On your arrival at Kigali International Airport, you will be warmly met by our company representative who will be your safari guide throughout your 16- Days African Safari to Rwanda and Uganda for wildlife, primates and culture encounter safari for meet and greet and then drive to your booked hotel in Kigali city to check in, freshen up. Thereafter, meet your safari guide again at the hotel lobby to be briefed about your tour before having dinner and an overnight.
Accommodation: Heaven Boutique Hotel (Mid-range)
Meal plan: Dinner
On this day, wake up very early in the morning to have all your travel bags ready, be served breakfast, have all your bags loaded into your safari vehicle, check out of the hotel and start your African safari with an early morning hiking safari experience to Mount Kigali, which is roughly an hour hike where you have a beautiful view of Kigali city. You will later descend and drive to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial Ground, where more than 250,000 Rwandan victims of the 1994 Genocide were laid to rest in a mass grave. There are details to read and video clips to listen to, as well as a tour of the museum. After visiting the genocide museum, start your drive to your drive to Volcanoes national park one of the four national parks where you encounter the mountain gorillas. This park covers an area of about 160 km² of rainforest and encompasses five of the eight volcanoes found in the Virunga Mountains, namely Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga, and Sabyinyo. The Volcanoes National Park is home to the endangered mountain gorillas as well as a diverse mosaic of montane ecosystems including an evergreen and bamboo forest, open grassland, and swamp. It was named after the chain of dormant volcanoes making up the Virunga Massif: these include Karisimbi – the highest at 4,507m, Bisoke, with its verdant Crater Lake, Sabinyo, Gahinga, and Muhabura; and part of the Virunga Conservation Area, which includes Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, Virunga national park in DR Congo, and Mgahinga Gorilla national park in Uganda. On arrival at Volcanoes national park, drive straight to check in at your reserved lodge to have lunch, refresh and later in You will be allowed to take as many photos as you would want therefore, your camera has to be on standby and fully charged such that you do not miss out any moment un captured. After an hour with the mountain gorillas, return to the starting point to pick your trekking certificate, have some refreshments and then return to your lodge to have lunch, relax for some time and then visit Iby’iwacu cultural village/ Gorilla guardians Village to have a taste of the history and culture of Rwanda.
The Iby’ Iwacu cultural village center is well-known for combining all of Rwanda’s known cultural traditions, people and history into one place for display and a personal experience. This is will get you to see what life was in a typical African society setting such as the lifestyle, houses, traditional dances, dressing code, food, herbs and how the ancient kingdoms were generally organized. Also, you will have an opportunity to learn African ancient hunting skills, try weaving baskets/mats, carpentry that provides a unique experience and it is a great place for relaxation and purchasing some locally handmade craft souvenirs to keep your memories. After exploring a bit of Rwandan culture drive back to your lodge and spend your evening relaxing till time to have dinner.
Accommodation: Davinci Gorilla Lodge (Mid-range)
Meal plan: Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner
Wake up very early in the morning to have breakfast and transfer to the park information offices for the pre-trekking briefings for the guidelines to follow during golden monkey tracking and then start the forest hike to search for the beautiful golden monkeys. Golden monkeys are species of the Old-World monkey only found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, including four national parks: Mgahinga gorilla national park, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes national park, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga national park and Kahuzi-Biéga, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Compared with other monkey species, the golden monkeys are gorgeous in appearance, they have bright coloured fur with long golden hair mixed with orange. The overall estimate currently stands between 2000 and 4000 individuals and since they are only found in the Virunga conservation area, they have been classified as endangered species. After the golden monkey trekking experience return to the lodge to refresh, have lunch, have all your travel bags loaded into your safari vehicle, check out of your lodge and then drive to the Rwanda Uganda land border of Chanika to go through all the required border crossing formalities to be cleared and then enter Uganda to visit Mgahinga gorilla national park the smallest park and one of the only two national parks in Uganda where one can meet the endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda. It is the only park in Uganda where you can meet both the giant mountain gorillas and the beautiful golden monkeys. The park distinguishes itself from other gorilla parks by having three volcanoes, namely Gahinga, Sabinyo, and Muhabura, and the best places to meet the Batwa pygmy people. On arrival at the park, check in at your booked lodge and later spend the evening at leisure till time to have dinner at on overnight.
