Welcome to Africa!
Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport, you will be greeted and then transferred to your first hotel called Protea Hotel by Marriott Entebbe.
This luxurious 4 star resort hotel is ideally located on the glistening shores of Lake Victoria and a convenient 1km from the Entebbe airport. Protea Hotel Entebbe offers a wide variety of services & amenities including a restaurant that offers an exciting and truly inviting a la carte menu seven days of the week. Specialties include Tilapia and Nile Perch, while guests can also relax on the terrace and bar. It’s a hotel that complements your travel style. With elegant furnishings and a warm, inviting feel, the hotel’s decor and rooms create a luxurious atmosphere. The outside terrace, with its own special ambience and superb lake views is the perfect place to take it all in.
After breakfast, you will be picked up and transferred to Entebbe International Airport to catch your domestic flight to Kasese Airpor, where you will be transferred to Queen Elizabeth National Park, where your lodge called Kyambura Gorge Lodge is located. In the afternoon go on a chimpanzee track.
This eclectic safari lodge, fully upgraded during 2018 and 2019 with entirely remodelled public areas and gardens, has been converted from an old coffee store to create a breathtakingly beautiful space. The lodge is located on the edge of Queen Elizabeth National Park with sweeping views of the rolling savanna, the distant mountains of the moon, and the sunken Kyambura Gorge.
The stylish bandas also have a contemporary theme with the accent on local artifacts re-imagined in a new context. Each banda offers a unique view either across the savanna or the gorge. 4 Deluxe Bandas have been launched in June 2019. The swimming pool has been redesigned and upgraded. A new spa has been launched in July 2019.
In the morning you will be heading out on a game drive, in the Queen Elizabeth National Park, which is considered to be one of Uganda’s most varied and most beautiful protected areas. Queen, as she is affectionately known, is home to two of Africa’s big cats, the majestic lion and the elusive leopard. It is when daylight hours are coolest that wildlife is most active.
Iin the afternoon set out on a cruise on the Kazinga Channel. The Kazinga Channel is a 32-kilometer long channel, rich in wildlife, that links Lakes Edward and George. Boat trips down the channel depart from Mweya Safari Lodge (about an hour’s drive through the park from Kyambura Gorge Lodge) and last 3-4 hours. The boat cruise provides a wonderful opportunity to photograph the many animals that come to cool off at the waters’ edge, including lion, buffalo, hippo, elephant, and leopard.
After breakfast, you will check out of the lodge, then be picked up and go on a full day game drive through the park to the southern most tip.
At the end of the drive, you will have arrived at the next camp, which is called Ishasha Wilnderness Camp. Don't forget to look for the tree climbing lions on your way down.
Ishasha Wilderness Camp is situated within the Southern Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park on the Ntungwe river, an idyllic retreat for people who truly enjoy the wilderness. This exclusive camp offers superb quality accommodation and services in this unspoilt remote sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park famous for its tree climbing lions that can sometimes be spotted resting in the branches of the large fig trees in the area. Being within the park the wildlife is free to also pass through the camp and elephants can be seen bathing in the river, buffalo enjoy grazing and resident troops of Black-and-White Colobus and vervet monkeys are frequently viewed.
The following day after checking out, you will be driven to the southern edge of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and arrive at your next lodge called Mount Gahinga Lodge and in time for lunch. After lunch go on a community walk through the village.
Mount Gahinga Lodge opened in 1997 and was the first lodge of the Volcanoes Safaris collection. It is the perfect base to go gorilla tracking on the Ugandan side of the Virungas, track the rare golden monkey, climb a volcano, walk through local villages and most of all to share the culture of the Batwa, the oldest inhabitants of the Central African rain forest.
The charming property, inspired by traditional design and building techniques, has been re-imagined in 2019: the lounge, dining room, and gardens have been remodeled, and two new deluxe bandas have been launched.
After an early breakfast you will be driven to the Gorilla Tracking HQ where you will meet your guide, porter and the other guests that will be tracking with you. Treks can take anywhere from 45 minutes to five or more hours. Once you reach the family you will have one hour with them.
After that, you will then be transferred back to the Lodge. The rest of the day will be at your leisure, so why not just kick back, relax and take in the amazing surroundings, sights and sounds of what Africa has to offer.
The luxury bandas reflect the magic of the aesthetic traditions of the Bufimbira people, with their distinct colours. Each Banda has an en-suite luxury shower room, fireplace and private porch.
Today you will be driven across the border into Rwanda, where you journey will proceed through the Volcanoes National Park, to where your next lodge will be waiting, it's name is Virunga Lodge.
The magnificent Virunga Lodge, celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2019, is the luxury gorilla experience in Rwanda and one of Africa’s finest and most renowned lodges. The lodge is perched high on a ridge with the finest views in Africa, overlooking the Virunga Volcanoes and the Musanze valley to the west and Lake Bulera and Ruhondo to the east.
The iconic property has defined Rwandese Afro-chic since the lodge was built by Praveen Moman in 2004. The understated, timeless, hand-made style will be refined to meet the needs of today’s luxury traveller by the end of 2020.
After breakfast you will head to the HQ for your second gorilla tracking adventure. Tracking mountain gorillas through the dense African forests is a magical experience. Only eight visitors are allowed per gorilla group each day, and to minimize possible transmission of human diseases, visitors are asked to maintain a distance of 7m (about 22 feet) from the gorillas. Typically, tracking can take from 3 to 8 hours and requires some agility and fitness; however, all fitness levels can be accommodated and no one should feel deterred from missing this once in a lifetime experience.
If you feel like just relaxing after your Gorilla tracking, then why not explore the lodge, it's got fantastic food and exceptional personalised service by our carefully trained staff make it the first accommodation choice for tracking the endangered mountain gorilla. Each of their ten luxurious bandas has a private terrace from which guests can watch the sunrise over the dramatic landscape of mountains and lakes, an individual fire place, a shower room with a double vanity.
This morning head out on a Golden Monkey Trek. This unusual species is endemic to the Virunga Volcanoes Chain and can only easily be seen in Rwanda. With only a small number remaining in the world, the Golden Monkey can be found in the foothills of the volcanic mountains of Mgahinga National Park in Uganda and in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Characterized by its bright golden body, cheeks and tail, with contrasting black limbs, crown and tail end, these playful primates are a pleasure to watch.
If you are looking for something more related to culture, in the late afternoon we invite you to enjoy a performance by the local community’s traditional dance troupe, which is supported by the Volcanoes Safari Partnership Trust (VSPT). The VSPT has been working with the dance troupe at the Volcanoes Safaris’ Virunga Lodge in Rwanda, since 2004.
Today, the group is made up of 24 dancers and two dance trainers. The dance troupe performs the traditional Rwandan ballet called The Intore, which is based on the courtly victory dance of the Rwandan mwami (kings).
Today you have time for a leisurely breakfast before being driven to Kigali International Airport where you will be catching your international flight back home.
