RU 06: 11 Nights/12 days Uganda Gorilla Safari
Day 1
On your arrival at Entebbe International Airport, you will be met by your Safari guide who will transfer you to your hotel in Kampala. If your flight arrives in the morning, you will have a chance to visit some of the interesting places around Kampala. These include Kasubi Toms, Uganda Museum, African Craft Market, Namirembe Cathedral etc.
Overnight at Speke Hotel/Hotel Africana (BB)
Day 2
Your safari guide will collect you from your hotel and depart by road to Murchison Falls National Park arriving in the early afternoon. The drive will take approximately 5-6 hours and will give you a good insight on the Uganda way of life. Before reaching the Lodge, you will stop at the top of the falls which is a fantastic sight. Here the Nile, the longest river in the world, is forced through a narrow gap in the rock (only 7 meters wide), before ferociously plunging down 43 meters. From here you will continue on, taking a ferry across the river to Paraa Safari Lodge. Game viewing on the way is very good; look out for hippos, elephants, buffalos and many other animals, seen grazing on the banks of the river.
Overnight at a Luxurious Paraa Safari Lodge/Midrange Sambiya River lodge/Budget Red Chili Camp (Full Board).
Day 3
After breakfast, we will go for a morning Chimp tracking in Kaniyo Pabidi Forest. This is an undisturbed area of natural forest within Budongo Forest Reserve where you can walk beneath mature mahogany and iron wood trees. Chimpanzee tracking is the most famous activity. You will certainly see many forest birds, including the chocolates-backed Kingfisher, the white-thigh hornbill and puvel’s illadopsis found nowhere else in East Africa.
We will drive back to the lodge for lunch and a chance to relax by the side of the swimming pool before taking an afternoon boat trip to the foot of Murchison Falls. This boat trip along the Nile is often cited as being the highlight of a trip to Murchison since it allows you to get up-close and personal with the animals. Along this stretch of the river, there are reported to be around 4,000 hippos in addition to some enormous Nile crocodiles. The bird life is stunning with brightly colored kingfishers and bee-eaters darting along the riverbanks. If lucky, you may see the rare and prehistoric looking shoebill, which is a cross between the dodo and a dinosaur. The boat takes you to the base of the falls which only adds to their impressiveness.
Overnight at a Luxurious Paraa Safari Lodge/Midrange Sambiya River lodge/Budget Red Chili Camp (Full Board)
Day 4
Following a morning breakfast, we will depart with our packed lunch to Kibale Forest National Park. We will pass close to Lake Albert. On a clear day, the view on the top of the Albert rift is spectacular. We will arrive Fort portal town in the late afternoon. Tonight you will sleep in Ndali Lodge/Rwenzori View guest house prior to your chimpanzee tracking in the morning.
Overnight at Ndali Lodge/ Rwenzori View Guest House/Kanyankyu Ecological site (FB)
Day 5
A relatively early morning start, to report to the ranger station in Kibale National Park at 08.00am to track habituated chimps – these delightful apes, more closely related to humans than to any other living creature, are tremendous fun to watch as they squabble and play in fruiting trees. The incredibly diverse forest is home to over 13 species of primates including red Colobus monkey, the rare L’Hoest, blue monkey, grey mangabey, pottos, black faced vervet monkeys, baboons and also bush babies. A network of shady forest trails provides much to delight botanists and butterfly lovers, while birders are in for a treat with 335 species recorded including the endemic Prirogrine’s ground thrush. The elusive forest elephant, smaller and hairier that its savannah counterpart, moves seasonally into the developed part of the park, while other terrestrial mammals include buffalo, giant forest hog and a half dozen antelope species.
