(12 Days/11 Nights) Uganda Gorilla Trecking
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Itinerary Summary Day 1 » KAMPALA |
DETAILED ITINERARY
DAY 1
On arrival at International Airport, you will be met a guide from AA SAFARIS AND TOURS Limited who will drive you to your hotel room in Kampala. If you arrive in the morning, our guide will take you to interesting places around for a City tour in the land of the 7 hills Kampala. These include Kasubi Tombs, Uganda Museum, African Craft Market, Namirembe Cathedral, Mandela stadium, among others . You will only visit a few of them because not all of them can be visited on the same day due to traffic conditions.
Over night at ;
Budget – Holiday Express Hotel / Tourist Hotel
Standard - Speke Hotel / Cassia Lodge
Luxury Kampala Sheraton Hotel / Kampala Serena Hotel / Grand Imperial Hotel
(Bed and breakfast)
DAY 2
Take your breakfast and then you will be picked up from your hotel in Kampala and drive through the famous Luwero triangle or Hoima towards Masindi . Proceed through the park stopping at the top of the falls which is a fantastic sight. At the top of the falls, you will see the longest river in the world forcing its self through a narrow gap in the rock (only 7 meters wide), before ferociously plunging down 43 meters. From here we will continue Game viewing on the way is very good; look out for hippos, elephants, buffalos and many other animals, seen grazing on the banks of the river. Dinner and overnight at ;
Budget – Red Chillis
Standard - Sambiya River lodge or Budongo Eco lodge
Luxury – Paraa Safari Lodge or Nile Safari Camp
(Break fast Lunch and Dinner- BLD )
DAY 3
After a cup of tea, embark on an early morning game drive on the northern bank where your guide will help you spot elephants, lions, Cape buffalo, rothchild’s giraffes, hartebeasts, waterbucks, oribi, bushbucks, bohor reed bucks, hyenas, and on rare cases leopards. Return to the lodge for mid morning breakfast. Relax at the lodge. After lunch, you will take an afternoon trip to the bottom of Murchison Falls. This boat trip along the Nile is often cited as being the highlight of a trip to Murchison since it allows you to get up-close and personal with the animals. Along this stretch of the river, there are reported to be around 4,000 hippos in addition to some enormous Nile crocodiles. The bird life is stunning with brightly colored kingfishers and bee-eaters darting along the riverbanks. If lucky, you may see the rare and prehistoric looking shoebill, which is a cross between the dodo and a dinosaur. The boat takes you to the base of the falls which only adds to their impressiveness.
Dinner and over night at the lodge of your budget. (Break fast Lunch and Dinner- BLD )
DAY 4
After break fast, we will depart to Kibale National park. Lunch en route Driving through the country side. We will arrive Fort portal town in the late afternoon. Tonight you will overnight at
Budget – Chimps Nest Camp
Mid range – Rujuna guest house / Rwenzori view Guest
Luxury – Primates Lodge / Ndali lodge / Mountains of the Moon Lodge
(Break fast Lunch and Dinner- BLD )
DAY 5
Take breakfast, then report to Kanyankyu tourist centre for some briefing before you proceed to the forest for Chimp Tracking. This forest has over 13 species of primates including the rare L’Hoest, red Colobus monkey, blue monkey,pottos, grey mangabeys, baboons, black faced vervet monkeys, not leaving out bush babies and many others. A network of shady forest trails provides much to delight botanists and butterfly lovers, while birders are in for a treat with 335 species recorded including the endemic Prirogrine’s ground thrush. The elusive forest elephant, smaller and hairier that its savannah counterpart, moves seasonally into the developed part of the park, while other terrestrial mammals include buffalo, giant forest hog and a half dozen antelope species. You will return to the lodge or the centre for lunch and then after go for a nature walk to Bigodi swamp. Dinner at Ndali Lodge/ Rwenzori View Guest House/Kanyankyu Ecological site (FB)
DAY 6
After breakfast, depart to Queen Elizabeth National Park. We will enter the park via the Northern crater Area. Queen Elizabeth hosts a large diversity and volume of wildlife. It boasts one of the highest bio diversity ratings of any game park in the world, from the open Savannah to Rain forest, dense swamps and beautiful crater lakes to the vastness of Lake Edward. Almost 100 species that include Hippos, Lions, Buffaloes, Leopard, Spotted Hyena and the elusive giant forest hog. The park has over 606 species of bird life which include; the martial eagle, black-rumped buttonquail, Verreaux’s eagle owl and African skimmer to mention but a few. The primates include Chimps, Black and white Colobus Monkeys, Blue, Black Faced Red Colobus, and Red Tailed monkeys and Olive Baboons. Relax after lunch and later go for a visit to the cater lakes region in the park. You will visit the Katwe Lake salt mine to see how salt is locally and traditionally mined and then later return for dinner and overnight at
Budget – Institute of Ecology
Mid range – Hippo Hill Camp or Ihamba Lodge
Luxury –Mweya safari lodge/ Jacana lodge / Katara Lodge or Kingfisher resort.
