11 DAYS BEST OF UGANDA WILDLIFE, CHIMPANZEE AND GORILLA TREKKING TOUR

Welcome to Uganda. Our guide will be at the Entebbe International Airport waiting to receive you and welcome you to Uganda the pearl of Africa. You will be driven to your hotel in Kampala for an early morning check and rest. You will wake up and have lunch, and then your guide will take you around for a Kampala city Tour. Later retire to the hotel for dinner and overnight because tomorrow the day starts very early as well. Accommodation: KOKI HOTEL KAMPALA OR ENTEBBE HOTEL Meal plan: Dinner

Our Safari guide will pick you up from your hotel very early in the morning to start the journey to Murchison Falls National Park. The hotel will pack breakfast for you. The journey to the Murchison Falls National Park involves passing through several districts and towns including Luwero, Nakasongola and Masindi. Luwero is famous as a former war zone. It is where the current government launched a guerrilla war which eventually led to the overthrow of the government of Tito Okello. Nakasongola has amazing countryside with numerous farms and long-horned Ankole cattle feeding by the roadside. If you haven’t tasted local Ugandan fruits, then you should ask the Guide to stop for you along the road so that you check out some of the fresh fruits on offer. Fruits in Africa are very tasty because they are exposed to more sunlight. You will stop at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. This sanctuary was established to protect Uganda’s last remaining Rhinos and help increase their numbers so that they can be reintroduced in the wild. Uganda had Rhinos in most of its national parks but extensive poaching wiped them all out. By the late 1970’s it was almost impossible to catch sight of Rhinos in the wild. While at the sanctuary, you will be in the company of experienced Guides. The Guides will show you around and share important information about the Rhinos and why it is important to protect them. The sanctuary is a large establishment with opportunities for nature walks, primate viewing and birding. After visiting the Rhino sanctuary, you will continue to the nearby town of Masindi for lunch before proceeding to the national park. You will also have a packed Lunch. On reaching the park, you will be taken to view the amazing and famous Murchison Falls from the top or if you arrive early, you will be taken for an evening boat safari on the Nile. After this experience, if there is still time, you will head for an evening game safari drive in the park before your guide leads you to the lodge for refreshment and relaxation as you wait for dinner. Accommodation: Gipiri & Labong or any of the Equivalents Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Wake up very early and take breakfast or have a packed breakfast as you drive for the morning game drive to see animals going out for the day and others retreat to their dens after a busy night of hunting. Murchison Falls National Park has an amazing collection of wildlife. Expect to see hyenas, giraffes, elephants, lions, buffaloes, water bucks and many others. There are more Roskilde giraffes here than in any other national park in East Africa. Birders will be impressed with the variety on offer. This is where you can spot the shoebill stork, ibis, marabou stork, egrets and kingfishers. You may choose to have a picnic along the river banks as you listen to the beautiful sounds of birds and animals like hippos. Once you finish the game drive, if you never did a boat safari yesterday, you will be taken for a safari boat ride. But if at all you did a boat ride yesterday, you will be driven to the top of the Murchison Falls to see the falls from the top. Later on, you will drive out of the national park to transfer to Kibale National Park. You will have a packed lunch along the way. This journey to Kibale takes you through several towns and major trading centres where you will be able to experience life in Uganda’s rural areas. Prepare to drive past schools, country homes, markets, major tea/banana plantations, cattle farms, rivers, lakes and much more. Accommodation: Kibale Forest Lodge or any of the equivalent Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Wake up Very early to have your breakfast and wait for the Guide to take you to the park office for a briefing. During the briefing, you will be told what to expect and how to prepare for the activity. Tracking Chimpanzees is done in groups. Only 6 visitors may track a chimpanzee group. The Ranger will lead you all the way. The experience of tracking chimpanzees is different from gorilla trekking in many ways. Chimps are very vocal, stubborn and unpredictable. They tend to spend a lot of time on top of trees when compared to gorillas (they prefer to stay on the ground). Chimps are very mobile and you will have to follow them as they swing on top of trees even after locating them. Eventually, they will settle down Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale takes a maximum of three hours. Finding the chimps depends on the season. The chimps tend to move a lot during the dry season as they search for scarce fruits and water. The rainy season is a season of plenty and the chimps don’t need to move out into the forest much they are easier to find without having to move long distances. However, it is important to note that chimps sometimes go out to patrol their territories even during the wet season of plenty In this case; you may need to follow them for longer distances. The great thing about chimpanzee trekking in the Kibale forest is that there are several habituated chimpanzee groups. You can always be assigned a community that is easier to track. While tracking the chimps, expect to spot baboons, Vervet monkeys, Blue monkeys, Red-tailed monkeys, elephants, bush pigs, butterflies and birds you are allowed only one hour with the chimps. This one hour can prove to be even more exciting than when with the gorillas – That is if you can find them in a good clearing and on the ground. You will observe members of the community grooming, breastfeeding, fighting and playing. The rangers know each chimp by name, their history and their position within the group. They will advise you to keep away from certain individuals. Flash photography is not allowed. After being with the chimps for an hour, the Ranger will lead you back to the park Offices. You should find your Guide ready to take you back to the lodge for lunch. AFTERNOON BIGODI WETLAND