T he 17 days best of Uganda and Rwanda will take you to all top safari destination in Uganda and Rwanda. you will be able to visit volcanoes national park of Rwanda and Bwindi impenetrable forest national park of Uganda for gorilla trekking and golden monkey trekking.
you will also go to different parks for like queen Elizabeth national park for the game drive where you will encounter the big five of Africa.
Summary Itinerary
Day 1: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park and Visit Ellen DeGenerous Museum
Day 2: Head to Volcanoes National Park for a gorilla trekking experience
Days 3: Transfer to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Day 4: Golden Monkey Trekking in Mgahinga
Day 5: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for gorilla trekking
Day 6: Enjoy another day of gorilla trekking or explore local trails
Day 7: Drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park for safari game drives, spotting elephants, lions, and hippos
Day 8: Morning game drive and an afternoon boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel
Day 9 Morning transfer to Rwenzori National Park (1hr 30 minutes’ drive to base camp)
Day 10: Nyabitaba (2650) m – Johnmaate camp (3505) m for hot lunch and continue to bujuku camp 3900 m.
Day 11: Bujuku camp 3900m and return back to Johnmaate camp
Day 12: Johnmaate camp 3505m to Nyabitaba camp 2560m for lunch and continue down to nyakalengija for transfer to the next destination
Day 13: Transfer to Kibale National Park 2-3 hours drive with the stop over
Day 14: Morning chimpanzee tracking and afternoon nature walk in the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary
Days 15: Drive to Murchison Falls National Park, with a stopover at the top of the falls
Day 16: Morning game drive across the delta and all the plains
Day 17. Zziwa rhino sanctuary
Detailed itinerary
Day 1: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park and Visit Ellen DeGenerous Museum
You will have to meet your professional English speaking local driver guide from Active African vacations and transfer to Volcanoes National Park, on the way we shall have stop overs at Nyirangarama local market and around some coffee farms after we shall proceed to check in at the lodge. You will have lunch at the hotel and after we proceed to visit Ellen DeGeneres museum by Diane Fossey for an optional tour. Dinner and overnight at Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel https://www.fivevolcanoesrwanda.com/
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 2: Head to Volcanoes National Park for a gorilla trekking experience
Have yourself an early breakfast, after which your driver guide will take you to the headquarters in the park by 8 am for briefing. Your Ranger guides will lead you into the descending steep valleys trailing in the footpaths of feeding gorillas. The interaction with gorillas, once sighted, is
Brief and minimized to one hour. The team will then descend out of the forest to reunite with the safari guide. After the trekking experience, you will be driven to Ibwiwachu community, where you will be introduced to the traditional Rwanda through traditional; dances, poems, dressing codes among others. Dinner and overnight at Dinner and overnight at Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner https://www.fivevolcanoesrwanda.com/
Days 3: Transfer to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
In the morning, you will have breakfast and then transfer to Mgahinga National Park. You will transfer to Kisoro in Uganda at the base of the scenic Virunga Volcanoes. Dinner and Overnight at Ichumbi Kisoro Hotel. https://ichumbi.com/ichumbi-hotel-kisoro/
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 4: Golden Monkey Trekking in Mgahinga
Have breakfast and drive to the park headquarters for registration and briefing. You will then start the trail following the ranger guide to trek the Golden Monkeys. Learn more about how they feed,
day to day activities, as well as learning how the locals live and survive near the National Park. The ranger guide will share with you more about the Park in general, formation of different features, how golden monkeys survive among other interesting related stories. After viewing the Golden Monkeys, you will walk back to meet your driver guide. Have lunch and have the afternoon at Leisure. Dinner and overnight at Ichumbi Kisoro Hotel. https://ichumbi.com/ichumbi-hotel- kisoro/
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 5: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for gorilla trekking
After breakfast, check out of your lodge and drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, another prime destination for gorilla trekking. The journey takes you through lush landscapes and scenic valleys. Arrive in Bwindi for some relaxation and lunch before embarking on a short nature walk to explore the park’s lower slopes. This walk offers a glimpse into the rich biodiversity of Bwindi. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight, preparing for the next day’s trekking experience.
