10-Days Primates Safari and Wildlife Adventure

Our team leader will pick you from your hotel/place of abode. You will be briefed about the safari before embarking on the journey to Kibale National Park. On your way to Kibale National Park, you will have a stop over in Fort Portal city for a snack/Lunch. After Lunch, we continue to Kibale – straight to the Lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

After an early morning breakfast, you will link up with our driver/guide for transfer to Kanyanchu Visitors Center for briefing by the National Park’s staff. The briefing is about the rules, regulations and expectations of Chimpanzee trekking. After the briefing you will be allocated a Chimpanzee family to track and a park guide/staff who is conversant with the forest.  Trekking takes about 30mins to 4 hours depending the location of the animals. Once the Chimps have been identified, the tourists have up to 1 hour to spend in their natural habitat, which gives you the opportunity to learn about their behavior. Pictures and Video recordings can be taken by ensure there is no flash. ‘

After breakfast, your guide will drive you to Fort Portal – the tourism city. Key on the agenda is to visit the key attractions in this city such as the Crater Lakes; Amabere Caves; Tooro Botanical Gardens; the Royal Palace and many more.

After a late Lunch, we will drive back to our lodge in Kibale National Park for the over night stay.

You will check out of the Lodge after breakfast, to start on your journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – the home to the gorillas. Bwindi Impenetrable National park has half of the world’s mountain gorillas. The journey from Kibale National Park to our destination will take about 4 to 5 hours. A stopover for Lunch will be arranged enroute.  You will arrive at your Lodge in Bwindi for dinner and overnight stay.

After an early morning breakfast at the lodge, your driver guide will pick you for transfer to the park headquarters, for a briefing on the riles, regulations and expectations of gorilla tracking. After the briefing, you will be assigned a gorilla family to trek, and a park guide/staff who is knowledgeable about the gorillas and well conversant with the trails in the forest. Trekking the gorilla can take between 30 minutes of 8 hours depending on where the giants are located because of their tendency to move from place to place in search for food. During the trek you are likely to see other animals that share the same forest. These animals include Elephants; Buffalos, primates such as Black and White colobus monkeys, L’hoest monkeys, numerous bird species – this being one of the important bird areas (IBAs)

Once a gorilla family has been identified/found, you will be allowed an opportunity to watch them carry out their daily activities such as feeding; playing; and the dominance displayed by the male gorilla (Silver Back).  Allowing you the opportunity to take photos and video recordings of these gentle giants. Remember not to take pictures with a flash on, for this irritates the Gorillas.

After a one-hour encounter with the gorillas, you will trek back to the headquarters while enjoying what the forest has to offer. At the park’s headquarters you will be awarded a certificate for participating in the gorilla trekking exercise. Thereafter meet up with your driver/guide to transfer you to the lodge for an evening rest and dinner.

After Breakfast and check out of the Lodge in Bwindi, your drive/guide will transfer you to Lake Bunyonyi in the outskirts of Kable town. This destination is home to a variety of different little bird species – hence the name “Bunyoni” in the local dialect. Bunyonyi has 29 main islands some of which can be visited while you are there. The journey to this place from Kable town takes about 2 – 3 hours.

Arrival and check-in at your Lodge in Bunyonyi. Depending on the time of arrival, you will have the afternoon to relax and rest.

This is day 7 of your Primates Safari and wildlife Adventure, and will not require that you arise very early. It is a day to relax.

You will have Breakfast at the Lodge, and there after go for a boat ride on Lake Bunyonyi – the second deepest last in Africa after Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania.

This boat ride will allow you explore some of the 29 islands key among them being the punishment island – where it is believed that girls who got pregnant before marriage where brought and left to die on the Island, as a punishment for not waiting till marriage.  Legend also has it that the men secretly went back to the island and picked some of the girls to keep them as wives.

The boat ride will offer you with spectacular views of the terraced farmlands and traditional home settings.  After the boat ride, you will drive to the lodge for lunch where after you will relax at the lodge or opt to engage in activities such as nature walks, bicycle rides, community tours where you interact with the Batwa and Bakiga communities. In the Evening you will retire for an overnight stay.

After breakfast and checkout of the Lodge, you will meet up with your driver/guide for transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park – the medley of wonders. The drive from Bunyonyi through Kable town to Queen Elizabeth National Park is spectacular with lush and green environments. The journey to the park is a mix of surfaced and dirt roads and generally comfortable.

You will check in at the Lodge and depending on the time of arrival engage in a community activity or nature walk organized by the Lodge.  Retire early to allow for the next day’s busy schedule.

Morning Session.

After an early breakfast, your driver/guide will pick you up from the lodge for a morning game drive or lion tracking experience in the Kasenyi plains. During the game drive you will have great views of the sunrise, several mammal species with the big four on the list, other animals like the warthogs, bushbucks, Uganda Kobs and over 600 bird species are available for your viewing.  After the 3-hour game drive, you will drive back to the Lodge for an early Lunch, to prepare for the Boat Cruise.

Afternoon Session.

After Lunch, you will drive to the landing site near Mweya Safari Lodge for an incredible boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel. This channel connects Lake George and Lake Edward – it is a 40km stretch and takes about 3-hours to traverse.

During the boat trip you be in position to see large concentrations of hippos, Nile crocodiles, occasional buffaloes that have been thrown out of the herds, Elephants bullying any animal that crosses its path, and several water birds key among which are the African Fish Eagle – with its African call; Cormorants; Kind Fishers; the shy yellow billed stock and many more. Also during this trip you will see communities of people co-existing with the wild animals especially the dangerous crocodiles.

After the boat cruise you will go for an evening game dtive where you will be able to see some of the animals that you missed in the morning game drive. This is when the predators get active.

Thereafter return to the Lodge of overnight stay.

This is the last day of the safari. Breakfast will be taken at leisure. Checkout and head back to Kampala.

Your driver/Guide will pick you and start on the journey back to Kampala through Mbarara city.

You will pass by Igongo Cultural center/Museum, for a tour and education on the culture of the Banyankore people.  This is a brief and interesting tour, and lots of information shared on the origins of the Banyankore.

After the tour, you will have Lunch at the Museum and thereafter set for Kampala.

An optional stop over can be made at the Equator, for purchase of souvenirs. You will arrive at your Kampala destination in the evening and if end of safari coincides with flight departure, you will be driven straight to the Airport.