10 days Extraordinary gorilla trekking and wildlife safaris
The 10 days Extraordinary gorilla trekking and wildlife safaris takes you to Mgahinga the trek the great apes in their natural habitats, chimpanzee trekking in Kibale forest national park, explore various savannah national parks in uganda like queen elizabeth national park, Murchison falls national park and lake Mburo National park.
Day 1: Arrival and transfer to the hotel.
Upon arrival, you will be met by your English-speaking guide. He will transfer you to the hotel for relaxation, dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation: Entebbe Backpackers
Meal plan: Bed & breakfast
Day 2: Mabamba shoebill search and transfer back to Kampala
After breakfast, you will be picked up and transferred to Mabamba in Buwaya. As we travel, we may see some birds in the fields, gardens, marshes, and bushlands.
We will immediately hop into the motorized wooden boats or canoes and start exploring the water channels to discover the Shoebill as a top priority when we arrive, where our boat man and site guide will be waiting. Finding the Shoebill might not take an hour of searching. If they see the Shoebill, local fishermen who venture out at dusk might be able to aid with information.
The Shoebill is most active in the early morning hours when it is searching for lungfish, thus this is the best time to look for it. It hunts by staying stationary for extended periods of time while waiting for fish to cross, then catching it with its large, powerful beak in the style of a shoe! The Shoebill provides excellent views and displays since you may approach close to it without bothering it because it is preoccupied with catching fish.
After spending some time with the Shoebill, you will be transferred back to Kampala.
Accommodation: Bush pig
Meal plan: Bed & breakfast
Day 3 Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park with evening game drive
After an early morning breakfast at the lodge, you will be picked up by your driver guide and transfer to lake Mburo national park which is among Uganda’s smallest savannah national parks. It was upgraded to a national park in 1983 and it is a home to 332 bird species, animals like buffaloes, Oribis, kobs, warthogs, zebras among others. At night, you will set out for a game drive through the park where your eyes will be fed with amazing sights and wildlife such as impalas, kobs, antelopes, and also bird species.
Lake Mburo has a variety of antelopes including topi, duiker, oribi, reedbuck and klipspringer and Rothschild giraffe have recently been reintroduced. However, the highlights of the park have to be the Burch’s zebra and eland, which are only found in two national parks in Uganda.
Accommodation: Eagle’s Nest
Meal plan: Full board
Day 4: Morning game drive, boat ride and transfer to Mgahinga.
On this day, you will have an early breakfast and prepare to go to the park for the morning game drive. At exactly 7:00am you will start searching for animals such as the eland, topis, impalas, zebras and many more with a chance to see the colorful beautiful birds in the evening flying to their resting places.
After the game drive, we will prepare for the unforgettable experience of the boat cruise along the lake. Still, a lot of animals will be seen like crocodiles, hippos among others and then after the boat cruise you will head back to the lodge. The boat cruise can be done at the dawn or dusk depending on your safari itinerary and normally it takes around 2 hours.
All rides begin at Rwonyo jetty, it will not take you long before you begin to see large groups of crocodiles and buffaloes lining the banks of the lake. The lake is also famous for its bird life, majestic fish eagles, and colorful kingfishers. If you are lucky, you might even catch a glimpse with the rare shoebill storks. After the boat ride, you will be transferred to Mgahinga gorilla national park.
Accommodation: Virunga hotel & campsite
Meal plan: Full board
Day 5: Gorilla trekking adventure
Well prepared with your packed lunch, camera, water, rain jacket, long pair of trousers, hiking boots and other gear, you will assemble for briefing time at 8:00 am, to find the rangers that will inform you about gorilla tracking great adventure and experience! The time taken to encounter these peaceful primates is impulsive for it may take1-5 hours.
Nevertheless, on encounter, one may be forced to say, it is stunning!!!! After the adventure certificate rewards will be given out to every trekker. After the trek, you will check out from the lodge and transfer to Lake Bunyonyi.
Day 6: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth with afternoon boat cruise & evening game drive.
After breakfast, you will checkout from the lodge and drive to Queen Elizabeth national park. Upon arrival, you will check in at the lodge and set out for an afternoon boat cruise along the Kazinga channel. During the boat cruise, you will see various animals like crocodiles, hippos, water bucks, buffaloes as well as birds like the storks, king fishers among others.
After the boat cruise, you will go for an afternoon game drive in the Kasenyi sector. This game drive will target early morning risers and predators heading back to their dens after hunting in the night. Expect to have more encounters with Buffaloes, Bush bucks, Elephants, Giant Forest hogs, Hyenas, The Uganda Kobs, Lions and Waterbucks. After the game drive, you will return to the lodge for relaxation, overnight stay and dinner.
