An amazing experience
The permits are expensive, but I feel that the experience is definitely worth it. After hiking through rural villages and into the rain forest, our guides were able to locate a family of gorillas. For the next hour we observed them from only a few feet away. One got up on his hind legs to beat his chest and an infant poked its head out from time to time from the protection of his mother. We got soaked from the rain on the hike back, so I recommend bringing a raincoat and rain pants.
See the Chimpanzees
A great way to get close to primates in the wild at a fraction of the cost of seeing the gorillas. The chimps that we met were incredibly active. They swung from the trees above and ran through the forest floor around us. Our guide gave us an excellent insight into the hierarchy and activities of the group. The forest is dense and this makes it a little difficult to take pictures, but it also acts as a blind that allows you to get very close to the animals.
IT
35-50 years of age
Great wildlife, less crowded than Tanzania, stronger bush vibe than Namibia, great place for safari
I had game drives both in Queen Elizabeth NP and in Murchison Falls NP. At Queen Elizabeth I had good wildlife sightings along the Kazinga Channel and I did a walking safari with a ranger at Ishasha, where I had the chance to see a large school of hippos from quite a short distance. Game drives in Queen Elizabeth NP were extremely good for scenery, maybe I expected more wildlife. Accomodation/food: I always camped; accomodation at Ishasha was extremely basic, as well as the restaurant (food was enough and acceptable anyway). Accomodation and restaurant were better at Mwenya Campsite (still basic, though). Hippos are never far from the campsites!
Murchison Falls NP: great sceneries and game drives, lots of animals, especially giraffes. Navigation to Murchison Falls was definitely good both for sceneries and animal sightings (birding too). Accomodation and food at Red Chili Campsite were good (and the beer cold!).
In both parks we were accompanied in our game drives by rangers, all of them nice, providing interesting infos and very good in finding animals.
An extremely good experience overall.
IT
35-50 years of age
Review about Murchison Falls National Park by mauro g.
Great wildlife and sceneries, good accomodation and food, a strong bush vibe.
IT
35-50 years of age
Review about Queen Elizabeth National Park by mauro g.
Great sceneries, plenty wildlife but not so much as in Murchison Falls NP
Review about Kenya by LimeWave
Lots of chances to watch wildlife, not that many visitors and a varied landscape.
A grand meeting with nature and wild life
We traveled with JK Safaris for a week and our first stop was at Meru. This is a bit away from Nairobi and maybe that's why the park isn't very busy. It's a big advantage since you at time can view wildlife on pretty much on your own. This park might be one of your best chances to get to see one of the last black rhinos in the wild. We stayed at Murera Springs Eco Lodge which offered nice rooms just by the entrance to the park and also featured a small swimming pool for relaxing in the sun in between the safaris. Our guide Sammy from JK was really friendly and tried to give us the best experience possible. We had several meetings with Giraffes (and these are a different kind from those in Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara), Elephants, Rhinos (black and white) and other beautiful animals. A visit is highly recommended.
Review about Masai Mara National Reserve by LimeWave
Lots and lots of wild animals, maybe the one with most wildlife of all parks. The landscape is savanna and not that varied. This is the most visited park and you sometimes find almost traffic jams around the animals. Then again it's a big park and you could sometimes go for quite some time without running into other tourists.
Review about Lake Nakuru National Park by LimeWave
Amazing wildlife, beautiful setting around a great lake, a bit too close to Kenyas second biggest towns makes the rating of the bush vibe a bit lower.
US
50-65 years of age
Review about Red Chilli Tours by Ken
Very efficient, reasonable, and competent. Accomodations and food were excellent.