Gorilla and Chimpanzee Safari, 10 days

Get the best of uganda’s primates; chimpanzee tracking in Kibale forest park, Queen Elizabeth Kyambura forest reserve and mountain gorilla trekking from Bwindi forest park

Day 1: Drive from Kampala to Kibale Forest National Park

From Kampala to Kibale is 450km and is a 5-6 hours journey reaching the park by the afternoon to a ready lunch snack. Kibale Forest park is home to more than 10 different primates including chimps, grey checked mangabeys, red tailed colobus, blue monkeys, black and white colobus and others

Find dinner and accommodation from Luxury Primates Lodge, Ndali Lodge, Kanyankyu tourist camp or the Chimpanzee Guest House.

 

Day 2: Kibale Forest Chimpanzee Tracking and Bigodi swamp walk

Start your chimp tracking after briefing sessions with the park ranger guides at the tourist point. Head for the forest trails tacking on the noisy chimpanzees in the forest finding other primates like vervet, colobus monkeys, mangabeys and others.

Return to the lodge or Kanyankyu tourist point for lunch.

Bigodi swamp walk is for the afternoon itinerary. The swamp is managed by local communities and the wildlife authority and is particularly a rich habitat for more than 100 different birds and swamp vegetation.

 

Get dinner and over night at

 

Day 3:  Transfers to Queen Elizabeth Park

Following breakfast, it is time to head for Queen Elizabeth National Park in 3-4 hours of drive from scenic south western hills, beautiful tea estates, forest reserves and grazing cattle herds.

Arrive in time for an arranged lunch at a lodge within the park and go on an afternoon game drive in the park. The second largest game park in Uganda has vast herds of zebras, giraffes, hyenas, warthog, crocodiles, the big five,  in addition to a wide variety of birds like Black Chested Eagle, the Swallow Tailed Bee Eaters, to mention but a few

 

All these are regularly sighted around the tourist village on the Mweya Peninsula and all this makes a superb Uganda safari territory. Overnight at Mweya safari lodge, Jacana lodge, Hippo Hill camp or Institute of ecology Hostels

 

Day 4: Queen Elizabeth Park wildlife tours

Start your Queen Elizabeth tours with chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura forest reserve, visiting the caves on the gorge that house thousands and thousands of bats and prey snakes like rock pythons, cobra, rippers, mambas and others .

Return to the lodge for lunch and then a launch cruise on Kazinga Channel finding hippos that spray water up to 1m high, buffalos, crocodiles basking at the banks, papyrus endemic birds like White pelicans, sunbirds, fish eagles, Pink-Backed Pelicans, Long-Tailed Cormorants, Open-Billed Stork, African Jacana, Malachite kingfishers and so many other birds.

 

Day 5: Transfers to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

From Kasese, its only 4 hours drive to Bwindi forest park after an interesting morning game drive and hearty breakfast. Bwindi has 600 of the last surviving mountain gorillas in the whole world and shares this gorilla habitat with Rwanda and DR Congo. Also in the forest are 23 of the 24 Albertine rift endemic birds like African green broadbill, long tailed trogon, and others. Golden monkeys are also endemic to this park and Volcanoes National park in Rwanda.

Take a forest walk in the evening to Lake Mutand and to Munyanga falls within the park, see beautiful butterflies, different primates like blue monkeys, mangabeys, colobus monkeys and many others.

Get full board accommodation from Silver back lodge, Clouds Lodge, Gorilla forest camp, Buhoma camp and other safari lodges near the park

 

Day 6: Gorilla tracking safari in Bwindi Forest

Bwindi forest is the home of mountain gorilla in Uganda with about 5 gorilla families, 2 living south of the park (including the habituated Nkuringo family). Pack your lunch and head for the ranger station where you are allocated in groups of 8 persons to begin your gorilla trekking adventures before the mid-morning sun heats up.

Follow last night’s trails behind a lead ranger guide and finally reach a silver back family feeding within the forest canopy. The tracking experience often takes up to 2-6 hours.

 

Return to the lodge for a light snack and take trips to the local Batwa communities living at the foot hills of the forest park. These people sometimes put up a show on theie traditional dances, crafts and warm smiles just for you!

 

Day 7: To Lake Mburo National Park

Drive to Lake Mburo National park for 6-7 hours, find a pre-arranged lunch at the lodge. Enjoy the intensely terraced hills slopes of Kigezi, grazing long horned cattle and the fresh wind breeze.

Take an afternoon motor boat ride on the lake, one of the smallest lakes in Uganda, Lake Mburo that is part of the five lakes found in the small game park. the lake is rich with papyrus endemic birds like African Jacana, bush shrike, African fin foot, sunbirds, cranes, eagles, sunbirds and so much more. Accommodation is from Luxury  Mantana Tented Camp, Mihingo lodge or Rwonyo Rest camp.

 

Day 8 Lake Mburo Game drive – Kampala – Entebbe

After breakfast, have a game drive in Lake Mburo National Park. On the lake are schools of yawning hippos, basking crocodiles on the shallow lake shores, buffalos, Big five, vervet monkeys and baboons can be seen en-route to Kampala in banana plantations.

Stop by the equator crossing near Masaka for a few souvenir purchases, snacks and refreshments. Dinner and accommodation is available from Tourist hotel Kampala, Speke hotel Kampala or Boma Guest house Entebbe or Entebbe Central Inn.

 

Day 9: Lake Victoria & Ngamba Island Tours

Catch the early Boat to Ngamba Island at 10:30 am on Lake Victoria boating safari and reach Ngamba Island in about 2 hours. While on the island, check out the orphaned chimp sanctuary, interact with them during the feeding time, take a forest walk on the island and then to the mainland at 16h00. Visit the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, formerly Entebbe zoo as an add-on the Lake Victoria safaris

Get Entebbe overnight and dinner from Boma Guest house, Lake Victoria Windsor Hotel, Entebbe Central Inn, or Imperial Botanical resort Hotel.

 

Day 10: Departure

For early departure flights at Entebbe, get an early breakfast at your lodge or Entebbe hotel to be on time.