Our 8 days Uganda Gorilla safari itinerary is suitable for travelers who wish to experience the best that Uganda has to offer – mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, scenery and the big 4. This Uganda safari involves visiting Kibale national park, Queen Elizabeth national park and Bwindi impenetrable national park. There will also be time set aside to visit the Batwa people and Lake Bunyonyi.
The office Guide will pick you up from your hotel in Kampala/Entebbe or directly from the airport. After briefing you about the tour, the driver will start the journey to Kibale National Park. Kibale National Park is found in the western part of Uganda. You will pass through the towns of Mityana and Mubende before reaching Fort Portal. By afternoon, you will be in the city of Fort Portal. You will have lunch in one of the fine restaurants in town. After lunch, you will go for a tour of the palace of the King of Tooro. During the tour, you will learn about one of Uganda’s ancient kingdoms and get a chance to buy souvenirs.
Accommodation: Chimpanzee Guest House (basic), Primates Lodge (mid-range) and Kyaninga Lodge (Executive).
Wake up early for breakfast and wait for the company Guide to take you to the park headquarters for a briefing on chimpanzee tracking. During the briefing, you will be assigned a chimpanzee group and a Park Ranger to lead you into the forest. Chimpanzee tracking takes between 2 to 3 hours. Unlike gorillas, chimps spend half of their time on top of trees. You will need to be more attentive and also willing to follow the chimps for a while even after finding them. Chimpanzees are very playful and intelligent animals. They are also very mobile and do not stay in one place for long. After spending one hour with the chimps, the Park Guide will lead you out of the forest and to the starting point where you will find the company driver waiting for you.
After lunch at the hotel, you can go shower and wait for the driver to take you for a visit of the Bigodi wetlands sanctuary. The sanctuary is blessed with remarkable biodiversity and is excellent for observing birds or primates. After the Bigodi Wetlands visit, you will also visit the local people living near the site. There is an organization supporting women by training them to produce art crafts that you should visit.
Accommodation: Chimpanzee Guest House (basic), Primates Lodge (mid-range) and Kyaninga Lodge (Executive).
Wake up at your own time after yesterday’s demanding activity. The driver will start the journey to Queen Elizabeth National Park at around mid-day. As you leave Fort Portal, you will be rewarded with magnificent views of the Rwenzori mountains. You will enter Queen Elizabeth national park through Kasese town (where you will have lunch). Before reaching the lodge, you will be taken to spot the amazing explosion craters along the way. These beautiful features will give you a taste of what to expect in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The driver will then take you to your lodge for rest and evening relaxation.
Accommodation: Mweya Safari Lodge (high-end), Park View Lodge/Ihamba Lodge (mid-range) and Simba Safari Camp (Basic).
This will be an action-packed day with two great activities. You will start the day with breakfast early in the morning before getting into the vehicle for a game drive in the savanna plains of queen Elizabeth national park. The game drive will start at the Kasenyi plains and end in the areas close to the Kazinga channel. During this morning game drive, you will have a chance to see animals like lions, elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, topis, spotted hyenas, Uganda kobs and so much more. The game drive will take between 3 to 4 hours after which the driver will take you back to the lodge for lunch.
In the afternoon, you will go for the Kazinga channel boat cruise. This water channel connects two lakes of George and Edward. The boat ride starts from Lake Edward, through the channel before reaching Lake George and then back. While on the boat cruise, you will be able to see marine animals like Nile crocodiles, schools of hippos, flamingos, waterbucks and a variety of bird species. Later in the evening, you will drive back to your lodge for dinner and rest.
Accommodation: Mweya safari Lodge (high-end), Park View Lodge/Ihamba Lodge (mid-range) and Simba Safari Camp (Basic).
Wake up early, take breakfast and wait for the driver to start the journey to Bwindi Impenetrable forest. As you leave for Bwindi, you will have a final game drive in the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The Ishasha sector is one of the last strongholds for tree climbing lions. The lions here do not rest on the ground but on top of trees to avoid biting insects and also get aerial views of their prey. Take as many photos of them as they rest on fig trees and then continue to Kihihi for lunch. After lunch, you will continue the journey to Bwindi forest and to your lodge.
Accommodation: Tarvan Trekkers Bwindi (basic), Bakiga Lodge (standard) and Chameleon Hill Lodge (Executive).
Wake up earlier for one of the most memorable days of your time in Uganda. Take breakfast and request for packed lunch from your hotel. The driver will come to pick you up and take you to the park headquarters for briefing. During the briefing, your gorilla permit and passport will be verified. You will also be briefed about the requirements and rules for gorilla trekking. You will then be assigned to a group of people following the same gorilla family. The Park Ranger will lead you to the starting point and then into the thick forests of Bwindi to track the primates. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi takes between 2 to 6 hours depending on your gorilla family. When you meet the gorillas, you will be able to observe them for strictly one hour. In that one hour, you will observe the primates feed, play around, communicate, groom and mate. You are allowed to take as many photos and videos as you like in the one hour.
At the end of the trek, you will come out of the forest where you will find the driver waiting to take you back to the lodge for lunch. As the evening approaches, you will go to the local villages close to the park to meet the Batwa pygmies. The Batwa lived in the forests of East and Central African for thousands of years. Most have now been driven away from their natural homes in the forest to a new unfamiliar world. They were not compensated and most live in abject poverty having failed to adapt to the modern world. During your visit, you will learn about their traditional culture and how they are coping in a money-driven world. After learning about the sad plight of the Batwa, you will also watch their performances through music, dance and drama.
Accommodation: Tarvan Trekkers Bwindi (basic), Bakiga Lodge (standard) and Chameleon Hill Lodge (Executive).
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to almost half of the world’s remaining population of the mountain gorillas. A gorilla tour to this impenetrable forest enables you to get up close and personal with the endangered mountain gorillas. Spread over a series of steep ridges and valleys, Bwindi is the source of five major rivers, which flow into Lake Edward.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park lies in southwestern Uganda on the edge of the Rift Valley. Its mist-covered hillsides are blanketed by one of Uganda’s oldest and most biologically diverse rain forests, which dates back over 25,000 years and contains almost 400 species of plants. More famously, this “impenetrable forest” also protects an estimated 400 mountain gorillas – roughly half of the world’s population, including several habituated groups, which can be tracked.
This biologically diverse region also provides shelter to a further 120 mammals, including several primate species such as baboons and chimpanzees, as well as elephants and antelopes. There are around 350 species of birds hosted in this forest, including 23 Albertine Rift endemics
Wake you at your own time considering you had gorilla trekking on Day 6. The driver will come and pick you after breakfast to begin the journey to Lake Bunyonyi. Lake Bunyonyi is one of the top travel destinations in Uganda. It is popular with honeymooners and lovers who want a calm place for relaxation. Other activities in Lake Bunyonyi are canoeing, island hopping, nature walks, cultural experiences and birding as its name suggests. Lake Bunyonyi is the perfect place for you to unwind, relax and recharge your batteries as you also reflect on your safari.
Accommodation: Bunyonyi Resort (Executive), Bunyonyi Safari camp/Bunyonyi birdnest (mid-range) and Bunyonyi Overland Resort (budget).
On the farm you will find the treasured long horned Ankole cattle, and the farm lodge staff will tell you the story and invite you to experience the life, culture, and norms around these beautiful gentle creatures so you too can know why they are so treasured. There are bicycles available for group and solo rides, a swimming pool and gym You will be using a state-of-the-art travel vehicle chosen for comfort, safety, and to keep together as a family and for game drives you will be using a Land-cruiser safari vehicle
