Day 1: Kibale National Park, afternoon guided primates trek

You shall commence the Uganda Rwanda safari from Entebbe Airport when your driver comes to pick you on arrival. In case you arrival a day before , pickup can be arranged from your place of stay at 8 AM. There shall be a short briefing before setting off with our safari, driving for about 5 hours in to Western Uganda.  

Apart from a few potholes, our journey today is mostly smooth. We traverse several traditional Uganda villages with crop farms of coffee, bananas, millet and corn among others. The lush rolling hills of this region shall welcome you as you enter the major city here, Fort Portal. A carpet of green spreads before you, to as far as the eye can see, and seems an unusual contrast to the countryside through which you have just passed.

The afternoon is spent on a guided nature walk in a local community conservation wetland, the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary. The sanctuary is located along the edges of Kibale National Park an is rich with biodiversity. It is inhabited by several rear bird species, 9 primates species and a number of large mammals. We shall be getting the services of a knowledgeable local guide to take us along. Towards the end of the walk, guests have the opportunity to engage with the community. You can even take a go making local medicine, traditional coffee roasting, cultural dance and music performances among others.

Accommodation options available (all on full board basis)

Luxury:  Kyaninga Lodge | Ndali Lodge | Primate Lodge Kibale | | Crater Safari Lodge

Midrange: Isunga Lodge| | Chimpanzee Forest Lodge| ensuite tents at Kibale Forest Camp

Low Budget: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge | Tents at Kibale Forest Camp (with bedding and mosquito nets, shared bathroom)

Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 2: Chimpanzee Tracking in Kibale National Park  

Our first big primates' encounter on the Uganda Rwanda Safari is on today with chimpanzee tracking in Kibale National Park. The chimpanzee trekking starts from the park's headquarters at Kanyankyu and we plan on being there at 8 AM for the briefing.  You will need to present your passport before joining the chimpanzee trekking.

After the briefing, you will be allocated to a group for 8 other visitors with whom you visit a habituated troupe of chimpanzees. Each group has a team of knowledgeable local forest guides, and guards for your service. Chimpanzee trekking normally takes about 1-2 hours before the chimpanzees are located. When you find them, you will be allowed 1 hour with them.

After the 1 hour is done, you will receive communication to start on your way back to the park offices. As you trek back, be on the lookout for the other primates in this forest. There are monkeys like the black and white colobus, grey-cheeked, L'Hoest, and red-tailed. You could also encounter elephants along some of the tracks!

Accommodation options available (all on full board basis)

Luxury:  Kyaninga Lodge | Ndali Lodge | Primate Lodge Kibale | | Crater Safari Lodge

Midrange: Isunga Lodge| | Chimpanzee Forest Lodge| ensuite tents at Kibale Forest Camp

Low Budget: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge | Tents at Kibale Forest Camp (with bedding and mosquito nets, shared bathroom)

Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 3: Queen Elizabeth National Park, Game drive, wildlife safari

You have most of the morning to relax after the previous two days of adventure. At 11 am, we shall set off driving southwards to Queen Elizabeth National Park. The 2-hour drive is a really panoramic one with beautiful views of the Rwenzori mountains on the right, crater lakes on the left, and large tracts of expansive grassland savannah ranges.  

Within no time, you shall be entering Queen Elizabeth National Park. The 767-square-mile park is dominated on its northern border by the snow-capped 16,000-foot Rwenzori Mountains - the famed "Mountains of the Moon". As we drive to our accommodation, you should be sighting game, and the guide can make stops for you to enjoy and take pictures. You might be able to spot herds of impala-like Uganda kob, topi, elephants and the cape buffalo.  

If you are not so tired for the afternoon, a game drive can be arranged for you in the north of the park towards the beautiful Baboon Cliff. 

