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, 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 of the 9 Days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari
- Day 1: Pick up and transfer to Kibale national park
- Day 2: Chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi nature walk
- Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park
- Day 4: Morning game drive and boat cruise
- Day 5: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
- Day 6: Gorilla trekking
- Day 7: Batwa trail experience and transfer to Volcanoes national park
- Day 8: Gorilla trekking
- Day 9: Golden monkey trekking and departure to Kigali
Detailed itinerary
Day 1 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari
- Arrival and transfer to Kibale national park, upon arrival at Entebbe airport on day 1 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari you will be welcomed by our driver guide who will brief you about the safari and 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 and then proceed to the park with views of the Rwenzori Mountains, tea plantations, crater lakes, beautiful scenery among others. Upon arrival in the park you will check into the park, have dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi swamp walk
- Chimpanzee trekking, after an early breakfast on day 2 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari you will meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Kanyachu Visitors Centre for a briefing about the rules, regulations and expectations of chimpanzee trekking. After the briefing you will be allocated a chimpanzee family to trek, a park guide who will be sharing 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 located 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 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 life style, behaviors, watch them feed, 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 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, plant and tree species among others. After the swamp walk you will move around the local communities where you will interact with the local people which helps you to know about their culture, tradition, 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.
Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park
- Transfer to Queen: After a relaxed breakfast on day 3 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari, you will check out of the lodge and 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, beautiful landscape 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 where you will view animals like the elephants, buffalos, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, bushbucks, warthogs, take photos of the sunset among others. After the game drive you will return back to the lodge, have dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Morning game drive/ lion tracking and afternoon boat cruise
- Game drive/lion tracking, after an early breakfast on day 4 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari, you will meet up with your driver guide to go for a morning game drive or lion tracking experience which starts at around 7:00am. During the game drive you should look for animals like the elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards, Uganda kobs, Bushbucks, waterbucks, warthogs, giant forest hogs, Topi, bird species like martial eagle, black bellied bustard, 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, view the local people extracting rock salt from the lake, 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 Kazinga channel a water body that connects Lake George and Lake Edward. The scheduled boat cruise starts at around 2:00pm at the landing site near the luxury lodge Mweya safari lodge and takes about 2 to 3 hours. During the boat cruise you will have great views of animals like elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, warthogs among others which will be drinking water along the shores, large concentrations of hippos and Nile crocodiles in water, aquatic bird species like martial eagle, papyrus gonolek, pelicans, African skimmers, cormorants, African spoonbills, fish eagles, king fisher’s, view fishermen who will be preparing their fishing gears for night fishing, take clear pictures among others. After the boat ride you will drive back to the lodge for an evening relaxation dinner and overnight.
Day 5: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
- Transfer to Bwindi: On day 5 of the 9 Days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari, you will have breakfast, check out of the lodge and your driver-guide will pick you up to transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park in southwestern Uganda. On the way you will pass via Ishasha sector in the southern part of Queen Elizabeth national park for a game drive where you will be able to view the tree climbing lions which will be lying up in the acacia, fig tree branches. Lions in Ishasha sector climb trees due to various factors such as to escape from ground heat, to run away from biting insects, 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 which takes about 3 to 4 hours’ drive. Upon arrival in the park you will check in at the lodge, have dinner and overnight.
Day 6: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park
- Gorilla trekking, after an early breakfast on day 6 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari, you will carry 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 where each group will be allocated 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, physical fitness among others because trekking is strenuous therefore in case you are not physically fit you are advised 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 depending on where the gorillas are located 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, baboons, plant and tree species, small mammals among others. Once the mountain gorillas are found you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural environment which helps you to learn more about their lifestyle, behaviors, watch them breastfeed, feed, play, take photos, record videos among others. After a breathtaking encounter with the mountain 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 guide and transfer back to the lodge for an evening relaxation dinner and overnight.
Day 7: Batwa trail experience and transfer to Volcanoes national park
- Batwa trail experience, on day 7 of the 9 Days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari you will have breakfast and go for 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 gives you an opportunity to learn about their lifestyle, culture, tradition, visit their farmlands, homesteads, walk through the forest where they used to live, view different plant species which were used as medicine to cure various diseases, visit coffee and tea plantations where you will participate in tea harvesting, view the local people grinding, roasting, drying and packing coffee, be entertained through music, dance and drama from Batwa women, listen to ancient stories, learn how local beer is done 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 to transfer to Volcanoes national park in northwestern part of Rwanda. On the way you will have views of the rolling hills in Rwanda, Kigezi hills, smiling people, beautiful landscape among others. You will pass via Cyanika border in Kisoro or Katuna border in Kabale and upon arrival in the park you will check into the lodge, have dinner and overnight.
Day 8: Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park
- Gorilla trekking, after an early breakfast on day 8 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari you will carry packed lunch and your driver guide will pick you up to transfer to Kinigi park headquarters for the briefing about the rules and regulations of gorilla trekking. Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park is done in a group of 8 individuals where each group will be allocated 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 located 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, plant and tree species among others and once the gorillas are found you will be able to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat which gives you an opportunity to watch them carry out their daily activities, learn more about their behaviors, lifestyles, take photos and record the moments to compare experiences. After spending one hour with the mountain gorillas, you will 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.
Day 9: Golden monkey trekking and departure to Kigali
- Golden monkey trekking: on day 9 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari 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 be allocated a golden monkey family to trek, a park guide who will be sharing information about the golden monkeys and start trekking in the forest which takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours. During trekking of the golden monkeys you will follow trails of leftover bamboo leaves and once the golden monkeys are found you will spend one hour with them in their natural habitat where you will be able to take photos, record videos, learn more about their behaviors, 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 to transfer to Kigali international airport for your departure flight.
End of 9 Days Uganda Rwanda primates and wildlife safari
Tour includes
- Gorilla trekking permits
- Chimpanzee trekking permits
- Bigodi swamp walk
- Golden monkey trekking permit
- Batwa trail experience
- Park entrance fees
- Boat cruise fee on Kazinga channel
- Services of an English speaking driver guide
- Full board accommodation
- Pick up and drop off
- Vehicle and fuel
- Bottled water
Tour excludes
- Air flight tickets
- Visas
- Optional activities not included on the itinerary
- Personal expenses like buying souvenirs, crafts, drinks, laundry services, tips among others.
