Compare Untouched Africa: Gorillas of the Congo Basin by Extraordinary vs Kenya Family Safari by Intrepid Travel

Day 1: Brazzaville

Upon landing in Brazzaville in the the Republic of Congo you will be met by our ground crew outside the baggage hall and be transferred to a four star hotel in the country's capital.

Day 2: Oyo or Owando towns

After an early breakfast, you will depart Brazzaville today in private 4 x 4 vehicles along the Republic of Congo's Highway 1. Your destination tonight is the upcountry town of Oyo, where Rep. of Congo's current president was born, or Owando town, an hour’s driving distance beyond Oyo. Enjoy simple accommodation and late dinner in Oyo or Owando. Total driving distance today is six to seven hours.

Day 3:  Ouesso town and Nouabale-Ndoki National Park

This morning you must get an early start in order to arrive in Ouesso by early afternoon. After the bridge across the Mambili River, Highway 1 becomes rough gravel for the last four hours of the drive. By this time there is forest on both sides of the road. Every so often you will pass small villages which border the route. If there are road delays then it is possible to overnight in Ouesso town but ideally, you should arrive at Ouesso wharf on the Sangha River by 2:30 pm. Once at the Ouesso port, a motorized canoe called a pirogue in French Africa and the primary means of transportation in the Congo Basin waits to take visitors up the Sangha River. Your destination tonight is Bomassa, Nouabale-Ndoki National Park's headquarters. Depending on the number of your party, and river flow, this boat ride is between three and five hours. Traveling by boat on the Congo Basin’s river highways is yet another highlight of this safari.

Accommodation at Bomassa is modest, as scientific research continues to be its focus. Shared rooms come with mosquito nets and bedding; bathroom and shower are just outside the rooms. The camp uses a generator for power which is switched off at 9 PM.

Day 4 & 5:  Habituated Gorillas of Mondika Camp- Nouabale-Ndoki National Park

Today you head for Mondika Camp via 4 x 4 vehicle (50 minutes) and on foot (2.5 hours). There is some flooded forest to cross at the beginning of the walk and rubber boots are required. The depth

of water depends on the season and the flooded forest is significantly less of an obstacle during the dry season from mid-November to end of February. You will arrive in time for lunch.

There are two habituated gorilla groups around Mondika and after a quick rest and lunch you will head out for your first gorilla tracking! One of the gorilla families often comes very close to camp. At least two gorilla permits are recommended for a two night stay at Mondika. Additional permits can be purchased as well.

This tour allows you to experience an extraordinary culture as well. Congo Basin forests are the ancestral homes of Ba’Aka pygmies, traditionally hunters and gatherers, and cornerstones of today's tourism programs because without their knowledge of the forest and its wildlife the gorilla habituation programs would not exist. Every time you enter the forest you are escorted by a Ba’Aka guide.

The next morning you will go on your second trek to visit the habituated gorilla families in the morning and if you wish enjoy a forest walk in afternoon learning about tree species and indigenous plants from your Ba'Aka guides. In the evening relax and chat with your Ba'Aka trackers or the head of gorilla habituation and research also acts as camp manager at Mondika (the camp manager/research will often accompany you on gorilla treks as well)

While Mondika Camp sleeps a maximum of eight visitors, only two/three people at a time can visit the gorillas. The camp manager decides on gorilla trekking logistics for each group of visitors.

Day 6 & 7: Mbeli Camp and Mbeli Bai- Observations of Unhabituated Gorillas

Today you head to Mbeli Camp on foot (2.5 hours), by road (40 minutes), and by pirogue (90 minutes). The pirogue ride up the Ndoki and Mbeli Rivers to Mbeli Camp is perhaps the most magical of all the river travel on this tour. There is no motor; instead, two trackers stand upright at the front and back of the traditional wooden pirogue and propel the craft along with long paddles. On either side of the narrow river channel is lush forest. Sometimes the forest meets overhead creating a canopy over your canoe. After lunch, you walk 45 minutes through the forest to Mbeli Bai, an extensive clearing several hundred meters in length. Here wildlife such as elephants, gorillas, buffaloes and antelopes come to feed on nutritious aquatic plants growing in the swampy soil. Wildlife is observed from a raised wooden platform located in the tree-line.

This is your best opportunity on the tour for spotting the some 150 unhabituated gorillas known to researchers who come here (there may be as many at 90,000 lowland gorillas in Republic of Congo, these 150 are those that are well known to the researchers and come to the Mbeli Bai regularly). You return to camp in the late afternoon.

Mbeli Camp consists of four screened bungalows on stilts, all facing the forest. Bathing houses and long drop toilets are at the foot of the stairs of each bungalow. Water is heated for hand showers. There is no generator at Mbeli Camp. Dinner is usually attended by the resident researchers which allows guests to learn more about the wildlife under observation at Mbeli. On your second day at Mbeli Bai you will spend a full day at the observation tower with picnic lunch.

Day 8:  Bomassa

Today you begin your journey back to Brazzaville. You will return to Bomassa and the park headquarters, arriving mid to late morning. After a brief rest, you transfer by motorized pirogue downriver to Ouesso town where you will spend the night. There will be time to explore this frontier town on foot. Spend the night at one of two simple hotels in Ouesso.

Day 9:  Ouesso – Oyo/Owando

Continue retracing your steps, spending the night in either Oyo or Owando.

Day 10: Brazzaville

You will arrive Brazzaville early to mid afternoon and will have use of a day room until your early evening check-in for your flight.

If you are spending an additional day in Brazzaville you can enjoy a city tour with visits to local churches and markets or a visit to a local non-profit which supports and feeds local street children.

