Epic Gorilla Trekking experience and Fascinating Masai Mara Game Drives

After an epic gorilla trekking trip to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, we set off for a 6 day fascinating Masai Mara experience.

https://www.adyeri.co/7-days-gorilla-tour-and-masai-mara-experience

Day one - Masai Mara experience

Epic Gorilla encounter

Africa's best national parks

More and more visitors flock each year to the continents' parks and reserves, bearing witness to nature on a grand scale and playing a vital role in generating tourism income.

Here are some of the top picks on the continent.

Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Maasai Mara National Reserve, which has been honored by the World Travel Awards, is named after its ancestral inhabitants, the Maasai people, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in southwest Kenya.

In addition to an impressive population of big cats, rhinos and elephants, it plays host from July through to October each year to one of the world's more spectacular movements of wildebeest known as the Great Migration, the phenomenon involves more than 1 million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of gazelles, zebras and other animals, which migrate from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Serengeti National Park was established in 1951, making it Tanzania's oldest national park. The park is arguably one of the most famous in the world and covers 5,700 square miles of grassland, riverine forest, woodlands and savannah.

It is famed for its spectacular scenery, diverse wildlife and its part in the impressive annual migration of more than a million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of other animals.

Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

Established in 1925, Virunga National Park is Africa's oldest national park and is often considered the crown jewel of parks on the continent. It lies in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The park is known for being the "continent's most biologically diverse protected area" and is home to endangered species, such as the mountain gorilla and the okapi.

In the 1970s, Virunga welcomed an average of 6,500 visitors every year, but it has suffered terribly from armed conflict and poaching. The park is slowly re-establishing itself through international donations.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda

The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is located in southwestern Uganda and is home to a multitude of birds, butterflies and endangered species, including the mountain gorilla. Some 300 wild gorillas live in the park, accounting for nearly half the world's population
The park also boasts more than 160 species of trees.
The main tourist attraction is gorilla tracking, which generates a steady stream of revenue for the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kruger National Park was established as a game reserve in 1898 and is home to a vast number of species, including more than 500 types of bird and more than 100 reptiles. It also boasts a huge diversity of trees and flowers.

The park is also known for big game, as well as more than 255 recorded archeological sites. Several rivers traverse the park from west to east, including the Sabie, Olifants, Crocodile, Letaba, Luvuvhu and Limpopo.

Wildlife encounters you will never forget

LION FEEDING FRENZY, KENYA          

THE ENCOUNTER

In Africa, everyone is a cat person. Giraffe are endearing, elephants are imposing, hippos can bellow like no one's business, but it is the big cats that are really mesmerizing, both for their beauty and for their ability to eviscerate you should the mood take them.

Of all the cats, the lions put on the best show. Leopards and cheetahs are shy, solitary creatures; lions, by contrast, let it all hang out. They seem remarkably unperturbed by spectators, whether they are engaged in marathon mating sessions or just lounging around on a tree branch.

The most spectacular moment for a lion encounter is, of course, feeding time, and since lions spend several days feasting off a kill, plenty of safari-goers get the chance to gatecrash a meal.

It is not a sight for the squeamish; if its good manners you want, stay at home. Safari is life unedited and when animals feed, there is plenty of blood and guts involved – literally. However, it is fascinating to see a wild animal eat. Turns out that lions' tongues are as rough as sandpaper, more than a match for the tender underbellies of their prey.

One of the most impressive things about life on the African plains is how many animals a single kill can sustain. Once the lions have taken their share of the carcass, other animals get a go. None will make a move while the lions surround the carcass, alternately dining and dozing, but a few metres away, a hungry horde eagerly positions itself, its members squabbling among themselves over who gets priority. The burly hyenas are top of the pecking order, followed by the slender jackals and finally the vultures. There will be enough for everyone, even if the poor old vultures have to make do with the least tempting morsels. 

NEED TO KNOW

Kenyan safari camps offer twice-daily game drives under the supervision of expert guides. The best wildlife viewing happens between the months of July and October. Leave the littlies at home; safari requires the ability to sit quietly for long periods of time

ESSENTIALS

Mara Ngenche Safari Camp, an intimate tented camp overlooking a hippo pool, offers spectacular wildlife encounters. Room and board rates start from $US807 ($1075).
 

SPOTTING GORILLAS, UGANDA

 THE ENCOUNTER

Gorillas have always driven humans a bit nutty. How else to explain their roles in Tarzan, and King Kong, and Planet of the Apes – how else to explain the likes of Dian Fossey going almost insane when gorillas emerged from the mist.

And yet, for an animal that has dominated our thoughts for so long, mountain gorillas are now so rare as to be just a human war or serious disease away from permanent annihilation. They are five times rarer than tigers, three times rarer than giant pandas, and you absolutely don't come across them by accident.

Instead, in a very few places, including Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, tourists can go on expensive, organized treks to reach the dwindling world of the mountain gorilla.

The rules and regulations are extensive – a maximum of 24 people a day are permitted to see the apes, with interactions limited to an hour, so as not to over-familiarize the gorillas with people, and to cut down on the chances of tourists doing something stupid.

Although they're completely wild, gorilla trekking in Bwindi comes with a virtual guarantee of success and a little hardship too.

"It seems really very unfair that man should have chosen them to symbolize everything that is aggressive and violent, when that is the one thing that the gorilla is not, and that we are."

NEED TO KNOW

You're not allowed to get closer than seven meters from mountain gorillas, but that doesn't mean they won't get closer to you. When they approach, don't stare into their eyes too long and try not to bare your teeth – even if all you want to do is smile. 

THE ESSENTIALS                                                               

You can track gorillas year-round, although the height of the rainy seasons can make the conditions heavy going. The best times are in the drier months from about June to mid-September or December to February.