GORILLA SAFARI RWANDA TOUR

UGANDA RWANDA GORILLA SAFARI ITINERARY

Day One:

Arrival at Entebbe airport, meet and greet and transfer to the hotel in Kampala. Briefing. Time allowing we will visit the Kasubi (Royal) Tombs. No meals included. Overnight at Hotel Emin Pasha (garden room) or Grand Imperial Hotel.

Day Two:

Early breakfast, then we depart to Nakitoma to the recently opened Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary (170 Kms northwest from Kampala and half way to Murchison Falls National Park). Game drive and walk to track the white rhinos that are spending the hot hours mostly in the swampy areas . Then we proceed to Masindi, where we will have lunch at Court View Hotel. After lunch we continue our journey to Murchison Falls National Park. We drive in a beautiful landscape, land gets flat towards the north as you head to the bottom of the Victoria Nile. As we enter the national park, we will do a game drive on the way to our lodge. Check in and relax for the rest of the evening. Dinner and overnight at Paraa Safari Lodge or Red Chilli Camp (bandas or fix tents).

Day Three:

Morning game drive in the northern bank of river Nile as we look out for the elephant, lion, Cape buffalo, Rhod'schild giraffe, hartebeest, Oribi, bushbuck, Bohor reedbuck, spotted hyena and if lucky you could even spot the leopard. We will be back in time to have lunch at the lodge. In the afternoon we take a boat cruise upstream to the 'bottom of the falls'. The Nile here gets calm at the base of the falls, we stop a few metres from the 'Devil's Cauldron' . where it compresses 47 meters to squeeze through a 6-meter canyon dropping 40 metres with a thunderous roar. En-route, marvel at the, hippos, crocodiles and over this 17 km stretch you may see elephants as well as a lot of bird species like Goliath heron, pelican bee- eater, kingfisher, hornbill, cormorant and the rare shoebill stork. At this point we will get off the boat and, hike to the 'top of the falls' to catch a close view of the beauty that forms the Murchison Falls. This is a pleasant guided walk that takes about one hour. Our driver will pick us from the top and then drive back to the lodge. Dinner and overnight at Paraa Safari Lodge or Red Chilli Camp (bandas or fix tents).

Day Four:

This day we drive to Fort Portal via Hoima, in a breathtaking landscape that forms the Albertine western Rift Valley. It is a quite long drive ( 8 to 9 hours) but we will have several stop overs to relax, and sightseeing as we pass verdant countryside, traditional homesteads and farms. We will have our packed/picnic lunch on the way. Check in and relax for the rest of the evening. Dinner and overnight at Ndali Lodge or Rwenzori View Guest House.

Day Five:

Early transfer to Kibale Forest NP, where all morning is dedicated to search for chimpanzees and other primate including: I'hoestes, red colobus, blues, red tailed and gray- cheeked mangabey . After we will stop in Fort Portal to have lunch, before proceeding to Queen Elisabeth NP / Peninsula sector where we will do a game drive in the crater lakes (Katwe) area, a stunning landscape where we will look for elephants, buffaloes, antelopes and if lucky even the leopard. Dinner and overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge or Kingfisher Kichwamba Lodge.

Day Six:

In the early morning we do a game drive in the Kasenyi area, within QENP, on a look out for the lions, buffalos, elephants, and large numbers of Uganda Kobs and other antelopes. After lunch at our lodge we will go for a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, to look out for the hippos, great herds of bufallos, and lots of water birds. Dinner and overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge or Kingfisher Kichwamba Lodge.

Day Seven:

In the early morning we do another game drive in the Kasenyi area, within QENP. After we will go back to the lodge bor breakfast, and then we drive to Ishasha, which is in the southern sector of Queen Elisabeth National Park. We will arrive in time for lunch at Wilderness Camp, before going for a game drive looking for the tree climbing lions and other game. Dinner and overnight at Ishasha Wilderness Camp

Day Eight:

After early breakfast we will depart to Volcanoes NP (Rwanda), home of the endangered mountain gorilla. We will cross Kabale and Kisoro where we will stop for lunch at Traveller´s Rest (where Dian Fossey used to stay, resting from the long periods spent observing the mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes). Then we proceed to Cyanika´s border post, and after clearing we will continue to Ruhengeri and Kinigi, at the base of Sabinyo mountain (one of the Virunga Volcanoes). Dinner and overnight at Gorillas Nest Hotel or Asoferwa Kinigi Guest House.

Day Nine:

After an early morning breakfast, we will be transferred to the national park headquarters for being briefed by the park rangers before departing for the hike in search for the Great Mountain Gorillas. The excursion in a thick rainforest and the interaction with the mountain ape, gives a wonderful experience in life. We will have lunch after returning to the hotel. In the afternoon we will depart to Kigali. Dinner at the hotel or restaurant. Overnight at Hotel des Mille Collines (pool side room) or Hotel Chez Lando.

Day Ten:

Breakfast before being transferred to the airport for your departure flight.

End of services

 

Mountain Gorilla Permits

Gorilla tracking permits are limited to 8 permits per gorilla family per day. In Rwanda, 56 permits are available per day and in Uganda, 32. Mgahinga has 8 per day.

 

Permits cannot be reserved and as such, have to be bought and paid in full on date of booking. As such, there may be 24 permits available for a specific date when you make an enquiry and the next day, all permits may be sold.

 

As such, once you have decided on your date of tracking, if permits are available we will request full payment for the permit. If by the time the funds are cleared the permits have been sold out, we will give a full refund. Once the permit is bought and secured, there is a 100% cancellation penalty.

Gorilla Trekking: Frequently Asked Questions