Accommodation: Bush lodge
Meal plan: Full board
Day 7: Morning game drive and transfer to Kibale for chimpanzee trekking.
After breakfast, you will checkout from the lodge and go for a very early game drive in the Kasenyi sector. This game drive will target early morning risers and predators heading back to their dens after hunting in the night. Expect to have more encounters with Buffaloes, Bush bucks, Elephants, Giant Forest hogs, Hyenas, The Uganda Kobs, Lions and Waterbucks. After the game drive, you will be driven to Kibale forest national park.
Upon arrival you will have lunch early and head to Kanyanchu to start your chimpanzee trek in Kibale forest. Chimpanzees are considered to be the closest relatives of human beings since they share 98% of their DNA with that of human beings. As you proceed with the search for these beautiful chimps, you will view many other primate and animal species including the LHoest’s monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, red tailed monkeys, grey cheeked mangabeys, bush babies and many bird species including the yellow spotted nicator, ramped tinker, crowned eagle, as well as the elephants which are mammals.
This national park is at an average of 3,300 feet in elevation and it’s a rain forest with many chimpanzee communities, each troop of these chimpanzees has over 100 individuals which are a competed social structure. In their groups, the adult males dominate the group and always defend the whole community against any danger and incursions by the females from outside. These primates are located by listening to their panting, hooting calls, and then hurry to the place where they are calling from. You get a chance to observe them as they play, feed, and socialize as well as jumping around the trees. After the trek, you will return to the lodge for relaxation, dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation: Kibale Forest Camp
Meal plan: Full board
Day 8: Transfer to Murchison falls national park with evening game drive.
After breakfast, you will checkout from the lodge and transfer to Murchison falls national park which is the largest national park in Uganda and it covers an area of 3840 sq. Meters. The park has a variety of animal species and vegetation which ranges from swamp land, savannah to riparian forests. Wildlife species include leopards, lions, hyenas, buffaloes, giraffes, crocodiles and many bird species including blue throated roller, the shoebill, turi Ibatis, Uganda woodland warbler, yellow billed and grey throated. Upon arrival, you will check in at the lodge for lunch and in the evening, you will go for a game drive.
Accommodation: Fort Murchison
Meal plan: Full board
Day 9: Morning game drive, hike to the falls & afternoon boat cruise
With your packed breakfast, you will go for a morning game drive with your guide who will help you spot a big number of wildlife found in the park. You will be able to spot a lot of the African animal wildlife for example: elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, lions, leopards, different species of antelope and many tropical birds.
After the game drive, you will hike to the top of the falls. Hiking to the top of the falls roughly takes 45 minutes to an hour depending on your pace, and is fun and rewarding as you enjoy the beauty of nature and meet some monkeys along the way on a lucky day, as well a number of bird species can be sighted.
You will have some stopovers along the way, to take a rest, and take pictures and you keep going to meet the view point. At the view point on top of the falls at Murchison, you will reward yourself with a beautiful smile, and a tranquil feeling as a cool breath and splash of water from the gorge oozes and kisses your face. You will enjoy yourself here to the fullest, while at the top of the falls. Watching the running waters endlessly, as you scream over and over.
After lunch, you will set out for an afternoon boat cruise. The boat will allow you to get close to the water animals, which include over 4000 hippos as well as Nile crocodiles. The Nile has got many stunning bird lives which is also enjoyed while taking your boat trip; these include; the bee eaters, colored king fishers, shoebill stork, grey throated and the yellow billed birds. After the boat cruise, you will go for a rest at the lodge in the evening as you wait for dinner and an overnight stay.
Accommodation: Fort Murchison
Meal plan: Full board
Day 10: Rhino tracking and transfer back to Kampala
After breakfast, you will proceed to the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for an encounter with Uganda’s last remaining rhinos. Both black and white rhinos were hunted to extinction in Uganda decades ago. The Ziwa Rhino sanctuary was opens to protect the few remaining white rhinos and allow them to increase in number such that they could be reintroduced back into the wild. While at the sanctuary, a ranger will take you to see the rhinos in the vast facility while sharing information about their conservation and status. The sanctuary is home to other wildlife species including birds, antelopes and small primates. After tracking, you will have lunch and then transfer back to Kampala.
Inclusions
- Gorilla permits
- Chimpanzee permits
- Rhino tracking permits
- Boat cruises
- Park entrance fees
- Top of the falls hike
- Transportation
- Accommodation
- Meals as mentioned above
- English speaking guide
- All activities mentioned in the itinerary