East Africa’s safari parks are located in remote places far from urban and international airports, making transfers between attractions by road physically demanding for a traveler with less time. With a light aircraft, a fly-in safari in East Africa will transfer you between a destination’s attractions, saving you time on transfers so that you can do more with your East Africa safari vacation.
Fly-in safari will pick you from the airport with a light aircraft; fly over that vast plains or mountain to your safari park’s dirt landing strip, and in between other locations for your safari duration. It is the perfect way to explore different parts of the country without struggling through dusty or potholed roads.
Fly-in safari light air crafts range from small 20–40-seater jets to 2–4-seater prop planes and everything in between. We recommend fly-in safari trips to solo travelers and couples or two people traveling together. If you’re traveling in a group of four or more, driving would be cheaper and more fun than flying. But if you have the budget for it, take the aerial transfer.
This fly-in tour in Tanzania and Uganda opens with wildebeest migration and then gorilla trekking in Uganda’s teeming rain forests before flying you to the Serengeti in Tanzania to marvel at the Great Wildebeest Migration. Then it is on to the Ngorongoro Crater, home to all of Africa’s Big 5 – lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffaloes.
Flying between destinations minimizes you’re traveling time and is less tiring than driving. To ensure that the pace stays easy and convenient, there are a couple of overnight breaks at city hotels – a great time to shake the dust out of your boots and catch up with news from home.
Your safari accommodation takes the form of small and intimate tented camps in prime game-viewing locations and consists of large and luxurious tents that come complete with en-suite bathrooms and outdoor areas to sit back in and soak up the views. You enjoy morning and afternoon game drives and have opportunities to interact with the local community too. Additional activities such as hot-air balloon rides can be arranged.
Take breakfast at the hotel then transfer back to Entebbe Airport for a flight to the town of Kihihi. Here you are met and transferred to Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp where you check in for three nights. There is time to freshen up in your suite one of the only eight at camp and each with views into the lush jungle canopy – before meeting the local community and enjoying an informative walk with local guides.
The following two days are devoted to exploring the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park with expert guides. A gorilla encounter is the main focus (you have two gorilla day permits) and there are other primates to look for as well as amazing birds and butterflies. Back at camp as the night cools down, you have a roaring campfire and local songs to look forward to as well as a deep bathtub in your suite, perfect for soothing any aching muscles after a day of hiking.
Take a flight from Uganda to an airstrip in the Serengeti National Park where you are met and driven to Sanctuary Kichakani Serengeti Camp to check in for three nights. The sleek and stylish Kichakani is a Migration-specialist camp, and is set up in the best places for the most dramatic views of the thundering herds and their ever-attendant predators. Make sure you recharge camera batteries in your suite – you are heading out into the thick of the action on two full-day game drives.
A short flight from the Serengeti to Manyara and a road transfer takes you to the edge of the largest intact volcanic caldera in the world, the Ngorongoro Crater. Your accommodation – Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Lodge – lies in a wooded valley by the access road to the Crater – well located to get ahead of other vehicles.
You have magnificent views from camp but even better ones the next day when you explore the Crater floor on a full-day drive. A destination known for its easy and regular sightings of the Big 5, it is also home to hippos, hyenas, flamingos and large herds of antelope and zebra. Back at camp you have a simple but comfortable tented suite with a private bathroom. Then after transfer back for your booked flight home.
