Gorilla Trekking and Wildlife Safari

HIGHLIGHTS

Starts/Ends: Entebbe, Uganda

Country Visited: Uganda

Main Activities:  Scenic Viewing, Game Viewing, Boat Ride, Gorilla Tracking, Walking Safari

Strength Demand: Moderately Demanding

8 Day Gorilla Trekking Bwindi & Wildlife Safari

Route:  Kampala – Kibale – Queen – Bwindi Forest  – Kampala

The 7 Day Gorilla Trekking Bwindi & Wildlife Safari’s main highlight is the mountain gorillas in Bwindi impenetrable forest. This Uganda safari route has been liked by a number of our travellers because it gives you both the chimps and gorillas and also drives through the beautiful savannah to find the big game.

Start the safari route with Queen elizabeth national park where you’ll find the big game and the habituated chimpanzees. Then head up to the Virunga ranges in the misty jungles of Bwindi for the gorilla trekking safari adventure. And lastly get another wildlife tease in the highway safari park, Lake Mburo before you head home.

Safari Highlights

• The awesome and exciting experience of spending time with the Gorillas and watching them at close range as they feed, play and relax.
• Enjoying the scenic allure of stunning hills and lush vegetation inhabited by the elusive primates and pygmies.
• The thrill of trekking the wild but habituated chimpanzees and other primates in their natural environment
• A guided nature walk in the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary for birding and primate viewing
• An encounter with the Batwa (former forest dwellers) for a demonstration of their former hunting and trapping techniques, and how to make ointments from native plants to cure all manner of ailments.
• A visit to a Batwa home to see the traditional huts used for grinding millet, cooking over an open fire and distilling local potent gin (Waragi).
• Sightings of the carpets of green tea plantations and long horned cattle
• Enjoying game drives in Queen Elizabeth National Park and a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel.
• The thrill of a game-walking safari and canoe ride at Lake Mburo National Park
• An opportunity to stand in two hemispheres at the Equatorfor memorable photos.

Day 1: Briefing on the safari. Drive to Kibale National Park for Chimps,

You will depart Kampala after breakfast and head westwards to Fort Portal town.

The drive will take about 4 -5 hours. You will have lunch in Fort Portal and continue to Kibale.

You will have an opportunity to do Bigodi swamp walk in the afternoon to see a variety of birds and monkey species.

Dinner and overnight will be at your reserved lodge.

Day 2: Chimp tracking and transfer to Queen Elizabeth for Boat cruise and evening game dive

After breakfast you will report at the Kanyanchu Tourist Centre at 08.00 am for a briefing on the rules before tracking the chimpanzees.

Kibale Forest National Park has the greatest variety and highest concentration of primates in East Africa.

The most famous of its 13 species is the Chimpanzee known to be a delightful ape.

The trek takes 2-3 hours and it will provide you with the opportunity to also see a variety of other primates and animals as well as birds, and a variety of butterflies, and other insects.

After, you will transfer to Queen Elizabeth.

You will after lunch, go for a late afternoon launch cruise along the amazing Kazinga channel to see, at close range, the water animals to include Hippos, Buffalos, Crocodiles and elephants bathing on the channel banks.

There is also a variety of bird species on the water banks especially the famous Shoebill, pelican and Jacana.

And in the evening you will do an evening game drive expect to see Lions, various Antelope species, Elephants, Hyenas, Leopards and Buffaloes.

Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge.

Day 3: Game drive, and afternoon Chimp trek in Kyambura Gorge

After breakfast you will go for a morning game drive in northern part of the park on the kasenyi Track in search of lions, elephants, solitary buffaloes.

This is the best time for opportunities of viewing the cats in action owing to the vast population of Uganda kobs.

We have an excellent chance to view just about every animal here at very close range. After lunch, you will go for chimp trekking in Kyambura Gorge.

Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Day 4 Transfer to Bwindi via Ishasha sector

You will after breakfast transfer to Bwindi via the Ishasha sector.

You will have a game drive along the way during which you will see tree climbing Lions, various Antelope species, Elephants, Hyenas, Leopards and Buffaloes.

After, then you will transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable forest. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Day 5: Gorilla Trekking (Bwindi Impenetrable NP), and Batwa Experience

Today enjoy surely. After breakfast, proceed for the morning briefing before enjoying the highlight of the trip- Gorilla trekking, which may last the entire day.

We trek through the rainforest and bamboo covered slopes, accompanied by a guide and trackers, in search of a mountain gorilla family.

The walking can sometimes be tough and long, but when you catch a glimpse of the magnificent silverback, any discomforts will be quickly forgotten.

When sighted, visitors will be guided to within 6 metres from the gorillas, sit around them for a whole hour while gazing into their big round eyes.

Gorilla trekking is unpredictable. It’s difficult to foresee how many hours you will hike. The gorilla excursion can take from 2 up to 8 hours.

Expect to walk along distance in steep and muddy conditions, sometimes with rain overhead, before you encounter any gorillas.

A good physical condition is recommended. For conservation purposes, time spent with the gorillas is limited to one hour.

A ranger will brief you on how to behave with the gorillas.  Time allowing you will go for a guided community walk to experience the livelihoods of the local communities.

As planned, you take on the gorilla trekking Bwindi route to visit a traditional herbalist to see how he prepares native medicine to treat a wide array of human ailments, see a black smith manufacturing local tools used in everyday life and see how local beer is brewed using local methods.

You will also be entertained by the traditional dances offered by the community. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Day 6: Transfer to Lake Mburo, afternoon and Evening game drive

You will have an early breakfast and travel to Lake Mburo National Park centered on a series of swamp-fringed lakes rich in bird life while its green acacia woodland harbors wildlife like the Zebra, warthog, Eland, Impala among others which can be seen even as you enter the park.

You will have a 2 hour wildlife safari game drive and go for lunch at the lodge reserved for you.

In the afternoon you will go for an evening game drive. Expect to see zebra, hippos, crocodiles, eland, antelope, impala, and a variety of birds. You will return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Day 7: Walking Safari and transfer to Kampala/ Entebbe

Early breakfast before embarking on our return to Kampala, You will have a short drive to the Rwonyo park headquarters. This has often been a good chance of seeing hyenas coming back to the water you will see buffalo zebra, impala and topi and with a bit of luck may be even asitatunga, an antelope rarely seen living in the papyrus swamps. Later, in the mid-morning you will transfer back in Kampala reaching in the evening. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.