STARTS: ENTEBBE ENDS: ENTEBBE
HIGHLIGHTS
- Discover the southern, central and north-western regions of the Pearl of Africa.
- Unforgettable encounter with the Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.
- Game drives and boat cruises in the main national parks of the country: Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls
- Meet, explore and learn from the local communities.
- Support sustainable tourism initiatives.
DAY 1 ARRIVAL AT ENTEBBE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Here, you meet your private, professional English -speaking driver-guide and private 4×4 safari vehicle and enjoy a private transfer to your Hotel
(approx. 10min drive). You settle into your rooms and enjoy a hearty dinner before spending your first night in Uganda.
Spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the Hotel.
- Accommodation include Dinner & Breakfast.
- All drinks excluded.
DAY 2 FLY ENTEBBE – KISORO AND DRIVE TO NKURINGO
Upon arrival meeting with the vehicle and our walking safari
guide for a briefing on the very interesting activities of the day which will be adapted to the clients’ desires. You can either walk for approx. 90 minutes – 4km to Lake Mutanda
Sheba’s Camp – or drive 30 minutes to the lake. You then
“settle” in a dugout canoe for 2-3 hours of gentle relaxed
cruising across the lake, enjoying the beautiful landscape. After lunch at a restaurant on the lake shores, continuation on foot till Rubuguri (9km – 2/3 hours) where you meet up the vehicle and drive for another 10 km up to the Lodge in Nkuringo (approx. 1 hour). Of course, you can also be picked up by the vehicle at the lake and drive all the way up to the Lodge. Guests decide!
- Accommodation includes, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
- All soft drinks, house wines, local beers included. (Premium drinks excluded)
DAY 3 GORILLA TRACKING IN BWINDI – NKURINGO/RUSHAGA SECTOR
After breakfast, at around 7:45 am/6:30 for Nkuringo/Rushaga respectively, with packed lunch and drinking water you will be transferred to the National Park Head Quarters for the briefing on the dos and the don’ts while with the gorillas. You will then be allocated to a team of experienced ranger-guides who willtake you into Uganda’s Bwindi
Impenetrable National Park, to seek out one of the resident habituatedGorilla groups. Time taken to reach the Gorillas varies from as little as 45 minutes to afew hours. Once the Gorillas are located, you will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them.
The beauty of this rain forest is spectacular. The area offers a dramatic, steeply forested landscape and is incredibly dense, but crisscrossed by numerous animal trails allowing access to tourists. The time taken and the terrain vary as per the movements of these great primates. The thrill of spending time observing these gentle and endangered giants is an awesome, exciting experience to be long savored. Many find it to be a rare and moving opportunity
NB. in the remote chance that a guest decide that they are too tired to continue with their trek but they are still fit enough to walk themselves they will be allowed to walk back to the camp escorted by an armed ranger and their individually allocated porter. They might have to wait a short while with their armed ranger until the standby armed porter (who will be located at various points in the forest) can find them. This service is free, although guests will need to pay extra for the service of the standby porter
Accommodation includes, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
All soft drinks, house wines, local beers included. (Premium drinks excluded)
DAY 4 FULL DAY AT THE LODGE WITH OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES
For this day eengage in community activities or spend the day relaxing at the lodge enjoying the commanding views of the magnificent Virunga volcanoes and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. / You can also opt to have the second Gorilla trek
•Accommodation includes, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
•All soft drinks, house wines, local beers included. (Premium drinks excluded)
DAY 5 FLY FROM KISORO TO KIHIHI AIRSTRIP AND DRIVE TO THE CAMP
This morning after an early breakfast, transfer by a representative from Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge to the Airstrip for approx. 1hr30mins to catch a morning flight to Kihihi Airstrip (08:00 – 09:00) where you meet up with your private safari guide and drive for approx. 30Mins to the Camp.
Check in and have a relaxed mid- morning and lunch. In the afternoon head out for a game drive/safari in the Ishasha Sector such of wildlife with a chance of sighting tree climbing Lions and other wildlife such as Lions, Uganda Kobs, Topis and several bird species.