Dinner and Overnight at Rushaga Gorilla Camp – https://mbzgroup.africa/rushagagorillalodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 6: Enjoy another day of gorilla trekking or explore local trails
A mother and infant at Volcanoes
Encountering the Gorillas in their Natural Habitat is a truly unforgettable and assures one of our shares in the nature world.
You will be picked up by the safari guide to transfer to the park headquarters for briefing, and to register for this activity. You will be briefed on different things like Gorilla behavior and thereafter, start the trek in the forest. You will be allowed an hour with the Gorillas as you witness them interact, feed and play, then return to meet your guide.
In the evening you will visit the community Batwa Community near Park to learn and understand the culture and History of these people. Drive to your Lodge for Dinner and overnight at Rushaga Gorilla Camp. https://mbzgroup.africa/rushagagorillalodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 7: Drive to Queen Elizabet National Park for safari game drives, spotting elephants, lions, and hippos
After having Breakfast, you will transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
This national park is famous for variety wildlife species and primate species. This famous conservation area is bordered by Lake Edward in the south west and in the north east, it’s bordered by Lake George. This park was named after Queen Elizabeth the second and it has variety of wildlife species including; the impalas, kobs, forest hogs, elephants, buffaloes, tree climbing lions, and the cape buffaloes. Dinner and Overnight at Enganzi Lodge https://enganzilodge.com/
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 8: Morning game drive and an afternoon boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel
Start the day with an early game drive that exposes us to diverse animals, Big 5 members Elephants, Buffalos, big cats- Lions, Leopards more times in the evening, warthogs- Hunchback carnivals like Hyenas are spotted along the Circuits as we drive along the and many more species that are residents to this park. There is a rich bird life especially our version of storks in the wetland spots as we reach the Flamingoes in the salt lakes at Kasenyi. After lunch we get ready for the Classic highlights on the 2hrs Boat cruise on the famous Kazinga channel, a 36kms channel linking Lake George – Lake Edward. Here you see land and water Adapted Hippopotamuses Yawning, the National Geographical society killing machine the Nile crocodile gaping along the Banks and Savannah version of Pigs the Warthog- Pumba are a hallmark sign in this Animal home. With your Binoculars along the peninsula you have a magnificent view of Birds, animals like the ever-playing African Elephants in Waters.
Accommodation: Dinner and Overnight at Enganzi Lodge https://enganzilodge.com/ Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 9 Morning transfer to Rwenzori National Park (1hr 30 minutes’ drive to base camp)
In the morning, you will transfer Nyakalengija (1650) to Nyabitaba camp (2650m) to the base camp, where we shall go through the mountain briefing as we hear the
word from our ranger head guide, select our hiking gears and measure the KGs of each person’s luggage and equipment, arrange the guides, chef and porters at once hiking starts from the park gates by 9:00am to Nyabitaba a distance of 7km takes 5-6 hours and an ascent of 1200 meters.
The trail at the beginning goes through homes and fields progressing through high elephant grasses and dense bush. You will climb over cliffs and bluffs crossing river mahoma then ascending steeply into Nyabitaba camp. Certain animals can be spotted such as the white and black colobus monkeys, three horned chameleon and the Rwenzori Turaco birds.
Stay an overnight at the Nyabitaba camp.
Day 10: Nyabitaba (2650) m – Johnmaate camp (3505) m for hot lunch and continue to bujuku camp 3900 m.
Dinner and an overnight
From Nyabitaba you descend to your right follow the trail that drops down through the forest for a half an hour to the Kurt Shafer Bridge, just before the confluence of the mubuku and Bujuku Rivers.
The walk is then easy going for a couple of hours passing through the bamboo forest and then becomes more difficult kind of like spelunking, traverse through a long and exhausting stretch of slippery moss-covered rocks. From the nyamileju rock shelter, mount Stanley and Speke can be seen before passing into the zone of the giant Heather, lobelia and groundsel. Finally reach Johnmaate camp for hot lunch after passing through the tiring bog. While here, high chances of catching the nice views of mount Stanley and margherita glacier. After quick lunch hit your journey to bujuku camp for dinner and an overnight.
