Best 3 weeks' summer gorilla trekking with river Nile safari & wildlife tours
Gorilla trekking with river Nile safari overview
With 99% assurance of finding mountain gorillas in Uganda’s Mgahinga national park or Bwindi Impenetrable national park, the gorilla trekking with river Nile safari will get you to the Pearl of Africa’s diversity through Africa’s wilderness to the birth of the river Nile from lake Victoria and also have a chance to engage in white water rafting sports at the falls of the river Nile. Summer holidays & winter vacations for families, groups, couples, solo travel packages on Africa safari experiences to white sand beaches, savannah grasslands, shoebill tracking, and highland areas of Uganda- the Pearl of Africa.
Arrival and departure: Entebbe
- Day 1- arrival and rest
- Day 2- mabamba swamp shoebills & botanical birding tour
- Day 3- rhino tracking at Ziwa rhino sanctuary
- Day 4- Murchison game drives & falls boat cruise
- Day 5- Murchison game drives & hike to the top of falls
- Day 6- Nile delta boat cruise & game drive
- Day 7- chimpanzee tracking & nature walks at Kibale N.P
- Day 8- hot springs & forest species at Semuliki N.P
- Day 9- scenery watch & game drives at Queen Elizabeth N.P
- Day 10- game drives & boat cruise on Kazinga channel
- Day 11- game drive at Ishasha sector to Bwindi
- Day 12- gorilla trekking & Batwa experience at Bwindi Impenetrable
- Day 13- golden monkey tracking & forest walks at Mgahinga
- Day 14- crater lakes & scenery watch at Lake Bunyonyi
- Day 15- transfer to Mburo & night safari drive
- Day 16- walking safari at L. Mburo N.P
- Day 17- Kampala city tour and night life
- Day 18- Jinja city tour and Lake Victoria landing sites
- Day 19- water sports & rafting at the source of the River Nile
- Day 20- Bungee jumping at the source of the Nile & nature walk
- Day 21- return to Kampala for departure
Detailed gorilla trekking with river Nile safari itinerary
Day 1 Lake Victoria shores
On arrival, you will be picked from the airport by our guide and taken to your booked accommodation at the shores of Lake Victoria; Africa’s largest lake for a rest as you chill in the cool lake breeze, scenic endless water horizons and numerous green islands that can also be visited by boat cruises, speed boats or canoes to overcome travel exhaustion as you prepare also to embark on a long awaited tour to Uganda’s game parks for a lot of exciting adventures.
Accommodation: Lake Victoria Serena hotel (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Setting out to the Mabamba swamp which is also Ramsar site to see the endangered shoebill. This tour is carried out on boats that move from the Lake Victoria shoes into the narrow water stretches of the swamp; a tour lasting for 3 hours with opportunities to watch shoebills along with many other swamp endemics and water birds. After the shoebill tracking, you will head to the botanical gardens still along the shores of the lake. Walking tours at the cool 40.7 hectare botanical gardens along the shore of Lake Victoria. Botanical gardens are also common for biking/ cycling safari, monkey feeding, birding safari and 500 plant species including both foreign and indigenous.
Accommodation: Lake Victoria Serena hotel (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. Ziwa rhino sanctuary has more than 45 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. In the late afternoon you will continue with your trip to Murchison falls national park
Accommodation: Pakuba safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Also on this gorilla trekking with river Nile safari, you will have a trek up to view the magnificent Murchison falls from above and watch the strongest falls on the planet, gashing 3,000 cubic liters 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, numerous giraffe herds, elephant herds, lion prides, waterbucks, impalas, kobs, warthogs, buffaloes, leopards, hyenas etc. with also more than 450 bird species recorded in the park.
Boat cruise to the Murchison falls
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. You will also have a boat cruise to the Nile delta as it flows back to the albertine peninsular, an experience that obviously unmatchable as you watch the waters of the river Nile anchor the wild and its species.
Accommodation: Pakuba safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Kibale national park is known for chimpanzee tracking and for having the highest population & concentration of chimpanzees in world numbering above 1,500 individuals in the park. Chimpanzee tracking session start at 08:00, 11:00 & 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: Primates safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Semuliki national park has hot springs that were a result of geothermal actions dating thousands of years back; these produce water of over 100°C producing white mist and smoke in the forests. The park is also an intersection of the East African savannah grasslands and the central African tropical forests thus harboring 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 like black dwarf hornbill, Nkulengu rail, Congo serpent eagle, Gabon, woodpecker, white-tailed hornbill, capuchin babbler, blue-headed crested flycatcher and the orange weaver.
