8 Days Uganda Safari from Kigali
The 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali is an amazing adventure that will take you to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, where you will engage in an incredible gorilla trekking activity, which will give you unforgettable and lifetime experiences.
You will also visit Queen Elizabeth National Park, which is the second largest national park in Uganda, harboring abundant wildlife species, including the Big Four mammals, which are the elephants, lions, leopards and buffaloes.
From Queen Elizabeth National Park you will connect to Kibale National Park, where you will get an opportunity to view chimpanzees and other primates like the Hoest monkeys, vervet monkeys, and black and white colobus monkeys, among others. You will wrap up your safari with a tour to Lake Bunyonyi, where you will participate in canoeing on the deepest lake in Uganda.
Highlights of the 8-day Uganda safari from Kigali
Day 1: Pick up from Kigali International Airport and transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Day 2: Gorilla trekking
Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Day 4: Game drive and boat cruise
Day 5: Transfer to Kibale National Park
Day 6: Chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi swamp walk
Day 7: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
Day 8: Departure from Kigali International Airport
Detailed itinerary
Day 1 of the 8-day Uganda safari from Kigali
Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Depending on the time of arrival, you shall be picked up by our driver guide at Kigali International Airport, who will brief you about your safari and then start the journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
The journey takes about a 3- to 4-hour drive and is filled with spectacular views of the rolling hills in Rwanda, landscapes, and homesteads, among others. You will have an en-route lunch on your way and pass via the Cyanika border in Kisoro or the Katuna border in Kabale and continue to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Upon arrival you will check into the lodge and have dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Gorilla trekking, After an early breakfast, carry a packed lunch from the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing about the rules and regulations of gorilla trekking. After the briefing you will be allocated a gorilla family to trek and a park guide that is well conversant with the trails in the jungle.
Gorilla trekking takes about 30 minutes to 7 hours depending on the location of the gorillas and during trekking you will be able to view primate species, bird species, and animals among others and once the gorillas are found, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat learning about their lifestyle and behaviors, taking photos and recording the moments.
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 an evening of relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will pass via the Ishasha sector in the southern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park, where you will engage in a game drive, which gives you an opportunity to view animals like buffaloes, elephants, Uganda kobs and the tree-climbing lions, which will be lying up in acacia and fig tree branches, looking down on the antelopes grazing in the open savannah plains. After the game drive you will have en-route lunch and then proceed to the lodge, where you will check in, have dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Game drive/lion tracking and boat cruise
Game drive: After an early breakfast, meet up with your driver guide and go for a game drive or lion tracking experience in the Kasenyi plains. The game drive is an interesting and exciting activity that starts at around 7:00am, and during the activity you will be able to view bird species and animals, including elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, bushbucks, and warthogs, 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 Kazinga channel, a water body in the park that connects Lake George and Lake Edward. The scheduled boat cruise starts at the landing site near Mweya safari lodge and starts at around 2:00pm.
During the boat cruise you will have the opportunity of cruising meters away from animals like buffaloes, antelopes, and elephants, among others, which will be drinking water along the shores of the lake; large concentrations of hippos and crocodiles in water; and views of water birds like cormorants, African fish eagles, and kingfishers, among others.
You will also have views of the fishermen organizing and preparing fishing nets for the night fishing. After the boat cruise you will drive back to the lodge for an evening of relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 5: Morning game drive and transfer to Kibale National Park
Game drive: Enjoy an early breakfast and meet up with your driver guide to go for another morning game drive in the park. During the game drive you will have an opportunity to view wildlife species that you will have missed during the previous game drive.
After the game drive, you will drive to Katwe Crater Lake, where you will interact with the local people that will be extracting rock salt from the lake and selling it to traders to earn a living. From Lake Katwe you will drive back to the lodge for lunch.
After lunch you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your guide to transfer to Kibale National Park. The journey takes about a 3-hour drive and offers spectacular views of the Rwenzori mountains, landscapes, and tea plantations among others and upon arrival you will check in at the lodge and have dinner and overnight.
Day 6: Chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi swamp walk
Chimpanzee trekking: After an early breakfast, a driver guide will pick you up and transfer you to Kanyachu visitor center for a briefing about the rules and guidelines of chimpanzee trekking. After the briefing you will be allocated a park guide who is well conversant with trails in the forest and then start trekking. Chimpanzee trekking takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on their location because they like to move from one place to another in search of food.
During chimpanzee trekking you will be able to view various bird species, plant species, animals, and primates like vervet monkeys, hoest monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, and black and white colobus monkeys among others and once the chimpanzees are found, you will spend one hour with them in their natural habitat taking photos, learning about their lifestyle, and recording videos among others which gives you exciting and memorable experiences. After spending one hour with the chimpanzees, you will trek back to the park headquarters and meet up with your driver guide to transfer back to the lodge for lunch.
Nature walk: After lunch, you will go for a nature walk in Bigodi Wetland, a sanctuary that is managed by community initiative. The guided swamp walk will offer you incredible views of bird species like great blue turaco, barbets, hornbills, papyrus gonolek, plant species, primates like l’hoest monkeys, grey cheeked mangabey, and black and white colobus monkeys, and baboons, among others. After the swamp walk you will drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 7: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
Enjoy breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale. You will pass via the Mbarara-Kabale road and along the way you will have great views of Kigezi hills, beautiful landscapes, and roadside markets, among others.
On your way you will have en-route lunch and upon arrival you will go for a boat ride, which is done in a dugout canoe on the lake. During the boat cruise you will enjoy great views of the landscapes, islands on the lake, terraced farmlands, and local people carrying out their daily activities, such as digging, among others.
After the boat cruise you will drive to the lodge, check in, and have dinner and overnight.
Day 8: Departure to Kigali
After a relaxed breakfast, you will have a clear view of the lake and the sunrise and later you shall check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Kigali. You will pass via the Katuna border in Kabale and cross over to Kigali, which takes about 3 to 4 hours of driving, and upon arrival you will go for a city tour where you will visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, museums where you will watch video testimonies from survivors, and visit craft markets, among others.
After the city tour, you will have lunch in one of the hotels in Kigali and then transfer to Kigali International Airport for your next flight.
End of 8 Days Uganda safari from Kigali
Includes
- Gorilla trekking permit
- Chimpanzee trekking permit
- Park entrance fees
- Boat cruise
- Canoeing on Lake Bunyonyi
- 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
- personal insurance
- Optional activities not included on the itinerary
- Personal expenses like buying souvenirs, cigarettes, crafts, drinks, laundry services, hiring a porter, tips among others.
