Get on this 10 days primates & gorilla trekking safari to Uganda, one of the most rated Uganda safari experiences. The safari shall give you the greatest opportunity to see and watch primates in full, combined with wildlife game safari, for a chance to meet and encounter the big five.
For primate lovers, this is the best experience ever. Enjoy chimpanzee tracking in Budongo forest, chimpanzee habituation experience in Kibale and double gorilla trekking safaris in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Take a choice of your accommodation category that you would to stay in and we will plan diligently for your Uganda safari tour anytime of the year.
10 Days Primates & Gorilla Trekking Safari Itinerary:-
Day 1: Arrival Entebbe Airport – Kampala (Travel Time +1hr)
Upon arrival at the airport, you will be warmly welcomed by our guide who will then take you to Serena Kampala Hotel (high-end) or Cassia Lodge (mid-range), for an overnight stay and dinner. Meal plan: dinner.
Day 2: Kampala – Budongo Forest (Travel Time +5 hrs)
Begin the panoramic drive north-west through the famous Luwero Triangle to Masindi, via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. A visit to the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for Rhino trekking is a must.
After lunch, you will drive to Budongo forest, part of Murchison Falls National Park.
Overnight stay and dinner at Budongo Eco Lodge Forest Cabin (high-end facility). This is the only facility here. Meal Plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 3: Budongo Chimpanzee Trekking – Murchison Falls
Begin the day with an early morning chimpanzee trekking experience to enjoy the company of chimps, as well as the exciting forest walks. Thereafter you will drive into Murchison Falls for a afternoon boat safari upstream the calm Victoria Nile. This shall take you to the base of the falls stopping just tens of meters from the “Devil’s Cauldron”. En-route, marvel at the toothsome hippos, crocodiles, and elephants, waterbucks and Uganda Kob along this 17 km stretch.
This is also a zone of many bird species, including the goliath heron, Egyptian goose, pelican bee-eaters, kingfisher, hornbill, cormorants and the rare shoebill stork.
There you leave the boat and start your – quite heavy – hike to the top of the Murchison Falls, in approximately 1 hour. You will see where the world’s longest river explodes violently through a narrow cleft in the Rift Valley escarpment, to plunge into a frothing pool 43m below. Your driver or guide will be waiting for you to bring you back to the lodge.
Overnight stay and dinner at Paraa Safari Lodge (luxury facility) or Murchison River Lodge (mid-range facility). Meal Plan: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 4: Murchison Falls – Kibale (Travel Time +8 hrs)
Take a full day drive south, from Murchison falls via Hoima to Fort Portal, through the verdant countryside. You will pass by traditional homesteads and farms along Albertine Rift escarpments. Fort-Portal rests in the shadow of the fabled ‘Mountains of the Moon‘.
Dinner and overnight stay at Kyaninga Lodge (luxury facility) or Primate Lodge/Forest Cottages (mid-range). Get a stunning location overlooking a dramatic crater lake and the fabled Rwenzori mountain ranges. Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 5: Kibale Chimpanzee Habituation Experience
This day is dedicated for chimpanzee habituation experience. So, you will start the day with an early morning breakfast, and take your packed lunch as you set off to the forest before dawn breaks.
You will meet your guide for a short briefing and then set off to where the chimpanzees would have built their nests the night before. Dawn is just breaking and the chimpanzee community you are going to be with the rest of the day is just rising from their sleep.
Your day will be full, so your camera might fill up with quality pictures of the chimpanzees. You will get to learn to identify the chimps as individuals by their markings, like scars and other unique features, that make them stand apart from rest. Besides everything described there are the most colorful butterflies, plants and trees that will amaze you, because the forest setting is simply awesome.
Dinner and overnight stay at Kyaninga Lodge (luxury facility) or Primate Lodge/Forest Cottages (mid-range). Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 6: Kibale – Primate visit Kyambura Queen Elizabeth NP (Travel Time +2hrs)
In the morning, you will drive to southwards into Queen Elizabeth National Park, with amazing sightseeing and game viewing en-route. Get ready for guided a chimpanzee/primate walk along the Kyambura Gorge, looking for habituated chimpanzees through the gorge.
