The 12 Days Rwanda-Uganda safari is an 11 night and 12 day adventure that promises an unforgettable experience. It includes thrilling gorilla and golden monkey trekking in Volcanoes National Park, wildlife safaris in Queen Elizabeth and Murchison falls National Parks, and an exciting chimpanzee tracking experience in Kibale National park . For those interested, there's also the option of undertaking the Chimpanzee Habituation Experience. The tour kicks off from Kigali and concludes in Kampala.
The 12 Days Rwanda-Uganda safari is an 11 night and 12 day adventure that promises an unforgettable experience. It includes thrilling gorilla and golden monkey trekking in Volcanoes National Park, wildlife safaris in Queen Elizabeth and Murchison falls National Parks, and an exciting chimpanzee tracking experience in Kibale National park . For those interested, there's also the option of undertaking the Chimpanzee Habituation Experience. The tour kicks off from Kigali and concludes in Kampala.
The 12 Days Rwanda-Uganda safari is an 11 night and 12 day adventure that promises an unforgettable experience. It includes thrilling gorilla and golden monkey trekking in Volcanoes National Park, wildlife safaris in Queen Elizabeth and Murchison falls National Parks, and an exciting chimpanzee tracking experience in Kibale National park . For those interested, there's also the option of undertaking the Chimpanzee Habituation Experience. The tour kicks off from Kigali and concludes in Kampala.
Day 1: Arrival in Kigali and transfer to Volcanoes National park
Day 2: Gorilla trekking and a visit to twin lakes of Burera and Ruhondo
Day 3: Golden Monkey Tracking and Ibyiwacu Cultural Experience
Day 4: Hike Dian Fossey’s grave and transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
Day 5: Boat cruise on Lake Bunyonyi
Day 6: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National park in Uganda and afternoon boat cruise
Day 7: Morning game drives and transfer to Kibale national park.
Day 8: Chimpanzee tracking and afternoon cultural walk in Bigodi community
Day 9: Transfer to Murchison Falls national park
Day 10: Game drive and afternoon boat cruise
Day 11: Transfer back to Kampala, visit Ziwa rhino sanctuary
Day 12: Kampala City Tour and Departure
Arrival in Kigali and transfer to Volcanoes National park
On arrival at the airport, a tour guide or our company representative will be ready with a placard bearing your names. He or she will introduce himself / herself and brief you on the day's program.
Once a month, residents engage in Umuganda day, where they participate in the compulsory cleaning of the city. As a means of combating litter and pollution, all forms of plastic bags are prohibited in the country. You can have an option of participating in the activity as it is an opportunity to interact with the locals.
From Kigali city, embark on the 2 - 3 hour journey northwest through the beautiful rolling green hills that characterize this region of Rwanda. Volcanoes National Park covers an area of 160 sq. km and contains 5 of the 8 Virunga mountains. The park also harbors the third-largest population of mountain gorillas plus golden monkeys. Dinner and overnight stay at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge (Luxury)/La Palme Hotel (Deluxe)/Kinigi Guest House (Budget).
Gorilla trekking and a visit to twin lakes of Burera and Ruhondo
At 8:30 am, you will head to the park headquarters, with a packed lunch, for a briefing before embarking on the memorable adventure in the forest. A park ranger will guide you into the jungle through the volcano forest in search of the mountain gorillas. Gorilla tracking may take 1 to 7 hours, as some gorilla families are elusive, and the tracking process can extend to a full day, especially in wet and muddy conditions. You will return to the park offices in the afternoon for your gorilla tracking certificate.
After your hot lunch, take a walk to the twin lakes of Ruhondo and Burera, where you will encounter local fishermen and also enjoy the spectacular views of the lakes. Dinner and overnight at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge (Luxury)/La Palme Hotel (Deluxe)/Kinigi Guest House (Budget).