Accommodation: Mweya safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
First day, you will have morning and evening game drives to various parts of the park for a lot of wonderful scenic view of the Rwenzori mountains and its slopes, the African big 5; elephant herds, lion families, leopards, hippo herds, hyenas, wild dogs, Uganda kobs, water bucks, antelopes, baboons, monkeys, crocodiles, crater lakes, reptiles, raptors, sun birds and many more awaiting your memorable tour in this game park.
Kazinga channel & Ishasha sector game drives
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, elephants, lions, water bucks, giraffes, kobs, kudus etc. 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 & scenic views of snow capped mountain Rwenzori as you head to the Ishasha sector of the park.
Accommodation: Buhoma safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Very early in the morning you will embark on a four-hour journey to Bwindi impenetrable forest in Uganda for a morning gorilla trekking. On arrival you will have a briefing on the gorilla behaviors, livelihoods and how to handle their reactions to the human presence. Tracking gorillas in the tropical montane forests will last between 30 to 3 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.
Accommodation: Buhoma lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
In the morning on this gorilla trekking with river Nile safari, following a briefing, you will hike the volcanic mountains of the Mgahinga to a height of 2,500 meters above sea level in the bamboo forests of the montane region where these unique primates reside. Golden monkeys live in families of hundreds and have a very playful character, they will keep you so entertained. Along the hike, you will also observe other primates like the red tailed monkeys, white and black colobus monkeys, reptiles, Albertine rift endemics and many more bird species. Following golden monkey tarcking, you will head to lake Bunyonyi (Africa’s deepest crater lake and one of the most gorgeous lakes on the continent).
Accommodation: Mgahinga lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Waking up to the sound of birds and a glance at the mist over lake Bunyonyi, mountains & sharp valleys. Some of the most amazing attributes of the lake are being the deepest crater lake in Africa, the 29 islands located in its waters which toured by use of a boat/canoe and safe waters with no crocodiles and hippos. Bunyonyi lake harbors over 200 bird species with the gray crowned crane being one of the most remarkable birds, breathtaking sceneries of the volcano mountains ad slopes of Muhavura will leave you stunned at this beautiful lake and its surrounding.
Accommodation: Bird’s nest @ Bunyonyi resort (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Commonly known for its high zebra population, Lake Mburo national park offers a wide range of touring options from board rides, horseback riding safaris, walking safaris, game drives, biking/cycling safaris and community walks on this gorilla trekking with river Nile safari. Lake Mburo game park has 70 mammals and 332 recorded bird species and is richly gifted with various acacia and papyrus endemics such as the papyrus gonolek, papyrus yellow warbler, white-winged warbler and shoebill; as the acacia species are wide spread elsewhere in the park. Mammals include burchell’s zebras, Nubian giraffes, hippos, leopards, buffaloes, topi, elands, antelopes, warthogs, bushbucks, reedbucks, sitatungas, bush pigs, hyenas, impalas, crocodiles, reptiles etc.
Accommodation: Lake Victoria Serena hotel (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Embarking on a city tour around the hills of Kampala and its streets 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, Rubaga cathedral, Namirembe cathedral, Kaddafi mosque, Baha’i temple etc. 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.
Accommodation: Grand Imperial hotel (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Day 18 Jinja city tour
Jinja city known as the “adventure capital” of East Africa, has many other interesting features within it beyond the source of the Nile and water falls. For long since days of colonialism, it’s been one of Uganda’s most industrialized and commercial centers harboring both production and transaction hubs and centers and thus has always attracted many traders, business men and holiday makers. You will also have a night life experience either in town or at a camping resort.
Accommodation: Nile safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
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. Clean 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, kayaking, water surfing, swimming, canoeing, river boarding, quad biking around the river banks among others. 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.
Accommodation: Whispers of the Nile lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Day 21 Entebbe for departure
On this day you will head to Entebbe on the shores of Lake Victoria resort or hotel for a chilling and relaxing from the long gorilla trekking with river Nile safari as you wait for the time of your departure flight
Accommodation: N/A
Meal: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Inclusions
- Gorilla trekking permits
- Chimpanzee tracking permits
- Golden monkey tracking
- Park entry fees
- Airport transfers
- Government taxes
- Laundry
- Driver & guide
- Bottled drinking refreshments
- All activities on indicated itinerary
Exclusions
- Travel insurance
- International flights
- Visa fees & processing
- Extra activities, meals, alcohol/ liquor off the itinerary
- Tipping & gratitude
- Souvenirs & snacks
- Accommodation after end of the trip
- Any changes to the itinerary
- Anything not mentioned
When is the best time for Gorilla trekking with river Nile safari?
Uganda’s dry/ summer season months of June to August and December to February are the best for the gorilla trekking with river Nile safari when the grounds are not slippery easing safari game drives and trekking activities. Start planning your Africa safari with our travel experts and book your tickets in advance.
Your safari route map
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