East Africa Wildlife Holidays

African holidays have for a long time been marked by wildlife adventures. In order to make the best out of your East African safaris; you need to consider the national parks and reserves that have the highest concentration of wildlife in East Africa. Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda top the list of East African countries with the highest concentration of wildlife.

Kenya and Tanzania have the highest concentration of wildlife amongst East African savannah national parks while Uganda has the highest concentration of primates among all the East African national parks. Though some people have mistaken Rwanda as the country with the highest population of Mountain gorillas in East Africa; this is not true because its gorilla population is shared among Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Below are the top five wildlife safari national parks in East Africa for both self drive safaris in East African and guided East African Safaris:

Serengeti National Park

The prime heart of wildlife cannot be found elsewhere other than within the northern Tanzania circuit whose main highlight is the Serengeti national park expeditions. The park is the most popular national park in Tanzania because of the famous great migration.

Between the month of June and November; over 2 million wildebeests, zebras and thousands of antelopes cross the Mara River to find better grazing grounds. But the main icon of this migration is the predators that wait along the Mara river to feast on those crossing for better grazing grounds. Among the predators include the crocodiles that are also very well aware of the migration season.

The big five; coupled with the great migration; the abundance of wildlife in this national park makes it one of the must-visit destinations in northern Tanzania where you likely never miss out on spotting herds and groups of wildlife.

Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area

Located south East of Serengeti National park; Ngorongoro Crater is also one of the main icons of the northern Tanzania circuit. Though its entrance fees are relatively higher than other conservation areas in its locality; the visit to this reserve is worth every penny.

With its abundance of wildlife including but not limited to African Elephants, Leopards, Lions, Cape Buffaloes, among several others; the reserve never disappoints because of its abundance of wildlife. Besides chimpanzee tracking and Kilimanjaro climbing; the best of Tanzania safaris always feature Serengeti national park and Ngorongoro crater conservation area because of its abundance of wildlife.

Kibale Forest National Park

Kibale forest national park is Africa’s primate capital. It is one of those few places on the African continent where you can see the chimpanzees in their natural environment whether it is on a rainy or sunny day.

The park is the leading chimpanzee tracking destination not only in Uganda but also in East Africa. But besides the chimpanzee tracking; Kibale’s primate concentration places it in a category of its own on the African continent. Unfortunately, most of the people who visit this national park miss out on tracking the other primates in this national park on a number of occasions.

Massai Mara Game Reserve

Masai Mara is located in Kenya near the Kenya-Tanzania border. The Serengeti great migration can never be complete without the Masai Mara game reserve. If it wasn’t for the borders, Serengeti national park and Masai Mara would have been one national park. Therefore, depending on the time of the year; you can spot almost all Serengeti wildlife species in the Masai Mara reserve

The wildlife diversity and abundance are remarkable but this is also subject to the time of the year. The animals are available throughout the year but once the great migration is executed; there is always more wildlife in Masai Mara than in Serengeti and vice versa.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Gorilla trekking is still the leading tourism icon of Uganda. Once you make up your mind to execute a gorilla trekking safari in Uganda; you will be presented with the option of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park.

Bwindi impenetrable forest national park stands out as an exception gorilla trekking destination in East Africa. It has the highest population of mountain gorillas in the world whole. As of today; there are around 1063 mountain gorillas in the whole world. Of these; around 463 are found in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park while the rest are shared among; Volcanoes national park in Rwanda, Mgahinga gorilla national park in Uganda, and Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

With the highest concentration of stationary mountain gorillas in the whole world; Bwindi impenetrable forest national is a must-visit for anyone that considers encountering the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.