safari and beach, uganda gorilla trek with Acacia Africa

Day 1 – 7
Cape Town, Orange River, Fish River Canyon, Swakopmund
We depart Cape Town for the western Cape and Orange (Gariep) River. Crossing into Namibia we visit the Fish River Canyon and the sanddunes at Sossusvlei. Relax in the coastal town of Swakopmund – or try one of the numerous adventure options available.

Day 8 – 15
Spitzkoppe, Etosha National Park, Okavango Delta
Travelling into the Skeleton Coast we continue to Spitzkoppe and Etosha National Park. We continue to Windhoek and Ghanzi then onto the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

Day 16 – 21
Chobe National Park, Livingstone
Continuing to Chobe National Park we have the opportunity for a game-viewing sunset cruise before we cross into Zambia and our camp near Livingstone. We visit Victoria Falls and take time out to enjoy Africa’s ‘Adventure Capital’.

Day 22 – 34
Kafue River, Lake Malawi, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar
From Livingstone we stop at the Kafue River for an overnight excursion before continuing via Lusaka to Lake Malawi for some ‘time-out’ at the beach. We cross into Tanzania and drive across country to Dar es Salaam where we catch the ferry to Zanzibar. Explore Stone Town’s intriguing alleyways and relax on the beach - enjoy the Indian Ocean at its best.

NB Basic shared accommodation is included on Zanzibar however meals will be for your own account allowing you to experience some of the many different options available on Zanzibar. Please refer to the tour dossier (available below) for more information.


Day 35 – 42
Mt Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Nairobi
Returning to the mainland we drive north to Arusha catching a glimpse of Mt. Kilimanjaro en route. In Arusha, shop for curios, visit the snake enclosure and a local Maasai village. We switch to 4x4s to explore the Serengeti National Park, Olduvai Gorge and Ngorongoro Crater. These are two of the best game reserves in Africa and promise spectacular scenery, remote camping and impressive wildlife. We have a night in Arusha before we cross into Kenya to Nairobi.

Day 43 – 49
Samburu Game Reserve, Great Rift Valley Lakes, Masai Mara
Departing Nairobi we travel to the semi-arid Samburu where we game-drive in search of giraffe, oryx, baboon, dik dik, Somali ostrich and the rare gerenuk. We continue to lakes Baringo, Bogoria and Nakuru. Nakuru in particular, is known for game-viewing (especially birds). We continue to the Masai Mara. Camping near the reserve we game drive in search of the ‘Big Five’. We then cross back over the Rift Valley and make our way back to Nairobi for a night.

Day 50 – 58
Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Chimpanzee Trek, Gorilla Trek, Kampala
Leaving Nairobi we stop briefly at Nakuru before crossing to Uganda to visit Queen Elizabeth Nat’l park and the nearby Chimpanzee reserve. We continue to Lake Bunyonyi in the Kigezi Highland, our base for trekking in search of the gorillas. Guides lead us on trek through the jungle. It can be demanding at times but the effort is forgotten when we find ourselves in the midst of a family of gorillas. Group sizes are kept small in order to minimise the human impact so we may spend several days in the area to allow time for everyone to complete the trek. Finally,we drive back to Kampala and the end of our tour.

Gorilla Trekking Excursion (Permits)

The Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) sets the gorilla permit price and stipulates that permits must be booked and paid for in advance. We therefore collect your gorilla permit money at the time of booking, along with your normal deposit. The Gorilla permit price is paid at the time of booking and is non refundable in the event of you cancelling your tour. Acacia reserves the right to pass on any increase in fee if the UWA raises the price.

Gorilla Trek Permits - General

Gorilla Viewing: To ensure we obtain gorilla permits, we may trek outside Uganda in neighbouring countries such as Rwanda, where gorillas have also been habituated for viewing. Trekking here involves a minimal detour from the described route.

Each gorilla permit allows one trek. We stay in Bwindi or an alternative gorilla national park for the time necessary to allow everybody to trek once. The day to day itinerary may therefore vary if trekking goes over time. Optional activities can be arranged locally when not trekking.

Kenya Section

Please note that for the 7 day section of this tour (Days 43 – 49) takes place in a mini-bus, the rest of the tour is in an Overland truck.