Uganda & Rwanda Wildlife Safari

Where Ancient Forests Meet the Last Mountain Gorillas: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Journey Through the Heart of Africa.

Imagine waking before dawn to the sound of chimpanzees calling deep in a mist-draped forest. Then, just days later, locking eyes with a silverback mountain gorilla, a creature so close you can hear him breathe. This is not a fantasy. This is your 14-day Uganda and Rwanda Wildlife Circuit Safari with Otter African Safaris, a journey through two of East Africa’s most extraordinary countries, where equatorial jungles, shimmering crater lakes, and vast savanna plains converge to create the continent’s most diverse wildlife experience.

Built for travellers who want more than a game drive who want a story this carefully crafted itinerary takes you from the chimpanzee sanctuaries of Kibale Forest to the gorilla highlands of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, across the Albertine Rift to Uganda’s finest savanna in Queen Elizabeth National Park, and finally into Rwanda’s verdant Volcanoes National Park for a second, unforgettable gorilla encounter. Fourteen days. Two countries. A lifetime of memories.

Day 1 Arrival in Entebbe: Africa Begins Here

Your adventure starts the moment you land at Entebbe International Airport, set on a lush peninsula jutting into Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile. Your Otter African Safaris guide meets you at arrivals and transfers you to your lakeside lodge, where the sounds of the African night settle in gently around you. Tonight is for rest, anticipation, and a welcome dinner as the equatorial stars emerge overhead.

Day 2 Entebbe to Kibale Forest: Into Chimpanzee Country

After breakfast, we head west through Uganda’s “Pearl of Africa” countryside, a tapestry of rolling hills, tea plantations, and roadside markets, arriving in the afternoon at Kibale National Park. Home to the highest density of primates in Africa, Kibale’s ancient forest is home to 13 primate species, including an estimated 1,500 chimpanzees. As your vehicle pulls into the forest canopy, you’ll feel the air shift cooler, greener, alive.

Days 3–4 Kibale Forest: Face to Face with Our Closest Relatives

Two full days in Kibale means two opportunities to trek through one of Africa’s most pristine tropical forests. The chimp-tracking experience here is considered among the best in the world. 

Beyond chimpanzees, Kibale delivers: red-tailed monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, the black-and-white colobus, and the rare Uganda mangabey. 

Day 5 Queen Elizabeth National Park: The Savanna Awaits

Leaving the forest behind, we drop south through the Albertine Rift Valley, one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth, into the vast floodplains of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The landscape shift is dramatic: open savanna, acacia woodland, and hippo-choked channels spreading out below the Rwenzori Mountains, Africa’s legendary “Mountains of the Moon.”

 Queen Elizabeth is one of the very few places on earth where you can watch lions lounging in fig trees, a remarkable behavioural adaptation unique to this region. Your Otter guide will track down these celebrated tree-climbing lions as the golden afternoon light sets the savanna on fire.

Day 6 Queen Elizabeth: Kazinga Channel & The Tree-Climbing Lions

Rise early for a dawn game drive across the Kasenyi plains, the best time to catch predators returning from night hunts. After a late bush breakfast, board a boat for the world-famous Kazinga Channel cruise, a two-hour glide along one of Africa’s most densely populated waterways. Hippos laze in wallowing pools, enormous Nile crocodiles bask on the banks, and thousands of water birds, African skimmers, malachite kingfishers, and pink-backed pelicans crowd every shoreline.

The afternoon takes you to Ishasha sector, the remote southern corner of Queen Elizabeth, where the park’s celebrated tree-climbing lions are most reliably found, resting in the high branches of ancient fig trees like something out of a wildlife documentary.

Day 7 Travel to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest: The Road to the Mountain Gorillas

Today’s drive is an experience in itself, winding through Uganda’s southwestern highlands, past volcanoes, terraced hillsides, and villages wreathed in cloud. As you near Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, the atmosphere changes. This is one of the oldest and most biologically diverse forests on the planet, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and home to roughly half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas.

This evening, your guide provides a full briefing on gorilla trekking: the protocols, the physical preparation, what to expect when you find the gorillas, and how to behave during your precious, non-negotiable one hour with the family. Sleep comes easily tonight; you’ll want every hour of it.

Day 8 Bwindi: The Greatest Wildlife Encounter on Earth

Some mornings change you. This is one of them.

