10 Days Uganda Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Safari | 10 Days Rwanda, Uganda gorilla tour
Our 10 day Uganda Rwanda gorilla trekking safari starts in Kampala and ends in Kigali. During the safari you will explore Ugandan national parks like Murchison Falls National Park, which is the largest national park in Uganda, harboring abundant wildlife species like the elephants, hippos, buffaloes, lions, leopards, waterbucks, Uganda kobs, and Jackson’s hartebeest, among others. You will also visit the primate capital, Kibale National Park, where you will have an opportunity to view and spend time with the chimpanzees.
From Kibale National Park, you will visit Queen Elizabeth National Park, which is the second largest and one of the most visited national parks, offering great views of animals like buffaloes, elephants, bushbucks, warthogs, bird species, and tree-climbing lions, among others.
The safari will also take you to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is famously known for harboring the endangered mountain gorillas and these will be viewed in their natural habitat during the safari.
From Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, you will connect to Rwanda Volcanoes National Park, where you will have another gorilla trekking activity so as to compare experiences in Uganda and Rwanda. You will also participate in golden monkey trekking, a cultural tour where you will be entertained by Rwandese women and a city tour where you will visit the genocide memorial.
Highlights
Day 1: Pick up and transfer to Murchison Falls National Park
Day 2: Game drive and boat cruise
Day 3: Transfer to Kibale National Park
Day 4: Chimpanzee trekking and transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Day 5: Game drive and boat cruise
Day 6: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Day 7: Gorilla trekking and transfer to Volcanoes National Park
Day 8: Gorilla trekking
Day 9: Golden monkey trekking and cultural tour
Day 10: Kigali city tour and departure
Detailed itinerary
Day 1: Pick Up and Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park
You shall be welcomed by our driver guide, who will brief you about your safari and then start the journey to Murchison Falls National Park.
On your way you will have en route lunch in Masindi town and then continue to the park, where you will drive directly to the top of the falls. The top of the Falls Drive is an amazing activity that will give you an opportunity to have panoramic views of the falls, animals, and birds and take great photos. After the drive you will transfer to the lodge for check-in, have dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Game drive and boat cruise
Enjoy breakfast, meet up with your driver guide and go for a morning game drive, which starts at around 6:30 or 7:00am. There are different tracks followed during the game drive in Murchison Falls National Park, such as the Albert, Victoria, and Buligi game tracks, which offer great views of animals like lions, leopards, giraffes, elephants, waterbucks, Uganda kobs, buffaloes, and bird species like Egyptian plover and bee-eater, among others. After the game drive you will drive back to the lodge for lunch.
Boat cruise: After lunch, you will go for an exciting boat cruise activity on the River Nile, which starts at 2:00pm at Paraa jetty and takes about 2 to 3 hours. During the boat cruise you will have great views of the vegetation and animals like waterbucks, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, and Uganda kobs, which will be drinking along the water banks; hippos and crocodiles in water; and bird species such as saddle billed stork, African jacana, African fish eagle, and malachite kingfisher, among others.
The boat continues to the bottom of the waterfalls, where you can disembark and opt for a guided top-of-the-falls hike. The hike is strenuous; therefore, you have to be physically fit, and it will take about 45 minutes to reach the top. During hiking you will enjoy gentle splashes of the water and listen to the crashing of the water among others and when you reach on top, you will meet up with your driver guide and transfer to the lodge for an evening of relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Transfer to Kibale National Park
After breakfast, check out of the lodge, meet up with your driver guide and transfer to Kibale National Park, which is located in southwestern Uganda. The national park is famously known for harboring about 13 primates, including chimpanzees, baboons, monkeys, and others.
You will have en-route lunch on your way and spectacular views of the landscape, the Rwenzori Mountains, Lake Albert, Lake Edward, Lake George, homesteads, and tea plantations, among others. You will have stopovers to take photos and stretch your legs as you continue to the park and upon arrival you will check in and have dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Chimpanzee trekking and transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Chimpanzee trekking,
Have an early breakfast and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Kanyachu Visitors Centre for a briefing about the rules and regulations of chimpanzee trekking. After the briefing you will be grouped into 6 people, allocated a chimpanzee group to trek and a park guide who is well conversant with the trails in the forest.
Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale National Park starts at around 8:00am and takes 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on the location of the chimpanzees because they like to move from one place to another in search of food.
During trekking you will be able to spot other primates like the black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, and various bird species and once the chimpanzees are found, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat, which gives you an opportunity to learn more about their habits, lifestyles, and behaviors, take photos and record the moments to show people back home after the safari.
After the one-hour encounter with the chimpanzees, you will trek back to the park headquarters, where you will meet your driver guide and transfer back to the lodge for lunch.
Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park; after lunch you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park. The journey takes about 3 hours’ drive with great views of animals as you drive through the park to the lodge where you will check in, have dinner and overnight.
Day 5: Game drive/lion tracking and boat cruise.
