EXPERIENCE UGANDA AND RWANDA
Travel through the beautiful and lush areas of Uganda and Rwanda.
Experience chimpanzees and mountain gorillas up close. An adventure that creates memories for a lifetime!
DAY 1: ARRIVAL
On arrival at Entebbe airport in Uganda, you will be met and driven to your accommodation in Kampala. Use the afternoon to relax after a long flight and get ready for the experiences to come in the next few days!
DAY 2: KIBALE FOREST
DAY 3: THE CHIMPANS IN KIBALE
Today you will track the chimpanzees in Kibale National Park. You show up early at the starting point and receive a briefing on the day's activity. Track finders have gone out earlier in the morning and you go in smaller groups with your own rank to follow the tracks of the chimpanzees. The hike can take anywhere from 2-6 hours. The chimpanzees can be up in the treetops or on the ground. When you find the chimpanzees you spend about an hour with the chimps before heading back to the starting point.
DAY 4: QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
After breakfast and check-out, the trip goes through the Queen Elizabeth National Park. We suggest a night of accommodation and an afternoon boat cruise down the Kazinga Channel which connects Lake George and Lake Edward. The evening is spent camping in the national park.
PS: It is also possible to only drive through the national park and straight to Bwindi.
DAY 5: BWINDI IMPENETRABLE FOREST
After morning activities and breakfast, you continue towards Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in south-west Uganda. In addition to a truly unique biological diversity, Bwindi is also home to almost half of the world's mountain gorillas. Here, exclusive and sustainable tourism has been the solution to protecting natural areas and saving a population that was headed for extinction.
On arrival in Bwindi, you check in at a lodge with a view of the national park.
DAY 6: MOUNTAIN GORILLA IN BWINDI
Today you will go on foot into the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to find the mountain gorillas. At the starting point, you will be given a thorough briefing about the day's activity, divided into small groups and assigned to a gorilla family. Earlier in the morning, trackers have entered the forest to locate the gorillas and report back to their main guide. Today's hike can take anywhere from 2-8 hours depending on where the gorillas live.
Once you find the gorillas, you have one hour with them before you have to pull away. Sitting a few meters away from a silverback weighing almost 200 kilos, with 98,3% human DNA, is an absolutely indescribable experience. You leave the gorillas and enjoy the packed lunch outside before starting the journey home.
DAY 7: BWINDI OR VOLCANOS
This day can be spent in Bwindi on a guided hike in the forest or visiting one of the local projects in the area. Alternatively, you can travel further over the border to Rwanda and spend the day at Volcanos National Park. Here we recommend a visit to the Ellen DeGeneres Campus where you can learn more about the gorillas and Dian Fossey's early work to protect the mountain gorillas. The center is interactive and exciting.
DAY 8: GOLDEN MONKEY
The day is spent in Volcanos National Park, on foot in search of golden monks (goldfish in Norwegian). These monkeys are only found in this mountainous area between Rwanda, Congo and Uganda. The hike can take anywhere from 2-6 hours and you go with experienced track finders and game wardens. You spend about an hour with the monkeys and they are often active and moving up in the bamboo. Along the way, you eat a packed lunch outdoors and continue to the starting point.
DAY 9: LAKE KIVU
The journey continues to Lake Kivu, a lake on the border between Congo and Rwanda.
Here it is possible to lower your shoulders and enjoy a few days with sand between your toes and swimming.
DAY 10: LAKE KIVU
Spend the day exploring the areas around Lake Kivu.
We recommend joining a guided tour to one of the coffee (or tea) plantations to experience the process – from plantation to cup of coffee. Rwanda is known for producing the world's best coffee and when you help roast the beans yourself it tastes even better.
DAY 11: KIGALI
After breakfast you drive to the capital of Rwanda, Kigali.
We strongly recommend a visit Kigali Genocide Memorial to learn about the terrible genocide of 1994. The visitor center is both a place to remember the victims and teach new generations about the past.
DAY 12: DEPARTURE
After breakfast and check-out, it's time to go home.
Are you interested in this itinerary?
Once you have completed the form, press send and please wait a few seconds for a confirmation below the inquiry form. If you haven't heard from us in a few days, email us [email protected]