Golden Monkey Tracking and Ibyiwacu Cultural Experience
After breakfast at 6:30 am, you will return to Volcanoes National Park for another exciting adventure - golden monkey tracking. These primates are even more endangered than mountain gorillas and are endemic to the bamboo forests of the Virunga Mountains. With their beautiful golden fur coats and spirited character, encountering them is a thrilling experience. The trek to find them is relatively easy, as they are usually found at the bottom of the mountains. Golden monkey tracking will take 1 - 3 hours to locate them. You will be allowed to have an hour with the habituated group which consists of 80 members. Retreat from the activity and head back to your lodge for lunch and relaxation.
In the afternoon, you will have the opportunity to visit the Iby’iwachu cultural village. Here, you can engage with local people and discover their homes and heritage treasures, including lifestyles, activities, artifacts, and ways of living. The Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village is dedicated to showcasing traditional ways of living, cultural practices, and dances to tourists. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Hike Dian fossey’s grave and transfer to lake Bunyonyi
Day 4 of the 12 - day Rwanda and Uganda safari, is dedicated to the Dian Fossey hike. Enjoy breakfast at 6:30 am and then transfer to the park's headquarters to meet your experienced local guide for a briefing at 7 am.
Take a hike to Dian Fossey's grave site. The trek requires a relatively fit level and takes 3-4 hours. You may have the opportunity to spot forest buffaloes, hogs, duikers, birds, golden monkeys, elephants, and even gorillas, in addition to enjoying the natural beauty of this Rwandan reserve. Your guide will provide you with plenty of information about Dian Fossey and her work in saving the critically endangered mountain gorillas from extinction.
Upon reaching the site, you will be able to see the ruins of her house and, of course, pay a visit to her grave. Lying next to her is the grave of her favorite gorilla, Digit, along with 20 other gorillas killed by poachers. After this experience, trek back to the start of the trail and transfer to Lake Bunyonyi. Dinner and overnight at Birdnest/Bunyonyi Resort.
Boat cruise on Lake Bunyonyi
After a morning breakfast, you'll embark on a full-day island exploration, visiting various islands. You'll explore Bucuranuka (upside-down) Island, which is believed to have buried people alive after a curse from an old woman for refusing to offer local brew. You'll also visit Akampene (punishment) Island, where girls with unwanted premarital pregnancies were once dumped to die of hunger as they swam back to the mainland.
After lunch, you'll enjoy a boat ride to Kyahugye Island and hike up Kyahugye Hill for spectacular views of Lake Bunyonyi. Following the hike, you'll go on a community tour, visiting local schools and meeting students striving for a better future. Donating scholastic materials to the school can make a meaningful impact on these students' education.
You'll also visit Nyombi Swamp for bird watching, high rope courses, and zip-lining. Overnight accommodation will be provided at Bunyonyi Overland Resort, Bunyonyi Rock Resort, or Birds Nest.
Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National park in Uganda
Early in the morning, you will have your breakfast and set off to QENP by 7:30am. You will drive slowly via Ruhija reaching Ishasha sector by 11:00 am to have game drives where you may be opportune to see the tree climbing lions. Continue to QENP reaching early enough for lunch at Mweya safari Lodge. After lunch, you will enjoy an afternoon boat cruise along the Kazinga channel where you will see lots of bird species, crocodiles, hippos, buffalos, and elephants among others. Embark to the lodge for refreshment, dinner and overnight stay at Kyambura game lodge (Luxury)/Ihamba Lodge (Deluxe)/Kingfisher lodge (Budget).
Morning game drives and transfer to Kibale national park
In the morning, you will go for game drives, where you will see games like lions, bush bucks, antelopes, elephants, water hogs among others. Go back to the hotel for a late breakfast, and relax at the pool side as you wait for your lunch. After lunch, set off to Kibale national park, home of over 13 primate species. Dinner and overnight at Ndali Lodge (Luxury)/Mountains of the moon hotel (Deluxe)/Chimps nest lodge (Budget).
Chimpanzee tracking and afternoon cultural walk in Bigodi community
In the morning, transfer to Kanyanchu Park headquarters, where you will receive a short briefing about the chimpanzee trekking experience. Accompanied by a ranger, embark on the search for the giant humans of the chimpanzee world. When you meet them, you'll witness how much we have in common with these great apes – they laugh, hug, kiss, and care for their young ones, just like humans.