Dinner and overnight stay at Mweya Safari Lodge/Jacana Safari Lodge (luxury facility) or Enganzi Lodge (mid-range). Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 7: Queen Elizabeth – Bwindi (Travel Time +4 hrs)
With previous day’s memories, enjoy your breakfast before proceeding to the southern Ishasha section of Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will drive along the deep and wide dry craters that are occupied by savanna grasses and acacia. The drive takes you through the unique western rift valley escarpment and the Ishasha sector, where you will have a brief game drive in search of tree-climbing lions, before proceeding to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
The journey takes about 4 hours but driving through interesting features, before arriving to Bwindi in the evening. This park is home of the rare mountain gorillas, but apart from gorillas, there are a wide variety of primates to see, including the blue and red-tailed monkeys. The forest itself is lush and green with streams running through it.
Dinner and overnight stay at either Buhoma Lodge or Mahogany Springs (high-end lodge); and Silverback Lodge or Chameleon Hill Lodge (mid-range). Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 8: Bwindi Gorilla Tracking
After breakfast set off early with guides to track the mountain gorillas. The thrill of your encounter will erase the difficulties of the potentially strenuous trek, so you should bring your jungle boots and rain jackets because the park is often wet.
Spend time in awe watching the gorillas go about their activities. Each gorilla safari encounter is different with its own rewards, but you are likely to enjoy the close view of adults feeding, grooming and resting as the youngsters frolic and swing from vines in a delightfully playful display.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a magnificent green swathe of dense rainforest, so ancient that it survived the last ice age. The park is a recently proclaimed UNESCO World Heritage site, because of being the most biologically diverse areas on earth. This is in addition to its unique and precious flora that sustains roughly half of the world population of mountain gorillas. There’s also a substantial population of chimpanzees and other primates. Research shows that Bwindi is the only forest in Africa in which these two apes live together.
Time permitting, spend the afternoon on a community walking safari to explore the lifestyle of the people living and surrounding the park. You will then return to the lodge exhilarated, to relieve the encounter with friends over a drink.
Dinner and overnight stay at either Buhoma Lodge/Mahogany Springs/Gorilla Safari Lodge (high-end facility) or Silverback Lodge/Chameleon Hill Lodge (mid-range). Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 9: Second gorilla trekking.
After breakfast, you will go for the second gorilla track, but in another group, returning in the afternoon for relaxation and sightseeing around the lodge.
Dinner and overnight stay at either Buhoma Lodge/Mahogany Springs/Gorilla Safari Lodge (high-end facility) or Silverback Lodge/Chameleon Hill Lodge (mid-range). Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 10: Bwindi – Kampala/Entebbe (Travel Time +8 hrs)
After early breakfast, you will drive back to Kampala with a visit to Igongo Cultural Village, to explore and learn about the Bahima and Ankole culture. This is the place where the future meets the past. Continue your drive to through the Equator crossing line with your lunch en-route, before driving to back to Kampala or Entebbe to catch up your evening flight back home or to your next destination. Meal Plan: breakfast and lunch.
10 Days Primates & Gorilla Trekking Safari Includes:-
- Airport transfers
- Transportation by a 4wd vehicle
- Accommodation and meals as per the itinerary
- Igongo cultural village visit
- Boat trip Murchison
- Two Gorilla permit per person to be secured and paid for in advance
- Park fees
- Kibale Chimpanzee Habituation Experience
- Kyambura Gorge chimp Permits
- Budongo Chimpanzee Permit
- Community visits
- Ziwa sanctuary Rhino Tour
- Services of English speaking Driver/guide.
- Enroute lunches
- Game drives only in Ishasha for tree climbing lions
Excludes:
- expenses of personal nature like: Visa, drinks, laundry, tips to local guides, telephone, porter fee while trekking, personal insurance, and tobacco.