After an early breakfast, meet up with your driver guide and go for a morning game drive/lion tracking experience in the Kasenyi plains. During the game drive you will be able to view various animal species such as the leopards, lions, elephants, kobs, waterbucks, buffaloes, bushbucks, warthogs, hyenas, bush pigs, and various bird species such as the papyrus gibbon, white-backed night heron, yellow-throated cuckoo, red-chested sunbird, and white-winged warbler, among others. After the game drive you will drive back to the lodge for lunch.
Boat cruise: After lunch, you will go for an afternoon boat cruise at the Kazinga channel, which joins Lake George and Lake Edward. The boat cruise on the Kazinga channel is an exciting activity that starts at around 2:00pm at a landing site near the Mweya safari lodge and takes about 2 hours.
During the boat cruise you will have spectacular views of animal species like hippos and Nile crocodiles in water, elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, warthogs, among others, along the water banks drinking water and various water birds such as martial eagles, papyrus gouldes, pelicans, African skimmers, cormorants, African spoonbills, fish eagles, and kingfishers, among others. After the boat cruise you will drive, meet up with your driver guide, and go for an evening game drive in the park. After the game drive you will drive to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 6: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
After an early breakfast, check out of the lodge, meet up with your driver guide and start the journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which takes about 4 hours. You will pass via the Ishasha sector in the southern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park, where you will view the tree-climbing lions lying up in the acacia and fig tree branches staring at the antelopes.
After the game drive in the Ishasha sector, you will have lunch and then proceed with the journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Upon arrival in the Buhoma sector, you will check into the lodge and have dinner and overnight.
Day 7: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Have an early breakfast, carry a packed lunch and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for the briefing about the rules and regulations of gorilla trekking. After the briefing you will be grouped into 8 people, allocated a gorilla family to trek and a park guide who is experienced and well conversant with the trails in the forest.
Grouping is, however, done according to various factors like age, physical fitness, and personal preferences, among others; therefore, if you are not physically fit, you are advised to communicate with your driver guide so that they allocate you a gorilla family that is easy to trek.
Gorilla trekking in the park starts at around 8:00am and takes 30 minutes to 7 hours and during trekking you will pass through the thick forest where you will be able to view primates like the L’hoest monkeys, baboons, bird species, and plant species, among others. Once the mountain gorillas are found, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat, which gives you an opportunity to learn more about their lifestyle, habits, and behaviors; take photos; and also record videos.
After the one-hour encounter with the gorillas, you will trek back to the park headquarters, where you will be awarded a certificate for participating in gorilla trekking, meet up with your driver guide and transfer back to the lodge for late lunch.
Transfer to Volcanoes National Park; after lunch you will check out of the lodge and start the journey to Volcanoes National Park, passing via the Cyanika border. On your way you will have great views of the rolling hills in Rwanda, landscapes, farmlands, and homesteads, among others. The journey takes a 3- to 4-hour drive, and upon arrival you will continue to the lodge, check in, and have dinner and overnight.
Day 8: gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park.
Gorilla trekking, after an early breakfast carry packed lunch and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing about gorilla trekking. After the briefing you will be allocated a gorilla family to trek and a park guide who will show you the trails to follow and also share information about the mountain gorillas.
Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park takes about 30 minutes to 6 hours depending on the location of the gorillas and once found you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat taking photos, recording videos, learning about their habits, behaviors, watching them carry out their daily activities among others. After the breathtaking encounter with the gorillas you will trek back to the park headquarters meet up with your guide and drive to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 9: Golden monkey trekking and cultural tour.
Golden monkey trekking,
Meet up with your driver guide and transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing about the expectations, rules and regulations to follow during golden monkey trekking. After the briefing you will be allocated a park guide and then start trekking in the jungle which takes 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on the location of the golden monkeys.
Once they are found you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habit learning about their behaviors, habits, lifestyle, watching them play up in the trees as you take plenty of photos and record videos. 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 back to the lodge for lunch.
Cultural tour, after lunch you will go for a cultural tour in the neighboring community where you will visit Ibyi’wacu culture village. During the cultural tour you will get an opportunity of tasting Kinyarwanda local food, drink locally brewed beer from bananas, participate in their traditional performances for example Kinyarwanda dance, be entertained through music, drama, storytelling among others. After the cultural tour you will transfer back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 10 : Kigali city tour and departure
Have a relaxed breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Kigali for the city tour.
During the city tour you will visit Kigali genocide memorial site where you will learn more about the blood shading of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, visit the art and craft markets where they make paintings, sculptures, visit Kimironko local market where you will interact with the market vendors selling fruits, vegetables, handmade crafts like mats, baskets among others.
After the city tour you will go for buffet in one of the hotels in Kigali and after start the journey to Kigali international airport where your driver guide will drop you off for your next flight.
End of 10 days Uganda Rwanda gorilla trekking safari.
Includes
• 2 Gorilla trekking permit
• Chimpanzee trekking permit
• Golden monkey trekking permit
• Park entrance fees
• Boat cruise fees
• Cultural tour
• Kigali city tour
• An English speaking driver guide
• Full board accommodation
• Pick up and drop off
• Vehicle and fuel
• Bottled water
Excludes
• Air flight tickets
• Visas
• Optional activities not included on the itinerary
• Personal expenses like buying souvenirs, crafts, drinks, laundry services, hiring a porter, tips among others.