Overnight options:

 Luxury: Elephant Plains Lodge |  Mweya Safari Lodge | Katara Lodge

Mid-range: Ihamba Safari Lodge| Enganzi Lodge |  Bush Lodge

Budget: Bush Lodge (tents)| Simba Safari Camp (tents) | Pumba Cottages

Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 4: Queen Elizabeth National Park, game drive/ wildlife safari, boat safari on Kazinga Channel

We set out early in the morning for a game drive in the northern part of the park on the Kasenyi Track in search of lions, elephants, and solitary buffaloes. This is the best time for opportunities to view the cats in action, owing to the vast population of Uganda Kobs. We have an excellent chance to view just about every animal here at very close range.

In the afternoon, we will go for a launch trip along the Kazinga Channel. This gives you the opportunity to view wildlife up close: hippos huff and spray at a mere feet away from the boat, buffalo linger in the shallows. The shores of the channel are also home to an array of birds, including pink-backed pelicans, pied and malachite kingfishers, saddle-billed stork and many others.

Overnight options:

Luxury: Elephant Plains Lodge | Mweya Safari Lodge | Katara Lodge

Mid-range: Ihamba Safari Lodge| Enganzi Lodge |  Bush Lodge

Budget: Bush Lodge (tents)| Simba Safari Camp (tents) | Pumba Cottages

Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 5: Tree-climbing lions in Ishasha & Maramagambo Forest Walk

You can choose to have more time relaxing at the lodge this morning until 10 AM.

But otherwise, we can set off early to Maramagambo Forest for a guided forest walk. This forest is rich with at least 7 primate species, including wild chimpanzees, olive baboons, and monkeys. It also has a great diversity of rear bird species and butterflies.  On this forest walk you can see the picturesque blue lake Kimeranjoj,o which got its name after swallowing an elephant. Other trails will lead you to Crater Lake and habitats of the wild chimps and forest bird.

If you are not in for the guided forest walk, then we can spend our day on more game drives in Ishasha Sector. We shall be driving along the deep and wide dry craters that are occupied by savanna grasses and acacia. The drive takes you through the unique western rift valley escarpment and the (southern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park) Ishasha sector where you will take on yet another game drive in search of tree climbing lions in the afternoon and evening. 

Accommodation Options (Full Board)

Overnight options:

Luxury: Ishasha Wilderness Camp

Mid-range: Enjojo Lodge

Budget price: Tents at Enjojo Lodge

Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 6: Queen Elizabeth National Park & Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

This morning, we still have more time to accommodate one more game drive in Ishasha Sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park before going to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.

Depending on the allocated sector of Bwindi you are staying at, the drive could be either 3 hours or 5 hours, both of which are on dusty upcountry roads. 

Upon arrival in Bwindi, you could choose to simply relax at your lodge/ camp or take unaccompanied walks in the community (it is safe anyway). You could also engage in a guided community walk to the indigenous Bwindi Forest inhabitants, the Batwa Pygmies. It's an all-exciting experience to learn and live through how they carry on life in their original community.

Or if you are kin on bird, a local birding guide can help you locate some of Bwindi's 23 Albertine Rift endemics. Of those, 14 are found nowhere else in Uganda. S 

Bwindi Accommodation options available (all on full board basis)

Luxury: Buhoma Lodge | Mahogany Springs Lodge | Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge | Chameleon Hill Lodge 

Moderate: Buhoma Haven Community Lodge|Gorilla Mist Camp | Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge

Low Budget: Gorilla Conservation Camp | Rushaga Gorilla Haven Lodge | Ruhija Gorilla Friends Camp

Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 7: Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

The highlight of the Uganda-Rwanda safari is definitely gorilla trekking in Bwindi and Volcanoes National Park.

This morning you have your first attempt to encountering the giant but endangered primates, the mountain gorillas as you trek deep into the jungles of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. First, we shall have a briefing at the park headquarters and then a group of guides and rangers will be allocated to you. These will help you trek to a gorilla group in Bwindi. A maximum of 8 persons can visit any gorilla group per day. For between 1-3 hours, you shall be trekking through thick undergrowth of the tropical rainforest as well as bamboo covered slopes in your search for the day's location of the mountain gorillas.

Once you reach the gorillas, the guides make way for you have vantage viewing and photographing spots. As the gorillas keep shifting positions, the rangers shall keep on clearing bush for you to have a better viewing experience. The time allowed to be in the presence of gorillas is one hour per day and you will definitely want to make the best out of this. For your own safety and the health of the gorillas, you can only be allowed to be 7 meters or more from them.

