GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

17 days from GBP1,999 to GBP2,399 including flights

Tripcode: AYU

Our Clients’ Reviews

Susan Jane Darnton

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written November 2008

Great trip with an excellent balance of wild-life viewing. The gorillas are a must for any animal fanatic. The Mara lives up to its TV reputation and there are great photographic opportunities everywhere.

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Mark Brannigan

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written November 2008

I'm not normally one for writing reviews, but the sheer quality and experiences from this holiday have prompted me to do so - which in itself must be an amazing endorsement of what an amazing trip this was.The group of people, the tour leaders (Julius, Laban, Leo - all legends!!), the locations, the people we met along the way, the activities and most cetainly the range of animals created such an amazing blend of experiences that I canot recommend this trip highly enough!If you are thinking of Africa as a destination - this trip simply has to go in to your top 3 choices, if not the hands down winner!

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Ruth Richardson

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written November 2008

I remember arriving in Nairobi airport on the first day of this trip and wondering what I had signed up for. By the time I had spent six hours in the airport and then flown to Kigali where the trip truely began, I was starting to adjust to culture shock, or maybe I was just too exhausted to worry about it! Either way, it was a relief to spot the exodus clipboards and be told by our guides to 'stand over there and wait for the rest of the group'. After checking into the hotel and completing first night formalities we all started to relax and very quickly the early starts, full days and African quirks became the norm. Almost just as quickly, it was all over and we were back at Nairobi airport (which seemed much more friendly than the first time around) saying goodbye to our guides and checking onto our flight home. Was it a good trip??? It was an excellent trip in every which way and although I wouldn't do exactly the same trip again, I will be checking out more of Africa in the near future.

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JASON STEAD

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written November 2008

Our first trip with Exodus, we made some great friends on the truck, saw some unforgetable sights and generally had a ball

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Melanie Whitfield

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written November 2008

I knew this was going to be a good trip but the reality far exceeded all my expectations!!!! My group was fantastic, our tour leaders the absolute best and I would recommend this to anyone and everyone.

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Wendy Hamilton

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written October 2008

An amazing experience from start to finish - very well-organised tour, just the right ratio of activity:leisure, epic wildlife encounters, great crew, fabulous food and meeting very special people - some of whom I hope to keep close for a long time, others I'll simply never forget.

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Kerry Flood

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written September 2008

The most magical experience imaginable from start to end! I didn't want to come home!

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Joyce Serf

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written September 2008

A fantastic trip, well organised with a good balance of activities.

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Janis McBride

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written September 2008

A very busy but thoroughly enjoyable trip, we never stopped the adventure from the minute we landed. The group soon became very cohesive under the direction of the group leader, like a family as Often told us we would be.

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Antonia Harrison

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written July 2008

When I saw the truck on the first day in Kenya, I thought we were going to be invading Uganda and Rwanda rather than going on a vacation – but I found I got quickly attached to our lovely new home and became a committed overlander. We had a great group of travellers, and the trip leaders were an integral part of this experience – being great at their jobs but also the best of friends. The obvious highlights were the Masai Mara safari and hot air balloon trip, the Gorilla trekking, and the white water rafting at Jinga, however loads of other stops along the way made special memories – particularly at Lake Bunyonyi and at the Rwandan orphanage we visited. As a first-time overlander, this trip was perfect – the long drives were actually few and far between, and the basic camping was limited to less than half of the trip as we had walk-in tents with beds at many of the locations. The temperatures were also moderate in July - suntan weather but not actually hot (and a little chilly at night sometimes). All in all, more comfortable than you’d expect, absolutely no time spare to get bored, and a great deal of good local beer to get through in the camp bars each night. Nice.

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celia shephard

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written July 2008

A huge amount crammed into 2 weeks and very thoughtfully structured. The guides and cooks were superb, and were as excited by the experiences offered on the trip as the group. I've done over 10 trips like this with Exodus and similar companies, and this struck exactly the right balance between being full of new experiences without ever feeling like a relentless slog hours on the road-wise.

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Louise Carlson

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written July 2008

A great mix of wildlife, adventure and culture.

