Uganda Gorilla and Chimp Safari

Arrive in Entebbe on the north shore of Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa. Many flights land late, so there are no scheduled activities today – you can settle in and rest. If you’d like extra time in Entebbe, you can arrange additional nights before the tour through your sales representative. You can also upgrade to a lake view room at the 2 Friends Hotel – speak to your sales representative for details.

After breakfast, we meet the tour leader and fellow travellers for a welcome briefing, then leave Entebbe for Kibale Forest – the drive is around seven hours depending on Kampala traffic. On arrival, we relax at our lodge. Kibale Forest National Park shelters 13 primate species, including vervet, red tailed, L’Hoest’s, red colobus, black and white colobus and blue monkeys, plus grey cheeked mangabey, olive baboons and, most famously, chimpanzees – sightings are not guaranteed, but the chances are good. You can upgrade to a luxury cottage – speak to your sales representative for details.

After an early breakfast, we head into the lush Kibale Forest to track chimpanzees. Birds sing all around and we usually see several other primates, such as grey cheeked mangabeys and red tailed monkeys. Trails are generally well maintained and mostly flat, though our route follows the latest guide reports on chimp locations – walking conditions therefore vary. Leaving the forest, you can pause for a coffee at Cafe Kibale, which provides free hospitality training for local young people. We return to our accommodation for lunch, then take a short 10 minute drive to the Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary in the Magombe wetland, a community initiative and haven for birds and monkeys – with our community guide, we hope to spot vervets, olive baboons and colobus. You can upgrade to a luxury cottage – speak to your sales representative for details.

There is the option of a second chimp trek this morning – due to limited permits, we recommend advance booking. In the afternoon, we embark on the Crater Lakes hike around the edge of Kibale National Park, a two to three hour walk exploring the beautiful volcanic lakes. You can upgrade to a luxury cottage – speak to your sales representative for details.

Today we drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – approximately eight hours – stopping for a picnic lunch en route. We take the Katungulu–Ishasha route, which includes a game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park. This biodiverse reserve is the best place in Uganda to look for tree climbing lions and also hosts elephants, buffalo, antelopes and other wildlife.

A relaxing day before we go in search of gorillas. You can choose optional activities – the Batwa experience, a three to four hour cultural encounter with the indigenous Batwa people, a forest walk or the Ride 4 a Woman community experience. We enjoy a picnic lunch.

For many, encountering wild mountain gorillas is an intensely moving wildlife experience. Tracking can take anything from under an hour to more than six, depending on where the family is located. Permits are limited, so early booking is recommended. If permits close to where we stay are unavailable, we use another area of the park – this may involve a long drive to the trek start point. Trails can be steep and slippery and we pass through thick vegetation, so you should be in reasonable physical condition – the hour spent with our close cousins more than repays the effort.

Today is free. You can obtain a second gorilla permit for a further trek – due to limited numbers, this should be secured at the time of booking. If you choose not to trek again, you can take nearby walks or relax at the lodge, reliving yesterday’s encounters. On some departures, permit availability means these two days may be swapped – or the group may be split to trek across both days.

Leaving the forests, we travel to Lake Mburo National Park, stopping in Mbarara for lunch. The drive is about five hours, not including stops. Lake Mburo is the only place in southern Uganda where you can see zebras, giraffes and impala and it is a good place to try to see leopards. More than 300 bird species live here and there is the possibility of game walks and game drives.

We take a final game drive in search of plains wildlife. The eastern tracks cross varied landscapes – acacia woodland, wetlands, grassy hillsides, rocky outcrops and seasonally flooded valleys. Early morning and late afternoon offer the best wildlife viewing. You can also track game on foot across the savannah and join a boat excursion – both are especially good for birdlife. An optional early morning walk with a ranger visits a salt lick that attracts many animals and, at this time, you may see hyenas returning to dens and hippos heading back to the lake. A boat trip reveals crocodiles, hippos and prolific birdlife, including pelicans, black crakes, herons, cormorants and fish eagles – with luck you may also spot the rare shoebill.

On our final day, we return to Entebbe and the shores of Lake Victoria, making regular stops to break up the journey and pausing for a picnic lunch. En route, we visit Mabamba Swamp – the Mabamba Bay Wetland System about 40km from Entebbe – an important habitat said to support more than 190,000 birds and the best place in Uganda to look for the globally threatened shoebill and the papyrus yellow warbler. We arrive in Entebbe in the early evening. If time permits, your guide can take you to dinner – at your own expense – before the airport drop. If you would like more time here, speak to your sales representative about extending your stay.