10 Days Uganda Rwanda safari
10 Days Uganda Rwanda Safari. This trip enables you discover East Africa’s primates, birds, culture and wildlife. Trek the endangered mountain gorilla in both Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park and Uganda’s Bwindi Forest, spend a full day with the chimpanzees at Kibale, track golden monkeys in Mgahinga, see plains game in Queen Elizabeth National Park and the tree-climbing lions of the Ishasha plains, go on a boat cruise on the Kazinga channel and experience the genocide memorial in Kigali.
10 Days Uganda Rwanda Safari Highlights
– Chimpanzee Habituation in Kibale Forest National Park
– Mountain Gorilla tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
– Golden monkey tracking in Mgahinga National Park
– Second Gorilla in Volcanoes National Park
– Visit Kigali Genocide Memorial & Museum
– Boat cruise on Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Day 1: Entebbe, Arrival
Your transfer vehicle will meet you at Entebbe International Airport upon arrival for your Uganda Rwanda safari and drive you to your guesthouse.
Overnight: Karibu Guesthouse
Meals: Breakfast
Day 2: Kibale National Park
Depart Karibu Guesthouse at 8:30am for Fort Portal some 320 kilometres west of the capital in the northern foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains embarking ob your Uganda Rwanda safari. The four hours’ drive goes via the rural towns of Mityana, Mubende and Kwenjojo before entering Fort Portal through an attractive landscape of rolling hills with tea plantations and the Rwenzori Mountain chain on the background.
The drive takes 5 hours so we will arrive in time in Fort Portal for lunch. After lunch we will shake off the drive with a walk to the Bigodi swamp. The Bigodi Swamp is a paradise for bird watchers. Skilled birders can spot up to fifty new species on a bird list.
Today, 138 species of bird have been recognized within the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary and among the major bird species within the sanctuary is the grand Blue Turaco. The swamp also harbors several primates’ species like the red colobus monkey, baboon, black & white colobus monkey, blue monkey grey cheeked, mangabey,vervet monkey, red tailed monkey and the L’Hoest monkey
Overnight: Papaya Lake Lodge / Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse
Meals: Full Board
Day 3: Chimpanzee Habituation Experience
After an early cup of coffee you’ll accompany Kibale’s researchers and habituators into the Kibale Forest National Park as they follow chimpanzee families during their daily activities, getting them used to human presence without altering their natural behaviour. You can expect to see the chimps de-nesting between 5:30am and 6am, before following them during the day until they create new nests and retire for the night around 7pm.
Overnight: Papaya Lake Lodge/Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse
Meals: Full Board
Day 4: Queen Elizabeth National Park
After breakfast, you’ll leave the Kibale Forest at a leisurely pace via the crater lakes to Kasese, the second most populous centre in western Uganda. The road passes through fertile agricultural land and follows the lower slopes of one of Africa’s largest mountain ranges – the Rwenzori Mountains. From Kasese, you’ll cross the equator as the road passes though the Queen Elizabeth National Park. Uganda kob antelope are abundant and you may be able to see elephant or buffalo in the distance. After lunch, continue your game viewing in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Overnight:Katara Lodge/Bush Lodge
Meals:Full Board
Day 5: Kazinga channel and Game drives
Today you’ll explore the prime game viewing area of western Uganda. 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.
In the afternoon you will head for boat cruise on the Kazinga Channe. 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. Return to the lodge for overnight.
Overnight: Katara Lodge/Bush Lodge
Meals: Full Board
Day 6: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Enjoy a game drive in the Ishasha plains, which are well known for their tree-climbing lion population. From there you’ll leave the park via an 80-kilometre dirt road (two to three hours, depending on road conditions) to Buhoma.
On this scenic drive the typical East Africa savannah plains will be left behind as you climb through rolling hills and terraced fields more characteristic of Central Africa. By mid-afternoon or early evening you’ll arrive in the small settlement of Buhoma – the base for your gorilla trek in the famous Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Overnight:Buhoma Lodge/Silverback Lodge
Meals:Full Board
Day 7: Gorilla trekking
The most exciting day of your combined Uganda Rwanda safari, 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: Buhoma Lodge/Silverback Lodge
Meals: Full Board
Day 8: Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Leave the northern sector of the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park via a scenic rural back road with magnificent views on rolling hills and terraced fields. The road passes through the bamboo and montane forest of the Echuya Forest Reserve. By early/mid-afternoon you’ll arrive in the town of Kisoro at the base of the Virunga Mountains. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park sits high in the clouds, at an altitude of between 2,227m and 4,127m.
Mgahinga’s most striking features are its three conical, extinct volcanoes, part of the spectacular Virunga Range that lies along the border region of Uganda, Congo and Rwanda. Mgahinga forms part of the much larger Virunga Conservation Area which includes adjacent parks in these countries. The volcanoes’ slopes contain various ecosystems and are biologically diverse, and their peaks provide a striking backdrop to this gorgeous scenery.
Overnigh: Mount Gahinga Lodge/Travellers’ Rest Hotel
Meals: Full Board
Day 9: Golden monkey Trekking Rwanda
After an early breakfast you’ll go in search of endangered golden monkeys in the Mgahinga National Park, spending most of the morning exploring Mgahinga’s old forest. Around midday you’ll leave Kisoro for the border with Rwanda. Once through immigration and customs, you’ll continue to Musanze, overlooking the beautiful lakes Burera and Ruhondo and with breathtaking views over the Virunga volcanoes.
Overnight:Mountain Gorilla View Lodge/La Bambou Lodge
Meal: Full Board
Day 10: Gorilla trekking Rwanda
Today you’ll go to find the gorillas on the Rwandan of the mountains, leaving for the Volcanoes National Park headquarters after an early breakfast. You’ll get a guide and be allocated your gorilla family before you set off into the rain forest to enjoy an hour with the gorillas.
Your second gorilla trek is usually better because now you know what to expect. Afterwards, you’ll leave for Rwanda’s capital city of Kigali, where you’ll be dropped off at either a hotel in Kigali or at the airport in good time to check in for your late evening flight marking the end of your combined Uganda Rwanda safari.
Overnight: Hotel Mille Colline/Golf Hills Residence
Meals: Breakfast
Inclusions:
All activities and accommodations as mentioned per above Uganda Rwanda Safari itinerary
English speaking driver guide
4WD safari vehicle (including fuel)
Drinking water in the vehicle
Exclusions:
Visa
Tips and gratuities
Alcoholic Drinks
Laundry services
Telephone calls and any other items of personal nature
Air flights
