YXOP, YXON and YXOR our most popular itineraries. As such the make up of your group and your leader may change on days 16, 24 and 27.
4. 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.
5. This trip finishes in Vic Falls after breakfast on Day 42. However, if you wish to enjoy some of the optional activities on offer perhaps consider an evening flight or an additional night here.
6. Our operator has advised that customers with the J&J vaccine and no booster may have difficulty crossing the border into Botswana (and potentially Zimbabwe) without a negative test result. This information conflicts with various government travel advice websites. We recommend you check with your local consulate before travel to ensure you have the most up to date information.
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.
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