(Break fast Lunch and Dinner- BLD )
DAY 7
wake up very early in the morning and go for an early morning game drive along the Kasenyi miles track in search for lions, hyenas, leopards, water bucks and many antelopes. you will return to the lodge for breakfast and lunch and later leave for a boat trip along the kazinga channel which gives you the opportunity to view wildlife up close: hippo’s huff and spray mere feet away from the boat, buffalo linger in the shallows. the shores of the channel are also home to an array of birds including pink backed pelicans, pied and malachite kingfishers, saddle billed stork and many others.
DAY 8
Take breakfast and then go for a morning chimp tracking in the kyambura gorge. an encounter of these more closely related apes to human is really wondrous!! have fun as you watch them in their family and later return to the lodge for dinner and over night this morning, we the after we will leave for bwindi impenetrable forest. we will drive through the southern sector of queen elizabeth called ishasha. here we will take lunch by the ishasha river and try to find the famed ishasha tree-climbing lions before continuing on to bwindi, home to the few remaining mountain gorillas. bird life and primate life in bwindi is quite superb, and there is an incredible variety of flora. bwindi is also one of the parks with the biggest numbers of bird. some people refer to it as the birder’s paradise that is second to queen elizabeth national park.once continuous with the forests of the virunga volcanoes (dian fossey’s stomping ground), bwindi is now an ecological island, surrounded by cultivation on the rich volcanic soils. overnight at
Budget accommodation package- Buhoma Community bandas or Bwindi View bandas or Nkuringo campsite tents or Virunga Hotel or Nkuringo safari centre
Moderate- accommodation package- Lake Kitandara camp or Nkuringo camp site or Wagtail Eco lodge or similar
Upmarket accommodation package- Engagi lodge or Buhoma lodge or Gorilla Resort camp or Traveler’s rest camp or Silver back lodge/ Gorilla safari lodge
Luxury accommodation package- Gorilla Forest Camp or Clouds Lodge or Gahinga Volcanoes Lodge , or Volcanoes Bwindi safari Lodge
DAY 9
You will wake up very early in the morning and assemble at the starting points of the groups as you receive briefing from your rangers about gorilla tracking the all awaited for main theme of the tour. Then you will proceed to the forest for the tracking. The time taken to encounter these primates is un predicatable so you are advised to carry lunch because it may take you 1-10 hours. On watching these gentle animals with their silver back, one will be forced to exclaim that; it is exhilirating!! return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
End of Gorilla Trekking in Uganda
DAY 10
Take breakfast and proceed to Kampala. The drive takes 8-10 hours. Lunch en route You will have a stop over at the Equator . Then You will be transferred to Entebbe for dinner and over night at ;
Budget- Central Inn Hotel or Airport Executive hotel
Standard – The Boma Guest or Windsor Hotel
Luxury – Imperial Botanical beach hotel or Imperial Resort beach hotel . ( Bed and breakfast) .
DAY 11
You will be driven to the shores of Lake Victoria to meet your 9.00am or 12:45 boat to Ngamba Island. The boat trip takes about 45 minutes-1 hour across to Ngamba Island, crossing the equator en-route. The island, harbours around 39 orphaned chimpanzees. The chimpanzee guides will give you a simple briefing on chimpanzee and later you will assemble at the visitor plat foam to encounter these animals feeding. This is a fascinating time to watch them whilst they feed. In this short time you are there, you will be able to see such different personalities amongst the group, with some whistling for food and others clapping. Obviously the ideal option would be to re-introduce these orphaned chimpanzees to the wild however this is not possible for a number of different reasons and the sanctuary is not bad for second best. You will return to the mainland before driving to the Entebbe Wildlife Education Centre (zoo). Here they have replicated some of the country’s ecological zones such as savannah, wetlands and tropical forest. If you have not managed to see the shoebill in the wild you are guaranteed a sighting here, as well as rhino. You will return to your hotel in the afternoon or evening
DAY 12 TO KAMPALA CITY TOUR IF YOU MISSED IT ON DAY 1
Wake up very early in the morning and go for a city tour around Kampala and later shop some souvenirs for remembrance of Kampala. Then later you will be transferred to Entebbe for your flight back home.