9 Days Uganda Rwanda Primates safari
This 9 days Uganda Rwanda Primates safari will start from Kigali and end in Kampala. The safari will take you to Volcanoes national park in Rwanda where you will participate in gorilla trekking, golden monkey trekking and cultural tour in the neighboring communities around the park. From Volcanoes national park you will connect to Bwindi impenetrable national park where you will engage in another gorilla trekking activity to compare the experience and then transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park the second largest national park in Uganda. While in Queen Elizabeth national park you will participate in interesting activities like game drive and boat cruise which give you an opportunity to view different wildlife species such as the big four mammals, aquatic animals, bird species among others. You will wrap up your safari with a tour in Kibale national park also known as the primate capital where you will view primate species like chimpanzees, monkeys, baboons during chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi nature walk.
Highlights of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda Primates safari
Day 1: Pick up at Kigali international airport and transfer to Volcanoes national park
Day 2: Gorilla trekking
Day 3: Golden monkey trekking and cultural tour
Day 4: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
Day 5: Gorilla trekking
Day 6: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park
Day 7: Morning game drive and boat cruise
Day 8: Transfer to Kibale national park and Bigodi nature walk
Day 9: Chimpanzee trekking and departure to Kampala
Detailed itinerary
Day 1 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda Primates safari
Arrival and transfer to Volcanoes national park, upon arrival at Kigali international airport on day 1 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates safari, you will be welcomed by our driver guide who will brief you about the safari and then start the journey to Kigali for a city tour. During the Kigali city tour you will visit Kigali genocide memorial centre where you will know more about the brutal killing of people during the 1994 Kigali genocide between the Hutus and Tutsi. You will also visit craft centers where you will buy souvenirs, handmade crafts among others and after go for lunch in one of the restaurants. After lunch you will start the journey to Volcanoes national park where you will have great views of the rolling hills, beautiful landscapes, scenery among others and upon arrival you will check into the lodge, have dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park
Gorilla trekking, after an early breakfast on day 2 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates 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. Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park is done in groups of 8 people where each group is allowed to trek one gorilla family per day. After the briefing you will therefore be allocated a park guide who is well conversant with trails in the jungle, a gorilla family to trek and then start trekking.
Gorilla trekking takes 3o0 minutes to 6 hours depending on where the gorillas are located and during trekking you will have views of plant species, animals like forest elephants, giant forest hogs, bushbucks, buffaloes, bush pigs, primates like vervet monkeys, red tailed monkeys, Mona monkeys, bird species like Rwenzori turaco, handsome francolin, red faced woodland warbler, barred long tailed cuckoo, white- tailed flycatcher among others. Once the 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, watch them carry out their daily activities, take photos, record videos among others. After the one hour with the gorillas you will trek back to the park headquarters, meet up with your driver guide and transfer to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Golden monkey trekking and cultural tour
Golden monkey trekking, on day 3 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda safari you will have an early breakfast and your driver guide will pick you up to transfer to Kinigi park headquarters for a briefing about the rules and regulations of golden monkey trekking. After the briefing you will be allocated a golden monkey family to trek and a park guide who will be showing you golden monkey trail to follow. Golden monkey trekking takes 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on where they are located because they like to move from one place to another in search of bamboo shoots and leaves. Once the golden monkey family is found you will be allowed to spend one hour with the individuals in their natural environment where you will be able to learn about their behaviors, habits, take photos and record the moments. After the face to face encounter with the golden monkeys you will trek back to the park headquarters where you will meet your driver guide to transfer back to the lodge for lunch.
Cultural tour, after lunch you will go for a cultural tour in the neighboring communities where you will visit Ibyi’wacu cultural village. During the cultural tour you will interact with the local people which gives you an opportunity to learn about their culture, way of living, visit their farmlands, taste different Kinyarwanda food, learn how local beer is made from bananas, enjoy entertainment by women as they perform Kinyarwanda dance, songs, drama, listen to ancient traditional stories among others. After the cultural tour you will transfer back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
After breakfast on day 4 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates safari, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park which is situated in south western part of Uganda. The journey takes about 3 to 4 hours drive passing via Cyanika border in Kisoro or Katuna border in Kabale district. On your way you will have en-route lunch and views of the rolling hills in Rwanda, beautiful scenery, landscape, Kigezi hills, terraced farmlands among others. Upon arrival in the park you will continue to the lodge where you will check in, have dinner and overnight.
Day 5: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park
Gorilla trekking, after an early breakfast on day 5 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates safari you will carry packed lunch and your driver guide will pick you up to transfer to the park headquarters for a gorilla trekking briefing. After the briefing you will be grouped into 8 people, allocated a gorilla family to trek and a park guide who is well conversant with trails in the forest. Just like Volcanoes national park gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park starts at 8:00am and takes 30 minutes to 7 hours depending on where the gorillas are located.
