12 Days Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari

Overview

On this 12 Days Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari you will start in Uganda with a visit to the Rhino Camp to trek white Rhinos; move to Murchison Falls National Park for a game drive, boat safari launch, and scenery viewing; transfer to Kibale Forest National Park for Chimpanzee trekking and nature walk in the Bigodi Swamp; continue to Queen Elizabeth National Park for a game drive and relaxing boat launch on the Kazinga Channel, and finish with Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park to trek the Mountain Gorillas.

You will then cross to Rwanda to trek Golden monkeys in the Volcanoes National Park and end the safari in Kigali with a visit to a Genocide memorial site.

Safari Highlights

• Coming face to face with the elusive Mountain Gorillas in their natural habitats
• A thrilling encounter with the delightful chimpanzees and watching them as they make awesome acrobatic maneuvers in the tree branches
• Discovering Africa’s other primates and wildlife, colorful birds, rare plants, and beautiful insects
• Enjoying scenic views of the awesome volcanic landscapes and picturesque crater lakes
• Meeting the local people to learn about their traditional activities and lifestyles.
• Viewing the mesmerizing and awesome features of the volcanic mountains.
• A heartrending account of the astonishing genocide that occurred in Rwanda in the late 1990s.
• Trekking Rhinos at the newly introduced Rhino restocking project that had been wiped out by poachers and the insurgency during the civil war times in Uganda.

Activity Schedule

Day 1: Drive to Murchison Falls National Park via Ziwa Rhino Camp
Day 2: Game drive and boat launch on the Nile River
Day 3: Visit the top of the falls and transfer to Hoima town
Day 4: Drive to Kibale National Park & Visit Crater lakes
Day 5: Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest National Park and transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Day 6: Game drive in the Kasenyi plains of Queen Elizabeth National Park
Day 7: Game Drive in the Ishasha sector and transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Day 8: Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Day 9: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda
Day 10: Golden monkey tracking in Volcanoes National Park.
Day 11: Transfer to Kigali & visit the genocide memorial site.
Day 12: City excursion & departure.

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Safari Itinerary

Day 1: Drive to Murchison Falls National Park

After your breakfast, you will be picked up from your Hotel at exactly 7:00 am by our Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari guide and drive through the famous Luwero Triangle. This journey takes 6-7 hours. You will make a stopover at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to track white rhinos. The trek will be for one hour after which we shall continue the journey to Murchison Falls National Park with another stopover for lunch in Masindi town, arriving in the late afternoon.

Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Day 2: Early Game Drive and Boat Safari Launch Cruise on the Nile River

You will wake up very early and set off at 6.30 am for a sunrise Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari game drive in the Nyamsika plateau to see the Cape buffaloes, Rothschild’s giraffes, Uganda kob, hartebeest, and waterbucks. You may also spot oribi, bushbuck, Bohor reedbuck, shy sitatunga, bush duiker, warthog, and bush pig plus large carnivores including lions, leopards, and spotted hyenas. Chimpanzees and olive baboons head the list of six species of primates found in the park.

Crocodiles and hippos will be seen along the banks of the Nile River. Some of the more common birds that can be seen include goliath heron, Egyptian geese, pelican, bee-eaters, kingfishers, hornbill, cormorant, saddle-bill stork, and the rare shoebill stork. You will return to your lodge for lunch and some relaxation before you set off in the afternoon for a boat launch on the placid Victoria Nile, upstream, to the base of the falls. En route, you will see hippos, crocodiles, waterbuck, and a wide variety of birds like the rare shoebill stork. The Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari boat stops just tens of meters from the “Devil’s Cauldron” for pictures to be taken of the photogenic and majestic Murchison Falls.

Day 3: Visit to the top of the falls and transfer to Kibale Forest National Park

You will after your breakfast visit the “top of the thunderous Murchison falls”, where you will observe the Nile River squeezing itself into a 7-meter gorge before tumbling 40 meters down in a thunderous explosion and then flowing down into a very peaceful river whose water banks are swarmed with a profusion of water and land animals as well as birds. You will set off on a 6-hour journey to Kibale Forest National Park.  This Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari drive is through verdant countryside dotted with traditional homesteads and farms and via the towns of Hoima and Fort portal in the backdrop of the fabled Mountains of the Moon.

Have dinner and overnight at the lodge of your booking

Day 4: Chimpanzee trek and Bigodi swamp walk

After breakfast, you will go for chimpanzee tracking in Kibale Forest National Park, where the greatest variety and highest concentration of primates in East Africa are exceptionally represented. The most famous of its 13 species is the Chimpanzee known to be a delightful ape. It is also home to species like the rare I’Hoest’s monkey, the black and white Colobus, Blue monkey, Grey-cheeked mangabey, Red-tailed monkey, and Olive baboon among others.

The walk takes 2-3 hours after which you will return to your  Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari lodge for lunch. In the afternoon you will go for a guided nature walk in the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary or visit the beautiful Crater lakes region for a picturesque view of the breathtaking scenery. The sanctuary offers great birding opportunities and nature walks. Bigodi is also a rich cultural heritage site where you can mix with the local people to learn about their traditional activities and lifestyles.

