14 Days Uganda and Rwanda Safari Gorilla Trekking

Upon arrival, you will be picked up from Entebbe International Airport or your hotel in Kampala by our experienced driver guide from Paradise Adventure Vacations, who will brief you about the 10 Days Uganda & Rwanda Gorilla Safari Adventure. The drive is about 45 minutes from the Airport. Upon arrival at your hotel, you will check in and have a rest from your long Journey. If time allows, we can either visit Entebbe botanical gardens or a Kampala city tour, where you will explore the historical places of Uganda, such as Kabaka’s palace, Uganda National Museum, Namugongo martyr’s shrines, Kasubi tombs (One of UNESCO’s recognized sites), depending on your arrival time.

Destination: Kampala, Uganda

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

Wake up for an early morning breakfast and begin your panoramic road drive northwest of Uganda through the famous Luwero Triangle with an en-route stop at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. It is the only place in Uganda where you can find these peaceful members of the big five family in their natural habitat. On your arrival at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, you will go for a Rhino trekking adventure, which will provide you with opportunities to explore them close to their feet.

During your trek, you have to keep your camera on standby so that you do not miss out on any moment. You will return for a delicious lunch break and continue your drive to Murchison Falls National Park. The highlights of this park include: the roaring rapids of the Murchison, the rolling plains of Uganda’s largest national park, where you will have the chance of viewing lions, giraffes, hartebeest, buffalo, and elephants.

Destination: Murchison Falls National Park

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

Wake up for an early morning breakfast, and prepare yourself for another exciting encounter. Starts with an early morning game drive through different trails of the park, like Albert trail, Buligi trail, and the Victoria trail. Here, you will meet eye to eye with different mammal species like buffalo, elephants, lions, leopards, bushbuck, and giraffes, among others. Return to your lodge for relaxation and lunch.

Later in the afternoon, embark on an afternoon boat cruise upstream to the bottom of the falls. While on the cruise, you will see the Nile crocodiles resting on the shores, herds of hippos while in water, bird species like the black bee-eater, grey crowned crane, marabou stork, and many others. After the cruise, you will then hike to the Top of the falls, where you witness the strength of the magnificent Murchison Falls as it roars and pours itself out through a narrow 8m gorge. While here, you will enjoy the soft splashes as it feels like little drizzles falling on your face from heaven. You will then return to your lodge for relaxation as you await your dinner and an overnight. OR You can opt for a Night Game Drive, which comes at an Extra Cost of $100 per person. This drive is done with an armed ranger guide and also spotlight torches, which will enable you to spot the predators as they hunt like hyenas, leopards, lions, bush babies, and hippos, among others.

Destination: Murchison Falls National Park

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

You will wake up early morning for a delicious breakfast and then proceed for a drive to Kibale National Park, which is located in the Western region of Uganda in Kabarole district. This drive will take about 5 hours, and it will offer you magnificent scenic views of Uganda’s landscape as you drive to the park. Enroute to your destination, you will have a lunch stopover in Fort Portal Tourism City, and upon arrival at the park.

You will visit Bigodi Wetland for a Swamp Walk, and during this walk, you will spot some butterfly species and birds like the Black-crowned Waxbill, White-spotted Flufftail, White-breasted Negrofinch, Yellow-spotted Barbet, Black Bishop, Hairy-breasted Barbet, Yellow-billed Barbet, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Black & white Shrike-flycatcher, Western Nicator, Superb Sunbird, among others. You will then proceed for a community walk where you will see and taste the Gins brewed from bananas, craft making, coffee processing, as well as enjoying a Cultural dance, and then proceed to your lodge for dinner and an overnight.

Destination: Kibale Forest National Park

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

Wake up early in the morning for a heavy breakfast and wear appropriate clothing like a long-sleeved shirt, a pair of karky or jean trousers, a round cap, waterproof boots, and a heavy sweater to protect you from the falling tree branches, and also in case of bad weather.  Also, carry in your backpack some snacks and drinking water to help keep you hydrated during the trek, since it may take about 1 to 5 hours to find the chimps, depending on their location. Then you will proceed to the Kanyachu Visitor Center for a briefing about the Do’s and the Don’ts of the park. Here, you will be assigned a Park ranger who will take you through the forest and also a chimpanzee family to look out for.

Chimpanzee Tracking, During the trek, you will spot primates like the black and white colobus monkeys, the red tailed monkeys, olive baboons, red colobus monkeys, grey cheeked mangabey, L’Hoest’s monkey, Mantled guereza, Potto, Vervet monkey, White-eyelid mangabey, Galago among others and also various bird species like olive long-tailed cuckoo, western tinker bird, blue headed sunbird, red faced woodland, grey parrot, yellow spotted nicator, little greenbul, blue breasted king fisher, among other bird species.

Upon finding the chimpanzees, you will have a full 1-hour encounter with them while learning their behaviors, social life, how they feed, and play. Feel free to ask the park ranger as many questions as possible. You will return to your lodge for lunch, check out, then proceed with the drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park, which is about a 2-hour drive from Kibale Forest National Park. On arrival, you will check in to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Option: For Chimpanzee Habituation: Extra Cost of $100 Per Person: drive to the park’s tourism headquarters at Kanyanchu Visitor’s Center. Here, you’ll meet the ranger guides and researchers who will accompany you on the chimpanzee habituation experience. This immersive adventure allows you to spend 4 to 6 hours in the forest, observing the chimpanzees and learning about their behaviors and reactions to human presence. The knowledgeable guides and researchers will provide fascinating insights into the habituation process, offering a deeper understanding of these incredible primates.

