Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Gorillas Trek, Chimps - Uganda Gorillas, BIG 5 Wildlife in Serengeti - 10 Days Safari
Day 1: Meet at your hotel in Entebbe or Kampala, drive Kibale National Park
Our guide meets you from your hotel in Kampala or Entebbe at 08:00AM (or airport but arriving before 11am). You will get a brief about the holiday experience ahead of you before starting the drive westwards towards Fort Portal to the Kibale Forest National Park (about 5 hours).
Traveling on both asphalt and unpaved roads, you pass through traditional Ugandan villages where you see people at work tending their traditional crops of millet, sorghum, beans and maize. The lush rolling hills of this region provide good photo opportunities.
As you approach Fort Portal in the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains, you enter Uganda's famous tea plantation region. A carpet of green spreads before you, as far as the eye can see, and seems an unusual contrast to the countryside through which you have just passed.
In the afternoon we visit a nearby forest swamp that is excellent for viewing primates and other forest animals. At the Eastern edge of Kibale forest is Bigodi Wetland sanctuary which is maintained by the local community. You will expect birds like the great Blue turaco, blue monkeys, baboons, otters, mongoose, bush bucks, bush pigs and among others.
You arrive at Fort Portal, then, continue toward Kibale Forest, one of the great African rainforest research reserves.
Accommodation options available (all on full board basis)
Luxury: Primate Lodge Kibale | | Crater Safari Lodge
Midrange: Isunga Lodge| ensuite tents at Kibale Forest Camp
Low Budget: Tents at Kibale Forest Camp (with bedding and mosquito nets, shared bathroom) | Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse
Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 2: Chimpanzee Tracking in Kibale National Park
Today you go in the depths of the jungle on the search for the wild but habituated chimpanzees in Kibale National Park. Chimpanzee tracking in Kibale starts at 08:00 AM at Kanyankyu River camp. Your driver shall make all the necessary arrangements the evening before so that you are well prepared for the chimpanzee trek.
At the park offices, you will have a briefing about how to conduct yourself while in the forest before finally setting off to search for the primates. Apart from the chimpanzees, be on the lookout for the other primates in the park. Kibale forest has at least 11 other primates' species in it among which includes bush babies, pottos, monkeys like the red-tailed monkeys, L’Hoest, black and white colobus monkeys. red-tailed monkey among others.
The trek to the chimps should normally be about an hour or so over mostly gentle slopes in the forest. Once you are able to locate the chimpanzees, further instructions will be communicated by the rangers to the group and then you will get very close, but not more than 6 meters from them. You are allowed 1 hour to be with the chimpanzees. You will see them in their undisturbed home as they go on with their daily life routine without being bothered by human presence. The chimps will just keep on with the hunting, playing in the canopies, glooming each other, copulating, and feeding, as you continue learning about them and taking photographs.
After your 1 hour is done, the communication shall be shared to prepare to leave. As we walk back on our primate's trek, be on a careful look out for other larger mammals in the forest as well like the elephants, buffalo, foxes, and many bird species like the yellow spotted nicator, rumped tinker bird, little greenbul, green breasted pitta, the crowned eagle, and black bee-eater.
Accommodation options available (all on full board basis)
Luxury: Primate Lodge Kibale | | Crater Safari Lodge
Midrange: Isunga Lodge| ensuite tents at Kibale Forest Camp
Low Budget: Tents at Kibale Forest Camp (with bedding and mosquito nets, shared bathroom) | Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse
Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 3: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Depart early morning for Bwindi for your gorilla trek.
Very early in the morning after breakfast, you will set off for Bwindi impenetrable forest National Park via Kabale- Kisoro route or Isasha Sector with packed lunch. On your way you will enjoy scenery views of different mountains and beautiful plantations.
Accommodation options available (all on full board basis)
Luxury: Buhoma Lodge | Mahogany Springs Lodge | Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge | Chameleon Hill Lodge or Gorilla Safari Lodge
Moderate: Engagi Lodge |Gorilla Mist Camp | Lake Mulehe Gorilla Lodge
Low Budget: Gorilla Conservation Camp | Rushaga Gorilla Haven Lodge | Ruhija Gorilla Friends Camp
Meals included today: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 4: Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
After breakfast, proceed for the morning briefing before enjoying the highlight of the trip - gorilla trekking, which may last the entire day.
We trek through the rainforest and bamboo-covered slopes, accompanied by a guide and trackers, in search of a mountain gorilla family. The walking can sometimes be tough and long, but when you catch a glimpse of the magnificent silverback, any discomforts will be quickly forgotten. When sighted, visitors will be guided to within 6 meters of the gorillas and sit around them for a whole hour while gazing into their big round eyes.
Gorilla trekking is unpredictable. It's difficult to foresee how many hours you will hike. The gorilla excursion can take from 2 up to 8 hours. Expect to walk a long distance in steep and muddy conditions, sometimes with rain overhead, before you encounter any gorillas. A good physical condition is recommended. For conservation purposes, time spent with the gorillas is limited to one hour. A ranger will brief you on how to behave with the gorillas.
While most of today's forests are no more than 12,000 years old, Bwindi's vegetation has been weaving itself into tangles over at least 25,000 years, in the process accumulating a lengthy species list. This includes 310 species of butterfly, 51 reptiles, 200 trees, 88 moths, and an exceptional 120 types of mammal including 10 primates. The latter includes chimpanzee, L'Hoest's, red-tailed and blue monkey, black and white colobus, baboon, and Bwindi's most famous resident, the mountain gorilla.