During trekking you will have great views of plant species, bird species like handsome francolin, Rwenzori batis, animals like forest elephants, bush pigs, warthogs, buffaloes, primates like l’hoest monkeys, vervet monkeys among others. Once the gorillas are found you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural environment and during the one hour you will be able to learn about their behaviors, lifestyle, watch them carry out their daily activities, take photos and record the moments to show people back home. After the one hour encounter with the gorillas you will trek back to the park headquarters, meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 6: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park
On day 6 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda Primates safari you will have breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park. Queen Elizabeth national park is the second largest and one of the most visited protected area in Uganda. The journey takes about 3 to 4 hours drive and on your way you will have a stopover in Ishasha sector where you will view the tree climbing lions that will be lying up in acacia/fig tree branches. The tree climbing lions in Ishasha sector are believed to climb trees due to various reasons like to run away from biting insects, ground heat, to have a clear view of the prey among others. After the game drive in Ishasha sector you will have en-route lunch and later proceed with the journey to Queen Elizabeth national park. Upon arrival in the park you will have views of animals as you continue to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 7: Morning game drive and boat cruise
Game drive, after an early breakfast on day 7 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates safari you will meet up with your driver guide and go for a morning game drive/ lion tracking experience in Kasenyi plains. The game drive starts at around 7:00am and during the activity you should look out for wildlife species like elephants, lions, buffaloes, leopards, Uganda kobs, giant forest hogs, waterbucks, bushbucks, warthogs, bird species like grey crowned cranes, yellow throated long crow, red throat spur fowl, African white backed vulture, African wattled plover, black bellied bustard, black headed gonolek among others. After the game drive you will drive to Katwe Crater Lake where you will interact with the local people who earn a living through extracting rock salt from the lake and selling it to traders in Uganda and around the country. After Lake Katwe Crater Lake tour, you will drive back 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 and takes about 2 to 3 hours ride and during this exciting activity you will have an opportunity to take clear photos, view large concentrations of hippos and crocodiles in water, other animals like elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, warthogs, Uganda kobs among others on the shores of the lake, fisher men preparing their fishing gears for night fishing, water birds such as saddle bill stork, long tailed cormorant, African shoebill, yellow billed stork, pink backed pelican, black crake, cormorants, kingfisher, fish eagle among others. After the boat cruise you will drive back to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 8: Transfer to Kibale national park and Bigodi swamp walk
After breakfast on day 8 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda Primates safari, you will check out of the lodge and your driver guide will pick you up to transfer to Kibale national park. The journey takes about 3 hours drive and on the way you will have spectacular views of the Rwenzori Mountains, tea plantations, crater lakes, landscapes among others. Upon arrival in the park you will check into the lodge and have lunch.
Bigodi swamp walk, after lunch you will go for a swamp walk in Bigodi community wetland where you will have great views of colorful bird species like the great blue turaco, papyrus gonolek, blue breasted kingfisher, white spotted flufftail, western Nictor, primates like the l’hoest monkeys, black and white colobus monkey, blue monkeys, red tailed monkey, butterflies, tree and plant species among others. During the nature walk you will also walk around the surrounding communities where you will be able to interact with the local people, learn about their culture, tradition, way of living, enjoy entertainment through music, dance and drama among others. After the nature walk you will meet up with your driver guide and transfer back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 9: Chimpanzee trekking and departure to Kampala
Chimpanzee trekking, after an early breakfast on day 9 of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda primates safari you will meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Kanyachu Visitors Center for a briefing about the rules and regulations of chimpanzee trekking. Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale national park is done in a group of 6 people where each group is allocated a chimpanzee family to trek and a park guide who is well conversant with trails in the forest. After the briefing you will start trekking in jungle which takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on where they are located because they like to move from one area to another in search of food.
During chimpanzee trekking, you will spectacular view of other primate species like l’hoest monkeys, red tailed monkeys, vervet monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, olive baboons, bird species like African pitta, crowned eagle, black capped apalis, purple breasted sunbird, collared apalis, tree species, animals like forest elephants, buffaloes 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 take photos, record videos, learn more about their lifestyle, habits, behaviors, watch them play up in trees, female’s breastfeeding, feeding among others. After the one hour with the chimpanzees, you will trek back to the park headquarters where you will meet your driver guide and transfer to the lodge for lunch.
After lunch you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to start the journey to Kampala with a stopover at the Equator in Kayabwe where you will take pictures, buy souvenirs, handmade crafts like sandals, jewelry among others. From the Equator you will proceed to Kampala and your driver guide will drop you off at Entebbe international airport for your departure flight or drop off at any place of convenience.
End of 9 days Uganda Rwanda Primates safari
Inclusions of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda Primates safari
- Gorilla trekking permits
- Chimpanzee trekking permit
- Golden monkey trekking permit
- Ibyi’wacu cultural tour
- Kigali city tour
- Park entrance fees
- Boat cruise fee on Kazinga channel
- Bigodi swamp walk
- Services of an English speaking driver guide
- Full board accommodation
- Pick up and drop off
- Vehicle and fuel
- Bottled water
Exclusions of the 9 days Uganda Rwanda Primates safari
- Air flight tickets
- Visas
- Optional activities not included on the itinerary
- Personal expenses like buying souvenirs, crafts, drinks, laundry services, tips among others.