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Jayne Bryant

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written March 2008

This trip was so much better than expected there were so many highlights, the gorrillas, the kids in Uganda, all the wildlife in the serengeti, and the group leaders were fantastic and really made the trip special.

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Donald Sandeman

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written February 2008

Due to civil unrest in Kenya the itinerary was completely changed at the last minute with the Kenyan part of the trip replaced by a trip through the Serengeti in Tanzania. Exodus did a remarkable job in arranging such an interesting and enjoyable alternative at very short notice. It did, however, involve some very long and arduous road journeys through territories of which the guides had no previous experience. They coped with great humour skill and patience all adding to a wonderful adventure.

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alan finlayson

GORILLAS & MASAI MARA

Written January 2008

amazing wildlife, spectacular scenery, exhilarating rapids, and -well mountain gorillas (no words can describe seeing these animals up close), all topped off with fantastic staff.

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Karen Francis

Wildlife extravaganza!

Written November 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Seeing the Amaharo family of gorillas in Rwanda was an experience I will remember always - standing just a very few feet from a silverback; being gently knocked off my feet by a playful but determined young blackback; watching babies playing in the tree branches whilst their mothers contemplated life chewing on bamboo shoots - priceless. And that was only day 3!! What followed was a huge animal lineup - cheetah, lion, antelope, chimpanzee, hippopotamus, rhinocerus, jackal, hyena, serval, monkeys of all shapes and sizes and birds, birds, birds. A wildlife enthusiast and photographer's dream!

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Linda Ashpole

Up close and personal!!

Written November 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
This type of holiday was completely new to my husband and I. We were both excited but apprehensive - unsure of how we would get on with the camping side of things. Would we be issued with our own trowel, for example. So to arrive at proper camp sites was a huge relief, even if the facilities were rather basic at times.The trip was fabulous. East Africa is a beautiful part of the world and the people are warm and friendly. From taking a balloon trip over the Masai Mara with a champagne breakfast at the end, to white water rafting in Uganda (incredible, especially as I don't like water!) every day was a new experience.However, the whole reason for the trip was, of course, to see the animals and ultimately the gorillas.I cannot put into words how I felt when I first caught sight of the gorillas. These are truly superb creatures and to be priveleged to visit them and to observe them on their territory was surreal. To say we were up close and personal with them is an understatement as one of the male black-backs decided he wanted to play with us. He obviously hadn't heard of the 7 metre rule! I will never forget the experience and as a member of the Gorilla Organisation, I will continue to support the good work being done to help prevent these magnificent animals from being massacred to extinction.

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Glenn Shaw

$500 for an hour? Worth every penny!

Written November 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Balloon flight over the Masai Mara and seeing lionesses with a fresh kill. The herds of wildebeest (and I thought sheep were stupid...). Drinking Tusker and toasting marshmallows over the camp fire in Lake Nakuru NP. Catching fireflies at Bujagali Falls. Quad biking at Bujagali Falls. Being able to sleep on a moving truck. The other people on the tour. And, of course, the gorillas - especially the boisterous blackback that grabbed 2 of the women in our viewing group!

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Krissy Moffat

An extremley serial adventure

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Three moments stand out the most for us. 1) The unbeliveable calmness and sheer lack of distance between us and a 35 stone silverback gorilla who didn't seem to mind we were following his family through the forest. It was simply amazing and the quickest hour of my life.2) The welcoming hospitality of the people we met throughout Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya, especially the morning we spent at a school in Uganda at Lake Bunyoni where the head teacher showed us around his school and the children put on a show for us.3) The sheer close proximity of sleeping lions who had just made a kill and were guarding it in the Masi Mara. Was totally unexpected to get that close to them - the pictures are wonderful.

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Jane Taylor

Such an incredible journey

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Seeing the sun rise over the Masai Mara whilst floating in a hot air balloon, followed by seeing an elephant stroll across as we ate our breakfast in the open air was truly amazing. Watching the Susa group of gorillas was an unforgetable experience - not really able to find the words to describe it yet - but WOW!The African people - stunning smiles everywhere you turn.