Dinner and overnight will be at the lodge of your booking.

Day 5: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park via the Crater lakes region

After breakfast, we will transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park with stopovers for sightseeing and lunch. One of the remarkable stopovers will be to see the Crater lakes region and visit the Amabeere Ga Nyina Mwiiru caves. These are caves of wonder with milk-like substance oozing out of the rocks and with cultural mythology attached to them. You will learn about their cultural significance and also get a scientific explanation of their existence. This is an amazing place to visit for those that love nature. The entrance to the cave is low and narrow and requires some stooping but most of its inside is big enough for one to walk upright except for a few areas. You will check out the chamber that is said to have been the resting place of the Bachwezi dogs and the ceiling shows pits resembling dog paws. There is also a waterfall that the locals call a natural Shower and it is there that the Bachwezi used to go to take showers. And the same way, the visitors/tourists both locals and foreigners are also allowed to take a shower there if they wish to. You will have lunch in Fort Portal town and continue to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Dinner and overnight will be at the lodge of your booking.

Day 6: Game drive in the northern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park

We set out early in the morning for a game drive in the northern part of the park in search of lions, elephants, leopards, Uganda kob, giant forest hog, and solitary buffaloes. This is the best time for viewing the cats in action owing to the vast population of Uganda kobs. You will have an excellent chance to view just about every animal here at very close range.

Return to your  Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari booked the lodge for lunch and later go for a boat launch along the Kazinga channel whose shores harbor a profusion of water animals and birds including pink-backed pelicans, pied and malachite kingfishers, saddle-billed stork, and many others. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

Day 7: Game drive in the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park and transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

 

After breakfast, we drive to the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park for another game drive safari. Ishasha Sector is famous for its tree-climbing lions which you will see resting on the branches of Fig trees as they scan for Kobs in the neighboring mating grounds, their favorite prey. You will also see a variety of other wild animals and later take a  Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari road drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.

Dinner and overnight will be at the lodge of your booking.

Day 8: Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

You will have an early Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari breakfast and be driven to the Park Headquarters for a briefing at 7:30 am about the rules of Mountain Gorilla tracking. After the briefing, you will set off for the Mountain Gorilla trek in the thick jungle lively with rich forest sounds. The trek takes between 2 – 8 hours and you have one hour to stay with the Mountain Gorillas once sighted. In the afternoon you can opt for either a community walk among the Batwa people who used to live in the Bwindi forest before it was gazetted as a National Park and learn about their life and culture as a forest people or spend the rest of the day relaxing at the lodge.

Day 9: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park

You will have breakfast and transfer to Rwanda. The Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari road drive will be through a beautiful part of the country often referred to as ‘the Switzerland of Africa’ because of its unique Mediterranean weather despite its location near the Equator.  You will see the great countryside, and bamboo forests and have great views of the scenic Virunga Mountains. You will cross the national border at Gatuna and drive to Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and check in at the lodge of your booking.

Day 10: Golden monkey tracking in Volcanoes National Park

You will have an early breakfast and move to the Park headquarters where you will receive a briefing on the rules of golden monkey tracking and be allocated the golden monkey family you will be trekking.  You will after the briefing, be led by the ranger guides into the forest to search for the Golden monkeys in the Volcano Virunga Hills and the verdant Valley. Once traced, you will spend a maximum of one hour observing them in their natural setting.  The tracking will be a 2-5 hour exercise after which you will return to your  Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari lodge for lunch and relaxation.

You will have dinner and overnight at your lodge of booking.

 Day 11: Transfer to Kigali and visit to Genocide memorial

You will have breakfast and transfer to Kigali City where you will have lunch and later visit the Gisozi Genocide memorial site for a historical firsthand account of the genocide that claimed more than 1,000,000 people in the 1990s. You will retire to the Hotel of your booking for dinner and overnight.

Day 12: City excursion and departure

You will have a relaxed breakfast and later visit one of the colorful markets for souvenirs and to experience the life of the people in this city.

You will later be transferred to the Airport to catch your departure flight.

End of the Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari 

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Requirements for this Safari

• A Visa – you can apply for a visa online or very easily get one at the point of entry into the country (airport)
• Chimpanzee and Gorilla trekking permits – You can apply and secure these online but experience has shown that it is better coordinated when you send money to the tour firm to handle it for you at no extra cost to the standard fee (USD600)
• Travel &Health insurance – This should be arranged by you in your home country before you travel.
• Physical fitness

Cost Includes:

• Gorilla permits.
• Chimpanzee permit.
• Airport transfers.
• Safari vehicle.
• Fuel for the entire trip.
• Drive accommodation and Meals.
• English Speaking driver-guide.
• Accommodation as per the itinerary.
• All park fees.
• Bottled drinking water.
• Our assistance.
• All government taxes.

Cost Excludes:

• International airfares.
• Visa.
• Insurance.
• Tips and expenses of personal nature.

Request a quote for this safari