18 Day Gorilla & Wildlife

It would be unfair for one to visit Uganda and miss out on visiting the source of the Longest River on planet earth. This morning, you will drive to Jinja via Kampala. The journey will take you through small towns, tropical rain forest, road side markets, and tea and sugar plantations arriving in time for a lunch break and a boat ride to the source of the Nile.

Drive time: Approximately 2-3 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Sunset Hotel

Drive from Jinja to Nakasongola to visit Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary for Rhino tracking. White Rhinos were poached to extinction during the 1970’s and are now being restocked in Uganda. Have an opportunity of tracking these endangered species and learn more about them. Overnight at Amuka Safari Lodge
Drivetime: approximately 4-5 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Amuka Safari Lodge

After breakfast, you will drive to Budongo Forest which is part of the larger Murchison Falls National Park conservation Area. At Budongo, you will be taken through a briefing and later led to the forest for chimpanzee trekking. After your chimp trek, you will then drive to Murchison Falls via the top of the falls to see how Nile waters squeeze themselves into a narrow gorge to explode into what has been called the strongest and powerful waterfalls on planet Earth. Proceed to your Lodge for Dinner and overnight.
Drive time: Approximately 4-5 hours
Mealplan: Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Murchison River Lodge or Kabalega Wilderness Camp

After breakfast, you will walk to the forest headquarters for briefing about chimpanzee trekking Dos and Don’ts and thereafter start your primate walk in Budongo Forest guides by well-trained ranger guides. Your walk will expose you to other primates, birds and different plant species in the forest and once you get into close proximity of once community/party of habituated chimpanzees, you will be allowed one hour of observations and photography before you return back to the Lodge. You may carry packed lunch or order for hot lunch and then drive to the top of Victoria Falls to observer how water squeezes itself in a narrow gorge exploding as it flows downstream. Proceed to Murchison River Lodge or Pakuba Safari Lodge for overnight.

Drive time: Approximately 2 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Packed Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Murchison River Lodge or Pakuba Safari Lodge

Your 16 day primate, game and cultural tour will be action packed as you will need to wake up early for a morning game drive where you will be transferred by ferry to the northern banks of River Nile commonly known as paraa. This side of the park provides an opportunity to spot several antelopes, hippos, buffaloes, giraffes, buffaloes, and if luck, big cats such as leopards and lions. Return to the lodge for lunch and then a boat cruise to the base of the falls. On your way from the jetty point to the bottom of the falls, you will spot several herds of buffaloes, crocodiles, hippos, water bird species and other wild animals as they flock River Nile to drink water. Continue upstream to the base of the falls to observe how water squeezes in a narrow gorge to later explode in what has been referred to the strongest and powerful falls on planet earth. Return to the Lodge for overnight.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Murchison River Lodge/Kabalega wilderness Camp

After an early breakfast will see you return to the northern bank of river to another game drive to search for wild that you can have missed out on your previous game drives. Return to the lodge and thereafter go a late afternoon boat cruise to Albert delta where there is a lot of action and activity. Depending on your luck, you may find elephants, buffaloes and hippos crossing, crocodiles every well as well as chances of spotting the rare shoebill stock. Return back to the lodge for overnight:
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Murchison River Lodge or Kabalega Wilderness Camp

After breakfast, you will drive to Hoima town which is about 3 hour’s drive from Murchison Falls National Park. Depending on the nature of the road, you may pass via Lake Albert for a scenic drive to the escarpments and then to Hoima town. Check in and go for a cultural walk or enjoy cultural performances at the lodge to learn more about cultures of the local people in the area.
Drive time: 3 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Kontik Hotel/Hoima Cultural Lodge

You will drive to Kibale National Park via Fort Portal town for Lunch before checking in at Rwenzori View Guest House. No major activity these day but if time allows, you may drive around Fort Portal town.

Drive time: Approximately 4 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Rwenzori View Guest House

After breakfast, you will be transferred to Kibale National Park headquarters at Kanyakyu to join other trekkers for briefing and eventual chimpanzee trekking. You will be led by a well-trained ranger/guide who will take you for a guided primate walk inside Kibale Forest National Park. This forest provides an opportunity to visit one of the habituated communities/part of chimpanzees and spend an hour with them observing and taking photographs. Kibale National Park is home to other 11 primate species coupled with forest birds. After your chimpanzee trek, you will drive to Bigodi Village for a wetland walk that was designed to benefit the local community living around Kibale Forest National Park. Return to the Lodge for overnight.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Packed Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Rwenzori View Guest House

After breakfast, your will drive 3-4 hours from Kibale National Park to Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will have an opportunity of passing through small towns, seeing several foothills of Mountain Rwenzori, small rivers that originate from Rwennzori mountain ranges as well as crossing the equator at Kikorongo. Check in at Bush Lodge, relax as you prepare for a late afternoon game drive in Mweya. This section of Queen Elizabeth National Park is endowed with Antelopes, Buffaloes, Warthogs, elephants and many other wild animals including lions and leopards whose sight depends on your luck since this is nature. Return to the Lodge for overnight.

