Rwanda Uganda safaris | 10 days Rwanda- Uganda wildlife safari
Rwanda Uganda safaris Overview
On your Rwanda Uganda safaris, be ready to experience the endangered mountain gorillas, Africa’s big 5, Chimpanzees, volcanic and Rwenzori mountain sceneries, the great rift valley, bird species among others. Rwanda and Uganda are located in the great lakes region of Africa and harbors tropical forests and savannah grasslands making the region rich in wild game existance.
Rwanda Uganda safaris highlights
Arrival & departure: Kigali- Entebbe
Day 1- arrive, Kigali city tour
Day 2- Akagera, Africa’s big 5, game drives and transfer to Bwindi
Day 3- gorilla trekking at Bwindi Impenetrable and transfer to Ishasha
Day 4- queen game drive and boat cruise
Day 5- chimpanzee tracking and birding at Kibale N.P
Day 6- Semuliki Hot springs and nature walks
Day 7- Murchison falls; game drives and boat cruise
Day 8- Murchison; game drives and top of the falls
Day 9- Zziwa rhino sanctuary walking safari
Day 10- Kampala city tour and depart
Detailed Rwanda Uganda safaris itinerary
Starting on your Rwanda Uganda safaris trip; on your arrival at Kigali international airport, our tour guide will pick you up and lead you to your booked accommodation in the heart of the city for a brief rest and will later on take you around Kigali city; one of the cleanest cities in Africa with its malls, eco parks, coffee shops, restaurants and lounges, hand-made art and craft shops, museums, recreation parks among others; the duration of this tour will depend on time of arrival.
Accommodation: Hotel des Mille Collines (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
The second day on your Rwanda Uganda safaris you will head out to the green savannah and wetland wilderness of Akagera national park and home to Africa’s big 5 game; lions, leopards, buffaloes, rhinos and elephants along with giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, hyenas, wild dogs, antelopes, kobs, water bucks, monkeys, baboons and more than 300 bird species. the park provides various safari options such as day and night game drives, boat safari cruises, hot air balloons and walking safaris. Later in the afternoon, you will head out of the park across the border to Uganda.
Accommodation: Mantis Akagera game (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Very early on this morning of the Rwanda Uganda safaris, you will head to have a briefing on the gorilla behaviors, livelihoods and how to handle their reactions to the human presence. The trek into the tropical montane forests will last between 45 minutes to 1 and half hour before meeting the gorilla family you are assigned to and you will be allowed to follow and spend an hour with that gorilla family. Getting to find the mountain gorillas on a trek in Uganda is a 99% chance backed up by the gorilla population in this region. After the trek, you will have an experience with the Batwa people who have for all their life time co-existed with the forest and its species.
Later on you will set out to the Ishasha sector of the Queen Elizabeth national park best known for its tree climbing lions and one of the only 2 destinations in Africa with lions have having this behavior. These along with many other wild game like; elephants, buffaloes, leopards, kobs, antelopes, wild dogs, hyenas, ostriches, waterbucks and glamour at some of the world’s most unique bird species as the park is the second best birding haven having more than 660 recorded bird species as their home. The vast grassland and its plains will keep you amazed at the wonderful wild game and set up along with beautiful scenes of the Rwenzori mountains.
Accommodation: Mweya safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
For more experience on the Rwanda Uganda safaris, you will have a glance at the world’s largest concentration of hippos which are numbered above 5,000 at the Kazinga channel, Nile crocodiles, buffaloes, water birds and other land birds coming in to quench their thirst, elephants, lions and other land wild game like water bucks, giraffes, kobs, kudus among others also coming in onto the banks of the Kazinga channel to quench their thirst. After Kazinga channel, you will embark on a game drive around this channel and beyond into the vast savannah grassland to enjoy more game viewing at more lion and elephant families, ostriches, cheetahs, leopards, raptors and vultures, reptiles, monkeys, wild dogs among other creatures, scenery views of the ice capped mountain Rwenzori and its slopes.
Accommodation: Mweya safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Chimpanzee sighting on Rwanda Uganda safaris, you will head to Kibale national park known for chimpanzee tracking and for having the highest population & concentration of chimpanzees in world numbering above 1,500 individuals in the park. Tracking sessions start at 8:00, 10:00 & 14:00 and takes 2-5 hours with a more than 99% chance of meeting the chimpanzees; a forest walk that will come along with numerous sceneries of more than 370 bird species of grassland, forest, swamp and Albertine rift region endemics, 350 tree species and 71 mammal species. other primates in the park include the L’hoest monkeys, colobus monkeys, blue monkey, olive baboon, red tailed monkey, vervet monkeys.
