Enjoy a magical 8 Days Gorilla trekking Uganda Safaris take you to the misty kingdom of the mountain gorillas in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, meet with the lions on big sycamore trees in Ishasha , Enjoy a launch cruise on the Kazinga Channel and an unforgettable safari experience in Murchison Falls.
Highlights
- Unforgettable meeting with the Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Forest
- Kazinga Channel boat trip
- Travel in style and comfort, and fly across Uganda to Bwindi
- Chimpanzee tracking Kyambura Gorge
- Launch cruise to the base of the most powerful falls in Africa.
- Game drives to encounter the African Big 5
Day 1: Arrival in Entebbe
On arrival into Entebbe International Airport we will meet you and transfer you to your nearby boutique guesthouse for a welcome drink .Your accommodation for the night, Karibu Guesthouse, is located about 10 minutes’ drive away from the airport.The guesthouse a boutique hotel set in a former presidential residenceand offers a high level of personalised service, quality food and a comfortable sleep.
Overnight: Karibu Guesthouse
Meals: Breakfast
Day 2: Flight to Bwindi
We will transfer you from your accommodation at 6.15am(for the morning flight)or 11.15am (for the afternoon flight) to Entebbe International Airport for your flight to the south western part of Uganda.
An Aerolink member of staff will assist you with the check in and transfer to your 07:45 am (arrival 09:30 am) or 12:30 pm (arrival 13:45 pm) domestic flight to Kihihi airstrip. Enjoy the one hour scenic flight. Upon arrival you will be met by the driver for a 2 hours’ drive to the lodge. After lunch you can opt to relax at the lodge or engage in one of the following activities.
Option activities after tracking and can be paid for while at the lodge
- Take a guided walk in the rainforest, home to several endemic bird species, clouds of butterflies and rare plant life. This walk offers excellent photographic opportunities and the knowledgeable guide will provide a great insight into this globally important habitat, the climax of this walk will be at the Munyanga.
- Walk through the local village, and learn about community life and Bwindi Community Hospital that started as a health clinic under a tree and now provides vital medical and educational services to over 60,000 people. Also take a tour of our local tea processing operation at the lodge which enables guests to see the various different methods for tea growing and at the end of the tour taste some of our own grown tea! The Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust supports both projects.
- Discover the traditions of the Batwa Pygmies, and learn about the native tribal inhabitants of the forest. The indigenous people of Bwindi forest, though no longer resident in the forest, still practice many of their traditional hunter-gatherer skills.
Overnight Midrange option: Mahogany Springs Lodge
Meal plan: Full Board
Lower accommodation option: Bakiga Lodge
Day 3: Gorilla Trekking.
The most exciting day of your gorilla trekking Uganda safaris, the briefing is at 8 am and you will learn about gorilla etiquette. And then you will start walking and hiking in the impenetrable forest until you find the gorillas. For one hour you are allowed to watch those majestic giants, looking deep into the expressive brown eyes of these giants of the Bwindi Forest is surely the most exciting and moving wildlife encounter Africa has to offer. Depending on the duration of the track you can either relax in the afternoon at the lodge and just enjoy the view or go for another walk around and explore the village or walk up to the highest football field with the best view ever. Also today, you will carry a packed lunch.
Overnight Midrange option: Mahogany Springs Lodge
Meal plan: Full Board
Lower accommodation option: Bakiga Lodge
Day 4: Queen Elizabeth –Ishasha
After Breakfast drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park, proceed via the Ishasha sector where you will conduct a game drive in search for tree climbing lions. Proceed to the Kasenyi sector of the park in time for a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel.This 32-kilometre Channel is a dominant feature of the Queen Elizabeth National Park and links Lake George with Lake Edward.
The Channel is home to one of the greatest concentration of hippo in Africa and herds of elephant, buffalo and other animals come to drink at the water’s edge. The channel is a magnet for water birds, with great flocks of pelicans and others birds on the shore, and a great spot to see African fish eagle. After the launch cruise you will go for another game drive and return to the lodge for overnight.