Drive time: Approximately 3-4 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Bush Lodge or Buffalo Resort

After an early morning cup of tea, you will drive back to Kasenyi plains for a game drive to catch up with what you could have missed out on your earlier game drive. Its this time of the morning that big cats are out hunting for their prey and as such chances of spotting lions and or leopards are slightly high. Never the less, you will be guaranteed to see buffaloes, hippos, several species of antelopes, and many others. You may return to the lodge for lunch or drive directly to Mweya jetty for an afternoon boat cruise on Kazinga Channel. This two hour boat cruise is one of the highlights in Queen Elizabeth National Park. It provides you an opportunity to view over 300 out of the 600 water bird species recorded here, antelopes, crocodiles, elephants, buffaloes and hippos. Return to the lodge for overnight.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Bush Lodge or Buffalo Resort

After breakfast, you will be driven to Chambura to join other trekkers for briefing and their after start you chimpanzee walk in the gorge. Your experienced ranger guide will help you identify several flora and fauna resident in this gorge and once you find a community of chimpanzees, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them for photography. Return back from the trek for lunch and short relaxation at the lodge before moving out again to visit Lake Katwe salt mines. Lake Katwe is an explosive crate which is gifted with salt and it’s the local community that mines/extracts salt from this lake. The local community guide will take you for a tour around salt mines explaining how salt extraction is done, challenges faced and opportunities available. Lake Katwe salt extraction project is one of the live examples supporting Queen Elizabeth as one of the conservation areas in the whole world where man is sustainably co-existing harmoniously with wildlife. Return to the Lodge for overnight.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Bush Lodge or Buffalo Resort

After breakfast, you will drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park located in south western Uganda and shared between three districts of Kabale, Kanungu and Kisoro. Your journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park will take you through rolling hills with tarracced gardens of irish potatoes and sometimes tea. You will arrive late afternoon for overnight at the Lodge. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to almost half of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas and the only National Park where wild chimpanzees co-exist with mountain gorillas.

Drive time: Approximately 5-6 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Broad Bill Forest Camp

After breakfast, you will transfer to the park headquarters to join others for gorilla family allocation and full briefing about the dos and don’ts while with the gorillas. After that, you will be driven to the starting point of your allocated gorilla family to start your trek into the impenetrable Bwindi Forest. This trek may take from 30 minutes to three quarters of the day depending on where mountain gorillas will be. Thus gorilla trekking can be strenuous and as such a certain level of fitness is required. Once you find the gorillas, the experience will be worth it and you will be allowed one hour of observation and photography. You will then return to the park headquarters where you will be awarded a certificate in recorgnition of your effort of helping to conserve the endangered mountain gorillas. Return to the lodge for relaxation followed by a village walk to learn more about the local people living around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Broad Bill Forest Camp

Drive from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale District. Lake Bunyonyi is one of the three Lava damned Lake which was formed when lava flowing from one of the volcanoes blocked a river channel and water was forced to flow back hence filling the space to create lake Bunyonyi. Bunyonyi locally means small birds due to the abundance of small birds in this area. Lake Bunyonyi is said to be the deepest lake in Uganda and second deepest in East Africa. A person visit Lake Bunyonyi for its beauty and is one of the best place to relax after your gorilla trek.

Drive time: Approximately 3-4 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Bird Nest Overseas Cottages or Crater Bay Cottages

After breakfast, you are free to admire the beauty of the lake and its surrounding hills. You will have a choice of either taking a canoe ride on the lake to explore different island with exciting history. You will for example visit the Punishment Island where girls who would produce babies out of legitimate tradition marriage would be dumped and left to die. This is a whole day activity and you will surely enjoy it. Alternatively, you can hike one of the hills around Lake Bunyonyi. Encounter Africa Safaris supports some projects so those who want to do something on their tour can go for volunteer work. Return to the Lodge for overnight.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Bird Nest Overseas Cottages or Crater Bay Cottages

After breakfast, drive to Lake Mburo National Park via Great lakes museum or Igongo Cultural center to learn more about the cultures of ethnic groups in western Uganda. Lunch will be served en route arrive at Lake Mburo National Park for a boat cruise on the Lake followed by an evening game drive. Lake Mburo National Park is popular for animals such as impalas, Giraffes, Zebras and so much more. Return to the Lodge for overnight.

Drive time: Approximately 6 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Lake Mburo Safari Lodge

After breakfast, you will start your journey to Entebbe International Airport with a stop at the Equator crossing for photography and stretching.

Drive time: Approximately 5-6 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast and Lunch