East Africa Discovery — Self-Launched: Maasai Mara Safari, Chimps & Gorillas

Land at Jomo Kenyatta International (JKIA) and take the cheap Airport Bus (route 34, ~£1) or an airport taxi (~£12-15) to a hostel in Kilimani or Westlands. Spend the afternoon acclimatising: Kenyan coffee, a supermarket run for trekking snacks, and a walk in Karura Forest (~£3 entry) if you have energy. Sort a local SIM with data (Safaricom, ~£2-3 for a tourist bundle) and confirm your pre-booked Maasai Mara camping safari pickup for tomorrow morning. Cash is king for the next two weeks — withdraw Kenyan shillings here, and bring clean USD notes (post-2006) for Uganda/Rwanda.

🚌Airport bus (~£1) or taxi (~£13)

🛏Hostel dorm or budget guesthouse, Westlands/Kilimani (~£12-15)

• →Karura Forest walk (~£3)
• →Safaricom tourist SIM (~£3)
• →Nairobi National Museum optional (~£8-12)

Most budget operators run shared 3-day/2-night Mara camping safaris (book via GetYourGuide, Klook or a Nairobi hostel's recommended operator). You leave Nairobi around 7-8am in a shared 4x4 safari van, climbing through the Great Rift Valley viewpoint at Limuru/Narok escarpment (photo stop) and reaching the Mara late morning/early afternoon. After lunch in camp, do a late-afternoon game drive and, if your operator includes it, a visit to a Maasai village (entry ~£15-20 if not included — agree the price in advance). Look for giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, lion and elephant. This is the cheapest way to see the Mara without a private vehicle — expect 6-8 people per van.

🚌Shared safari van, ~5-6 hrs including stops (included in safari package)

🛏Budget tented camp (shared facilities) in/near the Mara, included in safari package

• →Great Rift Valley viewpoint stop
• →Afternoon game drive
• →Optional Maasai village visit (~£15-20)

Early-morning game drive (animals are most active before 9am) followed by a picnic-lunch full day inside the national reserve — the classic Mara experience and peak season (Jul-Oct) coincides with the Great Migration of wildebeest and zebra. The optional hot-air balloon safari is brilliant but expensive (~£380-400 per person directly with the balloon operator, versus the ~£400 add-on through a tour); skip it and put the money into your gorilla permit instead. Back to camp for dinner and a cold Tusker under the stars.

🚌Safari van, full-day game driving (included)

🛏Budget tented camp, included in safari package

• →Sunrise game drive
• →Full-day game drive in Maasai Mara National Reserve
• →Optional hot-air balloon (~£380-400, direct)

One last dawn game drive on the way out of the conservancy, then the drive back to Nairobi, arriving mid-afternoon. Optional stop at the Amani Ya Juu craft workshop/café (a women's fair-trade cooperative, free entry, lunch ~£6-8) if your driver can swing by. Evening free in Nairobi — try the cheap and excellent local eateries in Westlands for nyama choma or Kenyan-Indian food (~£6-8), or splash out on the Carnivore Restaurant (~£30-35) if you want the experience.

🚌Shared safari van back to Nairobi (included in safari package)

🛏Hostel dorm or budget guesthouse, Nairobi (~£12-15)

• →Dawn game drive
• →Amani Ya Juu craft cooperative and lunch (optional, ~£7)
• →Nairobi evening food crawl (~£8)

Two options: (1) Fly Nairobi–Entebbe with Fly540/Jambojet/Kenya Airways — book 6-10 weeks out and it's often ~£70-110; a boda-boda or shared taxi from Entebbe to Kampala is ~£2-4. (2) The backpacker's budget route: an overnight intercity coach (Modern Coast or similar) Nairobi–Kampala via the Malaba/Busia border, ~£22-30, roughly 13-15 hours. Either way, arrive in Kampala, get a Ugandan e-Visa in advance online (~£40-50) and sort a Ugandan SIM (MTN, ~£2). Stay in the backpacker-friendly Kabalagala or Bugolobi area and eat a rolex (Ugandan egg chapati wrap) for ~£1.

🚌Flight Nairobi–Entebbe (~£70-110) or overnight coach (~£25)

🛏Hostel dorm in Kampala, Kabalagala (~£10-14)

• →Uganda e-Visa (~£45)
• →Uganda SIM (~£2)
• →Kampala street food (rolex, ~£1)

Take a morning coach or shared minibus from Kampala (Namayemba/Qualicel bus parks) to Fort Portal — ~5-6 hours, ~£5-8. The route rolls through tea plantations and crater lakes towards the Rwenzori foothills. Base yourself in Fort Portal town (guesthouses ~£12-18) or a budget guest farm near Kibale, and arrange your chimp trekking permit for tomorrow (~£115-130 for Kibale — cheaper than the Kyambura option but book ahead, especially in high season). Afternoon: walk the crater lakes loop or the Amabere Caves (~£3-5), and eat at a local garden restaurant (~£4-6).

