Uganda and Rwanda Safari

Adventure in Both Rwanda & Uganda in 21 Days

Route: Kigali – Akagera – Volcanoes – Bunyonyi – Bwindi – Queen – Kibale – Murchison – Kedepo – Jinja – Kampala – Entebbe

HIGHLIGHTS

Starts/Ends: Kigali, Rwanda/Entebbe, Uganda
Main Activities: Gorilla Trekking, Chimp Trekking & Game Drive
Strength Demand: Highly Demanding

DETAILED ITINERARY

Day 1: Arrival in Kigali

City Tour and transfer to Akagera National Park

Upon arrival at the Airport our safari guide will meet you and transfer you to the city of Kigali. Time allowing you will have a Kigali City excursion. You will visit the Genocide memorial site, the colourful markets and the craft centres. Later, you will transfer to Akagera National Park.

Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Meal Plan: Dinner

Day 2: Full Day Game drive in Akagera National park

You will have an early breakfast and set off for a Wildlife safari game drive in Akagera to catch up with the early risers plus large predators including lions and hyenas plus bushbuck, zebra, Elephants, giraffes, Buffaloes, cape elands, impalas, oribi and antelopes.

You will return for lunch at the Lodge and then go for another game drive before retiring to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Accommodation options:

Up-market: Ruzizi Game Lodge
Midrange: Akagera Game Lodge
Budget: Akagera Game Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 3: Transfer to Volcanoes National park

You will have an early breakfast and transfer to Volcanoes National Park for gorilla tracking. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Accommodation options:

Up-market: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge / Gorillas Nest Lodge
Midrange: La Palme Hotel
Budget: Kinigi Tourist Guest House
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 4: Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park and Cultural Experience in Iby’wachu cultural Centre

You will have an early breakfast and report at the Volcanoes National Park Headquarters for a briefing on the rules to be observed during Uganda Gorilla trekking. You will be allocated a Gorilla family to track and guides to lead you to the Gorillas. The tracking will take 2-5 hours.

Once found, you will spend a maximum of one hour observing the gorillas in their natural setting. After the tracking you will visit the Iby’wachu cultural village to learn about the Kinyarwanda culture.

Dinner and overnight will be as above.

Accommodation options:

Up-market: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge / Gorillas Nest Lodge
Midrange: La Palme Hotel
Budget: Kinigi Tourist Guest House
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 5: Golden Monkey tracking in Park Volcanoes and transfer to Kisoro

You will, after breakfast, move to the Park headquarters of Volcanoes National Park where you will receive a briefing on the rules of golden monkey trekking. It starts from 8am-11am and after you will transfer to Kisoro.

Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Day 6: Batwa Community Visit and transfer to Lake Bunyonyi

You will, after breakfast, go to visit the Batwa people 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.

You will do a coffee tour, visit local markets in Kisoro and transfer to Lake Bunyonyi.

Meal Plan: B, L, D

Day 7: Canoe Trek on Lake Bunyonyi

You will after breakfast, go for a 5 hour canoe ride, swim on the lake or hike to the view point on the hills to see the exceedingly beautiful scenery of this part of the country.

Later in the afternoon, you will go for option activities, you will either go for a guided walk or relax at the lodge.

Meal Plan: B, L, D

Day 8: Transfer to Bwindi, Village Walk

You will after breakfast, transfer to Bwindi. Later after lunch, you will go for a village walk with expectations of seeing a black smith manufacturing local tools used in everyday life and see how local beer is brewed using local methods, visit a traditional herbalist to see how he prepares native medicine to treat a wide array of human ailments, local markets.

Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Meal Plan: B, L, D

Day 9: Gorilla tracking and transfer to Ishasha Sector

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.  Later you will transfer to Ishasha sector.

Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Meal Plan: B, L, D

Day 10: Full Game Drive in Ishasha sector and Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park

You will have an early breakfast and go for a full day game drive in Ishasha sector in search for the tree climbing lions. Expect to see other animal species such as the warthogs, leopard, spotted hyena and birds.

We will visit the Uganda kob mating ground which is a defined area specifically used by kobs for challenging, enticing and mating adult rams defend a circle territory (30meters diameter) and depending on the season the mating ground can have 20 and more of these small.

After, then you will transfer to Queen Elizabeth. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Day 11: Game drive and boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth National Park, transfer to Kibale National Park

After your morning breakfast, you will have an early morning Game drive where you will see lions, leopards, giant forest hogs, Cape buffaloes, elephants, defassa waterbucks, Uganda Kob, topis and bushbuck among others.

You will return to your lodge for lunch and in the afternoon go for a 2-hour boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel. The Kazinga channel is a 42kms water way that joins Lake Edward and Lake George.

This Uganda Rwanda Gorilla Trekking & Wildlife Safari route passes through possibly the highest concentration of hippos and offers an excellent platform for photography, bird watching and game viewing.

The prolific bird life is colorful, with well over 550 resident species. Later afternoon, you will transfer to Kibale Forest National Park. Dinner and overnight will be at your reserved lodge.

Accommodation options:

Up-scale: Ndali Lodge/ Kyaninga Lodge/ Kibale Forest Lodge/ Primate Lodge
Midrange: Kibale Forest Camp/ Mountains of the Moon Hotel
Budget: Chimpanzee Forest Guest house/ Kibale Forest Camp in tents
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 12: Chimp tracking and Bigodi Primate Walk

After breakfast you will be taken to the Kanyanchu tourism center at 08:00 am for a briefing on the Chimpanzee tracking rules and procedures.

