Your 5 minute report packed a lot in it!Welcome back. Cheetah on the jeep is amazing. That happened to me once and it remains a highlight. It appears you did your own self-drive. A buffalo and lion encounter would indeed be on your greatest moments list.

Which group of gorillas did you see? Who was doing what? Eating, sleeping, etc.

Nyungwe Forest--Could you elaborate on your experience here? Where you drove from and length of drive, where you stayed. Was it only chimps you tracked there because I thought you could try to see Colobus monkeys too.

Sorry about the transportation glitches but it looks like you had a wonderful, memorable trip!

WOW. What a trip. Sounds fantastic, and I'm especially envious of your Rwandan adventure.

Thanks so much for posting this. Could you remind this board when your photos are up?

Wow, in a short report you've definitely given us a wonderful set of images of your wonderful long trip.

The game viewing sounds wonderful!

Would appreciate any more you can add later about operators, guides (or did you self-drive?), accommodation and of course, the many sights themselves.

Thanks for sharing!

For anyone interested, Wayne has some pre-trip details on his website - http://www.waynehazle.com/eastafrica/index.html

Wayne,
Thanks for your quick report! I think you're the first poster on this board to have used Africa Point. How were they? Do they have their own ground operations in Kenya/Tanzania or do they use other ground operators? Were there others traveling with you and was it just you and your wife? Looking forward to your photos!

I knew you all wouldn't let me get away with just a lazy quick version

I saw the Amaharo and Sabinyo groups.

The Amaharos, on Saturday, were clusted together in a thick area of growth at the top of a hill. The silverback, one of the oldest in all the families, was laying around doing virtually nothing. He was on his back with one eye open looking at us. It took about 1/2 hour to find them

The Sabinyos, saw them the next day, were much more active. They had two silverbacks. The top male was sat on top on a hill and made sure he could visually account for everyone in his family. He ate lots of bamboo and at one point ran around us and broke a bunch of bamboo trees. The guides said he did that to remind us he was in charge!
The Sabinyos actually came out of the forest and were right on the edge of the villagers farmland. The local children had the rare treat of being able to see them. it took about ten minutes to walk and spot them.

The problem with Nyungwe... well due to some tech difficulties we got to our hotel, the ORPTN Guest house late at night. The guest house was quite... "spare" shall we say. The original plan was to track for colobus on the first day and chimps on the second. I decided on the spot I didn't want to stay there two days at ORPTN and so decided to track for chimps the next morning and then head to Kibuye.

* We had drive from Kigali, stopped at King's House, Rwanda Museum and Murambi Genocide Center. By the time we started dirving into Nyungwe it was dark. We spent hours on winding, mist covered roads. It would have been gorgeous during the day. *

To track for chimps we got up at 4AM, went to a meeting point and picked up our guide. We then drove down a horrific bumpy road to the base of the forest. This took an hour. Then we walked through a village to the forest entrance. Perhaps another 1/2 hour. Then we entered the forest, which was lush and amazing. We followed trails for quite some time. Then they told us to find the chimps we needed to break own own trail. The growth was incredibly thick and moving was strenous. I thought my chest would explode several times.
At one point I heard the chimsp screaming and they pointed a few out in a tree.

While the gorillas sit there and let you watch them, the chimps are constantly on the go and of course we couldn't keep up.

More later...

Great report. And only a 10-minute trek to see the gorillas. When I trekked in Rwanda, we had a 90 minute trek, including 30 minutes up the volcano.

I also agree on Kigali -- I really liked it and had fun wandering around. I was never hassled. Also stayed at Milles Collines.

OK, another quick note for now:

didn't self drive. used AfricaPoint for Kenya/Tanzania
RNXplorer for Rwanda

Happy with both. Kenya/Tanzania has much better tourist infastruture, with some amazing lodges and incredible food.

Always have you food included in the price on trips. You can't exactly run to a market and buy food while on safari and I find it annoying to have to pay for more food as you go along.

Wow, a half hour trek followed by a 10 minute trek the next day to get to the gorillas!

Thanks so much for the additional details. You deserved some quick walks to the gorillas after your chimp tracking ordeal. How nice the local children could share in your gorilla viewing.

You had a truly remarkable and all encompassing African journey.