To enquire about rates, availability or to make a booking for this safari , please email us at tours@tourseastafrica.com +44790.863.9450.
A great opportunity to meet with the endangered Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Forest.
Day 1: Entebbe, Uganda—Arrival.
This epic Uganda safari
tour starts in Entebbe, where you are met on arrival to the pearl of Africa at
Entebbe airport by your driver guide for the safari and our airport representative.
You will be transferred to Boma Guest House or Airport Guest House for
overnight. Depending on your arrival time to Uganda, you may have an
opportunity to visit the botanic gardens in Entebbe for a chance to be
introduced to Uganda’s prolific birdlife. Uganda is a birder’s haven and it all
starts here on day one. The botanical gardens also hosts a variety of plants
and flowers as well as velvet plus black & white colobus monkeys. You later
meet up with your tour guide over campfire/dinner for a briefing of your safari
over the next few days through Uganda, the pearl of Africa.
Day 2: Kibale National Park—Chimpanzee Tracking.
After breakfast, we depart from Entebbe and head west towards Fort Portal. Our safari journey takes us through Mityana and pine-lined streets before Mubende where lunch is envisaged. We then proceed to beautiful Fort Portal with its splendid tea plantations and beautiful scenic drives. We then proceed to Kibale forest and finally check into Kibale Forest Camp our accommodation for the next 2 nights.
Day 3.
Today after breakfast we
go for a Bigodi swamp walk, a wildlife sanctuary with abundant birdlife. There is well over 100 birds species in the Bigodi wetland making this
sanctuary a birder’s dream destination. In the afternoon we go into Kibale
forest in search of chimpanzees. Kibale forest has one of the highest
concentration of chimps and primates in the world. The number of chimpanzees that call Kibale
forest home is well over 1000. This is the perfect place to interact with
chimps compared with Nyungwe forest in Rwanda or Kyambura near Queen Elizabeth
National Park or Budongo Forest close to Murchison Falls national parks. On the
search for the chimps through the forest you also get a chance to see black and
white colobus monkeys, red colobus monkeys, red tailed monkeys, grey-cheeked
mangabeys and other types of primates. After the chimpanzee trek you return to
the camp and relax in the evening over dinner and poolside.
Day 4: Kibale Forest / Queen Elizabeth National
Park.
Today we depart from Kibale, the home of the chimpanzees and head further west to Queen Elizabeth National Park. It is a comfortable 1.5hrs drive from Kibale to Queen Elizabeth National Park. The drive takes us along a route with great views of the majestic mountains of the moon-Rwenzori mountains and along the western rift valley. We arrive at Mweya Safari Lodge in time for lunch.
Mweya safari lodge is
located in the beautiful location on top of a peninsula that connects into the
Kazinga channel. The rooms at Mweya safari lodge have great views overlooking
the channel which has a tremendous concentration of game and wildlife including
hippos, elephants, warthogs and crocodiles, not forgetting a great number of
bird species that live on the shores of Lake Edward.
Days 5 Queen Elizabeth National Park.
After breakfast, we go on
a morning game drive in search of lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes and
other wildlife resident in Queen Elizabeth National park. In the afternoon we
go on a boat cruiser along the Kazinga channel to see wildlife and game as it
comes to the banks of the channel to feed and graze during the afternoon
blazing but pleasant sunshine. You will see plenty of crocodiles, hippos, baboons,
various bird species. You may also spot lions, buffalos, antelopes, and plenty
of elephants.
Day 6, Queen Elizabeth Park-Ishasha.
In the morning we get a chance for another game drive in the park before departing for Ishasha in the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth park. We have opportunities of spotting the tree climbing lions as we go on game drives in this sector of the park. Our accommodation for the night is at Ishasha Wilderness Camp.
Day 7: Queen Elizabeth Park—Ishasha Sector / Bwindi
Impenetrable National Park.
After breakfast, we
depart from Ishasha, continuing our search for the famous tree climbing lions/
We head south west to Bwindi as we drive through some of the best scenery in Africa.
This place was once referred to as the Switzerland of Africa because of its
scenic beauty. We drive past locals going on with their daily activities and
farming in their gardens. The scenery then gradually turns from open savannah
to mountain slopes with dense rain forest as we approach the impenetrable Bwindi
forest. We arrive later in the evening at Mahogany Springs Lodge or Nkuringo Gorilla
camp our gorilla trekking base for the next 3 nights.
Days 8: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Forest.
For many, tracking the gorillas through the dense forest of Bwindi is the highlight of their Uganda safari tour and for most a once in a lifetime experience considering the associated cost of a gorilla permit. Today, we wake up very early and assemble at park headquarters for a pre-gorilla trekking briefing. We get briefed about what to expect during the gorilla trek, how to behave, the do’s and don’ts infront of the gorillas. You will get divided into groups of 8 persons. After the pre-gorilla trek briefing your driver guide will transfer you to the trekking trailheads where you meet up with your ranger guides for the day. Bwindi national park is home to over half of the world’s surviving mountain gorillas numbering about 400. The average gorilla trek lasts anywhere between 2-8 hours depending on the gorilla group that you are allocated to for tracking. The tracking ranger guides will be going ahead of the group looking for signs of where the gorillas will have spent the previous night. Signs will include mashed up vegetation where the gorillas would have rested for the night, stripped tree bark a sign of feeding and gorilla dung. When the range guide locates the gorillas, he will signal to the trackers for silence. You are given a full 1 hour to spend with the gorillas, observing them as they feed, play and relax. You will get an opportunity to take still photos (no flash please) videos, etc. When the 1 hour elapses, we will be asked to quietly walk away leaving the gorillas to get on with their daily schedules uninterrupted by human presence. We shall then descend to the base of the mountain where you will meet up with your driver guide and drive back to the lodge for an evening at leisure.
Day 9: Gorilla
Trekking in Bwindi
The 2nd day in Bwindi for
those who can afford the price of an additional gorilla permit, you get a
chance to trek a different gorilla family today. For the rest of the safari
tour party we get a chance to visit a local village, local school or local
hospital. Our safari tours to Uganda have an inbuilt component of responsible conservation
tourism. Your gorilla trek has a great impact beyond your once in a lifetime
gorilla trekking experience. Your tourism dollars are crucial in conserving the
survival of the gorillas for future generations. Your money supports the economic
wellbeing and development of the communities that live on the boundaries of
Bwindi forest. Thank you for visiting the gorillas in Bwindi with us and
supporting our efforts in conserving the gorillas.
Day 10: Entebbe / Departure.
All good things must come to an end. Today our Uganda safari tour must come to an end. You have the option of a long 8 hours’ drive through Mbarara, Lake Mburo National park and the equator crossing near Masaka and finally to Entebbe airport for your departure flight. The 2nd option would be a domestic flight from Bwindi to Kajjansi near Entebbe and a comfortable 30 minutes’ drive to the airport for your departure flight.
Safari extension: Rwanda Gorilla Trekking, fly out of Kigali.
For those who prefer, after Bwindi you may add a custom Rwanda gorilla-trekking extension to your Uganda safari. After Bwindi, you would cross the Uganda/Rwanda border at Cyanika and trek the gorillas for a 2nd time in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda before flying out of Kigali.
To enquire about rates, availability or to make a booking for this safari , please email us at tours@tourseastafrica.com +44790.863.9450.