Accommodation: Lake Mulehe Safari Lodge (Mid-range)
Meal plan: Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner
Day 4 of the 16-days best of the African Safari to Rwanda and Uganda. Wake up early in the morning (0600am) to organize yourself, gather the necessary equipment for mountain gorilla trekking such as cameras, binoculars, insect repellents, and dress appropriately for mountain gorilla trekking such as long khaki or jean trousers, long sleeved shirts, water-proof hiking boots, a rain jacket, heavy duty gloves, and round hats. Have a heavy breakfast, get your packed lunch boxes, get enough drinking water and meet your safari guide to be transferred to the park information offices to be briefed about mountain gorilla trekking dos and don’ts, how to behave in the presence of mountain gorillas and the expectations, get a gorilla family to track and a ranger guide. We would recommend you hire a porter to help you carry your packed bag with the items you would need during the mountain gorilla trekking experience. After a pre-mountain gorilla trekking session, start your forest walk in search of the endangered mountain gorillas in their natural habitats. The time taken before encountering your allocated mountain gorilla family is not known. However, it may be between 45 minutes to 6 hours depending on the movements and location of the gorilla family. Therefore, you should be physically and mentally prepared to walk a long distance through the forest that is made of hills and with no clear walking trails that are only made at that particular time of tracking by your guide depending on the direction that can easily lead you to the location of the gorilla family. That is why it is recommended to carry enough water to keep you hydrated and snacks to keep you energized, since you use a lot of energy when walking through the forest in search of the mountain gorillas.
Once you encounter the mountain gorilla family, the excitement of seeing the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat will outweigh the hardship you went through while searching for them. A mountain gorilla family can be made up of several members, such as the giant silverback, who is always the head and protector of the family, mothers, infants, and juveniles. In the time you will spend with the mountain gorillas, you will get to know much about their behaviours, how they socialize and be excited by their actions, like the playful babies, mothers grooming their babies and Mr. Silverback, watching the situation silently as he is ready to protect the family from any kind of attack. You will spend a maximum of one hour with the mountain gorillas, and you will be free to capture as many photos and record videos as you want to keep your great memories with the mountain gorilla family in the jungle. After an hour with the mountain gorilla family, return to the trekking start point to receive your mountain trekking certificate in appreciation of your contribution towards the conservation of the endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda. Have refreshments and enjoy your packed lunch, and then drive back to your lodge to refresh and later go to explore Lake Mutanda with about riding safari which will take you to visit the most beautiful islands on this Lake.
Boat canoeing trip on Lake Mutanda is one of the great ways to fully explore the lake while enjoying the cold breeze and calm waters of the lake plus relaxing, spotting some water birds and visit some of the small islands in the Lake. While doing a boating canoeing safari on Lake Mutanda, you will enjoy the best views of the landscape around the Lake. The boat canoeing tour will take you to visit some islands on Lake Mutanda such as the skeleton Island also known as “the punishment island” which was used by the community people of the early days to punish people who did wrong in the society by dumping them to this island till death such as young girls would be found pregnant before marriage, thieves and other unwanted people so, when you visit this island, you will find skeleton remains of the dead people at the Island as proof of the incident. Later, visit the underground Salt Springs which are found in Gihuranda village the neighbouring community to Lake Mutanda. These springs have fresh water coming from underground and the places, got unique clay soil that is used by the local people to make pots and charcoal stoves and others without using improved technology. Dinner and an overnight.
Accommodation: Lake Mulehe Safari Lodge (Mid-range)
Meal plan: Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner
Today, wake up at your convenient time, be served breakfast, have all your travel bags loaded into your safari vehicle, check out of the lodge and then say bye to Mgahinga gorilla national park by driving to Ishasha sector in the southern parts of Queen Elizabeth national park that is proudly known for having the tree climbing lions and big concentration of other wildlife species such as Elephants, Topis Uganda Kobs, Buffaloes and many others. On arrival at the park, check in at your booked lodge to have lunch, and then spend the evening at your leisure relaxing till time to have dinner and an overnight.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is known for its variety wildlife species with over 95 mammal species which includes four big mammals, big cats and other predators, 10 species of primates, aquatic mammals and about 600 recorded bird species and with Kazinga channel the main water stream which connects Lake Edward and George and an understandably one of the Uganda’s most popular national park and an ideal habitat for classic big game such as the four mammals of the big five family of the African savannah (Lions, Leopards, Elephants and Buffaloes), several antelope species, primates and many others.
