16-Day Rwanda and Uganda’s Gorilla Trekking & Big Five.

Arrival 

• You’ll be collected from the airport.
• Accommodation before the tour starts can be arranged for an extra cost.

Day 1: Arrive at Kigali Airport and Transfer to your Hotel

This is the day you’ll arrive into this beautiful country late at night. You are welcomed by our professional driver guide at the airport and then you are driven to the hotel to rest as you wait for the fascinating adventures of this epic country (Rwanda is nicknamed as land of thousand hills) in the following days. You will have a relaxed overnight at your hotel in Kigali which is a few minutes’ drive from the airport.

Main Destination: Kigali (City, Rwanda)

Accommodation: Quiet Haven Hotel

• Mid-range hotel located in or near Kigali

Meals & Drinks:

• Dinner (Breakfast & lunch not included)
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included) 

Day 2: Visit the Genocide Memorial and Museum then Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park.

After having breakfast, check out of the hotel and set off to Genocide Memorial and Museum then after continue towards the famous Nyungwe Forest National Park which is an untouched Rainforest, one of the largest forests in East and Central Africa. The forest is abundant with flora and fauna including 13 primate species from Colobus monkeys, mangabeys, blue monkeys and, of course, our cousins the chimpanzees. Nyungwe Forest is semi heaven for birders. With a little over 300 recorded bird species, 26 of which are endemic, making it one of the most important—and still little known—bird-watching destinations in Africa. Have lunch en route or at the lodge depending on time. You will have an overnight at the lodge with stunning views of Nyungwe. You can have a guided community walk around the hotel.

Main Destination: Nyungwe Forest National Park (Chimps)

Accommodation: Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included)

Day 3: Chimpanzee Trekking and Afternoon Canopy Walk

Have an early morning breakfast, and later proceed to Nyungwe Forest at 6:00am in search of chimpanzees. You will also track the Colobus monkeys in the forest and have a chance to view the other habitants of the forest like birds, reptiles and butterflies. Chimpanzee tracking will enable you to meet man’s closet cousins in the wild. You will be amazed to see these primates as they play, swing on tree branches, fight for food, etc. This exciting up-close encounter with human’s closest relatives will forever live with you. After the chimp tracking, you will have an afternoon canopy walk which takes place above a deep gorge cutting across the massive forest. Lasting about 1½ hours, the walk takes you through some beautiful foliage and animal habitats. You’ll have the chance to spot blue monkeys and unique birds that dwell in the upper levels of the forest canopy.

Main Destination: Nyungwe Forest National Park (Chimps)

Accommodation: Nyungwe Top View Hill Hotel

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included)

Day 4: Transfer to Volcanoes for Ibyiwacu Cultural Tour

Have breakfast and then enjoy the beautiful services and scenery at your lodge. You shall drive northeast to the town of Musanze close to the Virunga Volcano range. Here you will see the Rwanda’s Musanze caves which date back 65 million years and lay with in the volcanic region, with lava flow layers created long ago by the Albertine Rift Valley. In the evening, you will embark on the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village which gives you a rare chance to meet local people, in their environment, with a taste of the culture and traditions. Be genuinely welcomed by the community as a special visitor while they proudly present to you aspects of their traditions and beliefs. Expect to have a guided community walk to visit different sites and experience the everyday lives of the local people.

Main Destination: Volcanoes National Park (Gorillas)

Accommodation: Tiloreza Volcanoes Ecolodge

Mid-range lodge located just outside Volcanoes NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included)

Day 5: Mount Bisoke Hike.

Have Breakfast and transfer to Musanze province in the Volcanoes National Park. Briefing and hiking registration is at the Kinigi Park offices at 7:00 AM. The Mount Bisoke hiking starting point is located away from the briefing point and requires driving on rocky and muddy terrain. On reaching the starting point, you will then proceed to hike the mountain along with the mountain guides and porters. The hike takes between 3 to 5 hours. After reaching the peak, check out the beautiful views and take as many photos as possible. You will come back to the start point where you will meet our guide. Have lunch and head back to Kigali or your hotel.

Main Destination: Volcanoes National Park (Gorillas)

Accommodation: Tiloreza Volcanoes Ecolodge

• Mid-range lodge located just outside Volcanoes NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included)

Day 6: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

After having breakfast, check out at around 8:00 am from your lodge in Musanze and embark on the border crossing journey to Uganda. This is scenic drive in comfortable and secure touring vehicle to the extreme southwestern Uganda and you can have stopover for photography of the country side. Lunch will either be packed or have a hot lunch en-route, arriving late in afternoon. Relax at the lodge with stunning views of Bwindi Impenetrable Tropical Rain Forest as you wait for the next day’s adventure.

Main Destination: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Gorillas)

Accommodation: Gorilla Hills Ecolodge

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included) 

Day 7: Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

After an early morning breakfast, and with your picnic lunch, we’ll take a short drive to the park offices for briefing. We will meet the excellent local guides and trackers who give a talk on the etiquette of gorilla trekking. We’ll then hike into the forest to a spot where gorillas were seen the previous night and track from there. Trekking may take anything between 1 to 6 hours, depending on the location of the family and altitudes which is in excess of 7500 feet. Once you find the gorillas, you spend with them one full hour. You will later have a peaceful/relaxed time at the lodge.

Main Destination: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Gorillas)

Accommodation: Gorilla Hills Ecolodge

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included)

Day 8: Transfer to Ishasha for tree Climbing Lions.

After having an early morning breakfast at the lodge, you will drive to the famous Ishasha Sector which is known for its tree climbing lions. You will embark on the game drive that will give you a chance to see tree climbing lions of Ishasha. On a lucky afternoon or mid-morning, you will be amazed to see them resting on the branches of fig trees. Enjoy this together with other wild animals and amazing vegetation cover and landscapes. You will have lunch from your Lodge.

