13 Days Uganda Rwanda safari tour
The 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour is an extraordinary safari that will take you to different national parks in Uganda and Rwanda including Murchison falls national park and Queen Elizabeth national park where you will be able to view different animals like elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, hippos, warthogs, bushbucks, giraffes, Jacksons hartebeest, oribi, lions, leopards, Nile crocodiles among others during the game drive and boat cruise. The 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour will also take you to Kibale forest national park, Bwindi impenetrable national park and Volcanoes national park where you will be able to spend time with the endangered mountain gorillas, chimpanzees and golden monkeys in their natural habitat and Lake Bunyonyi which is the deepest freshwater lake in Uganda.
Highlights of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour
Day 1: Pick up and transfer to a hotel in Entebbe
Day 2: Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park
Day 3: Morning game drive and afternoon boat cruise
Day 4: Transfer to Kibale forest national park
Day 5: Chimpanzee trekking and transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park
Day 6: Morning game drive and afternoon boat cruise
Day 7: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
Day 8: Gorilla trekking experience
Day 9: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi – boat ride
Day 10: Transfer to Volcanoes national park
Day 11: Gorilla trekking experience
Day 12: Golden monkey trekking and Ibyi’wacu cultural tour
Day 13: Departure to Kigali
Detailed itineraries
Day 1: Pick up and transfer to a hotel in Entebbe
Depending on your arrival time at Entebbe International airport on the first day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, you will be picked from the airport by the hotel representative and transfer to a hotel in Entebbe for dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Transfer Murchison falls national park via Ziwa rhino sanctuary
On the second day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, you will check out of the hotel and meet up with your driver guide to start the journey to Murchison falls national park. The journey takes about 5 to 6 hours’ drive and on the way, you will have a stopover at Ziwa rhino sanctuary for rhino tracking where after you will continue the journey with another stopover for lunch. After lunch, you will proceed to Murchison falls national park and upon arrival, you will drive directly to the top of the falls where you will enjoy great views of the waterfall, water plashes, enjoy views of the beautiful scenery among others. From the top of the falls, you will drive to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Morning game drive and afternoon boat cruise
After an early breakfast on the third day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, you will meet up with your driver guide to go for a morning game drive in the park where you will be able to view animals like buffaloes, Jackson’s hartebeest, elephants, waterbucks, giraffes, Uganda kobs, oribi, warthogs among others. After the game drive, you will return to the lodge for lunch.
Boat cruise
After lunch you will go for an afternoon boat cruise to the bottom of the falls where you will be able to view hippos and crocodiles in water, view other animals along the shores, water birds among others. After the boat cruise, you will drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Transfer to Kibale forest national park
After breakfast on the fourth day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to start the journey to Kibale Forest National Park. On the way you will have en-route lunch and enjoy stunning views of the crater lakes, Rwenzori mountain peaks, tea and banana plantations among others. Upon arrival in the park, you will continue to check into the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 5: Chimpanzee trekking and transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park
Chimpanzee trekking
After an early breakfast on the fifth day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, your driver guide will pick you up from the lodge and transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing about the rules and regulations to follow during trekking. After the briefing you will start trekking in the forest with an experienced park guide who is well conversant with chimpanzee trekking trails. During chimpanzee trekking which takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours, you will be able to view different bird species, other primates, plant species among others. Once the chimpanzees are located, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat which gives you an opportunity to learn about their behaviours, watch them carry out their daily activities like feeding, playing, breastfeeding, resting, take photos and record the breath taking moments. After the one-hour encounter with the chimpanzees, you will trek back to the starting point where you will meet up with your driver guide and drive to the lodge for lunch.
After lunch, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to start the journey to Queen Elizabeth national park which takes about 2 to 3 hours’ drive. Upon arrival, you will check into the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 6: Morning game drive/ lion tracking experience and afternoon boat cruise
Morning game drive/ lion tracking experience
After an early breakfast on the sixth day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, your driver guide will pick you up from the lodge to go for an exciting game drive in Kasenyi plains where you will be able to spot animals like elephants, waterbucks, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, warthogs, bushbucks, view predators like lions, leopards among others. After the game drive you will drive back to the lodge for lunch.