Accommodation: Enjojo Lodge (Mid-range)
Meal plan: Breakfast / Lunch/ Dinner
Today, wake up at your convenient time to be served breakfast and then drive to the park at 0900 am to start your mid-morning game drive to search for the wildlife species in found in the Ishasha sector with a main focus to search for the unique tree. Tree climbing lions can only be found in Queen Elizabeth national park of Uganda and Lake Manyara national park of Tanzania. However, Queen Elizabeth national park has the biggest population with four prides and there are higher chances to encounter to spot them in Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth national park than anywhere on African Safari and also, you will be able to spot several other wildlife species such as Elephants, several antelopes, like Topis, bushbucks, Buffaloes and so many more fascinating creatures. After the game drive safari, drive to the northern sector of Queen Elizabeth national park to check in at your booked lodge, relax for some time, later early evening, visit Katwe community which is surrounding the salty Lake Katwe and their main economic activity is to extract salt from this lake. This is one of the most famous communities due to the traditional salt mining that has been practiced since the 16th century. While at Katwe salt mining community, you will have a chance to take part in salt mining and your local safari guide will give you much information about how they have managed to maintain their salt mining activities for decades. After the community tour, drive to check in at your booked lodge to spend you evening at leisure until time to have dinner and an overnight.
Accommodation: Buffalo Safari Lodge (Mid-range)
Meal plan: Breakfast/ Lunch / Dinner
Wake up early to have your breakfast and drive to the park to start your early morning game drive safari to explore the park and to lookout for the wildlife species such as Uganda Kobs, Waterbucks, Elephants, Caped Buffaloes, Lions, Warthogs, Leopards, and a variety of primates and bird species and enjoy the beautiful views of the savannah. Your safari guide will ensure that you spot as many wildlife species as possible and give you as much information about everything that you may encounter during your game drive. Queen Elizabeth national park is an understandably one of the Uganda’s most popular national parks and an ideal habitat for classic big game such as the four mammals of the big five family of the African savannah (Lions, Leopards, Elephants and Buffaloes), several antelope species, primates and many others. After your early morning game drive safari at around 1100 am, drive back to your lodge to relax, have lunch and later at 2 pm return to the park for your afternoon boat cruise safari on the Kazinga channel the main water stream which goes through the park and connecting Lake George and Lake Edward. Boat cruise safari on the Kazinga Channel is one of the highly recommended adventurous activities to visitors of Queen Elizabeth national park. The cruise will bring you very close to several mammals such as the Hippos, Nile crocodiles and Buffaloes, Elephants and many others plus various water birds. The fantastic experience during 2 hours’ boat cruise safari along the Kazinga channel, makes a must do adventure to every guest to Queen Elizabeth national park. After your afternoon boat cruise, drive back to your lodge and spend the evening at leisure till time to have dinner and an overnight.
Accommodation: Buffalo Safari Lodge (Mid-range)
Meal plan: Breakfast/ Lunch / Dinner
Today wake up at your best time to be served breakfast, get all your luggage packed in the vehicle, check out of your lodge and then drive to Kibale Forest national park that is popular for its high concentration of primates in African with 13 different primate species these include the highest population of the habituated chimpanzee families for tourism and research purposes, other primates are; the uncommon L’Hoest’s monkeys, the endangered red colobus monkeys, Red tailed monkeys, the Black & white colobus, blue monkeys, Grey cheeked mangabeys, Olive baboons, Bush babies and among many others. The park is also home to over 375 bird species and other mammals such as Bushbucks, Blue duikers and Bush pigs. The drive to Kibale forest national park will take you through villages and small towns while seeing the indigenous people carrying out their daily activities like working on tea, coffee and banana plantations, animal farms and many others, enjoy the beautiful sceneries of the country side that will make your drive so adventurous. On arrival at the park, check in at your booked lodge to refresh, stay at the lodge till time to be served lunch and later in the evening go for the crater lakes exploration tour to see some of the most fascinating and wonderful crater lakes. It is recommended to reach some of the craters on foot. Kibale Forest National Park is a dream destination in Uganda to explore the Crater Lakes that cannot be found anywhere in the world as there are several magnificent Crater Lakes that are worth a visit. Most of these crater lakes were formed during the ancient volcanic activity in Uganda about 10000 years ago, which left behind several scenic crater lakes, most of which include the Kibale-Ndali-Kasenda Crater Lakes. These craters are among the few extinct volcanic features whose volcanic gases are said to have covered about 10 kilometers beneath them. After the crater lake exploration tour, return to your lodge to have dinner and an overnight
Accommodation: Isunga Safari Lodge (Mid-range)
Meal plan: Breakfast/ Lunch / Dinner
After breakfast, meet your safari guide and transfer to the park information offices to join other guests for a briefing about the dos and don’ts to follow while looking for chimpanzees in the forest, and how to behave around chimpanzees. Then embark on your guided forest walk to search for the intelligent chimpanzees, our closest relatives, sharing 98.8% of human DNA. During your forest walk, you may encounter other wildlife species, both mammals and bird species, such as other primates, bush pigs, and your guide will be able to give you a lot of interesting information about everything that you will encounter, which will make your walk so adventurous. Once you meet chimpanzees, you will spend a maximum of one hour watching how they play in the tree branches, feeding and taking care of their babies, and taking as many photos as you would want. After staying with chimpanzees for an hour, you return to the starting point to relax, have a refreshment, have lunch, relax for some time and later visit the Bigodi Sanctuary swamp and community for a guided walking safari.
