SAMPLE - SAMPLE-15 DAYS UGANDA AND RWANDA

Meet and greet at Entebbe International Airport where your Uganda Adventure Safari starts by our representative who will warmly welcome you and facilitate seamless arrival formalities. Your will then be transferred to your hotel where you will be briefed about your adventure safari.

Depending on the time of arrival you are advised to have money Changed on this day and time allowing you may go for city tour with the help of our driver/guide, visit the shopping Malls around town and craft villages to get items which you may need while in upcountry. You may visit the Botanical gardens at a supplement of $15 per person or visit the Uganda Wildlife Educational Centre at a supplement of $25 per person or a cheese and wine sundowner on Lake Victoria at a supplement  of $95 per person

After your early morning breakfast drive northwest to Murchison Falls National Park, you may stopover at the Rhino Sanctuary where you will have an opportunity to trek Rhinos.

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.

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 cleft in the Rift Valley escarpment to plunge into a frothing pool 43m below. Later, return to your lodge and relax in the evening.

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.

Early in the morning, you will set off for Chimpanzee Habituation tracking. You will be led by a forest guide who will help you identify the various tree species, as well as inform you of the various features in the forest.
This will take all day and you will be 100% sure to have a very close encounter with your closest relatives. Book this in time because only 6 persons per day are allowed to go. You will go with a packed lunch since you will spend the whole day with our close cousins the whole day.

After breakfast, head to Bigodi . 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

After breakfast at your lodge before you proceed to Queen Elizabeth National Park following the mystical Rwenzori Mountain Range. Your expert 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.

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 lion, leopard, giant forest hog, Cape buffalo, elephant, defassa waterbuck, Uganda Kob, topi and bushbuck. 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!

Later, have an afternoon game drive as you transfer to Ishasha Plains – sector in Queen Elizabeth National Park for tree climbing lion search

After breakfast, you will do a morning game drive as you drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park which lies in southwestern Uganda on the edge of the Rift Valley. Its mist-covered hillsides are blanketed by one of Uganda’s oldest and most biologically diverse rainforests, dating back over 25,000 years and contain almost 400 species of plants. More famously, this “impenetrable forest” is home to half of the remaining Mountain Gorillas in the world.

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 at a supplement of $35 per person. 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.

You may opt for Gorilla Habituation on supplement of $700 per person – here you will be sure of meeting and spending enough time with the Gorillas.

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

After an early breakfast, you will be transferred to Mgahinga Forest to trek the golden monkeys. There are up to 4000 Golden Monkeys living in the shadows of the Virunga Volcanoes – no accurate census has been taken but it is known that they are not reproducing at a rate that will mean an increase in the population of Golden Monkeys.

The live in the Bamboo Forest zones of the Virunga Volcanoes and you do have to be in reasonable shape to hike up to their habitat which is a most rewarding experience.  one of the families that has been habituated which means that they are  now used to human beings without scurrying off into the forest when humans approach.

You will spend 1-3 hours in the morning where you will be guided to the bamboo forest by a guide, one thing of note is that the size of your Golden Monkey tracking group will only be six in number.

Have lunch  and later transfer you  will be transferred to Volcanoes National Park, arriving in the evening   in time for dinner at your lodge.  From here you will start your Gorilla trekking tomorrow. You will check in your hotel.

VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK-10-15 minutes

Have breakfast and head straight to the park offices for briefing about the gorillas and allocation of gorilla groups and guides. Thereafter get into the tropical rain forest and search for the mountain gorillas starting from where they were the previous day until you find them. You will find them doing their daily chores of feeding their young ones, climbing trees and others just relaxing. Take your best photographs having switched off your flash. This whole exercise takes a maximum of 1 hour and then return to the park offices for your gorilla tracking certificate. Return to the hotel for lunch and some relaxation. In the evening you may visit the Banyarwanda village or go for nature walks then return to the hotel.

After an early  breakfast,hike to the tomb of Dian Fossey a renowned American Primatologist who dedicated close to twenty years of her life studying as well as safe guarding the mountain gorilla species. You will have a chance to learn about the great things she did and the research she carried out then  you’ll drive to the fascinating Nyungwe forest National Park through Kigali. On the way to the Park,  you will stop for lunch and later continue to Nyungwe.

This day, very early in the morning you will warm up with a cup of tea or coffee abd get ready with your packed breakfast and go for a guided forest walk in search of the shy chimpanzees. On the way you will have a chance to a variety of birds species including the Ruwenzori Turraco, return at the lodge for lunch and refreshment later proceed for the Unique canopy walk way. Nyungwe Forest National Park is one of the most important bird watching National Parks in Rwanda with over 280 bird species recorded. The majority of these birds are forest specialties and 26 are regional endemics whose range is restricted to a few forests along the Albertine Rift. Bird watching in Nyungwe can be rather tiring, since the vegetation is thick and many birds tend to stick to the canopy. However you don’t have to be an ardent birdwatcher to appreciate some of Nyungwe birds. There is an extensive network of well- maintained walking trails to lead you through the forest to various waterfalls and viewing. 

In the afternoon, you will go for the canopy walk.

 After  breakfast,  you will be transferred  to Kigali  Depending on the departure time, go for a city tour and visit the craft markets, you may opt to visit the genocide museum at a supplement of $45 per person  before transferring to airport to catch your flight back home.  

Accommodation on the last day can be booked at an extra cost