SANCTUARY NATURE WALK Later after Lunch and relationship, you will go for a nature walk and bird watching in bidodi. The sanctuary is one of the best places to spot primates in Uganda. You will encounter Black/White Colobus Monkeys, Baboons, red-tailed monkeys, Vervet monkeys, Mangabeys and L’Hoest monkeys. Apart from monkeys, expect to see bush pigs, antelopes and bush backs. The walk is not all about monkeys and animals. The Bigodi swamp is one of the best places for birding in Uganda. If you still need more proof now, then you must visit the Bigodi Swamp. Over 374 bird species are thriving in the wetland including water-thick-knee, hornbills, yellow-billed egrets and Hamerkop. After visiting the swamp, the walk continues to the local villages and homes. The main purpose is to allow you to interact with the people and understand how they make ends meet. You will see them in the gardens, some tending to their domestic animals or cooking food at home. Your Guide should be able to explain to you everything and how their lives are linked to the swamp and Kibale National Park. After visiting the village, you will head back to your lodge. Accommodation: Kibale Forest Lodge or any of the equivalent Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Today you will check out from Kibale National Park after having breakfast and embark on the journey to yet another exciting national park where you will have a boat safari and evening safari game drive expecting to see elephants, warthogs, lions, etc. Depending on arrival time, you will go check in at the lodge and have lunch. After lunch, you will be driven out to Kazinga channel to catch your afternoon boat. After the boat ride, you will head for an evening safari game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Later retire to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay. Accommodation: Tembo Lodge or any of the equivalent Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After you breakfast at the lodge, you will check out and head for a safari game drive via the ishasha sector in Queen expecting to see the tree-climbing lions if you are lucky enough. As you will be saying bye to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Later you will arrive at the lodge in Bwindi and check in as you will wait for dinner to be served because you need to be fresh for tomorrow’s activity of gorilla trekking. Accommodation: Buhoma Gorilla camp Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After an early morning breakfast, you will be briefed by your tour guide and after starting your gorilla tracking journey, you will enter the amazing rain forest (gorilla sanctuary) as it offers an exciting, heavily forested and dense landscape interacted by plenty of animal trails that provide access for tourists trekking these resident animals. Mammals here include mainly endangered mountain gorillas, elephants, buffaloes, giant forest hogs, the rare golden monkey, black-fronted Duikers, bushbucks, and leopards to mention but a few. The charming mountain gorillas form the highlight of the park, and the time and terrain/track taken while looking for these beautiful primates vary according to their movements. Once tracked, observing, spending time with and photographing these gentle, peaceful and shy apes is a unique, breathtaking, inspiring, and thrilling lifetime memorable adventure that leaves you desiring to have it again but takes you one hour close range with them. As one of our clients lamented, "I will forever want to track and keep with these lovely animals and if acceptable. Head back to the lodge for lunch. After, you will head out to visit one of the authentic/ untouched communities of the Batwa that stay around the forest to learn more and interact with them. Later transfer to Lake Bunyonyi for an overnight Accommodation: Crater Bay cottages or any of the equivalent Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After your breakfast at the lodge, you will check out of the lodge to travel to Lake Bunyonyi This lake is commonly known as a lake of small birds “BUNYONYI” and it’s the second deepest lake in Africa. Upon arrival at Lake Bunyonyi, you will head for a boat canoe on the lake where you will see a lot of birds, also enjoy the landscapes of the 29 islands it’s from this background that Lake Bunyonyi is known as the Switzerland of Africa. Lake Bunyonyi is one of the kinds that you cannot miss visiting during the Uganda safari tour. After the canoe you will have a lunch break and later go for community and nature walks in the local communities (optional). Accommodation: Crater Bay cottages or any of the equivalents Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Wake up and have breakfast as you prepare to head back to Kampala. The journey and route back to Lake Mburo will not be the same as the one used before. There will be a stop for lunch at the Igongo Cultural Centre in Mbarara City or any other restaurant or you will have a packed lunch from the lodge at Bunyonyi; After lunch, as you drive through Mbarara, you will have to stop over at one of the farms to have a look at Ankole Long-horned cattle, take pictures, learn more about them as you will proceed your drive through the plains of lake Mburo national park and if you are lucky enough, you will sport zebras. After check-in at the lodge, you will head out for a guided safari inside Lake Mburo. Accommodation: Leopard Rest Camp or any of the equivalents Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Today you will wake up in leisure time and have breakfast, then check out from the Lake Mburo National Park and hit the road towards Kampala expecting to have a stopover at the Ugandan equator point for the experiment. You will also have lunch at one of the restaurants around here. Later after lunch, you will hit the road to check in at your hotel in Entebbe. Accommodation: Anderita Beach Hotel or any of the equivalent Meals: Break, Lunch & Dinner

Today you will have been saying bye to Uganda. You will head out to the beach and Entebbe Botanical Gardens for relation (optional). Later go to the shopping mall and nearby craft markets in Entebbe for shopping of Uganda handmade souvenirs then head out for lunch and coffee. Later in the evening, you will head out for a boat ride on Lake Victoria as you will be climaxing your trip to Uganda. As you wait for your flight, you can feel free to visit some of the Entebbe night-out bars and clubs. Accommodation: NONE MEALS: Breakfast & Lunch