7  DAYS MOUNTAIN  GORILLAS TREKKING  SAFARI AND CHIMP TRACKING

Includes Kibale, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kisoro, Bwindi

Day 1: Drive to Kibale Forest

You will be picked up from the accommodation of your choice by the driver/guide and depart for Kibale Forest which is about 5-6 hours drive. Arrival in the park will be in the afternoon and you will spend a night at Kibale Forest Camp where the lullabies coming from the animals of the tropical rain forest will send you into a deep slumber. It is your right though to choose whether to stay at the Chimpanzee Guesthouse overlooking Nyabikere Crater Lake. The lake is famous for the frogs or Ndali Lodge, Primate Lodge Kibale for that additional luxury touch.

Day 2: Chimp walk

At the break of dawn you will start with the 4 hour chimp walk – during which you may also get to see 10 other primates like the colobus monkey which is soon reaching extinction. However you can do this in the afternoon if you chose to depending on availability. Kibale forest national park is also known for all the colorful butterflies and birds. In the afternoon you will walk through Bigodi Swamp a home to a community based project. You will be booked into either Kibale Forest Camp or Chimpanzee Guesthouse. For that sophiscated touch, we recommend Ndali Lodge or Primate Lodge Kibale.

Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park

Set off for Queen Elizabeth first thing in the morning. A 4-5 hours drive you will travel through Fort Portal and at about midday, you will reach Mweya in Queen Elizabeth, which has got a hold of a stunningly beautiful view over Kazinga Channel. You will check in at your accommodation which could either be a budget: Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge with eco friendly self-contained tents or the luxurious Mweya Safari Lodge or Jacana safari Lodge. After booking in, you can thereafter have lunch, and in the late afternoon embark on a game drive.

Day 4: In Queen Elizabeth National Park

This day is specially designed to expose you to the thousands of game on the plains of Queen Elizabeth National Park, with lots of Ugandan Kobs, lions, elephants and many more. Also on the programme is a two hours launch trip on the Kazinga channel where we will see all the animals from the waterside. In the evening you will be guided on a game drive to the mating grounds of the Uganda Kobs. The day ends back at Mweya peninsula with you, enjoying a great view of the park. There’s Budget Accommodation in Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge with eco friendly self-contained tents and for a more luxurious tourist, we recommend Mweya Safari Lodge or Jacana safari Lodge.

Day 5: leave for kisoro

Early in the morning you will be driven to Kisoro. You will travel via Kabale and continue through a beautiful landscape also defined as the “Switzerland of Africa” with mountains, lakes, hills with cultivated terraces, tropical rainforest and bamboo forest. On the last hill the landscape unfolds beneath us, taking in the vast plains between Uganda, Rwanda and Congo, with the Virunga volcanoes dominating the view. At the bottom of the valley is Kisoro, where you will stay at the famous Travellers Rest Hotel which is just outside Kisoro, built in a somewhat colonial style and offers a cozy stay for the tourists coming to see the endangered mountain gorilla.

Day 6: Gorilla Tracking

This is the day that you will highlight in your diary. The day of gorilla tracking! Travel by car from Travelers Rest Hotel in Kisoro to Nkuringo, in the southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Takes about an hour. Be in time to receive a brief by the rangers before you proceed to track the great apes. Once you have discovered the gorillas, you will be able to spend up to one hour with them. For one to indulge in this activity, they have got to be physically fit.

Here is a testimonial from the overjoyed Stella and Trudy.

“At a distance of about fifteen feet a mountain gorilla with her baby appears. She comes out of the bushes, looks at me and lies down. My presence does not seem to bother her. She just wants to rest, whether I am there or not. I can almost touch her. My heart dances with joy. I am in a good position to take pictures, so I let my camera do its work. It is the thrill of a lifetime. I cannot but agree with the American zoologist George Schaller, the first to study gorillas in the Virunga volcanoes, who once said: ‘No one who looks into the eyes of a gorilla, gentle and vulnerable, can remain unchanged.” Contented, return to your accommodation.

Day 7: To Kampala

Have breakfast and then prepare to travel back to Kampala. On your way back to the city you will stop over for lunch in Mbarara town. You will drive on to Masaka where you stop at the Equator for photo shoots and buy souvenirs.

We will then bring you to a guesthouse, campsite or hotel of your choice in Kampala or Entebbe – or, if you continue your holiday somewhere else or back home, we will bring you directly to Entebbe airport for an onwards flight.

END OF 7 DAY GORILLA TREKKING AND CHIMPANZEE TRACKING TOUR

Comments or questions are welcome.

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