Bigodi sanctuary swamp is punctuated by biodiversity and lovely sceneries, and is a paradise to bird lover’s with over 138 bird species and hosting eight species of primates these include the grey-cheeked mangabey, black-and-white colobus, l’Hoest’s and blue monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, and olive baboons plus other mammals like Bushbucks and mongooses can also be found here. The swamp is managed by the surrounding local community wish a purpose of preserving exclusive environmental features along with the wetland for future generation. So, during this walk, you will have an opportunity to spot several monkeys, and bird species. The Bigodi community walk, will take you through the nearby community to have a chance to interact with local people to know how they harmoniously live with wildlife species, take you through how they locally to their daily activities without applying the modern technology such as making nice gins from banana, making delicious coffee and making art crafts. After the walk, return to your lodge to relax, be served dinner and an overnight.
Accommodation: Isunga Safari Lodge (Mid-range)
Meal plan: Breakfast/ Lunch / Dinner
Rise up very early in the morning to have breakfast (630 am), have all your travel bags load in the car, check out of your lodge to start your drive to Murchison falls national park the oldest and biggest national park found in the north-western Uganda about 320 km from Kampala the capital of Uganda. Murchison Falls National Park is a home to 76 recorded mammal species these include; Jackson’s hartebeest, Waterbucks, Hippopotamuses, Nile crocodiles, some primates like Chimpanzees, Olive baboons, Black and white colobus monkeys, Giraffes, Uganda kobs, Elephants, Caped Buffaloes, Lions, Leopards, Spotted hyenas, Civets, Warthogs, Oribis, Topis among others plus 450 recorded bird species such as the rare shoebill stork, Abyssinian ground hornbill, papyrus Gonolek, marabou stork, black bellied bustard, open billed stork among others. The drive to Murchison falls national park will take you through villages and small towns, where you will see indigenous people going about their daily activities such as working on tea, coffee, and banana plantations, animal farms, and laying bricks, among other things, while enjoying the beautiful scenery of the country. You will arrival Murchison Falls national park during time to have lunch and visit the Murchison falls to enjoy give you breathtaking view of the falls and to enjoy the verbal burble of the falls as drops into a pool of water. While at the Murchison falls, you will see how the whole river Nile forces itself through a narrow gorge of only 7 meters wide and then drop 43 meters into a pool and then form a strong thunderous sound which is so lovely. After seeing the Murchison falls, cross the river Nile and drive to your booked lodge to check in and spend your evening relaxing while preparing for your adventurous night game drive safari which will boost your chances to encounter nocturnal animals and birds of the park such as lions, Leopard, Porcupine, Civet, spotted hyenas, the grazing hippos among others not for getting the lovely sounds of animals and to run how wildlife animals spend their night in the jungle. On a lucky day, you may meet predators hunting which is one of the great wildlife experiences of the savannah. Murchison falls national park is the best savannah national parks in Uganda for a night game drive. Dinner and an overnight
Accommodation: Pakuba Safari Lodge (Mid-range)
Meal plan: Breakfast / Lunch /Dinner