Enjoy a sundowner with drinks in the park before retiring at the camp for dinner and overnight.
Ishasha Wilderness Camp is set alongside the Ntungwe River, within the riverine forest, each of the camp’s tent stylised rooms has a private verandah overlooking the river. Comfortably furnished with large mosquito-netted beds, all rooms are en suite with hot ‘bush’ showers, running water for hand-basins and a flushing ‘eco-friendly’ toilet.
- Accommodation includes, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
All soft drinks, house wines, local beers included. (Premium drinks excluded)
DAY 6 FULL DAY IN ISHASHA WITH A GAME DRIVE IN THE MORNING+ BUSH BREAKFAST
This morning head out for a game drive at around 6:00AM, driving over the plains in open savannah searching for herds of Buffalo, Uganda Kob, and Topi, as well as the tree-climbing Lions amongst the many Wild fig trees that dot the
landscape. You also visit the Uganda Kob mating grounds, a preferred hunting area of the Lions. Enjoy a bush breakfast and return to the lodge to relax for the rest of the day.
Accommodation includes, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
All soft drinks, house wines, local beers included. (Premium drinks excluded)
DAY 7 ISHASHA TO THE NORTHERN SECTOR OF QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK.
After relaxed breakfast, you enjoy a private transfer to the northern Mweya sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, game driving en-route (approx. 2hr drive). Check in for lunch at the lodge and in the evening head out for a game drive.
Queen Elizabeth National Park contains a marvellous diversity of ecosystems including acacia savannah, grasslands, papyrus swamp, tropical forest and volcanic lakes, in all creating varied and magnificent scenery. This park has the greatest variety of mammals and birds of any protected area in Uganda. You should see plenty of African bush elephant in both Mweya and Ishasha sectors of the park, pods of Hippo in the Kazinga Channel, and sizable herds of Uganda kob in the open areas, as well as plenty of other antelope species. At certain choice locations, sought-after mammals such as Giant forest hog, can be looked for. The park’s twenty species of predator include the vociferous Spotted hyena and it is the best place in Uganda to seek Leopard. The bird checklist is around 568 species, including Martial eagle, Blue-throated roller and Red-chested sunbird, among many others.
- Accommodation includes, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
- All soft drinks, house wines, local beers included. (Premium drinks excluded)
DAY 8 CHIMPANZEE TRACKING IN KYAMBURA GORGE & AFTERNOON BOAT TRIP ON KAZINGA CHANNEL
This morning, depart the lodge at 07:00AM to head out for Chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge Lodge. Tracking chimpanzees in their natural habitat, as they swing from the branches in the canopy high above the forest floor is nothing short of exhilarating. The chimps effortlessly cross and scamper through the trees above the gorge, and visitors on the other hand must cross the river using natural bridges in order to keep up with the chimps. So although the walk usually lasts only 2–3 hours, descending the steep gorge and crossing the log bridges over the river requires some agility and fitness.
NB. There are 50/50 chances of sighting chimps but the walk is rewarding and there are several other primates that you might encounter.
This afternoon, enjoy a private/exclusive boat trip on the Kazinga Channel, a channel connecting Lakes Edward and George. The Kazinga Channel is home to one of the greatest concentrations of Hippo in Africa and herds of Elephant, Cape buffalo, Defassa waterbuck, Bushbuck, Ugandan kob, Warthog, crocodiles and other mammals come to drink at the waters edge. Birdlife is abundant.
Kazinga Channel – is a 36 km waterway and the boat trip takes approx.2hours. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
- Accommodation includes, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
- All soft drinks, house wines, local beers included. (Premium drinks excluded)
DAY 9 AM LION MONITORING AND AFTERNOON RELAXATION AT THE LODGE.
After breakfast you will have an AM lion tracking in the Kasenyi Plains of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Lion tracking involves following an individual or group of lions in order to learn more about their behavior, feeding habits and social/group dynamics. The activity involves Joining a local scientific researcher on his daily game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park to locate and record the behavior of a lion pride he is studying. It takes approx. 1-2hours.
