12 days Rwanda Uganda safaris Gorillas & wildlife overview
A 12 days Rwanda Uganda safaris Gorillas & wildlife experience gets you through walking, hiking, game drives and boat cruises around parks in Rwanda and Uganda guarantying a lot of unique vistas search as mountain gorillas, Africa’s big 5, endemic African bird species, white waters of the River Nile, sceneries of Volcanoes and snow capped Rwenzori mountains. These along with art and craft souvenirs, culture and African tradition of different races of people.
12 days Rwanda Uganda safaris Gorillas & wildlife highlights
Arrival & departure: Kigali- Entebbe
Day 1- arrival and transfer for Kigali city tour
Day 2- Akagera Africa’s big 5 game drives
Day 3- gorilla trekking at Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park
Day 4- Queen Elizabeth park – game drives & Kazinga channel boat cruise
Day 5- Chimpanzee tracking at Kibale national park
Day 6- Semuliki park – hot springs, birds & primates
Day 7- Murchison falls game drives & R. Nile boat cruise
Day 8- Murchison falls game drives & hiking top of the falls
Day 9- Rhino tracking on walking safari at Ziwa rhino sanctuary
Day 10- Kampala city tour & night life
Day 11- source of the river Nile & white water rafting, bungee jumping & sports
Day 12- botanical birding tour on lake Victoria shores & departure
Detailed 12 days Rwanda Uganda safaris Gorillas & wildlife itinerary
Arriving at Kigali international airport for your 12 days Rwanda Uganda safaris Gorillas & wildlife experience, 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, resorts, golf courses, restaurants and lounges, art and crafts souvenir shops, genocide memorial museum, recreation parks among others (the duration of this tour will depend on time of arrival).
Accommodation: Ubumwe grande hotel (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Second day of the 12 days Rwanda Uganda safaris Gorillas & wildlife, 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 and head to Uganda.
Accommodation: Buhoma lodge (or a similar lodge)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Early in the morning continuing on 12 days Rwanda Uganda Gorillas & wildlife safaris, you will 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 hours 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. During this nature walk you will experience numerous bird species with particularly 23 albertine endemics that are habitats to only the albertine region.
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. Along with Rwenzori mountain snow capped sceneries, you’ll get to see wild game for example hippos, 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.
Accommodation: Mweya safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
While at Queen Elizabeth national park on the 12 days Rwanda Uganda safaris, you’ll head out to the Kazinga channel (a river connecting lakes Edward and George) for a morning boat cruise through queen Elizabeth national park. At this experience 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 the boat cruise, 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. On this day, you will also once again come across the equator landmark as it crosses through queen Elizabeth national game park.
Accommodation: Mweya safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
On this day, 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. The afternoon tracking session starts at 14:00 and takes 2-5 hours with a more than 90% 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
Being 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 bird species, 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. Locals in the area also believe that the hot springs are a blessing and of supernatural healing as this hot water comes up from the ground among different rock layers filled with various minerals such as sulphate, zinc among that heal fungal and many other skin diseases.
Accommodation: Semliki safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
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 and lion families, waterbucks, impalas, kobs, warthogs, hippos, buffaloes, crocodiles, leopards, hyenas, jackals 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 shoebill storks, 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: Paraa safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Still on this trip, you will have a boat cruise towards the Murchison water 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 you head out to other sections of the park to continue exploring this vast grassland and its remarkable wild game.
Accommodation: Paraa safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
On this day early in the morning, you will start off with a walking 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. 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: Lake Victoria Serene hotel (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
This day will find you in Kampala city and 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, fort Laggard the first administrator of Kampala city, the parliament building of Uganda among others. Food and commodity markets around Kampala are so interesting and have a great reflection of how the county’s population survives; these will get you have some taste on fresh fruits, vegetables grown in the country and street food delicacies like the rolex (an egg omelet rolled in chapatti) among others.
Accommodation: Golden tulip hotel (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Early in the morning, you will travel for 2-hours to Jinja at the source of the river Nile. This section of the river Nile has numerous water falls that have become common water sport points to tourists and adventurers from all corners of the world. Some of the falls include Owen falls, Bujagali falls, Ripon falls, Itanda falls, Busowoko falls among others. The clean and white waters of the River Nile at this point are the most entertaining of the river course throughout Africa offering the best bungee jumping point, water rafting, horse riding at the river banks, water surfing, swimming, canoeing, river boarding, quad biking around the river banks among others. The river banks also host numerous bird species that can be experienced on nature walks thus being some of the best birders’ destinations in the region. You will also take a boat to reach the source of the nile where 30% of the water emanates from underground streams and 70% from Lake Victoria. The green sparsely forested areas will provide a chilling breeze for nature walks and relaxations that will grant you a memorable time at the source of the river Nile.
Accommodation: Whispers of the Nile lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Day 12 Botanical gardens & departure
The last day will find you at the shores of Lake Victoria in Entebbe and early in the morning after your breakfast you have a tour around Entebbe town and there after a walking tour at the cool 40.7 hectare botanical gardens along the shore of Lake Victoria. The gardens are also common for biking/ cycling safari, monkey feeding, birding safari and 500 plant species including both exotic and indigenous. These plants are categorized into indigenous and exotic fruits, medicinal, beverage, spices, ornamentals, timber, oils and important crop wild relatives, several of these threatened in the wild and agro-ecosystems. After this tour, you will head to the airport for departure.
Accommodation: N/A
Meals: Breakfast | lunch|
Your safari route map
Inclusions
- Park entry fees
- Gorilla trekking permits
- Chimpanzee tracking permits
- Cross border fees
- Laundry
- Refreshments/ bottled drinking water
- All excursions in itinerary
- Driver & guide
- Transport 4×4 safari landcruiser
- Airport transfers
- Government taxes
Exclusions
- International flights
- Travel insurance
- Visa fees and processing
- Tipping & gratitude
- Souvenirs & snacks
- Accommodation after end of the trip
- Any changes to the itinerary
- Extra activities, meals & liquor/alcohol
- Anything not mentioned