Bwindi Accommodation options available (all on full board basis)

Luxury: Buhoma Lodge | Mahogany Springs Lodge | Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge | Chameleon Hill Lodge 

Moderate: Buhoma Haven Community Lodge|Gorilla Mist Camp | Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge

Low Budget: Gorilla Conservation Camp | Rushaga Gorilla Haven Lodge | Ruhija Gorilla Friends Camp

Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 8: Transfer to Rwanda

The Uganda Rwanda Safari shall this morning continue to its Rwandan section. We shall be driving along some of the most beautiful landscapes in Africa with the lovely picturesque views of the Virunga mountain ranges and terraced hills on either side of the road and the rich mosaic of montane ecosystems, which include evergreen and bamboo forest, open grassland, swamp and heath.

You can spend the evening in the comfortable lodge and enjoy the silence of Volcanoes National Park.  

Top Accommodation options in Volcanoes National Park (all on full board basis)

Luxury level: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Moderate: Gorilla Solutions Lodge 

Low Budget: Muhabura Lodge

Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 9: Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park - Rwanda

Another highlight of the Uganda Rwanda safari is tracking gorillas or other primates in Volcanoes National Park. If you plan to track the gorillas, you need a gorilla permit to be paid for and booked in advance. Typically, you could opt to do the gorilla trek in one location (Uganda or Rwanda). But if the budget allows, you can pay to track the gorillas in both locations. The current gorilla permit price is USD800 in Uganda's Bwindi and USD1500 in Volcanoes National Park. Both locations are great for gorilla trekking. You could also choose to do the more exclusive Gorilla Habituation Experience in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The Gorilla Habituation Experience allows you to have four hours with the gorillas instead of the standard one hour. The standard gorilla trek in Rwanda and Uganda has 8 tourists visiting a gorilla group daily while the gorilla habituation experience has only 4 persons. 

However, the gorilla habituation experience only happens in Uganda's Bwindi and there are only 4 permits available daily.

Tracking the gorillas through the light mountain forest on the slopes of Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park is a magical experience. When you finally reach the gorillas, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them. The park guides and rangers are always very helpful in making sure that the tourists get the best gorilla viewing experience all the time. 

Tracking the mountain gorilla a second time gives you that rare opportunity of experiencing two mountain gorilla families in a different natural setting. Gorilla families, like humans, behave very differently. Visiting 2 different families allows you to enjoy those unique differences. 

Top Accommodation options in Volcanoes National Park (all on full board basis)

Luxury level: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Moderate: Gorilla Solutions Lodge

Low Budget: Muhabura Lodge

Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 10: Golden Monkey Tracking in Volcanoes National Park - Rwanda

Today, you have another rare endangered primates tracking experience lined up for you. In this adventure, we shall be trekking to the endangered golden monkeys of Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. There are only a handful of them remaining in Uganda's Mgahinga Gorilla National Park and Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park. 

If you are not into golden monkey tracking, however, you can engage in more adventurous experiences like hiking a volcano, hiking to the Dian Fossey tomb, visiting a traditional village, or a guided walk to the Musanze Caves. Your tour guide/ driver shall be available to take you on any activity you choose. 

Top Accommodation options in Volcanoes National Park (all on full board basis)

Luxury level: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Moderate: Gorilla Solutions Lodge 

Low Budget: Muhabura Lodge

Meals included today: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 11: Tour of Kigali, end of the Uganda Rwanda Safari.

We plan to check out of the lodge at 10 AM and drive to Rwanda's capital city, Kigali. While in Kigali, you shall be visiting the Genocide Memorial Museum to acquaint yourself with the 1994 Rwanda genocide before your driver transfers you to the Kigali International Airport for your onward international flight. 

It is a great idea to extend the Uganda-Rwanda safari with a safari to Tanzania or Kenya. Also, explore the "Big Five" in Kenya or discover the beautiful beaches of the dream destination Zanzibar. Please contact us!