Overnight at Ndali Lodge/ Rwenzori View Guest House/Kanyankyu Ecological site (FB)
Day 6
Following a morning breakfast, we will depart for Queen Elizabeth National Park. We will enter the park via the Northern crater Area. With beautiful lakes and rich grasslands which are set deep in the crater valley, this is truly the most breathtaking scenery in the park. Queen Elizabeth is host to a large variety and volume of wildlife. It boasts one o the highest bio diversity ratings of any game park in the world, from the open Savannah to Rain forest, dense swamps and beautiful crater lakes to the vastness of Lake Edward. Almost 100 species that include Hippos, Lions, Buffaloes, Leopard, Spotted Hyena and the elusive giant forest hog. There are over 606 species of birds found here including the martial eagle, black-rumped buttonquail, Verreaux’s eagle owl and African skimmer to name but a few. The primates include Chimps, Black and white Colobus Monkeys, Blue, Black Faced Red Colobus, and Red Tailed monkeys and Olive Baboons.
Relax after lunch and later go for an evening game drive.
Overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge/ Albertine safari camp (FB)
Day 7
This morning we will leave for the 08.00am chimp trek in Kyambura Gorge. These delightful apes, more closely related to humans than to any other living creature, are tremendous fun to watch as they squabble and play in fruiting trees. We will return to the lodge for lunch and a chance to relax by the swimming pool.
In the afternoon a boat trip along the Kazinga Channel gives you the opportunity to view wildlife up close: hippo’s huff and spray 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. After this wonderful afternoon, a slow drive back to Lodge.
Overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge/ Albertine safari camp (FB)
Day 8
This morning, we will leave for Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. We will drive through the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth called Ishasha. Here we will take lunch by the Ishasha River and try to find the famed Ishasha tree-climbing lions before continuing on to Bwindi, home to the few remaining mountain gorillas. Bird life and primate life in Bwindi is quite superb, and there is an incredible variety of flora. Bwindi is the Bird watchers haven! It holds 348 species of birds and supports 24 of 26 Albertine Rift Endemics that occur in Uganda; and seven red data book species. Once continuous with the forests of the Virunga Volcanoes (Dian Fossey’s stomping ground), Bwindi is now an ecological island, surrounded by cultivation on the rich volcanic soils.
Overnight at Gorilla Resort/Buhoma Community Bandas (Full Board)
Day 9
You will rise relatively early for a hearty breakfast to give you the energy needed for gorilla tracking. Report to the ranger station at 08.00 am where the guides will take you through the forest, slashing at the undergrowth, parting thick creepers, to track gorillas. This trek can take from half an hour to five hours so a reasonable degree of fitness is required as well as a sturdy pair of walking shoes. You sit in the forest among the gorillas listening to them grumble at each other and marvel at the sheer size of the dominant male, the silverback. It is amazing to think that there are only 650 or so of these creatures left in the world!
If you have the afternoon free, you will take a guided village walk to see how the Ugandans live.
Overnight at Gorilla Resort/Buhoma Community Bandas (Full Board)
Day 10
After a hearty breakfast, you will depart to Kampala stopping in one of the towns for lunch. This drive will take you across the Equator where you will stop for a photographic opportunity as well as an informative talk. On arrival in Kampala, your safari guide will transfer you to your hotel.
Overnight at Speke Hotel/Hotel Africana (BB)
Day 11
After an early breakfast, you will be driven to the shores of Lake Victoria to meet your 9.00am or 12:45 launch. The boat trip takes about 45 minutes across to Ngamba Island, crossing the equator en-route. On arrival at the island, home to 39 chimpanzees, you will be given a short introduction and briefing on the sanctuary. After which, its feeding time! It is fascinating to watch the chimps interact with each other and with their keepers. In the relatively short amount of time you are there you will be able to see such different personalities amongst the group, with some whistling for food and others clapping. Obviously the ideal option would be to re-introduce these orphaned chimpanzees to the wild however this is not possible for a number of different reasons and the sanctuary is not bad for second best. You will return to the mainland before driving to the Entebbe Wildlife Education Centre (zoo). Here they have replicated some of the country’s ecological zones such as savannah, wetlands and tropical forest. If you have not managed to see the shoebill in the wild you are guaranteed a sighting here, as well as rhino. You will return to your hotel in the late afternoon.
Overnight at Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel or similar (BB)
Day 12
Take a breakfast then go for a city tour and later shopping in the city craft shops. After lunch, you will be transferred to Entebbe International Airport for your outbound flight.
