A simply spectacular experience! Enjoy the astonishing combination of chimpanzees, birds, equatorial forests, gorilla tracking and breath taking beauty of sceneries of the countryside. One of the World’s most thrilling wildlife experiences- tracking mountain gorillas on foot through Bwindi (an equatorial forest of Uganda)! Bwindi is most famous for Gorilla tracking (half of the world’s only 700 existing mountain gorillas), but there also hiking trails where you can see a large variety of birds and primates. It’s thrilling, exciting and very memorable…
Day 1: Arrival
Arrive at the Entebbe International airport where you will be welcomed by your Equatorial Wild safari guide and transferred by private vehicle to the Hotel reserved for you. Depending on the time you arrive, you will take a visit to the international acclaimed award wining Uganda Wildlife Educational Centre to see the sorts of animals and birds that you will encounter on your tour.
Day 2: Ngamba Island
Drive to Entebbe to take up your boat to Ngamba Island Chimp sanctuary. You will have a chance to watch the feeding of the chimps at 2pm.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 3: Entebbe- Kampala
Early morning entry into the forest with the young orphaned chimps for the walk. After lunch will take the boat to Entebbe and drive to Kampala for over night.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 4: Murchison Falls NP
Begin the panoramic drive to the northwest through the famous Luwero Triangle and Masindi Town to Murchison Falls National Park, arriving in time for lunch at the spectacular situated site at the top of the falls where you can see the Nile's beauty perfected! Marvel at the Nile, compressing from up to one km squeezed through a 7 meter canyon dropping 43 meters with a thunderous roar, creating a beautiful rainbow, a plume of spray and the best thing that happened to the Nile 'The Murchison Falls' enjoy the sunset as you return to the lodge.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 5: Primate Tour
Early morning game drive on the northern bank. Your guide will help you spot elephant, lion, cape buffalo, roth child's giraffe, hartebeest, waterbuck, oribi, bush back, bohor reed buck, hyena and if you are lucky, the leopard. After a packed lunch picnic, go for a boat safari upstream the calm Victoria Nile to the base of the falls stopping just tens of meters from the 'Devil's Cauldron', marvel at the toothsome hippos, crocodiles and over the 17km stretch you may see elephant, waterbuck and Uganda Kob. This is also the zone of many birds, species like goliath heron, Egyptian goose, pelican bee-eater, kingfisher, hornbill, cormorant and the rare shoebill stork. After taking shorts of the photogenic Murchison Falls, return to Lodge/Camp for dinner and overnight.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 6: Hoima- Fort Portal
All day drive south via Hoima to Fort Portal through verdant countryside and pass traditional homesteads and farms. Fort Portal rests in the shadow of the fabled 'Mountains of the Moon'.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 7: Kibale Forest NP
A half day search of chimpanzee, and ten other primates including, phoestes, red-colobus, red-tailed and Grey-cheeked Mangabey. The guide will provide explanation, not only on primates, but also on all the forest's fauna and flora and will ensure that your walk is both informative and enjoyable. This walk is excellent for viewing bird life and seeing primates at close quarters. After the tracking relax and after lunch drive to Bigodi ecological site for butterflies and bird viewing.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 8: Queen Elizabeth National Park
After morning breakfast, you will proceed to Queen Elizabeth National Park following the mystical Rwenzori Mountain Range. A game drive en route may yield viewing a lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo, hyena and a variety of antelope species. After lunch drive to the crater region for sight seeing. Visit Lake Katwe salt factory to see local methods of making salt.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 9: Game Drive
An early game drive today. Queen Elizabeth National Park's diverse eco-system of grassy plains, tropical forest, rivers, swamps, lakes and volcanic craters is home to an incredible abundance of wildlife. Game drives in this park, with the massive Rwenzori as backdrop, provides excellent opportunities to see lion, leopard, giant forest hog, buffalo, elephant, defassa waterbuck, Uganda Kob, topi and bushbuck. These two game drives and the boat trip (taken prior) are memorable methods of discovering a vast array of Ugandan wildlife. After lunch, enjoy the unique 2-hour boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel into Lake Edward. This trip passes through possibly the highest concentration of hippos. This launch/cruise offers an excellent platform for photography bird watching and game viewing. The prolific bird life is colorful and stupendous, with well over 550 resident species.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 10: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP
Early drive to Kyambura gorge for chimp tracking in the rain forest. Even if you fail to see the chimps, the forest walk itself is rewarding and memorable! Drive through the 'Switzerland of Africa area known as the Kigezi Highlands with its terraced hillside and winding roads to Kisoro or Bwindi.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 11: Gorilla Tracking Zone
There will be an early morning entry into the gorilla sanctuary. The rainforest is spectacular. It offers a dramatic, steeply forested landscape and is incredibly dense, but crisscrossed by numerous animals’ trails allowing access to tourists. Mammals recorded include the endangered mountain Gorilla, rare golden monkey, buffalo, elephant, black-fronted duiker, bushbuck, leopard, giant forest hog and others. This park is best known for the fascinating gorillas. The time taken and the terrain vary according to the movements of the marvelous primates. The thrill of spending time and observing the gorillas is a rare moving, awesome and exciting adventure. The gorilla is a shy and peaceful animal and it is an unforgettable experience to watch and photograph them as they interact.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 12: Departure
After breakfast, depending on your departure time, your Equatorial Wild Safaris guide will pick you up from your hotel and transfer you to Entebbe International Airport to arrive just in time for your scheduled flight.
Rates will include:
One Gorilla Permit per person of USD 500, airport transfers, itinerary meals and accommodation, transportation, water, coffee or tea while on safari, park entrance fees, services of an English speaking driver/guide, boat trips, game drives, other itinerary activities and any government taxies/levies.
Rates will exclude:
Air fare, Bar Bills, Phone calls, Personal insurance, Laundry and other services of personal nature and driver’s/guide’s tips.
Note: Safaris/ Holidays can be arranged for any number of people above six.
Gorilla tracking is highly dependent on availability of permits from the Uganda Wildlife Authority which are a “hot cake.” Incase of failure to secure a permit at the time of your booking, don’t fret, the same gorilla tracking can also be done in Rwanda.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for rates, tailor made safaris and general inquires.
Yours- EWS Team
