A week on Uganda Gorillas & chimpanzee trekking trip
Uganda Gorillas & chimpanzee trekking trip overview
A week long Uganda Gorillas & chimpanzee trekking trip/ safari is a guarantee to sightings of world’s biggest ape species which are the endangered mountain gorillas and chimpanzees along with boat cruises and wildlife game drives in the Queen Elizabeth national park- a lion sanctuary, also one of Africa’s top birding haven with over 650+ recorded bird species & its Kazinga channel having the world’s highest hippopotami population of over 5,000 individuals. These special features on this trip along with elephant herds, giraffes, antelopes, hyenas, kobs, leopards, wild dogs among others will give a memorable week in Uganda, Africa.
Uganda Gorillas & chimpanzee trekking trip highlights
Arrival and departure: Kigali – Entebbe
Day 1- arrival, rest and city tour and travel to Mgahinga/ Bwindi
Day 2- gorilla trekking, nature walks & game drive
Day 3- Game drives & boat cruise at Queen Elizabeth park
Day 4- chimpanzee tracking at Kalinzu & game drives
Day 5- walking safaris & return to Kampala and night life
Day 6- Lake Victoria shores & departure
Detailed Uganda Gorillas & chimpanzee trekking trip itinerary
On arrival at Kigali international airport, you will be picked up by our guide from the airport and get to relax in the heart of Kigali town in the chilling city’s cafes or restaurants. You will then a city tour around Kigali’s eco parks, art and craft shops, malls and treks to Kigali hill to have a glance at the full city view. The expanse of the city tour will depend on your time of arrival. You will then take on the 4-hour journey to either Mgahinga or Bwindi impenetrable national parks in Uganda. If you get to arrive earlier in Uganda still you will an opportunity to chill at lake Bunyonyi Africa’s deepest crater lakes and one of the most beautiful lakes on the continent. Lake Bunyonyi is a birders’ haven and also a canoeing spot as you board a canoe to get to one of its 29 islands which it harbors.
Accommodation: Buhoma lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
In the morning you will head to the park headquarters for a briefing before embarking on the gorilla trekking experience. The trek into the tropical montane forests will last between 30 minutes to 1 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 in the afternoon, 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 the world 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. This game drive will conclude the day’s activities and rest to prepare for the next day’s activities.
Accommodation: Mweya safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Day 3 Kazinga channel
In the morning after breakfast, you will head out to the Kazinga channel (a river connecting lakes Edward and George) for a morning boat cruise. 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: Mihingo lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Day 4 Kalinzu forest reserve
You will head to the gorge’s headquarters after breakfast for a briefing about the life of chimpanzees, their behavior while in their natural habitat and how to react to their actions for your safety after which you will take on a tracking which begins at 08:00hrs and the other at 13:00hrs in 2 groups. During the forest walk you will also be able to see birds that special to this region such as the forest flycatcher, white-napped pigeon, the striking Rwenzori turaco, the African fin foot; the copper-rich Blue Lake and the Bat Cave with its resident bat-gorged python. The tracking may take up to 3 hours or more depending on how fast you found the chimpanzee family.
After this tracking experience, you head out for a game drive to other areas of the park as you are heading out to the lake Mburo national park, your next day’s destination; on a journey that will give you to glance of extensive tea and banana plantations on the hills and in valleys of the hilly region. On arrival to lake Mburo national park, you will have a 2-3hours night game drive. This will get you spot nocturnal species of the park like the thick tailed galagos, hyenas, hippos, leopards, bush babies, white tailed porcupines, honey burgers, genet cats, bush pigs, impalas, zebras, water bucks among others as you enjoy a clear blue night sky.
Accommodation: Mihingo lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Today will find you already in lake Mburo national park (commonly known for zebras) ready to embark on various park activities. The park offers a wide range of touring options from board rides, horseback riding safaris, walking safaris, game drives, biking/cycling safaris and community walks. The park has 70 mammals and 332 recorded bird species and is richly gifted with various acacia and papyrus endemics such as the papyrus gonelek, 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, stripped jackals, reedbucks, olive baboons, sitatungas, bush pigs, hyenas, impalas, crocodiles, reptiles among others. After your safari, you will head out on a 4-hour journey to Kampala where you will enjoy the city’s night life experience.
Accommodation: Mihingo lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Setting off from the shores of Lake Victoria you will get 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. The tour of the shores of Africa’s largest lake will give you a glance at the different types of fish that breed in the lake such as tilapia, nile perch, cat fish, lung fish, silver fish and the different bird species around the lake commonly the kingfisher, Egyptian goose, white egrets, water ducks; lake species such monitor lizards, snakes, otters among others. Thereafter you will head to the airport for departure. The duration of this tour will depend on your departure time.
Accommodation: N/A
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Inclusions
- Gorilla trekking permits
- Chimpanzee tracking permits
- Park entrance fees
- All activities on itinerary
- Government taxes
- Transport 4×4 safari landcruiser
- Laundry
- Driver & guide
- Airport transfers
- Bottled drinking water
Exclusions
- Travel insurance
- International flights
- Visa fees & processing
- Extra activities, meals, alcohol/ liquor
- Tipping & gratitude
- Souvenirs & snacks
- Any changes to the itinerary
- Accommodation after the end of the trip
- Anything not mentioned
Your safari route map
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