Overnight: Katara Lodge
Meals: Full Board
Lower accommodation Option: Bush Lodge
Day 5: Queen Elizabeth National Park
Morning Chimpanzee tracking in the Kyambura Gorge. The stunning Kyambura Gorge also called the “Valley of Apes” is located in the far eastern corner of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The landscape is among the most impressive you will find in Uganda and it is swarmed a rich wildlife bio-diversity that comprises of primates, wild animals as well as birds. If lucky,you will be able to spot chimpanzees and other species of primates such as the red-tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, baboons as well as vervet monkeys.
In the afternoon you will head out for an extensive game drive in the Kasenyi sector.A network of tracks allows you to find elephant, buffalo and other animals in the grassland thickets that cover the north Kazinga area near the Mweya Peninsula.
Lions and other big cats are most reliably sighted on the typical open East Africa savannah Kasenyi Plain. This area is known as the main breeding ground of the Uganda kob, the main source of food for lion prides in the area.
Overnight: Katara Lodge
Meals: Full Board
Lower accommodation Option: Bush Lodge
Day 6: Flight to Entebbe-Murchison Falls
Have breakfast at the lodge and depart at around 9:00am for Mweya airstrip to catch your flight back to Entebbe. Your flight will arrive in Entebbe at 11:25am and you will immediately check in for your 1 hour connecting flight to Murchision Falls national park that departs at 12:30pm.Our driver will meet you at Bugungu airstrip and transfer you to the lodge in time for lunch. In the evening head out for a game drive on the northern sector of the park. Watch out for the Albert endemic birds and Rothschild giraffes, buffalos, elephants and if you’re lucky lions and leopards.
Overnight: Paara Safari Lodge
Meals:Full Board
Lower accommodation option: Murchsion River Lodge in the Comfortable Tents.
Day 7: Murchison Falls
Early morning go for another game drive or optionally a boat trip to the Victoria Nile Delta area of the National Park. The delta area is quite spectacular with several endemic mammal species to be seen to include Rothschild’s giraffe and elephant. The Shoebill stork is also to be found in the delta a must see species for the avid bird enthusiast.
In the afternoon you will take a boat safari up the Nile River to Murchison Falls. Carefully watched by crocodiles, hundreds of hippos, buffaloes, water birds, monkeys and all the other thirsty wildlife that the Nile attracts, you will reach the base of the 43-meter high Falls which approach with a thunderous sound.
The riverbanks often host elephant in the afternoon, crocodiles are monstrous and the waterfalls themselves spectacular. The riverbank is also home to the Red-throated bee-eater a local endemic to Murchison Falls National Park. You will have opportunity to disembark the boat launch at the drop off point close to the base of the falls (approximately 750m) to be met by a UWA ranger / guide to follow the riverbank and footpath that leads up to the top of the falls.
The walking trail from the drop point up to the head of the falls will take about 1 hour. At the top of the falls you will have a clear view of the unforgettable feature in the park which is the Victoria Nile, the world’s longest river which explodes violently through a narrow six meter gorge in the Rift Valley escarpment down a drop of about 40 meters creating one of the world’s most breath-taking waterfalls then calms down into a gentile flow westward into Lake Albert. This view makes time stand still.Your safari vehicle will be awaiting you top of the falls.
Overnight: Paara Safari Lodge
Meals: Full Board
Lower accommodation option: Murchsion River Lodge in the Comfortable Tents.
Day 8: Drive back to Entebbe, departure.
Early morning, depart Murchison Falls for a 5-6 hours drive back to Entebbe. You will stop at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for Rhino Tracking. This sanctuary was started in 2005 as a project by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Rhino Fund project as an initiative to build a sustainable rhinoceros population and relocate rhinos back to their original habitat in Uganda’s protected areas.
After the tracking you will be back on the road and you will arrive in Entebbe in the afternoon to check in at Karibu guesthouse to shower and freshen up. Your guide will drop you off at the airport in time for your check in for your departure flight back home marking the end of your 8 Days Uganda Safari!