9 Days Uganda Rwanda Safari
Tour Overview
Discover the best of Uganda and Rwanda during the 9 days Uganda and Rwanda Safari. From the savannah plains of Lake Mburo National Park, you will travel to the wilderness of Queen Elizabeth National Park, track the Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Volcanoes national park in Uganda and Rwanda respectively as well as Golden monkey trekking. This tour starts in Entebbe, Uganda and ends in Kigali, Rwanda. You’ll be visiting Entebbe, Kibale Forest National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Volcanoes National Park, and Kigali.
Detailed Itinerary
Upon arrival at Entebbe airport, you will be welcomed and received by your assigned friendly guide who will accompany you for the next 8 days. After brief introduction, transfer to your hotel where you will check in and have a briefing about your safari before a luxurious dinner. Depending on the time you arrive, you can have a short city in either Entebbe or Kampala cities based on the hotel which you stay in End the day with evening rest and preparation for the next day.
After relishing a delightful breakfast, you will check out of your hotel with the assistance of the hotel staff and guide before setting off for Fortportal city in the western region of Uganda. The city is the only tourist city in Uganda and rightly deserves this due to the numerous amazing attractions found here plus its weather. The transfer will roughly last from 4 to 5 hours. You will have lunch in Fort Portal, and enjoy a city tour in this beautiful city with sites like the Tooro palace before proceeding to Kibale forest national park. After checking in you can decide to either do an evening community walk, chill at the comfort of your lodge or visit the glamorous numerous crater lakes the city boasts of. Late have dinner and evening rest.
Wake up to the lovely bird songs and enjoy a gorgeous breakfast before reporting to the Kanyanchu Tourist Centre for a briefing session on chimpanzee trekking. This session will leave you more enlightened about chimpanzees, the conservation efforts, and the guidelines to follow when trekking the chimpanzees. Tracking the chimpanzees is only achieved on foot and the trails offer guests opportunities to encounter more than 12 primate species. Kibale forest national park is ranked among Africa’s best primate havens which earned it the name of primate capital of East Africa. These range from olive baboons, grey-cheeked Mangabeys, black and white colobus monkeys, and blue monkeys on top of others. The forest is also a perfect destination for bird lovers and butterflies with recordings of more than 300 bird species in the forest and its nearby surroundings. The chimpanzee trekking experience will last for 2to 4 hours and head back to the lodge for a luscious lunch. Afterward, check out and head for Queen Elizabeth National Park the most visited park in Uganda. You will reach it in the early evening. Have Dinner and overnight sleep.
After an early elegant breakfast, you will take an early morning game drive in the different sections of the park. The drive through the park presents amazing opportunities to encounter park animals such as lions, buffalo, elephants, giant forest hogs, Defassa waterbuck, topic, bushbuck, Uganda Kobs and if lucky the elusive leopard as well. Following your morning game drive, head back to your lodge for a delicious lunch and rest for a few hours. In the afternoon you will explore the park by cruising on the famous Kazinga Channel. The channel is a 42km channel that connects Lake George and Lake Edward. The boat cruise introduces you to Africa’s largest concentration of hippos and Crocodiles. The channel in addition is an excellent site for awesome bird watching, game viewing, and photography. The plentiful birdlife is so brilliant with over 600 bird species. Later have dinner and overnight rest.
You will head to the Ishasha sector in the southern section of the park for one of the parks’ celebrated highlights. The sector harbors the famous tree-climbing lions. Unlike other lions that spend most of their time on the ground, these pride spends a lot of their time basking on top of the trees to avert the pests while retaining a close eye on any prey moving into the area. Ishasha is also a refuge for many Ugandan Kobs, buffaloes, rare shoebill and elephants. After transfer to Bwindi impenetrable forest national park with en-route lunch on the way to this beautiful park. Bwindi is recognized for harboring over half of the world’s surfing mountain gorilla population spread over its four sectors. You will reach in the early afternoon rest and prepare for gorilla trekking.
Immediately following your breakfast, you will be transferred to the park head offices for a briefing on mountain gorilla trekking. The session will entail data about mountain gorillas, their status of being critically endangered, and efforts to conserve them. You will be helped with the guidelines needed when trekking and then dive into the forest to find these magical giants of Africa. The trek isn’t an easy feat but calls for courage and perseverance as it can last from 1 to 8 hours of navigating thick shrubs and thickets to find the gorillas. However, all the pain and tiredness are forgotten the moment you encounter the gorillas. This is testified as one of the leading experiences one can ever have before leaving earth. You will spend an entire hour admiring this impressive beast. After your picnic lunch, have a transfer to Volcanoes National park where you will arrive in time to refresh, reset and await another exciting gorilla trekking experience.
You will wake up to an early breakfast and transfer to Kinigi at the park head offices for a briefing. The process is identical to the one you had in Bwindi and will also involve which gorilla family or group you will trek. With the briefing done you will follow your assigned guides into the forest and start the trekking process. The exercise takes about 2 to 5 hours in Volcanoes national park since the gorilla families here are easier to meet as they dwell nearer to the park offices. After lunch in the beautiful wilderness, you trek back to your lodge for a short rest. In the late afternoon, you will embark on a serene nature walk with stops at the Ibyiwachu Village to learn more about Rwanda’s rich history or the twin lakes. Finish the evening and drive back to your accommodation for dinner and overnight sleep.
On your second last day, you will partake in a leisurely breakfast before meeting at the park’s head offices for briefing at 8.30 am. The session is almost identical to the gorilla trekking session with only a few differences. For example, more than 8 people are allowed to trek with the endangered golden monkeys and can even step closer to them. After your briefing, you will set off into the mystical forest and start your golden monkey tracking adventure. This is slightly easier than gorilla trekking because these monkeys reside closer to the lower slopes and can easily be accessed. After an hour with these fascinating creatures continue on a hike to the Karisoke Research Centre. This is where Dr. Dian Fossey first started her work on gorilla conservation when she settled in the Republic of Rwanda. You will pay homage to her grave and if lucky spot the gorilla families that reside here though you won’t be able to spend time with them. After these two wonderful sessions head back to your accommodation for lunch and immediately check out and set off for Lake Kivu. The transfer to Lake Kivu is roughly two hours through the scenic terrain marked with hills and valleys that led to Rwanda being known as the “Land of a thousand hills”. While here you will take ample time to relax, refresh and meditate about the past exciting days of adventure in Uganda and Rwanda. Later have a sumptuous dinner plus a well- deserved night’s rest.
Begin the last day of your 9 days Uganda-Rwanda safari with an early charming breakfast just like you have experienced for the last couple of days. Hereafter, check out of your room and set off to Kigali for a one last city tour. The transfer lasts for 2-3 hours and while in Kigali you will explore sites like the Gisozi Genocide Memorial Site, Presidential Palace Museum, Nyamata church, local markets among others, and later connect to the airport for your departure flight or drop off at your hotel depending on exit schedule This will mark the end of this memorable 9 days Uganda-Rwanda safari.
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