Before dawn, you gather with your trekking group for a briefing and then set off into the forest with your armed ranger and tracker guides. The trek can take anywhere from one to six hours, depending on the gorilla family’s overnight movements through dense undergrowth, across muddy ridges, ducking under vines and climbing roots until the radio crackles and your lead guide whispers: “They’re just ahead.”

Then you see them. A young juvenile tumbles through the foliage. A female nurses her infant, casting a sideways glance that feels disturbingly human. For one hour, time stops entirely. Otter African Safaris has chosen habituated gorilla families with the highest-quality experiences, ensuring your trek is as unforgettable as the mountain gorillas themselves.

Day 9 Bwindi: Forest Walks & Community Immersion

Not every moment in Bwindi is about gorillas, and that’s what makes a second day here so rewarding. This morning’s guided forest walk reveals Bwindi’s staggering biodiversity: over 350 bird species, including the Shelley’s crimsonwing and African green broadbill (both Albertine Rift endemics), rare forest elephants, golden monkeys, and giant Ruwenzori turaco.

The afternoon is set aside for a visit to a local Batwa community, the indigenous forest people displaced when Bwindi was gazetted as a national park. Their dance performances, traditional skills demonstrations, and forest knowledge shared through Otter’s responsible tourism partnerships create a connection to this landscape that goes far deeper than wildlife alone.

Day 10 Cross into Rwanda: Kigali, City of Transformation

A morning transfer takes you across the border into Rwanda, the “Land of a Thousand Hills.” Your first stop is Kigali, one of Africa’s cleanest, safest, and most fascinating capital cities. The Kigali Genocide Memorial is a deeply moving and essential visit, offering powerful context for Rwanda’s extraordinary story of healing and national rebirth. By evening, you’re in the highlands near Musanze, gateway to the Virunga volcanoes.

Day 11 Volcanoes National Park: Golden Monkeys & the Dian Fossey Legacy

Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, where Dian Fossey lived, worked, and gave her life for gorilla conservation, is a place of almost mythological status in the wildlife world. Today begins with golden monkey tracking in the bamboo forests of the lower volcano slopes.  The views across the volcanic chain into the Democratic Republic of Congo are breathtaking.

Day 12 Volcanoes National Park: Your Second Gorilla Trek

Each gorilla family has its own personality, its own drama, its own story. Rwanda’s strict visitor protocols carefully managed group sizes and premium permits mean your encounter is intimate, unhurried, and utterly extraordinary.

Day 13 Lake Kivu: Sundowners on Africa’s Most Beautiful Lake

After the intensity of the Virunga highlands, Lake Kivu offers a different kind of magic. Drive west to the lakeshore resort town of Gisenyi (Rubavu), where Rwanda meets the Congo across glittering tropical waters. Spend the morning kayaking or swimming in Kivu’s crystal-clear bays, or simply wander the colonial-era lakeshore promenade.

Day 14 Return to Kigali: Departure with Stories Worth Telling

Your Otter African Safaris guide accompanies you to Kigali International Airport for farewells and check-in.

 Some safaris show you Africa. This one helps you understand it.

Safari Highlights at a Glance

• Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest National Park, Africa’s premier primate experience.
• Tree-climbing lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park’s Ishasha sector.
• Kazinga Channel boat cruise — one of Africa’s great waterway wildlife experiences.
• Double gorilla trekking — one trek in Uganda’s Bwindi, one in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park.
• Golden monkey tracking on the Virunga volcano slopes.
• Dian Fossey’s Karisoke — the birthplace of modern gorilla conservation.
• Batwa community visit — ethical cultural immersion in Bwindi.
• Kigali Genocide Memorial — Rwanda’s essential story of resilience.
• Lake Kivu sundowners — Africa’s most scenic lakeside finale.

Included in Your Safari

• All airport transfers and ground transportation in 4WD safari vehicles.
• Accommodation as specified (full-board throughout).
• All gorilla and chimpanzee trekking permits.
• All national park entry fees.
• All game drives, boat cruises, and guided walks.
• Services of an experienced, English-speaking Otter African Safaris guide throughout.
• Rwanda–Uganda border crossing assistance.

Gorilla permits (Uganda and Rwanda) are limited and must be secured well in advance. Contact Otter African Safaris today to check availability for your preferred travel dates.

Ready to begin your story? Contact Otter African Safaris to start planning your 14-Day Uganda and Rwanda Wildlife Circuit Safari. 

Contact us: info@otterafricansafaris.com or otterafricansafaris94@gmail.com
Visit: www.otterafricansafaris.com
Call: +256773945555 or +256773932802.