Bwindi is a prime destination for birdwatchers. Its 350 species include seven which are IUCN red data listed and 90% of all Albertine rift endemics, species that are difficult or impossible to see in any other part of East Africa.
Accommodation options available (all on full board basis)
Luxury: Buhoma Lodge | Mahogany Springs Lodge | Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge | Chameleon Hill Lodge or Gorilla Safari Lodge
Moderate: Engagi Lodge |Gorilla Mist Camp | Lake Mulehe Gorilla Lodge
Low Budget: Gorilla Conservation Camp | Rushaga Gorilla Haven Lodge | Ruhija Gorilla Friends Camp
Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 5: Flight Transfer to Entebbe before the afternoon flight to Kilimanjaro and onward transfer to Arusha.
You shall be transferred to Kihihi or Kisoro Airstrip for your morning domestic flight to Entebbe International Airport. The flight to Entebbe is about 1.5 hours and arrives not later than 11:30 AM. The flight to Kilimanjaro leaves at 1 PM (for Uganda Airlines) or 2:30 PM for Air Tanzania.
At Kilimanjaro Airport, you will be met by our representative who will transfer you to your accommodation in Arusha as you await the unraveling of a totally different dimension of your Tanzania safari in Serengeti.
You will be picked up at the Kilimanjaro International Airport and transferred to the hotel in Arusha town where you will overnight at Mrimba Palm hotel (Meals BB).
Meals included today: Breakfast only.
Day 6: Arusha to Lake Manyara National Park
We will leave Arusha early morning after breakfast and travel to Lake Manyara national park, you will experience the beauty of Lake Manyara National Park. We will enjoy an early breakfast, in order to start our game drive early enough to spot the “Big Five” mammals. Nestled at the base of the Great Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Manyara National Park provides picturesque, yet varying scenery. Throughout the day we will experience the shrubbery of the golden savannah, mighty rivers, and amazing wildlife. We will eat our picnic lunch in the heart of the beautiful park. Soda Lake and the surrounding savannah support the highly diverse ecosystem, leading to the diverse array of wildlife to be viewed within the park. With over four hundred species of dazzling birds, some of which are migratory, Lake Manyara National Park is a birdwatcher's paradise. Lake Manyara is home to the legendary tree-climbing lions as well as powerful water buffalo, immense African elephant, soaring giraffe, graceful impala, and gigantic hippo.
In the late afternoon, we will leave Manyara National Park and proceed back to Mto wa Mbu where you will overnight.
Accommodation options:
Luxury: Lake Manyara Serena Lodge
Moderate: Eileen’s tree inn
Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 7: Lake Manyara National Park - Serengeti National Park
Enjoy your breakfast at the lodge y before a game drive in Lake Manyara National Park, The Park is famous for its tree-climbing lions but also a very diverse animal population due to its varied habitat. There are large herds of buffalo and zebra as well as blue monkeys and baboons.
After lunch you shall leave Lake Manyara behind you and depart for Serengeti National Park - the heart of wild Africa – with its endless plains, rolling into the distance as far as the eye can see. One of the richest wildlife habitats in the park features the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source to this area and therefore attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengeti’s species.
Dinner and overnight at the Lodge/camp
The seemingly endless grasslands of the Serengeti are also the stage for the famous wildebeest migration. On the annual migration, 1.5 million wildebeest and other game, such as zebra, Thomson’s gazelle, impala, and topi move on mass between Kenya’s Masai Mara, then into Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Serengeti. This mass movement is driven by the rains and the herds’ endless search for water and good grazing.
Accommodation options:
Luxury: Serengeti Serena Lodge
Moderate: Serengeti heritage Tented
Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 8: BIG 5 Safari in Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater
We will begin our day with an early morning game drive in central Serengeti. The savannah is an active landscape, and the air is flooded with the melodies the birds create as the regenerated sunlight starts to illuminate the full landscape. Your guide will study the prints on the ground to pursue predators. We will travel to the Ngorongoro Crater.
Accommodation options:
Luxury: Ngorongoro Serena Lodge
Moderate: Pakulala Tented Lodge
Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 9: Safari in Serengeti to Ngorongoro
After early morning breakfast, we will hurry to Ngorongoro Crater, as it is the best time to spot animals. On this day, we will enjoy a game drive around the crater and stop for a picnic lunch at a small lake within the park. The lake is home to many hippos and migratory birds, so guests will be sure to enjoy the visit! Due to the animal “oasis” created within the crater, there is a high possibility of spotting every member of ‘The Big 5’. The group comprises some of the strongest animals in Africa – the ferocious lion, the giant elephant, the stealthy leopard, the charging rhino, and the mighty water buffalo. Ngorongoro Crater is truly an amazing place. Did you know it was formed over two million years ago? A large volcano erupted, collapsing the volcano, but leaving a perfectly unbroken crater, known as a caldera. Within the amazing crater, you can expect to view the playful zebra, lumbering hippo, swift wildebeest, and cackling hyenas. In addition, there are flocks of graceful flamingos along the Soda Lake, while hungry hawks and vultures circle the sky in search of their next meal of discarded carcass. Beautiful storks, ibis, and cranes are popular water birds in the crater, a sight not to miss.
After a lovely afternoon of animal sightings, we will finally start our journey back to Arusha where you will overnight at Mrimba Palm hotel Meals BB.