Accommodation: Kibale forest lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Also on this Rwanda Uganda safaris, you will head to one of the most gorgeous places in this East African region for its remarkable features and as a landmark position between East and Central Africa thus having vegetation and forests of characteristics of both regions. Semuliki national park has hot springs that were a result of geological actions dating thousands of years back; these produce water of over 100°C producing white mist and smoke in the forests. It’s a common for visitors to buy raw eggs and boil them at the hot water point.
The park has 435 bird species, 11 primate species and 53 mammal species. some of these include Albertine Rift Endemics such as the dwarf honey guide and purple-breasted sunbirds; 35 Congo-Guinea biome species found nowhere else in East Africa for example black dwarf hornbill, Nkulengu rail, Congo serpent eagle, Gabon, woodpecker; and other species with very limited ranges such as white-tailed hornbill, capuchin babbler, blue-headed crested flycatcher and the orange weaver. Mammal and primate species for example; chimpanzee, blue monkey, black and white colobus, red colobus, olive baboons, vervet monkey, de brazza’s monkey, Mangabeys, stripped jackal, leopards, elephants, hippos, cape buffaloes, Uganda kobs, sitatungas, warthogs, nile crocodiles.
Accommodation: Semliki safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
One of the most exciting locations on Rwanda Uganda safaris you’ll drive to Murchison falls national where you will set off with a game drive till afternoon when you reach your booked lodge for lunch break. The park has the strongest water falls in the world and the highest number of rothschild’s giraffes in the world, more than three- quarter of the total world population and numerous elephant herds and lion prides, waterbucks, impalas, kobs, warthogs, hippos, buffaloes, leopards among other mammals and more than 450 bird species recorded in the park. After lunch you will then head to the banks of the river Nile for a boat cruise towards the face of the Murchison falls. While on the boat cruise, you will have scene of various water birds like the shoebills, raptors, geese among others, hippos and a great number of huge nile crocodiles and many more mammals that approach the river banks to quench their thirst like buffaloes, elephants and the scenes are endless.
Accommodation: Pakuba safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Today you will drive towards the Murchison falls and embark on a walking trek up to view the magnificent Murchison falls from above and watch the strongest falls on the planet, gashing 3,000 cubic litres of water per second through an eight-meter corridor cascading down a 43-meter height into the “the devil’s caldron” forming a white mist and a signature rainbow producing a loud sound from the powerful force of the water of the river Nile. Later on on this Rwanda Uganda safaris, you head out to other sections of the park to continue exploring this vast grassland and its remarkable wild game. You will be amazed with many elephant herds and their playful young ones, lion prides, rothschild’s giraffes, waterbucks, buffaloes, numerous bird species among others while heading out for Zziwa rhino sanctuary.
Accommodation: Zziwa rhino wildlife ranch (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Walking safaris on the Rwanda Uganda safaris watching out for rhinos and towards the swamp areas. Zziwa rhino sanctuary has more than 40 white southern rhinos, rothschild’s giraffes, kobs, leopards, swamps with papyrus endemics like the shoebill, African wild cats, warthogs, reptiles among other species. Moreover the sanctuary not having big predators, allows you to easily make nature walks to come to nearby engagement with the park’s wild game. Later on in the day, you will embark on a 3-hour journey back to Kampala. A night life experience awaits you in the vibrant lounges and bars all around Kampala city or chilling breeze at the shores of Lake Victoria.
Accommodation: Serena golf course hotel (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Concluding your Rwanda Uganda safaris, you will embark on a city tour around the hills of Kampala. This tour will get you to various historical administrative, economic and cultural sites and centers in the city have affected the development of Uganda as a country such as the Kasubi tombs where 3 ancient kings are buried, the Rubaga cathedral; headquarters of the Catholics’ faith, Namirembe cathedral; headquarters of the protestant faith, Kaddafi mosque; headquarters of the Muslim faith, Baha’i temple of the Baha’i faith, food markets, fort Laggard the first administrator of Kampala city, the parliament building of Uganda among others. The length of this day’s tour will depend on the departure flight time.
Accommodation: N/A
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Inclusions
- Gorilla trekking permits
- Chimpanzee tracking permits
- Park entry fees
- All activities on itinerary
- Transport 4×4 safari landcruiser
- Laundry
- Government taxes
- Border crossing fees
Exclusions
- International flights
- Extra luggage on domestic flights
- Tipping & gratitude
- Souvenirs & snacks
- Travel insurance
- Visa fees & processing
- Extra activities, meal and Liquor/alcohol
- Accommodation after the end of the trip
- Any changes to the itinerary
- Anything not mentioned