Gorillas And Gameparks In East Africa

One of the most exhilarating travel destinations on earth, Katie Carson tells us all about the amazing Gorillas & Gameparks overland trip with Oasis Overland in Africa!

My trip started off on the outskirts of Nairobi, and after a very warm welcome, and a chance to meet other passengers, we set off on our trip. The trip went from Kenya, through Uganda into Rwanda before returning to Nairobi, Kenya.

There was a lot of distance to cover in short amount of time, but it always amazed me how the long drive days often went relatively quickly, as you would spend the time looking out at the vastly impressive landscapes through the rolled up side windows and waving at locals who were just so friendly throughout the whole trip. The truck ‘Woxy’ like all Oasis Overland trucks is custom built, and has inward facing seats, so socialising with others and is so much easier than your usual bus seating arrangement. There is also a ‘beach’ area, which is a raised part of the truck where the roof can be opened (the trucks equivalent to a sun roof!)! The truck also had its own library on board, along with a few board games, and of course we could play our own music though the iPod dock – not that you need many distractions when on this type of trip.

We visited so many great places, but the few that stood out for me were:

Lake Nakuru in Kenya was an outstanding stop on the trip. This is a fantastic National Park in the Rift Valley where we got to see a variety of wildlife including hippos, white and black rhinos, giraffe, flamingos, lions and much more. We had a full game drive here, where our memory cards were quickly filled up with all the photos that we were taking. Having been on the more well known safaris/national parks in Africa this one was just as good, if not better in some ways due to it being less well known, and therefore fewer vehicles and tourists in the park. Our lunch spot was at the top of a hill where we could see the whole park below us, and every now and then catching the glimpse of the animals that we were about to see in our afternoon drive.

Next up was white water rafting in Uganda down the White Nile, which was a real adrenaline rush and a great day out. After a quick lesson by our rafting guide on how to paddle, sit and get back in to the raft after doing a practice capsize, we set off on our journey. There were eight rapids, which were grade five and in-between these were relatively long stretches of calm waters. Our raft flipped on two rapids chucking us all out but we were all quickly picked up by the guides in kayaks, who took us back to the raft and then we were on our way again ready to take on what lay ahead! The previous day we had all been on a sunset cruise down the White Nile, which was a more relaxing experience!

Another highlight in Uganda is Lake Bunyonyi, and is a memory that will stick with me forever, as this is where we were for Christmas day, spending time with children from a school for orphans that is sponsored by Oasis. To get to this remote school we took a boat across the lake and then set off up the steep slopes up to the school, at the top of which we were rewarded with songs and dancing that the children also got us to join in, much to their amusement as well as ours!

Trekking with gorillas in Rwanda was the main highlight of the trip. The trek itself was quite hard work as there had been a heavy downpour the night before and water buffalo had trudged up the paths, but to add to this there were also stinging nettles that came up to our shoulders that were stinging us through our clothes, but our guides were great, keeping us to a pace that we could all keep up with. We took regular breaks where the guides would impart their very in-depth knowledge about gorillas in general, as well as about the particular group we were about to see. After a two-hour trek we were rewarded with a group of 10 gorillas, which included three silverbacks and on baby gorilla. Being stood just over a metre away from the gorillas in their natural habitat is just an incredible feeling, and we were definitely entertained by the very inquisitive and playful baby.

Having always travelled independently in the past, I can honestly say this is a great way to travel, as the stress of organising a trip is taken away from you. You are well looked after by the Oasis crew (driver and tour leader) – and it is just a great sociable holiday where you get stuck in, and experience local cultures all the while having fun! I am already looking forward to going on my next trip with Oasis wherever it may be!

For more information visit Oasisoverland.co.uk

Courtesy of Katie Carson
Africa & Central Asia Sales & Operations