Gorillas & Masai Mara - Camping Reverse

Long travel days, early mornings, tough tracking terrain, beautiful scenery, very changable weather, history lessons, amazing animal sightings, upset tummies, Masai and Batwa villages, hot and cold showers, trucks in ditches, border crossings, picnic lunches, and sooooooo much more

This trip packs in a huge variety of wildlife experiences over a great distance in three scenic and friendly East African countries.

Something you can’t plan with any trip is your group or the wild animals. I’m happy to say that both were amazing. As lucky as we were to see up close and personal all the wonderful Gorillas, Chimpanzees, Lions, Leopards and so much more… Not forgetting the humble Warthog. This was greatly enhanced by fabulous tour leaders, drivers and chefs. We we’re always well looked after. Jacob our guide was knowledgeable, approachable and made absolutely sure we wouldn’t get eaten at night. Our chefs excelled themselves and turned out delicious food in interesting makeshift kitchens. Our driver was a stone cold legend, keeping us safe in long and challenging journeys. If I had one criticism it is simply that a final night in Nairobi prior to flying home would have been welcomed into the schedule. This would allow the group to settle and reorganise after a long camping trip as opposed to a long drive and flight straight out where goodbye’s were rushed.

Having been on many trips of discovery with Exodus, I had never been on one that offered so much. The itinerary was exactly right. The starting point is Rwanda were we met our leader for the tour Jacob, as usual a friendly face after a long flight out from the UK. After a nights rest, the next day we visited the Museum to the genocide which took place in the mid nineties, the museum has graphic pictures of this terrible time in Rwanda`s history. A reminder of how the west turned it`s back on the suffering of a whole group of people. Onto our first highlight, the mountain Gorillas. After a long trek up into the foothills of the Parc National des Volcans we met our first Gorillas after about an hour of walking through mud and clothes clawing undergrowth and overhead vine. This first encounter was unbelievable, such gentle creatures given the size of the alpha males. We spent an hour with them and they just carried on eating/ playing and sleeping as if we were not there. On into Uganda, no problems with crossing the border and onto Lake Bunyonyi. With the lake there are opportunities to take boat rides on the lake or hire canoes for a leisurely paddle. On through Uganda with it`s abundance of wildlife, mammals and bird life.We had our first encounters with the real wildlife in all their natural environment. Adrenalin seekers will love Jinja as the site we stay Adrift, were you can do white water rafting on the Nile or perhaps bungee jumping.Or you can just take a stroll around the local are to veiw the many and varied bird life. On into Kenya, this is when they asked to see our Yellow fever certificate, other than that it again was straight forward. Due to adverse weather we had miss the village camp, however not to worry, onto the Masai Mara. Arriving at lunch time we enjoyed yet another great lunch prepared as always by Wilson and Ester. We then had a half day taster into the game park. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to encounter. All you ever see on TV was there in front of you in all it`s splendour, to many to list. The next and last full day of the tour(excluding travel days) you again go into the park for a full day`s game drive. Amazing experience, so well organised and lead by the team, from the leader through the driver and cooks who took so much care of us. Thank you .

This turned out to be the trip of a lifetime so far. Every day brought fresh highlights and the holiday just got better as we progressed. Each of the 3 countries visited are so beautiful and the people so warm and friendly that you won't want to leave. Of course, the wildlife is a real highlight - especially spending time with the serene mountain gorillas.

Saw the most incredible wildlife, expert and professional team in Gilbert, Albert, Stoney and James and a wonderful road trip across E. Africa.

DEFINITELY DO THIS TRIP !! Absolutely brilliant, if you love wildlife and east african culture I would recommend this trip, if this is your first east african trip it is a must. Wonderful people and wildlife in 3 beautiful countries and you get to go to the fabulous masai mara on your first few days, also to Lake Nakuru with the Rhino's and flamingoes. Across into Uganda where it is more lush and green then Kenya where we stayed at Lake Bunyonyi and visited a childrens Orphanage run by Crystal - Loving Hearts Helping Hands - this was amazing and the walk up to this is lovely, gets you out of breath but the guy who took us stops frequently for everyone. The nature walk at Lake Mburo was really good and we needed a good walk by this time after sitting in the overland vehicle, the Ranger who took us was really informative. Then onward into Rwanda and Ruhengeri where we trekked the fabulous gorillas.

A very good but exhausting holiday with long truck journeys, heavy rain, early wet mornings but with magnificent sightings of all of East Africa's animals. The crew were exceptional with each member doing their job diligently and were a great help to us travellers. The following day's program were clearly explained each evening with questions asked and answered. Although I had no regrets about going on this holiday, I was just grateful that I did the reverse journey as I'm not sure that I would appreciate a six hour trek to see the gorillas at the end of the holiday - at 67, I'm not sure that I would have made it. Overall, I'm glad that I went.

This is a trip that's worth every single buck. I'll list the pros and cons though. Pros: Gorilla tracking is physically demanding. So is waking up very early every morning, travelling long distances and camping. Wildlife in Masai Mara is fantastic, no other national parks measure up to it in terms of sightings during this trip. When at the beginning of the trip energy level is high, better to do the gorilla tracking etc. Then in the end of the trip be rewarded by extraordinary wildlife viewing in Masai Mara. The crew was really great (except one) but Albert (chef) requires special mention because he was funny, kind and fed us amazing food. Stoney (driver) was very helpful and was always helpful with information. Cons: In some camping sites there is no Wi-Fi or internet, if we were informed before could tell our family not to worry if they didn't hear from us on certain dates. The truck was too old and dusty, some of the windows were difficult to open and close. We even had a breakdown close to Lake Bunyoni and that was only the beginning of the trip! Although Gilbert arranged alternative for reaching the campsite soon. On the days of long drive, why we stopped for lunch (sandwiches) which required preps and thus wasted time is beyond my understanding. There were days when we were given packed lunches (when went on game drives). Why couldn't the same be done which would have saved time and effort of the crew? Especially as bread in Uganda was horrible. The water pump was the most inconvenient thing ever! After a certain level it required one hand to hold the bottle, one to hold the neck of the pump and another to actually pump water! I've only two and one of crew member who was basically Man Friday, got annoyed because I was asking for help. He also tried to sell me wildlife photos (I'm a photojournalist and was travelling with pro cameras) but I didn't encourage him.