You will after the briefing set off to track the chimpanzees and on the way see various species of monkeys before finally catching up with the chimpanzees.

The activity takes 2–5 hours and one hour is available for you to interact with the Chimps and take photos.  After lunch you will go for a nature walk in the unique Bigodi swamp eco-tourism site where you will see uncommon plants, variety of monkey species and rare bird species such as the Great Blue Turacco, little Bulbul, RwenzoriTuraco and the Narina Trogon, among others.

You will return to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Accommodation options:

Up-scale: Ndali Lodge/ Kyaninga Lodge/ Kibale Forest Lodge/ Primate Lodge
Midrange: Kibale Forest Camp/ Mountains of the Moon Hotel
Budget: Chimpanzee Forest Guest house/ Kibale Forest Camp in tents
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 13: Travel to Murchison Falls National Park, Visit Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

You will have breakfast and set off on the Uganda Rwanda Gorilla Trekking & Wildlife Safari ‘BIG 5’ Murchison route. The drive is through a verdant rural countryside dotted with traditional homesteads and farmlands.

You will visit the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary where you will have the opportunity to trek the Rhinos. The sanctuary houses Uganda’s Rhino reintroduction project. There are 9 white rhinos and tracking is done on foot for one and half hours. Continue to Murchison Falls National Park. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Accommodation options:

Up-market: Baker’s Lodge Uganda/ Paraa Safari Lodge
Midrange: Fort Murchison Lodge / Murchison River Lodge / Pakuba Lodge
Budget: Fort Murchison Lodge / Murchison River Lodge/Red Chilli Rest Camp
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 14: Safari Game Drive and Boat Cruise

We start with a game drive on the northern bank of the Nile, with high chances of seeing giraffes, elephants, lions, cape buffalo, hartebeest, waterbuck, oribi, bushbuck, bohor reedbuck, hyena and if you are lucky, the leopard.

After this we return to the hotel/camp for relaxation till lunch. In the afternoon the safari will be continued with a boat cruise on the river Nile for game viewing at close quarters.

The boat stops at the bottom of the falls just meters away from the Devil’s caldron where one can see the smoky falls at very close range.

You will have the option of taking the challenging walk to the top of the falls, or simply take photos from the comfort of your boat before returning to the lodge for overnight.

Accommodation options:

Up-market: Baker’s Lodge / Paraa Safari Lodge
Midrange: Fort Murchison Lodge / Murchison River Lodge / Pakuba Lodge
Budget: Fort Murchison Lodge / Murchison River Lodge/Red Chilli Rest Camp
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 15:  Drive to Kidepo Valley National Park

You will continue the journey to Kidepo Valley National Park on a rough road. The journey to Kidepo depending on the weather conditions which determine the state of the roads in this part of the country. You will spend the night at one of the lodges in the park.

Budget: Apoka Lodge or Uwa Bandas.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 16: Full Game drive Safari in Kidepo

You will wake up early for a full day game drive in the park to catch up with the early predators that will be returning to their habitats after a night hunt.

In Kidepo you will find zebras, giraffes, elephants, lions, leopards and this is the only place in Uganda where you can find the cheetah and ostrich. You’ll return to the lodge for a late breakfast, have a rest and go for another game drive. You will return to your lodge in the late afternoon for dinner and overnight.

Budget: Apoka Lodge or Uwa Bandas.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 17: Visit the local community and drive to Sipi Falls

You will after breakfast, set off to visit the local communities and learn about their lifestyle and activities. And later, you will transfer to Sipi Falls.

Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Meal Plan: B, L, D

Day 18: Hike to the fall and transfer to Jinja.

You will after breakfast go explore the nearby main Sipi Falls which is a set of 3 falls, there are caves behind the main falls.  Be on the look for lots of birds to discover as you climb all the way to the top of the falls. The views are breathtaking, the hike takes about 2½ hours and make for a great afternoon.

Keep an eye open for Tacazze, Sunbirds , Turacos and Hornbill birds as many are in the area.

Return to Lodging for dinner and a wonderful view of the scenery around you.  Enjoy the sunset and also get a good night’s rest. We enjoy our picnic lunch along the way as you transfer to Jinja.

Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Meal Plan: B, L, D

Day 19: Adventure activity on the Nile

You will after breakfast visit the source of the Nile and to enjoy some of the adventurous activities whose options include white water rafting, jet boating, horse riding along the Nile and a must see the source of the Nile, mountain biking, quad biking and bungee jumping. You will, after the rafting adventure. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Day 20: Travel to Kampala, City tour

The final hours of the Uganda Rwanda Gorilla Trekking & Wildlife Safari, have breakfast and set off for a three hour drive to Kampala. You will have lunch and go out for an excursion in the city.

You will have the option to visit either the National Museum to learn about to see ethnological and natural-historical exhibitions that represent the country’s colourful past or pay a visit to the Namugongo Martyrs shrine where early Christian converts were murdered on the orders of a King for refusing to denounce their new religion.

You will check in at the hotel of your booking for dinner and overnight.

Meal Plan: B, L, D

Day 21: Drive to Mamba for Shoebill,

You will after breakfast, transfer to Mamba for an early morning game drive in search for the shoebill.

After, you will be transferred back either to your hotel or at the Airport to catch up with your flight.

Meal Plan: B, L