Main Destination: Ishasha Sector

Accommodation: Enjojo Lodge

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included)

Day 9: Morning game drive in Ishasha and Transfer to Kyambura.

After having an early morning breakfast at the lodge, you will drive to ishasha sector for morning game drive then later transfer to Kyambura that’s queen Elizabeth National park.

Main Destination: Queen Elizabeth NP.

Accommodation: Buffalo Safari Lodge

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included)

Day 10: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise on Kazinga Channel.

You’ll have an early morning breakfast and then go for a morning game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Anticipate to see members of the famous Big Five including buffalos, elephants, lions and other mammals like warthogs, bushbucks, Uganda kobs, hyenas and waterbucks among others. In the afternoon hours, you will participate in a launch cruise along Kazinga Channel. You will appreciate the high scores of elephants, hippos, buffalos and crocodiles. A number of bird species will also be seen including the great pelicans. In the evening, you can have a guided community walk along the Kyambura Rift before you retire for the day.

Main Destination: Queen Elizabeth NP.

Accommodation: Buffalo Safari Lodge

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included)

Day 11: Transfer to Kibale National Park and have Bigodi Swamp Walk.

After breakfast you will embark on your journey to Kibale National Park, you will reach at the lodge have lunch then in the afternoon go for Bigodi Swamp Walk.

Main Destination: Kibale National Park.

Accommodation: Turaco tree tops lodge.

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included)

Day 12: Chimpanzee tracking in Kibale national park.

Today you will track the most famous inhabitants of the Kibale National Park, the chimpanzees. Chimpanzees share 98% of the human genes making them our closest living relatives. They are found in 21 countries throughout Africa but are most easily sighted in Uganda due to their dense populations. Today, in Uganda, there are approximately 5,000 chimpanzees left in the wild. The chimpanzee trekking experience here is done on several well maintained walking trails. There is also a wonderfully diverse concentration of other primates, more than any other forest in East Africa. In fact, besides our colorful cousins, the chimpanzees, you can find red Colobus, red-tailed guenon, white-nosed monkey, gray-checked mangabey, blue monkey, L’Hoest’s monkey, and the black and white Colobus monkey.

Main Destination: Kibale National Park.

Accommodation: Turaco tree tops lodge.

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included) 

Day 13: Transfer to Murchison Falls and Tour Top of the fall.

After having breakfast, you will check out of the hotel and kick start this day’s nature adventure with an exciting 6 hours’ road trip to Murchison Falls National Park with lunch en route. Upon arrival inside the park, you will be amazed by the beautiful landscape while occasionally sighting warthogs and other wildlife, while on a drive to the top of the falls whose views are breathtaking. You will see the top of Murchison Falls where about 300 – 400 cubic meters per second of Nile water force through a tiny gorge of about 7 meters to plunge into a violent tempest in a whirlpool about 42 meters below. It is such a beautiful sight with incredible picture moments here. Drive to the lodge as you view wild animals en route and have a peaceful overnight at the lodge.

Main Destination: Murchison Falls National Park (Uganda)

Accommodation: Pakuba Safari Lodge

• Mid-range lodge located inside Murchison Falls NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included)

Day 14: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise to the Bottom of the fall.

After your early morning breakfast, our driver guide picks you up for the early game drive. Explore the major game trails especially in the northern bank for good game spotting including lots of elephants, lions, giraffes, antelopes, jackals, hyenas, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, Jackson’s hartebeests and hopefully the elusive leopards among others. Later on, get your lunch break and some relaxation for an indefinitely short time. Later we’ll set out for the afternoon boat ride on the Victoria Nile which is the high spot of any Murchison Falls safari for you get to spot lots of animals at a close encounter. You will have to spot lots of hippos, Nile crocodiles, elephants, buffaloes, and many other animals that come to drink water, refresh and cool themselves off the scorching sun. Some animals come to eat the fresh grass along the river banks. Later, drive to the lodge for dinner and your overnight rest.

Main Destination: Murchison Falls National Park (Uganda)

Accommodation: Pakuba Safari Lodge

• Mid-range lodge located inside Murchison Falls NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included)

Day 15: Transfer to Kampala via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

After an early breakfast, you will check out and set off for the drive from Pakuba to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Along the way, you will make a stop at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary where rhinos are being reintroduced to the wild in Uganda. You will have a complete feel of the African Big Five mammals as it is the rhinos, out of the Big Five that are missing in Murchison Falls National Park. Here you will go for a trek around the sanctuary on foot. You will have lunch at the sanctuary and some relaxation for an indefinitely short time. Later, transfer to Kampala city, which is Uganda’s capital city where you will spend the night.

Main Destination: Kampala (City, Uganda)

Accommodation: Latitude 0 Degrees Hotel

• Mid-range hotel located in or near Kampala

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water & beer and wine (Other drinks not included)

Day 16: Kampala City Tour and Transfer to Entebbe

After your early breakfast, our tour guide will pick you up from your lodge/ hotel. You will embark on your Kampala tour, a great Uganda experience unique among all Uganda safaris. The following are the sites to be visited; Kabaka’s Palace at Bulange Mengo and Former Amin torture chambers, Uganda Museum and Gaddafi Mosque. You will be transferred back to Entebbe to readily board your flight back home as you say fare well to the pearl of Africa!

Main Destination: Entebbe International Airport (Airport/Airstrip, Uganda)

Accommodation: No accommodation (End of tour)

Meals & Drinks:

• Breakfast & lunch (Dinner not included)
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

End of tour. 

• Additional accommodation can be arranged for an extra cost.
• You’ll be dropped off at the airport.