9 Days Uganda Rwanda Primates and Wildlife Safari
9 Days Uganda Rwanda Primates and Wildlife Safari
9 days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari will start from Kampala and end in Kigali. During the safari you will participate in interesting activities like chimpanzee trekking, Bigodi swamp walks in Kibale National Park, game drive, and boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth National Park which is the second largest national park in Uganda. You will also visit Bwindi impenetrable national park where you will spend time with the habituated mountain gorillas in their natural habitat and interact with the Batwa in the neighboring community. From Bwindi impenetrable national park you will connect to Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda where you will be able to engage in breathtaking activities like golden monkey trekking and mountain gorilla trekking.
Highlights
- Pick up and transfer to Kibale National Park
- Chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi nature walk
- Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
- Morning game drive and boat cruise
- Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
- Gorilla trekking
- Batwa trail experience and transfer to Volcanoes National Park
- Gorilla trekking
- Golden monkey trekking and departure to Kigali
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival and transfer to Kibale National Park
Upon arrival at Entebbe airport, you will be welcomed by our driver guide who will brief you about the safari. Then start the journey to Kibale National Park. The national park is also known as the primate capital because it harbors 13 primate species. On the way you will have a stopover at the Equator where you will take photos and buy souvenirs. From the Equator, you will continue the journey with another stopover at Igongo Cultural Center in Mbarara. Then proceed to the park with views of the Rwenzori Mountains, tea plantations, crater lakes, and beautiful scenery among others. Upon arrival in the park, you will check into the park, have dinner, and overnight.
Lodging: Kyaninga Lodge/Chimpanzee Guesthouse/ Isunga Lodge
Meal plan: Half board
Day 2: Chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi swamp walk
After an early breakfast, you will meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the Kanyachu Visitors Centre for a briefing about chimpanzee trekking rules, regulations, and expectations. After the briefing, you will have a chimpanzee family to trek, a park guide who will share information about chimpanzees, and then start trekking. Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest National Park takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours or even longer depending on where the chimpanzees are. This is so because they like to move from one area to another in search of food.
During trekking, you will have spectacular views of different bird species like great blue turaco, tropical boubou, African pied wagtail, animals like buffaloes, elephants, primates like grey-cheeked mangabey, red-tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, plant species among others. Once the chimpanzees spend one hour with them. This allows you to learn more about their lifestyle, and behaviors, watch them feed, and breastfeed. View the juveniles playing up in the trees, take beautiful photos, and record videos with a flash-less camera. After the one-hour encounter with the chimpanzees, you will trek back to the park headquarters. Meet up with your driver guide and return to the lodge for lunch.
Bigodi swamp walk
After lunch, you will go for a nature walk in Bigodi swamp, a wetland sanctuary that harbors different wildlife species including primates like l’hoest monkeys, vervet monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, bird species like the great blue turaco, and plant and tree species. After the swamp walk you will move around the local communities where you will interact with the local people. This helps you to know about their culture, tradition, and way of living, visit their farmlands, and enjoy cultural performances through music, dance, and drama. After the swamp walk you will drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Lodging: Kyaninga Lodge/Chimpanzee Guesthouse/ Isunga Lodge
Meal plan: Full board
Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
After a relaxed breakfast, you will check out of the lodge. Your driver guide will pick you up to transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park. On the way, you will have great views of the Rwenzori Mountains, Lake George, tea plantations, and beautiful landscapes among others. Upon arrival in the Park, you will continue to the lodge, check-in, and have lunch. After lunch, you will relax, freshen up, and then go for an evening game drive to view animals like elephants, buffalos, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, bushbucks, and warthogs. Take photos of the sunset among others. After the game drive you will return to the lodge, have dinner, and overnight.
Lodging: Mweya Safari Lodge/Parkview Safari Lodge/Pumba Cottages
Meal plan: Full board
Day 4: Morning game drive/ lion tracking and afternoon boat cruise
Game drive/lion tracking
After an early breakfast, you will meet up with your driver guide for a morning game drive or lion tracking experience starting at around 7:00 am. During the game drive you should look for animals like elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards, Uganda kobs, Bushbucks, waterbucks, warthogs, giant forest hogs, Topi, bird species like martial eagle, black bellied bustards, African wattled plover, palm nut vulture, rufous napped lark, grey capped warbler among others. After the game drive you will drive to Katwe Crater Lake where you will have views of migratory birds, the local people extracting rock salt from the lake, and animals licking salt among others. After the Crater Lake tour, you will drive to the lodge for lunch.
Boat cruise
After lunch, you will go for an amazing boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel a water body that connects Lake George and Lake Edward. The scheduled boat cruise starts at around 2:00 pm at the landing site near the luxury lodge Mweya safari lodge. During the boat cruise, you will have great views of animals like elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, and wand warthogs among others. They will be drinking water along the shores, large concentrations of hippos and Nile crocodiles in the water, and aquatic bird species like a martial eagle, papyrus gonolek, pelicans, African skimmers, cormorants, African spoonbills, fish eagles, kingfishershers. View fishermen who will be preparing their fishing gear for night fishing, and take clear pictures among others. After the boat ride you will drive back to the lodge for an evening relaxation dinner and overnight.
Lodging: Mweya Safari Lodge/Parkview Safari Lodge/Pumba Cottages
Meal plan: Full board
Day 5: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
You will have breakfast, and check out of the lodge. Your driver-guide will pick you up to transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southwestern Uganda. On the way, you will pass via the Ishasha sector in the southern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park for a game drive. You will be able to view the tree-climbing lions which will be lying up in the acacia, fig tree branches. Lions in the Ishasha sector climb trees due to various factors such as to escape from ground heat, to run away from biting insects, and to have a clear view of the prey among others. After the game drive you will go for lunch and then proceed with the journey to Bwindi impenetrable national park. This takes about 3 to 4 hours’ drive. Upon arrival in the park, you will check in at the lodge, have dinner, and overnight.