Spend the rest of the afternoon at the lodge for swimming and utilizing the spa.
• Accommodation includes, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• All soft drinks, house wines, local beers included. (Premium drinks excluded)
DAY 10 FLY FROM QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK TO MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK VIA ENTEBBE.
This morning after breakfast, transfer to Kasese Airstrip for approx.1hour to catch a morning scheduled flight to Murchison
connecting via Entebbe. (10:20 – 11:25 – 12:00 – 13:00). Upon arrival at Bugungu Airstrip, meet your private guide and drive to the lodge for lunch. Approx. 45mins and later in the evening visit top of the falls for a short hike/viewing.
The 3893km2 Murchison Falls National Park forms the core of Uganda’s largest protected area, containing a wide variety of wildlife including big game, forest primates and 450 bird species. The mighty Nile, the longest river in the world, flows through the heart of the park for a distance of 120km, on its 6500km journey from Lake Victoria to Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. The park’s centrepiece is the explosive, 40m high Murchison Falls where the Nile is forced through a 6metre gap in the rift valley escarpment. The Falls separate two very different rivers. Upstream, the river races down a turbulent 80km channel punctuated with rapids. Downstream, the Nile flows quietly towards Lake Albert which it enters through a large papyrus delta.
• Accommodation includes, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• All soft drinks, house wines, local beers included. (Premium drinks excluded)
DAY 11 FULL DAY IN MURCHISON WITH A GAMEDRIVE & BOAT TRIP TO THE BOTTOM OF THE FALLS
Full day dedicated to the discovery of this unique national park.
Early morning game drive enroute to the Victoria Nile Delta. This spectacular area teeming with birds and wildlife – several endemic species like the Rothschild’s giraffe, the Shoebill stork and the red-throated bee-eater. Water level permitting, short walk accompanied by the ranger guide.
In the afternoon, scheduled boat trip to the Murchison Waterfalls (with the possibility to disembark and walk to the top of the falls – walk included) – amazing for the panorama and the possible encounters with the local fauna: elephants, giraffes, buffalos, crocs, antelopes. Game drive on the way back to the lodge.
• Accommodation includes, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• All soft drinks, house wines, local beers included. (Premium drinks excluded
DAY 12 FLY BACK TO ENTEBBE
Relaxed morning at the lodge and in the afternoon transfer to the airstrip to fly back to Entebbe. The flight is scheduled to depart Murchison Pakubal/Bugungu airstrip at 13:20 and arrive Entebbe international airport at 16:30. Upon arrival meet our representative and transfer to the Hotel for a relaxed afternoon and overnight.
- Lunch, Dinner and All drinks excluded.
INCLUDED IN THE QUOTE
o 1 Uganda Gorilla tracking (Nkuringo/Rushaga) permit per person.
o Scheduled Domestic flights Entebbe /Kisoro- Kihihi – Murchison oAccommodation and meal plan as described.
o Drinking water in the vehicle (1litre per person per day)
o All the excursions and activities indicated above under the supervision of a professional, experienced English-speaking guide oPrivate 4×4 vehicle with experienced English-speaking driver-guide
o AMREF Evacuation Insurance cover
o Government taxes
PACKING LIST
- A pair of quality walking Rubber / hiking/ leather boots are a pre requisite for this type of tour. additional footwear like a pair of sports
shoes and open sandals.
- Long trousers are essential for trekking in the forests where safari ants are prevalent. Quick dry cotton trekking trousers are very comfortable for this type of activity
- For the gorilla tracking and Chimpanzee tracking activity a long sleeve cotton shirt is ideal as the vegetation can be quite aggressive.
- A very lightweight rain jacket will be necessary for the treks.
- At times it really gets cold at the lodges especially in Bwindi, a warm Jacket/sweater for cool evenings is ideal
- A pair of Gaiters.
- Camera charging base station and an extra battery.
- Insect/bug repellant
- A day pack bag, (water proof is ideal)
- Face masks & hand sanitizer
- Energy giving snacks
- A pair of hiking gloves