15 days primate and hiking
Day 1: Entebbe> Kampala. Meet and greet at Entebbe International Airport. our representatives will warmly welcome you and facilitate seamless arrival formalities. Transfer to your hotel where you will be briefed about your adventure safari.
Day 2: Kampala > Murchison Falls National Park. Today your long-awaited adventure in the pearl of Africa begins!! drive northwest to Murchison Falls National Park via the Rhino Sanctuary where you will have an opportunity to trek Rhinos. There are 15 Rhinos which were reintroduced after their extinction in the 1970s through poaching. A local ranger guide will lead you on foot to an up-close encounter with the rhinos and it may take about 1 and half hours. Proceed to Masindi Town for lunch and later continue to Murchison Falls National Park arriving at your lodge late afternoon.
Day 3: Murchison Falls National Park. Arise very early in the morning for your game drive on the northern bank of the River Nile in your open-roof vehicle which will give you an excellent opportunity to view and photograph the diverse wildlife. Your guide will help you spot elephant, lion, cape buffalo, Roth child’s giraffe, hartebeest, waterbuck, oribi, bushbuck, bohor reed buck, hyena and if you are lucky, the leopard.
After lunch, go for a boat cruise upstream the calm Victoria Nile to the base of the falls stopping just few of meters from the ‘Devil’s Cauldron’, marvel at the schools of 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, you may choose to continue to the top of the falls, where you will have the amazing view of the falls! See where the Nile -world’s longest river explodes violently through a narrow cliff in the Rift Valley escarpment to plunge into a frothing pool 43m below. Later, return to your lodge and relax in the evening.
Day 4: Murchison Falls National Park> Kibale Forest N.P After your morning breakfast, begin your journey to Kibale Forest National Park. Drive south via Hoima to Fort Portal through verdant countryside passing through traditional homesteads, farms and Tea Estates. You will have a stopover for lunch en-route. You will arrive at you lodge in the late afternoon. Check in at your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 5: Chimp Trekking in Kibale. After breakfast at your lodge, transfer to the starting point of your Chimpanzee tracking experience in Kibale Forest National Park which is reputed to have the greatest variety and highest concentration of primates in East Africa. The most famous of its 13 species is the Chimpanzee, man’s closest relative. Kibale’s 1450 Chimpanzee represent Uganda’s largest population of this endangered primate. Kibale is also a home to the rare I’Hoest’s monkey. Other primates include the black and white Colobus, Blue monkey, Grey cheeked mangabey, Red tailed monkey, Olive baboon to mention but a few. So you will enjoy a guided nature walk in the tropical rainforest in search of the wild chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys and many others. Although chimp sightings are not guaranteed, visitors stand a good chance of hearing and seeing our distant cousins as they gloom and bond with one another.
After lunch, head to Bigodi for an afternoon swamp walk. Bigodi was established by a local development organization to protect the 4sq-km Magombe Swamp that’s home to around 200 species of birds (highlights include papyrus gonolek, white-winged warbler and great blue turaco). The highlight of this tour is catching a glimpse of the great blue turaco. The swamp is also good for spotting butterflies and primates, with 8 different species here, including grey-cheeked mangabey. The 2-3 hour guided walk is led by experienced local guides who interact with the guests and make the trip both enjoyable and exciting.
Day 6: Kibale Forest National Park > Queen Elisabeth National Park. After breakfast at your lodge before you proceed to Queen Elizabeth National Park following the mystical Rwenzori Mountain Range. Your driver guide will take you through the game park where you might spot some animals. Upon arriving at your lodge, you will enjoy a hot lunch and later in the afternoon take a unique 2-hour boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel into Lake Edward. This trip passes through possibly the highest concentration of hippos and 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.
Day 7: Queen Elizabeth National Park – Game Drive and Boat Safari.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. Have an early morning game drive where you have an opportunity to view the massive Rwenzori as backdrop, which provides excellent opportunities to spot lions, leopards, giant forest hogs, Cape buffalos, elephants, waterbucks, Uganda Kobs, topis and bushbucks. The game drives and the boat trip (taken prior) are memorable methods of discovering a vast array of Ugandan wildlife. Be sure to have your camera ready for these amazing sightings!
Afternoon visit the bat and hunters cave where we take a close look at the bats, rock python and forest cobras. The same walk will provide a chance of seeing birds, primates, tree species etc. Return to the lodge for dinner and your last overnight stay.