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Sylvia Horsburgh

Traveling in the truck was un really seen more being that bit higher up

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Walking round the corner and there they were the gorillas was out of this world. Could not believe how close we got to them. My whole was covered in goosepimples un real

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Rhiannon Smith

My gorillas and masai mara experience

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
I think that the most inspirational part of the trip was how lovely all of the locals were. I think that the locals can have a huge effect on the trip.

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Elizabeth Mcelrea

Gorillas - the experience of a lifetime ...

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Seeing the mountain gorillas and visiting the genocide memorial

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Sophie Smither

This Muzungu wishes all day every day could be like those 2 weeks

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Where do I start? Trip of a lifetime seems a cliche but it really was. Trekking gorillas in Rwanda is unforgettable, not least because of the journey just to get to the volcanos they live on! But then an hour in their company is not nearly enough to appreciate their grace, intelligence and beauty and how similar they are to us.After that it was one adventure after another: Swimming in the beautiful Lake Bunyoni, crossing the equator, hanging out at a chimpanzee sanctuary, nearly drowning on the crazy rapids of the Nile whilst white water rafting, getting our truck stuck in a Kenyan National Park and having to push in the rain and mud and buffalos, hot air ballooning over thousands of flamingos, spectacular panoramas out the truck window and game spotting the Big Five and loads more in the Masai Mara. All that plus an awesome bunch of people to spend the nights drinking, talking and playing cards with, and three wise men in charge. We cant get it out of our system and were plotting our return before we'd even unpacked.

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Roger Dainty

We share a lot more than DNA

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Spending an hour face to face with 13 gorillas. No zoom lense needed to capture superb photos and video footage.Lions in the Masai Mara settling down to lunch - great viewing unless you are a gazelle.White water rafting on the Nile - an awesome experience. Just make sure you are not in the bar the night before - if you see the video of the previous days trip you will probably chicken out of going. You will go in the water but the life jacket will bring you back up ................. eventually!

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Joanne Halpin

Just an absolutely breathtaking experience..

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
There were so many amazing highlights on this trip - but for me, getting so close to the mountain gorillas in Rwanda and witnessing the migration of the wildebeast as they entered the Masai Mara, were just two of the most amazing experiences I will never forget. Just absolutely breathtaking!!

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Christopher Vernon-Parry

Grunting Gorillas

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
A number of highlights on the trip;1. Cheetahs up close and personal. To see these beautiful animals in their natural habitat was fantastic2. The sheer size of the Massi Mara, the skies go on for miles. You've seen the images from all the wildlife documentaries you have ever seen but it still does not prepare you to just stand there and take it all in for yourself3. The encounter with the Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda was an unforgettable experience. The gorillas are amazing creatures hugle powerful adult males looking out for their extended family group, young ones running and playing around with all of the group, mothers caring for each others young ones. The meeting is so short the hour flashes past like a few minutes but you'll never forget it.4. Being up close and in contact with Africa as you travel through on the truck. We thought it gave us a good introduction to Africa and the different people and landscapes of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.5. Rwanda. The way the country has come together after the civil war to forgive and rebuild, not to brush under the carpet. It is really inspirational to hear people's stories and see what they are achieving as a country together.

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Kristal Miller

save the gorillas!

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Obviously seeing the gorillas was an amazing unique experience. It is awful to think that these beautiful creatures are on the edge of extinction. Doing this trip and paying to see the gorillas is helping someway towards hopefully ensuring their survival.

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Simon Gillard

Trip of a life time!

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Gorillas

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Paul Tillsley

wildlife and numb bums!

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Seeing mountain gorillas in their natural habitat totally unconcerned by the gawping tourists.

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Helen Linton

play with the pussy cats

Written September 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
The whole trip was fantasic and if i had to say my favourite parts, it would have to be coming up very close to a male lion and the close encounter with the silverback. The part that influenced me most, the walk around the memorial in Rwanda...... never has a place had so much affect on me the second i walked through a door!

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Delia Graham

More than I dreamt of ..

Written January 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
The close encounter with the gorillas was absolutely awesome, obviously no-one told the gorillas to keep 7m from us! What a privilege to have experienced such intimate observation of these fabulous animals.

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