10 Days Budget Tanzania and Uganda Gorilla Safaris : This 10-day itinerary combining Tanzania and Uganda could ideally include a mix of wildlife safaris in Tanzania‘s Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire and Lake Manyara, with gorilla trekking in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, allowing for a well-rounded experience across both countries with a good balance of activities.
Safari Highlights
Day 1: Arrival in Tanzania – Arusha
Day 2: Full day game drive in Tarangire National Park
Day 3: Ngorongoro crater experience and Masai Boma’s cultural tour
Day 4: Transfer to Serengeti National Park – Central Serengeti – afternoon game drive
Day 5: Full day in Central Serengeti national park
Day 6: Transfer to Lake Manyara National Park
Day 7: Return to Arusha – Fly to Uganda
Day 8: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable national park
Day 9: Gorilla trekking experience
Day 10: Transfer back to Entebbe and Departure
Detailed itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Tanzania – Arusha
Upon arrival at Arusha airport/Kilimanjaro airport, meet your driver for pick up, transfer to your booked hotel for check-in. Depending on your arrival time, you can do an optional Arusha city tour, for a coffee tour and museum tour. Dinner and overnight stay at Burka Coffee Lodge
Day 2: Full day game drive in Tarangire National Park
After breakfast, start your day very early with an early transfer to Tarangire national park with your packed lunch. It’s a 2-3 hours’ drive arriving in the park for a full day game drive in search of animals like the herds of Elephants as well as other wildlife species like zebras, hartebeest, elephants, waterbucks, gazelles, oryx and others. Have your picnic lunch. Later evening, drive to your booked lodge in Karatu. Dinner and overnight at Hhando Coffee Lodge
Day 3: Ngorongoro crater experience and Masai Boma’s cultural tour
You will start your day with breakfast at your lodge and transfer to Ngorongoro conservation area with your packed lunch for a full day Crater game drive. You will descend 600 meters into the crater and enjoy seeing wildlife species such as cheetahs, lions, leopards, elephants, antelopes, giraffes, buffalos, wildebeests and many others. You will also visit Lake Magadi, which is a large but shallow alkaline lake in the south-western corner and is among the main features of the crater. You will see a large number of flamingos, hippos as well as other bird species along the lake-shores. Dinner and overnight at lodge as above
Day 4: Transfer to Serengeti National Park – Central Serengeti – afternoon game drive
After breakfast, meet your safari guide and set off to Serengeti National Park with your packed lunch. It’s about 4 hours’ drive through Ngorongoro conservation area with stopovers for sightseeing – game drive and visit the Olduvia gorge. Proceed to Central Serengeti and connect for an afternoon/evening game drive before you check-in at your booked lodge for dinner and overnight stay at Tukaone Camps
Day 5: Full day in Central Serengeti national park
You will have an early breakfast at your lodge ahead of the full day wildlife viewing activity as you explore Serengeti National Park. During your morning game drive in the wilderness of the national park, you will see a variety of wildlife species like lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, Zebras, Impala, African wild dogs, Serval cats, elephants and many other species then have your packed lunches in the national park as you prepare for another game drive after lunch. You will also drive around the kopjes like the Simba kopjes during your game drive in Serengeti national park and you will enjoy seeing lions as they watch their prey in the savannah plains from the top of the rocks. You will also enjoy watching the sunset as your guide drives you back to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay at lodge as above
Day 6: Transfer to Lake Manyara National Park
Have early breakfast, check-out and transfer to Lake Manyara national park and connect for a game drive in Lake Manyara located on the shores of the Great Rift Valley of East Africa. Go for a rewarding and excellent game drive as in search of animals. The most sited habitats including the Elephants, tree-climbing lions, Giraffes, Zebras, Baboons and others. Drive to your booked lodge for dinner and overnight at Twiga Safari Lodge
Day 7: Return to Arusha – Fly to Uganda
After breakfast, check-out and embark on your 3-4 hours’ journey back to Arusha. Upon arrival, the driver will drop you off at Kilimanjaro airport for your onward booked flight to Uganda.
Upon arrival at Entebbe airport, you will meet your driver to take you to your booked hotel in Entebbe. Check-in for dinner and overnight stay at Best Western Garden Hotel for mid-range/Papyrus Guesthouse for budget
Day 8: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable national park
After breakfast, meet your driver and transfer to Bwindi impenetrable forest national park located in the western part of Uganda with approximately 540km from Kampala by road (8-9 hours’ drive). You will have a stopover at the equator for photography and the experiment and another stopover in Mbarara town for lunch. Proceed to Bwindi arriving in the evening. Dinner and overnight stay at Buhoma Community Rest Camp Lodge for budget
Day 9: Gorilla trekking experience
Enjoy early morning breakfast and transfer to the park headquarters with your packed lunch for briefing by the ranger guides and later head into the forest for your trek. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi takes 2 to 8 hours depending on the movement of the gorillas. These primates roam the park freely and there is no way of telling where they will be for a particular day. On finding them, you will be allowed 1 hour to view and take photos of these gentle primates, enjoy your lunch packs and meet your driver / guide and transfer back to your lodge. The time after trekking, you will go for a Batwa community tour. Dinner and overnight at Lodge as above
Day 10: Transfer back to Entebbe and Departure
You will enjoy breakfast and transfer back to Kampala with a stopover in Mbarara town for lunch. Proceed to Kampala/Entebbe arriving in late afternoon. You will be drop off at the hotel in either Kampala/Entebbe as you advise or at Entebbe airport for your onward flight back home.
End of 10 Days Budget Tanzania and Uganda Gorilla Safaris
