13 Day Gorilla Tour and Big Five Safari

The Gorilla Tour and Big Five Safari

Overview

This African Safari package should be on your adventure bucketlist because it’s one sure to give you that African Adventure you’ve read about and watched in movies. Packaged with varied experiences that include thick misty jungles, savanna wild, wild Nile river expeditions, African cultural expeditions and a a quiet relaxing holiday in the Switzerland of Africa, lake Bunyonyi. Now that is a true African Adventure.

This Gorilla Tour and Big Five Safari adventure covers vast sections of the western arm of the Great Rift Valley, major African savanna national parks in western Uganda and takes you into the heart of the untethered territory with bucket list experiences like Gorilla Trekking and Chimpanzee tracking to crown off the expedition.

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

• Day 1: Arrival at Entebbe International Airport
• Day 2: Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park
• Day 3: Game drives and afternoon boat cruise at Murchison Falls National Park
• Day 4: Transfer to Kibale National Park via Hoima town
• Day 5: Chimpanzee Tracking and Nature walk at Bigodi wetland sanctuary
• Day 6: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
• Day 7: Morning game drives and afternoon boat cruise
• Day 8: Transfer to Bwindi National Park via the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park
• Day 9: Gorilla Tracking and Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
• Day 10: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park
• Day 11: Transfer to Jinja
• Day 12: Quad biking, Bungee jumping, white water rafting and a visit to the source of the Nile in Jinja
• Day 13: Transfer to Kampala/ Entebbe

Gallery

Day 1: Arrival at Entebbe International Airport

You will be met by our guide or driver upon arrival at Entebbe Airport who will drive you to your hotel for your overnight stay.

Depending on your arrival time you could opt for a city tour of either Entebbe or Kampala.

Day 2: Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

After your early morning breakfast your driver who will be working as your tour guide will pick you up from your hotel to start off your Gorilla Tour and Big Five Safari.

You will be driven to Murchison Falls National Park with a stopover at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary Enroute to Masindi town. Track the Rhinos at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary an activity that will take at most 2 hours depending on the feeding location of the Rhinos.

Stopover in Masindi for lunch prior to checking into your lodge or hotel

Day 3: Game drives and afternoon boat cruise at Murchison Falls National Park

After your early morning breakfast you will depart for a fun filled 4 hour morning game drive of Murchison Falls National park after which you will retreat back to your lodge. Some of the animals you expect to see during your morning game drive include; elephants, Lions, Rothschild Giraffe, waterbucks and a variety of Savannah woodland birds among others.

Lunch will be served at the lodge after which you will depart for your Gorilla Tour and Big Five Safari afternoon boat cruise.  The boat cruise is a 3 hours ride along the River Nile with great sightings of Crocodiles, Hippos and Buffaloes.

Day 4: Transfer to Kibale National Park via Hoima town

Wake early in the morning right in time for your early morning breakfast and departure to Kibale National Park. The drive to Kibale National park will take about 8-10 hours thus necessitating the early departure from your lodge at Murchison Falls National Park

You will have your lunch En-route to Kibale National park

Arrival and check in at the lodge where you will spend the evening relaxing. Dinner will be served at the Lodge.

Day 5: Chimpanzee Tracking and Nature walk at Bigodi wetland sanctuary

After your Gorilla Tour and Big Five Safari morning breakfast you will transfer to the briefing point where you will meet the park rangers that will guide you on the Chimpanzee Tracking trail. Kibale Forest National Park supports a biggest primate concentration in the world and you will come into close proximity with other primates like Red Colobus Monkey, L’Hoest Monkey and the Grey Cheeked Mangabeys.

The park also boasts of an impressive birdlife with over 335 bird species reported to have been sighted at the national park.

The Chimpanzee trekking experience takes anywhere between 2-5 hours with hikes through the forested landscape of the park. You will stay in close proximity with the Chimpanzee for an hour after which you will return to the lodge for your lunch.

In that afternoon you will step out and connect to the Bigodi wetland sanctuary for an afternoon nature walk. During the nature walk you expect to observe plenty of bird species and some primates like the Vervet and L’Hoest Monkeys. You will return to the lodge in the evening for your dinner and overnight stay.

Day 6: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park

After an early morning breakfast you will depart Kibale National Park for Queen Elizabeth National Park where you will experience some memorable afternoon game drives with our experienced tour guides. Queen Elizabeth National park has a variety of Animals with four of the famed big five and these include the lions, leopards, Elephants and Buffaloes.

Day 7: Morning game drives and afternoon boat cruise

Breakfast will be served early in the morning after which you will depart for your morning game drive in search of Lions, Elephants, Leopards and Hippos. You will later return to the lodge for your lunch and relax for about two hours prior to setting off for the afternoon boat cruise.

At 4 pm you will depart for a 2 hour boat ride on the Kazinga Channel a 32 km water stream that connects Lake Edward to Lake George where you expect to experience sightings of Buffaloes and elephants that normally come to quench their thirst on the banks of the Kazinga Channel.

Day 8: Transfer to Bwindi National Park via the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park

After breakfast you will depart your lodge headed for Bwindi Forest National park a drive that will see you traverse through Ishasha and area south of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The Ishasha plains are famed for their tree climbing Lions which can only be spotted on a good day as there no definite guarantees of finding the Lions up the trees. But sights of Elephants and Buffaloes are a common feature on the route.  You will arrive at Bwindi in the evening right in time for your dinner and overnight stay at your preferred lodge.

Day 9: Gorilla Tracking and Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi

Early morning breakfast will be served at the Lodge after which the Gorilla Tour and Big Five Safari driver will transfer your team to the park headquarters for briefing for allocation of your Gorilla tracking groups and meeting the rangers.  You will connect to the trail head and enter the forest on foot in pursuit of the gigantic primates that have come to be popular known as the Mountain Gorillas. The Gorilla tracking experience takes anywhere between 2-6 hours depending on the location of the Mountain Gorillas on a particular day. You are allotted a time frame of one hour to stay with the Gorillas in their natural habitat and observe their peculiar habits as the young ones play about and the some feeding on leaves.

After your close encounter with the Gorillas you will return to the Lodge and depart for Lake Bunyonyi where you will relax and can opt for some nature walks at the shores of the Lake.

Day 10: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park

Morning canoeing at Lake Bunyonyi after which you will transfer to Lake Mburo for a game drive and an evening boat ride.  Some of the animals you expect to see during your game drive include zebras, elands, waterbucks and antelopes.

Dinner and overnight stay at a Lodge in Lake Mburo National park

Day 11: Transfer to Jinja

After your early morning breakfast you will transfer to Jinja with stopovers at the Equator for a photo opportunity.

You will also have a stopover in Kampala for your lunch en-route to Jinja.

Arrive and Check in at your lodge/hotel

Day 12: Quad biking, Bungee jumping, white water rafting and a visit to the source of the Nile in Jinja

Jinja town is famed for its adrenaline adventures and these include white water rafting, bungee jumping and quad biking. The Gorilla Tour and Big Five Safari here has a wide array of activities to choose from including a boat ride to the source of the Nile for a photo opportunity at that actual starting point of the world longest river.

You can also opt to visit the communities where you will mingle with the locals and get to know some of their cultural values and norms.

Day 13: Transfer to Kampala/ Entebbe

After you breakfast you will transfer to Kampala or Entebbe for your departure flight. Depending on your time schedule we can have a brief stopover at the Sezibwa Falls en-route to Kampala/Entebbe

END OF TOUR