JC, private guide and logistics master will be with you every step of the way while your guides in the park are the Ba'Aka and the researchers who live and work with the gorillas. If you are interested and book your trip at least 6 months in advance you can choose to have the founder of Congo Gorilla Tours, Leslie Nevison, join you.

Because of the size of the camps each trip is limited to a maximum of 8 people but can be done for as few as 2.

Day 1 Nairobi

Jambo! Welcome to Kenya. Your adventure begins with a welcome meeting at 5pm. You can arrive at any time as there are no activities planned until this important meeting. Please ask the hotel reception where it will take place. If you can't arrange a flight that will arrive in time for this, consider arriving a day early so you are able to attend. If you are going to be late, please inform the hotel reception. We'll be collecting your insurance details and next of kin information at this meeting, so please ensure you have these to give to your leader. If you arrive early, perhaps head out and explore the National Museum of Kenya, the Karen Blixen Museum or the highly recommended Bomas of Kenya where traditional homesteads of several Kenyan tribes are displayed at an outdoor village. Notes: Petty theft is common in Nairobi. As a general rule, the safest place for your valuables is on your person in a neck wallet or money belt. Your hotel room or reception may also have a safe in which to store things. If you do decide to go exploring, make sure you get local advice on where it is and isn't safe to walk – particularly for later in the day. Be careful not to leave bags unattended on chairs or the floor when you're in a bar or restaurant. Without being paranoid, appearing vigilant is a great deterrence to would-be thieves. Also, make scans of important travel documents and email them to yourself – this will save you hours of time in paperwork if anything does happen.

Day 2 Lake Nakuru

Today will be a long day of adventuring. After breakfast, you will visit Langata Giraffe Sanctuary. This conservation project allows you to see the animals up close while learning more about them and their plight in the modern world.  After lunch, head out of Nairobi towards Lake Nakuru (approximately 4-5 hours), arriving in time to pitch a tent at the campsite before the sun goes down. The alkaline waters of Lake Nakuru once supported an extremely large colony of flamingos – estimated to be up to two million strong! Over the course of the year the lake changes size considerably, shrinking to its smallest in March at the end of the dry season, and changing the type of birdlife and wildlife that inhabit the area. Unfortunately changes in water levels and chemical concentration caused the permanent population of flamingos to move elsewhere in the 1970s, however the lush area around the lake remains known for its bird life.

Day 3 Lake Naivasha

Head out on an early morning game drive around Lake Nakuru. Keep a lookout for the white rhinos that can often be found around the shores. Afterwards, encounter friendly locals on a village visit before moving on to Lake Naivasha (approx: 2-3 hour drive). Lake Naivasha is a birdwatcher's paradise with floating islands of papyrus reeds. Afternoon wind and storms can cause the lake to become suddenly rough and produce high waves. For this reason, the local Maasai christened the lake Nai'posha meaning 'rough water’, which the British later misspelt as Naivasha. There is an option to hire a bike and pedal around the lake this afternoon if you wish to stretch your legs after the drive.

Day 4 Lake Naivasha

After a camp breakfast, head towards Crater Lake and take part in a guided walk along one of the many trails. The waters of the lake draw a great range of game. Giraffes wander among the acacia, buffaloes wallow in the swamps and Colobus monkeys call from the treetops, while the lake’s large hippo population while away the day in the shallows. The walk takes 3 hours and we recommend you bring with you good sturdy foot wear. It is an easy walk. We will also hit the water for a boat ride across this vast lake. The afternoon is free to relax around the camp and take advantage of the swimming pool. 

Day 5 Great Rift Valley and Loita Hills

Depart Lake Naivasha, making a short stop in Narok to do a spot of food shopping. Continue to Loita Hills (approximately 5-6 hours), stopping for lunch en route. Today's drive crosses the Great Rift Valley, Africa's immense and spectacular great divide, and takes you into the remote region of Loita Hills. This is the home of the traditional Maasai people. Visit the Maasai, who are known for their vibrant red dress and elaborate jewellery, and gain an insight into the culture and ancient ways of this proud East African community. After setting up your tent, meet your Maasai hosts. A local elder will deliver a fascinating talk about the Maasai and their history and culture. You'll be shown around a traditional Maasai home and see where the resident cattle are kept. Showers, upgrades and WiFi are not available at tonight's bush camp.

Day 6 Masai Mara

Travel from Loita to Masai Mara (approximately 1-2 hours). The road is dusty when dry, and could be slippery and soft when wet, so the going may be slow. The Masai Mara is the quintessential African experience, with sparse open plains, dramatic skies and some of the world's most tremendous animals. After setting up camp, sit down to some lunch, then travel in our 4x4 for a 3 hour game drive through the wilderness of the Mara. Your campground tonight is located outside of the national reserve and has flush toilets and showers. There is an option to upgrade, depending on availability. WiFi is not available here.

Day 7 Masai Mara

Rise early and venture into the Masai Mara National Reserve for a full day of game driving (6hours). Explore this diverse environment and see a multitude of wildlife. Return to camp for lunch by the side of the Mara River – a great chance to spot crocs and hippos. Relax during the heat of the day before setting off again in the afternoon, expecting to return to camp around sunset.  We'll stop en-route for a picnic lunch.

Day 8 Nairobi

Cross the plains of the Mara and climb the Rift Valley’s eastern wall past Mount Suswa on the return drive to Nairobi (approximately 6 hours). En route there may be opportunities to stop and make some final purchases. Once back in Nairobi perhaps enjoy a final dinner with the group in a local restaurant and reflect on this incredible African adventure. If you're flying out today, please book a flight after 6:00pm.