Ultimate Uganda gorilla trekking activities | Travitude Safari Tours
Uganda gorilla trekking activities overview
An African trip/ safari to Uganda -the Pearl of Africa on gorilla trekking and through the country’s largest national parks like Queen Elizabeth which is a lions sanctuary, Murchison falls N.P with the strongest water falls in the world & highest Rothchild’s giraffes in the world. This tour will also present Africa’s big 5 game along with various activities like boat cruise on the river Nile, 700+ recorded bird species for birders, wilderness game drives, photography & sceneries among others.
Uganda gorilla trekking activities highlights
Arrival and departure: Kigali – Entebbe
Day 1- arrival and drive to Bwindi, nature walks
Day 2- gorilla trekking and game drives
Day 3- queen Elizabeth Np
Day 4- Murchison drive and boat cruise
Day 5- top of falls and game drive
Day 6- walking safaris and rhino tracking & return to Kampala
Day 7- botanical tour and departure
Detailed Uganda gorilla trekking activities itinerary
Day 1 Bwindi Impenetrable N.P
On arrival at Kigali international airport, you will be picked by our guide and drive for 4 hours to either Bwindi or Mgahinga national parks which are homes to 53% of the world’s population of mountain gorillas on the planet. An earlier arrival will allow us 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 craft shops, museums among others (the duration of this tour will depend on time of arrival). You will also have a stop-over at lake Bunyonyi, one of the most beautiful and deepest crater lake in Africa. On arrival at these mountain gorilla parks you will rest and if time permits have a nature walk on some tracking routes of the park while having the best views and photography of over 350 bird species, 310 butterfly species, 88 moth species, monkeys, elephants, kobs, 51 reptile species among others.
Accommodation: Buhoma lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Day 2 Bwindi Impenetrable N.P & Ishasha sector
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. The trek into the tropical montane forests will last between 30 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.
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 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- Queen Elizabeth N.P
Early 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.
Accommodation: Kibale forest lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Day 4 Murchison falls N.P
This day, you will wake up very early in the morning and 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 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 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: Paraa safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Day 5 Murchison water falls
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. After this trek, you will then head out on a game drive also concluding your Murchison tour to Zziwa rhino sanctuary.
Accommodation: Zziwa rhino & wildlife ranch (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Day 6 Zziwa rhino sanctuary
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: Imperial resort hotel (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Day 7 Entebbe international airport
This 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| Lunch
Inclusions
- Gorilla trekking permits
- Park entrance fees
- All activities indicated in the itinerary
- Transport 4×4 safari landcruiser
- Government taxes
- Driver & guide
- Airport transfers
- Bottled drinking water
Exclusions
- Travel insurance
- International flights
- Visa fees & processing
- Extra activities, meals, alcohol/ liquor
- Souvenirs & snacks
- Accommodation after the end of the trip
- Any changes to the itinerary
- Tipping & gratitude
- Anything not mentioned
Your safari route map
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