🚌Coach Kampala–Fort Portal (~£6, 5-6 hrs)

🛏Fort Portal guesthouse or Kibale-area guest farm (~£14-18)

• →Chimpanzee trekking permit for tomorrow (~£120)
• →Crater lakes walk or Amabere Caves (~£4)

Early-morning briefing at Kanyanchu visitor centre, then 3-4 hours trekking the evergreen rainforest with a ranger guide to find a habituated chimp family — you'll hear them long before you see them. Bring long trousers, gaiters (rentable ~£7) and old boots; it gets muddy. In the afternoon, the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary community walk (~£16-20) is excellent value — run by the local community, with colobus monkeys, great blue turacos and a proper village lunch at the Bigodi Women's Group (~£5).

🚌Boda-boda or shared taxi to park gate (~£3-5 return)

🛏Same Fort Portal guesthouse / guest farm (~£14-18)

• →Kibale chimpanzee trekking (permit included above)
• →Bigodi Wetland community walk (~£18)
• →Bigodi community lunch (~£5)

Shared taxi/coach south through Kasese to Kikorongo, crossing the Equator (stop for the photo with one foot in each hemisphere), then on to the Queen Elizabeth NP area — ~3-4 hours, ~£5-8. Stay in a budget lodge or banda near Katunguru or QENP's Mweya/Kasenyi area (~£18-25). Take an afternoon game drive in your lodge's shared 4x4 (~£25-35 per person, book at the lodge) — expect warthogs, buffalo, elephants, Uganda kob and, if lucky, tree-climbing lions in the Ishasha sector on the way through.

🚌Shared taxi/coach Fort Portal–Kikorongo/Queen (~£7)

🛏Budget lodge/banda near Queen Elizabeth NP (~£20)

• →Equator crossing stop
• →Afternoon shared game drive (~£30)

Sunrise game drive with a shared lodge vehicle (~£30-35), returning for lunch. In the afternoon, the Kazinga Channel boat cruise (~£25-30, book through your lodge or directly at Mweya) is the park's highlight — hundreds of hippos, elephants drinking at the shoreline, buffalo and a huge bird count. Park entry fees for QENP are ~£30-40 per 24 hours — confirm whether your lodge or driver includes them.

🚌Shared 4x4 in-park, boat on the Kazinga Channel

🛏Same budget lodge near Queen Elizabeth NP (~£20)

• →Sunrise game drive (~£32)
• →Kazinga Channel boat cruise (~£28)
• →Park entry (~£35)

Long scenic drive south — if you can, route via the Ishasha sector for its famous tree-climbing lions (~£35-45 shared vehicle), then on through Kabale and the terraced 'Switzerland of Africa' hills to Buhoma or Rushaga at the edge of Bwindi. ~6-8 hours total. Check in to a budget community-run lodge or campsite (~£20-30) and rest — tomorrow is the big one. Your gorilla permit (~£560-610, booked months in advance through the Uganda Wildlife Authority) should already be in hand; confirm your trekking sector and briefing time tonight. Bring gardening gloves, rain jacket, gaiters and a porter budget (~£15-20 — genuinely worth it).

🚌Shared 4x4/private hire QENP–Bwindi via Ishasha (~£35-45 per person shared)

🛏Budget community lodge or campsite on the edge of Bwindi (~£25)

• →Ishasha tree-climbing lion sector drive (~£40)
• →Bwindi gorilla permit (~£585)
• →Porter hire for tomorrow (~£17)

Up before dawn for the 7.30-8am briefing, then hike with rangers and trackers into the Impenetrable Forest — anything from 1 to 6 hours of steep, muddy, humid trekking before you find the family. You get one hour with the gorillas: silverbacks, mothers and infants at a few metres, and it's genuinely one of the best wildlife experiences on earth. Afterwards, relax at the lodge, visit a Batwa community experience if offered locally (~£20-25, a good way to support the community displaced from the forest), and get an early night. Your permit is the single biggest line in this budget — there is no cheap workaround, and permits do sell out in peak season (Jun-Sep, Dec-Feb).

🚌Walking to trailhead; boda-boda if needed (~£3)

🛏Same budget lodge at Bwindi (~£25)

• →Gorilla trekking (permit included above)
• →Optional Batwa community experience (~£22)

Take a shared taxi or matatu from Bwindi/Kabale to the Gatuna/Katuna border (~£5-8, 2-3 hours), then a Rwandan bus or shared taxi on to Kigali (~£4-6, 2-3 hours). Rwanda e-Visa ~£25-50 online in advance. In Kigali, hire a moto taxi (~£1-2) to the Kigali Genocide Memorial (free entry, audio guide ~£7 — genuinely essential), then lunch at the Nyamirambo Women's Centre (~£5-7, supporting a local women's cooperative). End the trip with a coffee at Question Coffee or a walk in Nyamirambo. If flying out today, book nothing earlier than 6pm.

🚌Shared taxi/matatu via Gatuna border (~£12 total), moto taxis in Kigali (~£2)

🛏Hostel dorm in Kigali (~£12-16) if staying on

• →Kigali Genocide Memorial (~£7 audio guide)
• →Nyamirambo Women's Centre lunch (~£6)
• →Rwanda e-Visa (~£35)