Lodging: Mahogany Springs Hotel/Buhoma Haven Lodge/Buhoma Community Rest amp
Meal plan: Full board
Day 6: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park
After an early breakfast, you will carry a packed lunch and meet up with your driver guide. Transfer to the park headquarters for the briefing about the rules and regulations of gorilla trekking. After the briefing, you will have a group of 8 people. Each group will have a gorilla family to trek daily and a park guide who is well-conversant with gorilla trails in the jungle. Grouping of individuals in Bwindi impenetrable national park is done according to personal interests, age, and physical fitness among others. Trekking is strenuous therefore in case you are not physically fit you are to communicate with your driver guide. So that they allocate you a gorilla group that is easy to trek.
Gorilla trekking takes about 30 minutes to 8 hours. This depends on where the gorillas are because they like to move from one place to another in search of food. During trekking, you will be able to view other wildlife species like birds, primates like monkeys, and baboons, plant and tree species, and small mammals among others. Once you find the mountain gorillas spend one hour with them. This helps you to learn more about their lifestyle, and behaviors, watch them breastfeed, feed, play, take photos, and record videos. After a breathtaking encounter with the mountain gorillas, you will trek back to the park headquarters where you will have a certificate for participating in gorilla trekking. Meet up with your guide and transfer back to the lodge for an evening relaxation dinner and overnight.
Lodging: Mahogany Springs Hotel/Buhoma Haven Lodge/Buhoma Community Rest amp
Meal plan: Full board
Day 7: Batwa trail experience and transfer to Volcanoes National Park
Batwa trail experience
Have breakfast and go for a community tour in the neighboring villages. The Batwa trail experience takes about 2 to 4 hours and during the activity, you will be able to interact with the Batwa/ pygmies who used to live in the Bwindi forest before it was gazetted into a national park. The Batwa trail experience allows you to learn about their lifestyle, culture, and tradition, and visit their farmlands, and homesteads.
Feel free to walk through the forest where they used to live. View different plant species that were used as medicine to cure various diseases, and visit coffee and tea plantations. Participate in tea harvesting, and view the local people grinding, roasting, drying, and packing coffee. Have entertainment through music, dance, and drama from Batwa women, listen to ancient stories, and learn how local beer is made from bananas among others. After the Batwa trail experience, you will drive back to the lodge for lunch.
Transfer to Volcanoes National Park
After lunch, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide. Transfer to Volcanoes National Park in the northwestern part of Rwanda. On the way, you will have views of the rolling hills in Rwanda, Kigezi hills, smiling people, and beautiful landscapes among others. You will pass via the Cyanika border in Kisoro or the Katuna border in Kabale. Upon arrival in the park, you will check into the lodge, have dinner, and overnight.
Lodging: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge/Gorilla Solution Lodge/Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge
Meal plan: Full board
Day 8: Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park
After an early breakfast, you will carry a packed lunch. Your driver guide will pick you up to transfer to Kinigi Park headquarters for the briefing. Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park is done in a group of 8 individuals. Each group will have a gorilla family to trek daily and a park guide who is well-conversant with the trails in the forest. Gorilla trekking in the park takes about 30 minutes to 7 hours depending on where the gorillas are. This is because they like to move from one area to another in search of food.
During trekking, you will have great views of the colorful bird species, primates like black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, and plant and tree species among others. Once you find the gorillas spend one hour with them. This allows you to watch them carry out their daily activities. Learn more about their behaviors, and lifestyles, take photos, and record the moments to compare experiences. After spending one hour with the mountain gorillas, trek back to the park headquarters where you will meet up with your driver guide and return to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner, and overnight.
Lodging: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge/Gorilla Solution Lodge/Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge
Meal plan: Full board
Day 9: Golden monkey trekking and departure to Kigali
You will have an early breakfast and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing about the rules, regulations, and expectations of Golden Monkey trekking. After the briefing, you will have a golden monkey family to trek, a park guide who will be sharing information about the golden monkeys, and start trekking in the forest.
This takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours. During trekking of the golden monkeys, you will follow trails of leftover bamboo leaves. Once you find the golden monkeys spend one hour with them in their natural habitat. Take photos, record videos, and learn more about their behaviors, and lifestyle. Watch them jump up from one tree to another among others. After the one-hour encounter with the golden monkeys, you will trek back to the park headquarters. Meet up with your driver guide and drive to the lodge for lunch.
Departure to Kigali
After lunch, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide. Transfer to Kigali International Airport for your departure flight.
Tour includes
- Bottled drinking water
- Fuel and vehicle
- English speaking guide
- Meals
- Accommodation
- Chimpanzee permit
- Gorilla trekking permit
Exclude
- Alcoholic drinks
- Laundry
- Items of a personal nature
- International airfares
- Travel Insurance
- Tips and gratuities
Safari Vacations and Travel Services is a Local tour operator based in Uganda with its head offices in Entebbe. Moreover, Safari Vacations and Travel Services is a business for Ugandan natives. We specialize in life-changing experiences, sustainable tours, and holidays for all East African countries. Also, we are members of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators and with registration from the Uganda Tourism Board. We have a good and long working relationship with the Uganda Wildlife Authority. We are making booking your gorilla permits and gorilla trekking safari easy. Safari Vacations and Travel Services is also high in Trip Advisor reviews.