Afternoon boat cruise
After lunch you will go for an amazing boat cruise on Kazinga channel a water channel that connects Lake Edward and Lake George. During the boat cruise you will be able to view large concentrations of hippos and Nile crocodiles in water, view elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, warthogs among others drinking water along the shores, view water birds like cormorants, hornbills, king fishers, fish eagles among others. After the boat cruise which takes about 2 to 3 hours’ drive, you will return to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 7: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
After an early breakfast on the seventh day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park via Ishasha sector where you will be able to view the tree climbing lions lying up in tree branches during the game drive. After the game drive, you will have lunch and then proceed to Bwindi impenetrable national park. Upon arrival in the park, you will check into the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 8: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park
Gorilla trekking
On the eighth day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, you will have breakfast, carry packed lunch and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing about the rules and regulations of gorilla trekking. After the briefing, you will be allocated a gorilla family to trek and start trekking in the jungle with an experienced park guide. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park takes about 30 minutes to 7 hours depending on where the gorillas are located because they like to move from one place to another in search of food. During trekking you will be able to view other primate species, birds, plants and once the mountain gorillas are located, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat which gives you an opportunity to learn about their behaviors, habits, watch them feed, breastfeed, groom young ones, take photos and record the moments to show people back home after the safari. After the one hour with the gorillas, you will trek back to the starting point where you will be awarded a certificate for participating in gorilla trekking and later meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 9: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi-boat ride
After a relaxed breakfast on the ninth day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale district. The journey takes about 3 to 4 hours’ drive and upon arrival, you will go for an amazing boat ride boat ride Lake Bunyonyi where you will be able to explore the 29 islands, enjoy views of the stunning landscape, hills, terraced farmlands, spot different bird species among others. After the boat ride, you will connect to your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 10: Transfer to Volcanoes national park
On the tenth day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to start the journey to Volcanoes national park with stunning views of the rolling hills, beautiful scenery among others on the way. Upon arrival, you will check into the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 11: Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park
Gorilla trekking
After breakfast on the eleventh day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, you will have breakfast, carry packed lunch and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a gorilla trekking briefing. After the briefing, you will be allocated a gorilla family to trek and start trekking in the jungle with an experienced park guide which takes about 30 minutes to 6 hours depending on where the gorillas are located because they like to move from one place to another in search of food. During trekking you will be able to view other primate species, birds, plants and once the mountain gorillas are located, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat which gives you an opportunity to learn about their behaviours, habits, watch them feed, breastfeed, groom young ones, take photos and record the moments to show people back home after the safari. After the one hour with the gorillas, you will trek back to the starting point where you will be awarded a certificate for participating in gorilla trekking and later meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 12: Golden monkey trekking and Ibyi’wacu cultural tour
After breakfast on the twelfth day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, your driver guide will pick you up from the lodge to go for golden monkey trekking adventure which starts with a briefing at the park headquarters. After the briefing, you will start trekking in the forest in search of the golden monkeys which takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on where they are located. Once the golden monkeys are located, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their habitat.
After golden monkey trekking, you will return to the lodge for lunch where after you will go for an interesting Ibyi’wacu cultural tour where you will be able to interact with the local people, learn about their culture, tradition, way of living, enjoy their traditional performance among others. After the cultural tour, you will drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 13: Departure to Kigali
On the last day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour, you will have breakfast at leisure, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to start the journey to Kigali. Upon arrival, you will go for a short city tour in Kigali where you will be able to visit the Kigali genocide memorial Centre, Kimironko market, Art centres among others. After the city tour, you will have lunch and later transfer to Kigali international airport for your departure flight.
End of 13 days Uganda Rwanda safari tour
Tour includes
- Gorilla trekking permits
- Chimpanzee trekking permit
- Golden monkey permit
- Park entrance fees/ game drives
- Boat cruise fees
- Top of the falls
- Lion tracking experience
- Professional English speaking driver guide
- Full board accommodation
- Ground transfers (in a 4WD vehicle)
- Vehicle and fuel
- Bottled drinking water
Tour excludes
- International air flight tickets
- Visas
- Optional activities not included on the itinerary
- Life insurance
- Personal expenses like buying souvenirs, crafts, drinks, laundry services, hiring a porter, tips among others.
