Hannah, a born travellers hopped on our Ultimate African Overlander 58 Day tour. Over the next 3 weeks, follow Hannah as she embarks on her adventure of a life time.
Here is Hannah’s first post as she departed Nairobi to the Gorilla’s and her adventure with these mighty giants before returning to Nairobi.
When I first booked my overland tour with Acacia, to be honest I didn’t really know what overlanding was… I just knew that I wanted to see lots of different and exciting African countries with other fellow travellers. So following my amazing experience, I’ve put together a summary of my Ultimate African Overlander 58 day tour with Acacia Africa!
I flew into Nairobi and jumped in a taxi to meet with my new found family at the pre-departure meeting. After meeting and greeting everyone, I was more relaxed and ready to start the adventure.
Up bright and early on day one of the tour – eager and ready. I met with the group and our new home for the next 58 days! We were assigned a locker on the truck to keep all of our belongings and sat down as the truck engine started and left for our adventure. It became evident that the roads in Africa aren’t quite like the roads in England as we bounced around the back of the truck all laughing hysterically, a great way to break the ice!
The truck became our friend, he had a name, and we became quite attached. There were power points on the truck, a fridge, personal lockers, and plenty of books to exchange for the long travel days! The truck had an underneath compartment that kept our food, cooking equipment, and tents, as well as drinkable water.
The first 14 days of our tour we headed through Kenya stopping at the flamingo enriched Lake Nakuru before crossing the border to Uganda. Heading north we trekking to see the chimpanzee’s before making our way to Lake Bunyonyi for our trek to see the mountain gorillas. I can honestly say that trekking to see these majestic creatures in their natural habitat has to be the best thing I have ever done in my life, but certainly not the easiest trek to do.
A trek can last anywhere between 30 minutes – 6 hours. Our trek took about 4 hours up and down some pretty tough terrain. Once we neared the gorillas, we dropped our bags and prepared for our 1 hour view time. The mountain gorillas were meters away from us, a large troop, playing and interacting with each other. As we walked away a huge silverback headed down the hill right in our direction and we froze to let him walk past us. What an experience!!
Trekking the mountain gorilla is not the cheapest wildlife activity to do, but understandably, it’s all for the protection of these beautiful creatures. I almost considered not to do this and I am so glad I did as it’s honestly worth every penny.
Leaving Bwindi Impenetrable forest we stop at Jinja for a fun filled adrenalin few days – white water rafting on the River Nile and to interact with the kids at the Soft Power Project – a wonderful NGO to improve quality of life though education before making our way back to Nairobi.
Stay tuned for Hannah’s next post as she lives her dreams to see the ‘Big 5’ game animals of the Maasai Mara and Serengeti and Ngorongoro National Parks; relax on the white sandy palmed fringed beaches of Zanzibar and interact with the stunning people of Malawi.
Blog and Images by: Hannah Regan