Day 11: Bujuku camp 3900m and return back to Johnmaate camp
From bujuku camp the trail drops to Irene junction and enters lower Irene bog, the home of giant lobelias, jumping from tussock to tussock, the bog is finally crossed but rarely without the feet sampling some of the freezing ooze, continuing on to the upper Irene rocks you will follow the Irene river that sometimes runs underground from lake Irene with views of mount Baker to the South and mount Stanley to the west. Continue up to Margharita glacier 4541m and it takes 5 hours walk from bujuku to Margharita peak. After taking some pictures return back to Johnmaate for dinner and an overnight.
Day 12: Johnmaate camp 3505m to Nyabitaba camp 2560m for lunch and continue down to nyakalengija for transfer to the next destination.
The descend to Nyabitaba takes around 6-7 hours but with an early start and it’s possible to make it all the way down to nyakalengija. Below Johnmaate, the route descends the cliffs of nyamileju takes you through the Heather forest zones down to Nyabitaba for either dinner and an overnight or lunch and continue down to nyakalengija for hot showers as you relax at the lodge with dinner and overnight at Snow heights lodge (former Equator snow lodge)
Day 13: Transfer to Kibale National Park 2-3 hours drive with the stop over
In the morning, the driver guide will pick you up to transfer to Kibale National Park.
In the morning, you will be picked up by the safari driver guide to Transfer to Kibale National Park. Enjoy the sceneries like the typical African village setup in the far countryside and tea
plantations along the drive ways. Visit some of the crater lakes along the way. Dinner and overnight at Chimpanzee Forest Lodge. https://www.chimpanzeeforestlodge.com/
Day 14: Morning chimpanzee tracking and afternoon nature walk in the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary
Our guide will pick you up from the lodge in the early morning to head for the chimps trekking in Kibale Forest. Kibale Forest National Park is a rainy forest and a home to over 1500 Chimpanzees. During your morning chimps trekking you will see them close and capture shots of our closest cousins in the Jungle in their frenzy exciting moods grooming! Besides the chimpanzee the place has a number of other primates , return to the lodge for lunch and relaxation , as you wait for evening visit/walk into the bigodi swamp walk , which is community based and its full of colobus monkeys and different bird species along the way can be spotted. Dinner and overnight at chimpanzee forest lodge. https://www.chimpanzeeforestlodge.com-
Days 15: Drive to Murchison Falls National Park, with a stopover at the top of the falls
Sun set game drive safari
In the morning, set off the engine for a picturesque drive to Murchison Falls National Park. On arrival, you will have a hike to the top of the fall and an enroute game drive to the Lodge. Dinner and overnight at Pakuba Safari Lodge – https://pakubasafarilodge.com/
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 16: Morning game drive across the delta and all the plains
here we expect to see the lions, leopard, giraffes, plenty of hippos, cape buffalo, hyenas and many different Antelopes, we shall return to our hotel for lunch and short relax or swim at your hotel as we wait to go for evening a boat cruise on the Nile river that will take us to the base of Murchison Falls, (Bottom of the falls. In the evening we shall enjoy the scenic sun downer driver as we get back to our hotel for dinner and overnight. Stay at Pakuba safari lodge. ,
Day 17. Zziwa rhino sanctuary
Leave the Hotel in the morning after breakfast and we set off for another day of adventure where we shall take a branch off at Zziwa for rhino tracking. The trekking in the morning won’t be so long since in the morning the rhinos will still be close, after we shall procced to Entebbe to mark the end of our adventure
SAFARI QUOTATION:
USD 6,674 per person based on Midrange Lodges:
The price Includes:
1 Gorilla Permit 1 Gorilla Permit per person for Trekking Gorillas in Volcanoes, Rwanda 1 Gorilla Permit per person for trekking Gorillas in Uganda
1 Golden Monkey Permit per person Mgahinga Chimpanzee permits in Kibale forest
Game Drives in Queen
Boat Cruise along the Kazinga Channel Cultural Tour Ibiwachu
Rwenzori Hike
Porter while on Rwenzori Hike Bottled Water for Drinking
Meals as indicated in the program
Transport in 4×4 land cruiser with professional English speaking guide.
Accommodation and meals
And necessary Government Taxes
THE PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE:
Visa Fees, Tips, Porters apart from in Rwenzori, Flights, Beverages, Alcohol and all other personal expenses.