Enjoy the 21 days discovering East Africa on Road trip with rooftop tent Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania. The bespoke road trip with 4×4 rooftop tent cars through East Africa countries includes; spotting the Big Five in the world-famous Serengeti National Park, View the large elephant population, baobab trees and incredible views in Tarangire National Park. Trek to see the Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest or Mgahinga Gorilla National Parks in Uganda,
Encounter a great variety of wildlife in the World Heritage listed Ngorongoro Crater. Be captivated by wildlife viewing in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Explore scenic Amboseli National Park, with views of Mount Kilimanjaro.
The East Africa Road trip begins with your arrival at Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport where you are met by a tour representative and hands over the car 4×4 Land cruiser rooftop tent to you with full payment and agreements signed about the days and movements of the vehicle. The road trip commences with Kibale National Park, the world’s best chimpanzee encounter. Although chimpanzees can be found in quite a number of parks and reserves in eastern Africa, the four big ‘chimp parks’ are Tanzania’s Gombe Stream and Mahale Mountains, Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest and Uganda’s Kibale Forest.
Uganda’s Kibale Forest by contrast offers an enticing mixture of easy access (about a half-day drive from Kampala), excellent value accommodation in all price ranges, a wide array of other activities from seriously good birding in a neighbouring area of marshland to long forest walks and numerous exciting community activities. All this stands it in good stead but then there’s the chimpanzee encounter itself. The long-term habituation of several troops in the park allows excellent close encounters with this fascinating and sometimes volatile primate – our closest relative.
Sightings are virtually guaranteed, and for those with the time and budget, a one-hour encounter can be extended into a day-long ‘nest-to-nest’ experience, in which you will stay with the troop from dawn to dusk, gaining intimate insights into their behavior along the way. The next day the safari jeep extends to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Home to nearly half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, Bwindi is an unforgettable destination. About 459 gorillas live in the steep mountain-side jungle and several groups have been habituated to humans. An up-close encounter with these critically endangered giants is an experience like no other and anyone who has the chance shouldn’t pass up the opportunity.
And of the 18 habituated gorilla groups in Uganda, all but one is resident in Bwindi, spread between four trailheads: Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo and Rushaga. Yet, while the opportunity to stare into the liquid brown eyes of a giant silver back is what brings most tourists to Bwindi. The birdlife is also stunning; with a checklist of 350 species that includes a full 23 Albertine Rift endemics. Indeed, the forest trails around Buhoma, the most established of the park’s four trailheads, and the best equipped.
The East Africa Road trip extends to the neighbouring country, Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park which involves border crossing for another gorilla trekking experience. Volcanoes National Park is often considered an ‘easier’ trek than those in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, the other main centre for tracking mountain gorillas.
Gorilla tracking is arguably one of the most rewarding wildlife encounters in Africa. Nothing prepares you for being stared at by a gorilla. And that is exactly what they do: they seem to be looking at us as much as we are looking at them.
The one hour spent with these gentle giants might just feel too short. Keen hikers should stay on for a day or so to visit Dian Fossey’s research station or climb Bisoke Volcano. Tracking golden monkeys is also a worthwhile activity.
We cross boundaries into Tanzania. Named after the river that runs through its heart, Tarangire National Park is one of the smaller members of the celebrated Northern Circuit family and probably the quietest, but it’s a lovely park with a lot to offer, including one of the highest densities of elephant of any park in Africa, a large number of beautiful baobabs, and pretty rolling hills and valleys of golden grass, acacias and ebony woodland.
We then traverse in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. Almost from the moment you enter the gates, wildlife surrounds you in astounding numbers and variety, together with an incomparable sense of space. The headline event is the annual wildebeest migration, and being able to witness a part of this which takes both planning and luck is an unforgettable experience. The Serengeti is also known for its high density of predators, and the chance to watch lions and other cats – often at very close range – is another treat.
Encounter a great variety of wildlife in the World Heritage listed Ngorongoro Crater. The conservation area stretches far beyond the rim of the crater across the rolling grasslands right to the borders of the Serengeti, covering 8,094.4 sq. km in all. Ngorongoro Crater is a must-see destination, and that first view from its rim will take your breath away.
Looking down into the void 500 ft below you see the crater floor mapped with sunlight and shadow, a lost world measuring 11 miles across. Down their live thousands of wildebeest, zebras, buffaloes and lions, along with some of Africa’s biggest tuskers and a handful of black rhinos.
The road trip crosses to Amboseli National Park, One of Kenya’s most picturesque parks with spectacular views of Kilimanjaro. Amboseli National Park is one of the classic parks of Kenya and a staple on most Kenyan safari circuits. Quite rightly it’s best known for its elephants and there are large herds of big tuskers here (these are some of the best studied elephants in Africa) who are completely unfazed by cars meaning very up-close encounters are possible. Amboseli is also where all those classic pictures of elephants with a backdrop of the snows of Mt Kilimanjaro are taken.
If you only have the chance to visit the Masai Mara once, then it’s well worth visiting during migration season the sight and sound of hundreds of wildebeest and zebra on the move and of predators weighing up their chances is something you’ll never forget.
Known for its prolific big cats and the dramatic Great Migration River crossings, the Maasai Mara is probably one of the most famous wildlife destinations on the planet and it shows. Attracted by the abundant wildebeest, antelope, buffalo and zebra are the predators. There are more lions here than anywhere else in the country, and leopard, cheetah, jackal and hyena also wander the grasslands.
