A week on Uganda Gorilla & chimpanzee trekking wildlife safari
Uganda Gorilla & chimpanzee trekking safari overview
A week long Uganda gorilla & chimpanzee trekking 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.
Special sightings on this trip along with elephant herds, giraffes, antelopes, hyenas, kobs, leopards, wild dogs among others will give a memorable week in Uganda, Africa.
Top Uganda Gorilla & chimpanzee trekking package highlights
Arrival and departure: Kigali – Entebbe
- Day 1- arrival, rest and city tour and travel to Mgahinga/ Bwindi
- Day 2- mountain gorilla trekking, nature walks & game drive
- Day 3- Game drives & boat cruise at Queen Elizabeth park
- Day 4- chimpanzee tracking at Kalinzu forest reserve & game drives
- Day 5- walking safaris & return to Kampala and night life
- Day 6- Lake Victoria shores & departure
Detailed Uganda Gorilla & chimpanzee trekking 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. 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.
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. Tracking mountain gorillas in 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 Uganda gorilla & chimpanzee trekking safari is a 99% chance backed up by their high 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 wildlife on game drives 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
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 hippo pods numbered above 5,000 at the Kazinga channel, Nile crocodiles, buffaloes, elephants, lions, water bucks, giraffes, kobs, shoebills, flamingos, pelicans, kingfishers, kudus etc. draw at the banks of the Kazinga channel to quench their thirst.
Following 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, scenic 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.
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
Lake Mburo game park offers a wide range of touring options from board rides, horseback riding safaris, walking safaris, game drives, biking/cycling safaris and community walks. 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 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, reedbucks, olive baboons, sitatungas, impalas, crocodiles, reptiles etc. Following 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, cultural sites and centers in the city have affected the development of Uganda as a country such as Kasubi tombs, Rubaga cathedral, Namirembe cathedral, Gaddafi mosque, Baha’i temple etc. Kampala city tour to the shores of Africa’s largest lake ( lake Victoria) will give you a glance at the different types of fish that breed in the lake for example 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
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