Destination: Queen Elizabeth National Park

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

Your Safari will begin with an early morning breakfast and thereafter you will head out to the jungle to search for the various mammal species that inhabit Queen Elizabeth National Park, like Anticipate seeing the famous Big Five including Antelopes, Hippos, bush pigs, sitatungas, topis, bushbucks, cape buffaloes, elephants among others mammals such as giant forest hogs, bushbucks, kobs, hyenas, and waterbucks. In the afternoon hours, you will partake in a launch cruise along the Kazinga Channel. You will appreciate the high scores of elephants, hippos, buffalo, and crocodiles. Several bird species will also be seen, including the rare shoebill. Dinner and your overnight stay are at the lodge.

You can also opt for an Experiential Lion and Leopard Tracking Experience in the Northern sector of the park, “Kasenyi plains,” which goes for an Extra $250 per person. while here, you will have an opportunity to drive off track while tracing a pride of lions and the leopards of the park. This Experience takes you beyond the usual game drive since you get to learn about their population, behavior, lifestyle, and also any other information concerning them. Experiential Lion and Leopard Tracking is done with Researchers who drive around the park with radiation trackers, which help them to find lions that have radio collars around their necks. Trackers can drive off trucks to find the predators whenever the signals are directed.

Destination: Queen Elizabeth National Park

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

Today you will begin with a hot breakfast, and then you will check out of your accommodation to proceed to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, which is located south of Queen Elizabeth National Park. and it will take about 5 hours to reach the Northern sector of Buhoma. During your journey out of Queen Elizabeth, you will drive through Ishasha sector to search for the tree climbing lions which are usually resting on the branches of trees and other wildlife like Topis, Aardvark, lions, elephants, monkeys, Uganda kobs, Hippos, leopards, water buck among others which are found in this sector of the park, you will have a lunch stopover in Kihihi and proceed to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park for dinner and an overnight.

Destination: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

Today you will begin with a hot breakfast, and then you will check out of your accommodation to proceed to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, which is located south of Queen Elizabeth National Park. and it will take about 5 hours to reach the Northern sector of Buhoma. During your journey out of Queen Elizabeth, you will drive through Ishasha sector to search for the tree climbing lions which are usually resting on the branches of trees and other wildlife like Topis, Aardvark, lions, elephants, monkeys, Uganda kobs, Hippos, leopards, water buck among others which are found in this sector of the park, you will have a lunch stopover in Kihihi and proceed to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park for dinner and an overnight.

Destination: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

You will wake up early in the morning for breakfast and then report to the park headquarters at 7:30 am for a briefing about the dos and don’ts while with the gorillas. Remember to carry your packed lunch and enough drinking water since you may stay in the forest up to the afternoon in search of these gentle giants in their natural environment. Gorilla tracking exercise is physically demanding but an exciting activity! You may need to hire a porter to assist you during tracking, and these are readily available at the park headquarters. The time allowed to spend with gorillas is 1 hour once you have found them. This is enough to ask all the questions about their behavior. You’ll return to the lodge after tracking and freshen up. In the evening, Batwa pygmies will be invited to entertain you with their dances and storytelling after you have dinner and an overnight stay. Your dinner and overnight stay will be at your lodge.

Destination: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

After your breakfast at the lodge in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, you will check out and transfer to Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. You will enjoy a scenic drive from Bwindi Impenetrable to Volcanoes National Park. You will arrive at the lodge and check in later in the afternoon. Your dinner and overnight stay will be at the lodge.

Destination: Volcanoes National Park

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

After your morning breakfast, you will then report to the park headquarters for a briefing about the dos and don’ts while with the gorillas. Remember to carry your packed lunch and enough drinking water since you may stay in the forest up to the afternoon in search of these gentle giants in their natural environment. When you locate the gorillas, you are allowed to
spend one hour in the presence of the gorillas observing the gorilla troop go on with its daily life, babies playing on tree branches, silverbacks protecting the group, and others picking vegetation to eat. After the gorilla experience, you will return to the park’s headquarters for the awarding of certificates. Afterwards, you will return to the lodge for relaxation. In the afternoon, you will visit the Gorilla Guardians Village, where you will learn about the local culture of the community through interactive demonstrations and performances. After that, you will return to the lodge for an overnight stay and dinner.

Destination: Volcanoes National Park

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

After your morning breakfast, you will then report to the park headquarters for a briefing about the dos and don’ts while with the golden monkeys. When you locate the golden monkeys, you are allowed to spend one hour with them. After the experience, you will return to the lodge for lunch. After lunch, you will relax at the lodge. Dinner and overnight stay at the
lodge. In the afternoon, you will visit the Dian Fossey Museum. You will understand the legacy of Dian Fossey and also see her work in Rwanda with pictorial representations. After this tour, you will return to the lodge. Dinner and overnight stay will be at the lodge.

Destination: Volcanoes National Park

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

After your early morning breakfast, you will head out for a morning game drive in Akagera National Park. During the game drive, you will have an opportunity to see many animals such as elephants, rhinos, buffalo, impalas, zebras, bushbucks, waterbucks, lions, and leopards. You will be able to see many bird species, as Akagera National Park is home to over 500 bird species. You will then return to the lodge for lunch. After lunch, you will head out for a boat cruise on Lake Ihema, where you will see animals like hippos, crocodiles, and many bird species. After the boat cruise, you will return to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay at the lodge.

Destination: Akagera National Park

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey

After your morning breakfast, you will check out of the lodge in Akagera National Park and transfer to Kigali. Depending on the time of your flight, you will have a Kigali City tour where you will visit the Genocide Memorial Center and the local handicrafts market before you transfer to the airport.

Destination: Kigali, Rwanda

Accommodation: No

Meal Plan: Breakfast and Lunch

Drinks: Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey