8 Days Primate Trekking & Wildlife safari
The 8 days primate trekking & wildlife safari is a breathtaking adventure that will take you to both savannah and primate destinations in Uganda, including Lake Mburo National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, and Kibale Forest National Park.
During the safari, you will be able to spot animals like buffaloes, elephants, giraffes, zebras, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, lions, leopards, impalas, oribi, topis, hippos, and Nile crocodiles, among others. You will also engage in an interesting gorilla and chimpanzee trekking experience where you will get an opportunity to spend time with the mountain gorillas and chimpanzees.
Highlights of the 8 Days Primate Trekking & Wildlife safari
Day 1: Pick up and transfer to Lake Mburo National Park—walking safari
Day 2: Morning game drive and transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
Day 3: First gorilla trekking experience
Day 4: Second gorilla trekking experience
Day 5: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park via Ishasha Sector
Day 6: Morning game drive and afternoon boat cruise on Kazinga channel
Day 7: Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park — chimpanzee trekking experience
Day 8: Departure to Kampala
Detailed itinerary
Day 1: Pick up and transfer to Lake Mburo National Park — walking safari
Depending on your location, you will be picked up by our driver guide from Entebbe Airport or your hotel, briefed about the safari and then start the journey to Lake Mburo National Park. On the way, you will have a stopover at the Equator in Kayabwe, where you will take pictures, buy souvenirs and then proceed to Lake Mburo National Park.
Upon arrival, you will connect to your lodge for lunch, after which you will go for an interesting nature walk in the park where you will get up-close and personal with different animals, listen to the sweet sounds of birds singing in trees, enjoy the cool breeze, and take beautiful pictures, among other things. After the walking safari, you will drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Morning game drive and transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
Have an early breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to go for a morning game drive in the park, where you will be able to spot animals like buffaloes, waterbucks, giraffes, elands, impalas, zebras, oribi, topis, and Uganda kobs, among others.
After the game drive, you will drive out of the park and start the journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park with en route lunch on the way and beautiful views of the scenery, Kigezi hills, terraced farmlands, and more. Upon arrival, you will check into your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 3: First gorilla trekking experience
After an early breakfast, your driver guide will pick you up from the lodge with your packed lunch to transfer to the park headquarters for a gorilla trekking briefing, after which you will be subdivided into groups of 8 people, allocated a habituated gorilla family to trek, and assigned an experienced park guide. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park takes about 2 to 6 hours depending on where the mountain gorillas are located because they like to move from one place to another.
During the trek, you will be able to view other primates like chimpanzees and L’hoest monkeys and spot different bird species, including the Albertine rift endemics, among others. Once the gorillas are located, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them, learn more about their behaviors and habits, take photos and videos, and watch them feed, play, rest, groom young ones, and more.
After the face-to-face encounter with the mountain gorillas, you will trek back to the starting point, where you will meet up with your driver guide and return to the lodge for an evening of relaxation, dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 4: Second gorilla trekking experience
Enjoy breakfast, carry your lunch box and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park for a briefing about the rules, regulations and expectations of gorilla trekking. After the briefing, you will be allocated another gorilla family to trek with, an experienced park guide, and park rangers and start trekking in the jungle in search of mountain gorillas, which takes about 2 to 6 hours depending on where the gorillas slept the previous night.
Once the gorillas are located, you will be able to spend one hour with them in the environment, watch them carry out their daily activities, take pictures and record the incredible moments to show people back home after the safari.
After the one-hour interaction with the mountain gorillas, you will return to the park headquarters, where you will be awarded a certificate for participating in the gorilla trekking experience and later return to the lodge or go for an interesting cultural tour where you will interact with the Batwa, learn about their culture and tradition, and take part in their traditional performance, among other things.
Day 5: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park via Ishasha sector
You will have a relaxed breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to start the journey to Queen Elizabeth National Park. On the way, you will have a stopover in the Ishasha sector for a game drive where you will be able to spot the tree-climbing lions lying in acacia/fig tree branches and other animals like elephants, Uganda kobs, buffaloes, topi, and giant forest hogs, among others.
Later have an en route lunch and proceed to Queen Elizabeth National Park, and upon arrival, you will connect to your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 6: Morning game drive/lion tracking experience and afternoon boat cruise on Kazinga channel
Have an early breakfast and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park for a morning game drive or lion-tracking experience in the Kasenyi area, where you will be able to spot large herds of elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, bushbucks, and warthogs and view predators like lions, leopards, and hyenas, among others.
Later return to the lodge for lunch, after which you will go for an afternoon boat cruise on Kazinga Channel, a 40 km long water body that connects Lake Edward and Lake George. During the boat cruise, which takes about 2 to 3 hours, you will be able to view large concentrations of hippos in water, view Nile crocodiles basking on the shores, and view aquatic bird species like hornbills, cormorants, and kingfishers, among others. You will also be able to see fishermen on the shores preparing their nets for night fishing, among others. After the boat cruise, you will drive back to the lodge for relaxation, dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 7: Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park—chimpanzee trekking
After an early breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Kibale Forest National Park, also known as the primate capital. The journey takes about 2 to 3 hours’ drive and upon arrival, you will check into the lodge for lunch.
After lunch, you will transfer to the Kanyachu visitor center for a chimpanzee trekking briefing, after which you will start trekking in the forest with an experienced park guide, which takes about a 2- to 5-hour drive.
During trekking, you will view other primates like olive baboons, black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, and grey-checked mangabeys and spot different bird species, among others. Once the chimpanzees are found, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their habitat, learn more about their behaviors, take pictures, watch them play, hunt, fight, feed, breastfeed, and record videos, among other things.
After the chimpanzee trekking experience, you will return to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 8: Departure to Kampala/Entebbe
On the last day of the safari, you will have breakfast at leisure, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to start the journey back to Kampala with en route lunch on the way. Upon arrival, your driver guide will drop you off at Entebbe International Airport for your next flight or drop you off at any place of advice.
End of 8 days Gorillas , Chimps & Wildlife safari
Includes
- Gorilla trekking permits
- Chimpanzee trekking permit
- Park entrance fee
- Boat cruise
- Walking safari
- All activities included in the itinerary
- Services of a professional English-speaking driver guide
- Full board accommodation
- Pick up and drop off in Entebbe
- Vehicle and fuel
- Bottled drinking water
Excludes
- Air flight tickets
- Visas
- Life insurance
- Optional activities not included on the itinerary
- Personal expenses like buying souvenirs, cigarettes, crafts, drinks, laundry services, hiring a porter, tips, among others.
