11 Days Uganda Chimpanzees & Gorillas Safari
This 11 Days Uganda Chimpanzees & Gorillas Safari offers you an incredible safari adventure in Uganda, the pearl of Africa. On this tour you will visit Kibale Forest National Park for chimpanzee trekking, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for an encounter with mountain gorillas and Lake Mburo National Park for wildlife viewing.
Highlights of 11 Days Uganda Chimpanzees & Gorillas Safari
- Day 1: Arrive Entebbe
- Day 3: Chimpanzee tracking in Kibale; visit Bigodi wetlands
- Day 4: Optional second chimpanzee trek; Crater Lakes Walk
- Day 5: To Bwindi National Park
- Day 6: Day at leisure with optional activities
- Day 7: Mountain gorilla tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
- Day 8: Optional second mountain gorilla trek
- Day 9: To Lake Mburo National Park
- Day 10: Game drive; optional game walk or boat safari
- Day 11: Drive to Entebbe; trip ends
Detailed itinerary of 11 Days Uganda Chimpanzees & Gorillas Safari
Day 1: Arrive Entebbe
Your 11 Days Uganda Chimpanzee & Gorillas Safari journey begins in Entebbe, with arrival at Entebbe International Airport where you will meet with our representative (your Driver- Guide) and be transferred to your hotel on the shores of Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa.
Spend the rest of the day at rest or go for a walk around Entebbe City.
Accommodation: Boma Hotel
Meal Plan: Dinner
Day 2: Drive to Kibale Forest
This morning, enjoy breakfast at the hotel, meet your guide for a briefing about the safari and depart for Kibale Forest National Park, the journey is approximately 7 hours. Upon arrival, you will enjoy lunch and spend the afternoon relaxing at the lodge.
Kibale Forest National Park is home to 13 primate species with nine diurnal primates, including vervet, red-tailed, L’Hoest’s, red colobus, black and white colobus and blue monkeys and grey-cheeked mangabey, olive baboons and chimpanzees, the most famous of all.
Accommodation: Turaco Treetops or Similar
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 3: Chimpanzee tracking in Kibale; visit Bigodi wetlands
Wake up early for breakfast and head to the park headquarters for briefing about chimpanzee trekking, your guide will take you through rules and regulations to follow while on a chimpanzee trek in the forest. Head into the forests looking for chimpanzees, the trek takes approximately 4 to 6 hours depending on the movement of the gorillas and where they spent their previous night. Unlike mountain gorillas, chimpanzees are very mobile primates. You will enjoy one hour of watching them play from one tree branch to another, take pictures and watch them groom, feed and take amazing pictures.
Trek back to the park headquarters where you will meet your guide and head back to your lodge for lunch. In the afternoon you will go for a Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary in the Magombe Wetland. This sanctuary is a major tourist attraction in Kibale Forest Area, operated by the Kibale Association for Rural and Environment Development (KAFRED), a local community based organisation.
Accommodation: Turaco Treetops or Similar
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 4: Optional second chimpanzee trek; Crater Lakes Walk
Today there is the option of doing a second chimp trek this morning to increase your possibility of seeing the chimpanzees.
In the afternoon, we embark on the Grater Lakes Walk around Kibale Forest National Park. This 2 to three hour offers the chance to explore the beautiful crater lakes at the edge of Kibale. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation: Turaco Treetops or Similar
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 5: To Bwindi National Park
After breakfast, we drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which takes approximately seven to eight hours. Along the way, have a stop in Mbarara for lunch, before continuing through Kamwenge Rukunguri as you get to Bwindi.
Accommodation: Buhoma Haven Lodge or Similar
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 6: Day at leisure with optional activities
Today, we will have enjoy several optional activities including the Batwa Experience, on which you will meet the local people, learn about their lives and be entertained by local dances and drama. In the afternoon, you can take a forest walk, or the Ride 4 a Woman community experience.
Accommodation: Buhoma Haven Lodge or Similar
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 7: Mountain gorilla tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Wake up early for breakfast, meet your guide and head to the park headquarters for briefing about gorilla trekking. In groups of 8 people, enter into the forest looking for mountain gorillas. The trek takes approximately 3 to 6 hours depending on the movement of the gorillas and where they spent their previous night.
You will be allowed to spend only one hour in the presence of the gorillas and where they spent their previous night. You will be mind-blown by their enormous body size, their playful nature and characteristics that are similar to humans. You will be allowed to take pictures and videos as long as your flashlight is off. Trek back to the park headquarters, return to your lodge and spend the rest of the day at rest.
Accommodation: Buhoma Haven Lodge or Similar
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 8: Optional second mountain gorilla trek
Today is a free day and there is an option of going for a second gorilla trekking experience. For those who are not interested in a second gorilla trek, there are other walks you can do nearby or you can relax at our lodge, reminiscing about the previous day’s encounters.
Accommodation: Buhoma Haven Lodge or Similar
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 9: To Lake Mburo National Park
After breakfast, leave for Lake Mburo National Park. en-route a stop in Kibale near the Rwanda border for lunch. Then drive about five hours.
Lake Mburo National Park is the only place in Southern Uganda where you can see zebras, giraffes and impala and is a great place to see the elusive leopards. The park is home to more than 300 bird species and offers the possibility of game walks and game drives.
Accommodation: Arcadia Lodge or Similar
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 10: Game drive; optional game walk or boat safari
After breakfast, go on a final game drive in Lake Mburo National Park looking for plains wildlife, the park has a network of game tracks in the eastern part of the park passing a variety of landscapes, acacia woodland, wetlands, grassy hillsides, rocky outcrops and seasonally flooded valley floors. The early morning and late afternoon are the best times to roam the park in search of wildlife.
Also, there is an option of tracking game on foot through the savannah and going on a boat excursion, particularly good for birdlife and going on an early morning game walk. Accompanied by a ranger guide, you walk to a salt lick where many animals are attracted to the salty rocks. At this time of the day, you may encounter hyenas returning to their dens and hippos retreating to the lake.
Lake Mburo, itself is rich with a diversity of animals and plants, and these can be viewed clearly on a boat trip. These include crocodiles, hippos and several bird species such as pelicans, black crakes, herons and fish eagles among others, you may also see the rare shoebill stork if you are lucky.
Accommodation: Arcadia Lodge or Similar
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 11: Drive to Entebbe; trip ends
Today is our final day on a Uganda Safari, we return to Entebbe where you will be dropped either at the hotel or at Entebbe International Airport to catch your flight back home.
End of 10 Days Uganda Chimpanzees & Gorillas Safari
What’s Included?
- All breakfasts, 10 lunches and nine dinners.
- All accommodation
- All transport and listed activities
- Tour leader throughout
- One chimp permit and one gorilla permit
What’s Not Included?
- Travel insurance
- Single accommodation (available on request)
- Visas or vaccinations
- Optional second chimp and optional second gorilla permit