Day 8:Queen Elizabeth National Park – Ishasha Sector. After your breakfast, pack-up your bags and take a morning game drive to the Ishasha plains of Queen Elizabeth National Park for your final visit with the lions and other wildlife. After a successful game drive, you will check in to you r lodge for lunch and relaxation. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Day 9: Queen Elizabeth National Park – Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. After your breakfast, pack-up your bags and take a morning game drive through the Ishasha plains for your final visit with the lions and other wildlife before heading out of the Queen Elizabeth National Park and on to Bwindi. The drive takes you through the Switzerland of Africa area known as the Kigezi Highlands with its terraced hillside and winding roads to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, arriving in the evening. Check into the lodge for dinner and your overnight stay.
Day 10: Gorilla Tracking. After an early breakfast depart to the starting point for briefing about your gorilla trekking adventure after which you will be led by experienced gorilla trackers on the slopes of the volcanoes. You will start from the site where the gorillas were encountered the day before and from here the gorilla tracking begins. Although the hike can be physically demanding, the anticipation of the exciting experience ahead is amazing, and the beauty of the gorilla forest and its inhabitants are fascinating. One of Africa’s major highlights is when you encounter these gentle apes. It is a humbling experience to stand just meters from man’s distant cousins as they eat rest, play and bond with their young ones. Follow the mountain gorillas as they range freely in the impenetrable forest, and discover their gorgeous natural habitual and the many species they share it with. You are allowed an hour with the gorillas before finally sloping down back to your lodge. If your trek was relatively short, you may have a guided nature walk around the lodge and the surrounding communities in the evening. Return to the lodge where you will enjoy dinner with your fellow travelers before getting a good night’s rest for tomorrow’s safari adventure.
Don’t forget to carry your rain gear, packed lunch, plenty of water, gloves, hat, and water proof bag for protection of your camera in case of rain
Day 11 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – Lake Mburo National Park. After breakfast drive to Lake Mburo National Park while viewing the breathtaking sceneries of the Kigezi highliands. Lake Mburo National Park, the smallest National Park of Uganda. Though being small, it has a lot offer!! Centered on a series of swamp-fringed lakes its birdlife is very rich. The green acacia woodland harbors wildlife like Zebra, warthog, Eland, Impala, not to mention the lake itself, which is home to schools of hippos and crocodiles! Furthermore, Uganda Wildlife Authority recently translocated 15 giraffes from Murchison falls National Park to Lake Mburo National Park.
You will arrive at the lodge in time for lunch. Later in the afternoon at 16:00 enjoy the boat ride on Lake Mburo and get quite close to the croc and hippos. As you return to your Lodge, you may have an evening game drive as you return to your lodge.
Day 12: Lake Mburo National Park – Kalangala Island. After breakfast, have a safari walk with the help of an armed ranger. The Kopjes are particularly interesting with the camouflage klipspringers and Topis. Due to cattle herding in the area it is amusing to see zebra grazing alongside the long horned Ankole cattle peaceably. It is exciting to approach wildlife at such close range.
Alternatively, you may choose to go for mountain bike safari (on payment of a supplement of $15 per person for 2 hours) or horseback riding safari in the park (on payment of $60 person for 2 hours).
After checkout and transfer to Kalangala Island with lunch at Masaka before heading to board a ferry at Bukakata which crosses to Kalangala Island. Kalangala, also known as Ssesse, is a district in Central Uganda. The district is coterminous with the Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria and does not have territory on mainland Uganda.
The district is made up of eighty-four widely scattered islands in the northwestern part of Lake Victoria of which only forty three are inhabited. The biggest island is Bugala Island which covers 296 square kilometers (114 sq mi) or 63.2% of the district land mass. After ferry crossing drive to the lodge.
Upon arrival you will check in at the lodge and relax at the beach. Dinner and overnight.
Day 13: Ssese Island tour. After a sumptuous breakfast, depart the lodge and head for a half day island tour. you will visit the three Ssese islands, a fishing village, a settlement village and one empty island that has no occupants. Take a break in the island before returning to the lodge for lunch and relaxation at the beach. When the sun is setting you can choose to go for a sun downer cruise and later return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 14: Nature Walk and Relaxation Around the Beach. Arise to a beautiful morning at the island, have breakfast and take a nature walk in the forest, you will have an opportunity to enjoy a birding experience, Get to identify different bird species on the island with your guide and take plenty of pictures. have lunch and alternatively you could go for a cultural experience the local communities or choose to remain at the lodge and relax at the beach. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Day 15: Kalangala > Entebbe. After a wonderful 15 day enchanting experience, you will depart Kalangala by ferry to Nakiwogo upon docking at Nakiwogo, your driver guide will drive you to the airport for your flight back home or drop you your hotel in Entebbe or Kampala.