Beyond chimpanzees, this forest walk presents an excellent opportunity to encounter other primates such as Vervet Monkeys, L’Hoest’s Monkeys, gray-cheeked monkeys, and Black-and-white Colobus, among others. After the one-hour chimpanzee encounter, return to the park center, where your trekking efforts will be rewarded with a trekking certificate. Then, head back to your lodge for lunch later in the afternoon and go for a guided cultural walk in Bigodi village. Follow the village path and visit a primary school, traditional homestead, and enjoy storytelling. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Transfer to Murchison Falls national park
After breakfast, you'll embark on a 441 km, approximately 9-hour drive to Murchison Falls National Park. Along the way, you'll enjoy beautiful scenery, including the Albertine Rift Valley landscapes, Lake Albert, Butiaba Escarpments, rural settings, natural forests, and plantations. Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda's largest national park, covering 3840 sq. km. This park boasts diverse habitats, the world's longest river, the mighty Murchison Falls, and a rich collection of African wildlife, including 76 mammal species and over 450 bird species. Have lunch in Masindi town. Dinner and overnight stay will be at Paraa Safari Lodge, Murchison River Lodge, or Red Chilli Rest Camp.
Game drive and boat cruise
This morning, after breakfast at 6:30 am, you will embark on your game drive in Murchison Falls National Park. Heading to the northern section of the park, you'll encounter rolling savannah grassland dotted with stands of acacia trees, borassus palms, riverine woodland, and a variety of bird and mammal species. During this 3-4 hour game drive, you'll search for lions, leopards, buffaloes, giraffes, waterbucks, Jackson's hartebeest, and patas monkeys. There's a diverse array of animals to spot, including saddle-billed storks, Denham's bustards, gray-crowned cranes, squacco herons, piapiacs, red-throated bee-eaters, goliath herons, and kingfishers. After the game drive, you'll retreat to the lodge for lunch and relaxation.
After lunch, converge at Paraa Jetty for a boat cruise along the Nile River to the bottom of the falls. The 3 - hour boat trip, departing at 2 pm, offers opportunities to observe Nile crocodiles, elephants, hippos, buffaloes, and waterbirds such as goliath herons, African fish eagles, African jacanas, and shoebill storks. After the activity, you'll embark on a 45-minute hike to the top of Murchison Falls. These falls are arguably the world's most powerful, wide like none you've ever seen before. Located along the Nile River, which is 50 meters wide, they squeeze through narrow clefts of up to 7 meters and drop 45 meters down. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Transfer to Kampala
After enjoying breakfast at 6:30 am, embark on a 311 km (5-6 hours) drive southwest to Kampala city. During the drive, you'll pass through stretches of Nakasongola district before branching off to Nakitooma for a 7 km drive to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, home to Uganda's wild rhinos. The sanctuary is home to more than 30 reintroduced southern white rhinos. Rhino tracking begins with a briefing from a local ranger, after which you'll set out to track the rhinos. The duration of the activity is 2 to 2.5 hours, depending on the location of the rhinos within the sanctuary. While tracking, you'll also encounter other mammal species such as bushbucks, waterbucks, Uganda kobs, and oribi.
From Ziwa, the next stop will be Kampala, where you'll arrive in the evening for dinner and overnight stay at Serena Hotel (Luxury), Cassia Lodge (Deluxe), or Landmark View Hotel (Budget).
City Tour and Departure
On this day, you have the option to explore Kampala city or the surrounding areas of Entebbe. In Kampala, you can visit several attractions, including the Bahai Temple, the largest in Africa, the Gadaffi Mosque, the National Museum, local markets, and the Kasubi Cultural Tombs. Alternatively, you can choose to explore Entebbe and its environs, such as the Botanical Gardens, the Entebbe Zoo, or Ngamba Chimpanzee Island.
In the evening, your tour guide will drop you off at Entebbe International Airport for your international flight.
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