11-day Uganda Group Gorilla Trekking Safari

Welcome to Uganda! On arrival, you will be met at the Airport by our Company representative who will escort you to your safari vehicle and will introduce you to your Driver who will also be your Guide. The first stop will be a short drive to your accommodation where you will be able to relax and contemplate the adventure that lies ahead.
Your journey will be approx; 8km. 15min drive

An early morning rise will enable you to begin your safari and head towards Murchison Falls National Park, traveling north to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary which will be the first scheduled stop, your journey will be approx; 210km. 4hrs drive.

Afternoon Activity
Any trip towards north-east Uganda just wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Rhino Sanctuary at Ziwa. They provide trained rangers who will guide you through a Rhino Trekking expedition. You will have the opportunity to observe the rhinos at a very close and safe distance. While at the sanctuary you will also encounter a range of other wildlife species including Uganda kobs, reedbucks, oribis, hippos and crocodiles.

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is the only place in Uganda where you can see rhino in the wild. The sanctuary is part of the effort by Rhino Fund Uganda and Uganda Wildlife Authority to rebuild the Rhinoceros population in Uganda. Uganda was once home to thousands of rhino but prolonged civil war and poaching in the 1970s and 80 take its toll and in 1982, the last rhino living in the wild was killed. Rhinos are classified as threatened animals, with only 5 remaining species, two of which reside in Africa, and the other three in Asia. In 2005, 4 southern white rhinos were introduced from the Solio ranch in Kenya and an additional 2 from the Disney Animal Kingdom in Florida, USA. Today the sanctuary boasts 34 rhinos.

After Rhino walk will fresh memories of the experience, it will be time for lovely drive from Nakasongola to Murchison Falls National Park via Masindi town. The journey to the park entrance will take you through the beautiful Kaniyo Pabidi Forest until the Kichumbanyobo Gate.
Your journey will be approx; 130km. 2.5 hrs drive.

Morning Activity
Game drives in Murchison Falls are incredible. The park is home to all of the Big 5 with the exception of the rhino. Also resident are the hippo, buffalo, giraffe as well as several antelope and monkey species. Most of the game viewing is done around the Buligi Game tracks in the northern sector of the park. The park also boasts the Nile - Lake Albert Delta which is home to a large number of birds including African fish eagles and the rare shoe-bill storks.

Afternoon Activity
After lunch, it will be time for a boat ride along the Nile to the foot of Murchison Falls, be sure to have your cameras ready for this one. Expect to see birds perched on tree branches ready to hunt, mammals drinking or cooling down in the river and reptiles basking in the sun on the river banks. One of the highlights of the boat ride is getting up close to Murchison Falls itself, allowing you to feel the awesome power and beauty that comes when the worlds longest river is forced through a 7-meter gap before dropping 40 meters as is continues its journey to the Mediterranean Sea. This trip on the River Nile really harks back to the days of the intrepid explorers of days gone by and the best time to do the trip is at sundown.

No trip to the Murchison Falls area would be complete without a trip to The Boomu Women's Group! The Group was formed in 1999 in the village of Kihaguzi with aim of fighting poverty and creating more social and economic development. The Women now run a small scale accommodation facility that employs local people and is a source of income.During your visit to the Boomu Group, you will get to see the other activities that they run as part of their diversification to ensure a varied income base. These include handcrafts, weaving bedspreads as well as poultry farming and bee-keeping.

After breakfast you will head south westwards to Kibale via Hoima Town which acts as a midway stopping point between Murchison Falls National Park and Kibale Forest National Park. The drive is long but it will be a distant memory once the experience begins, your journey will be approx; 350km. 7hrs drive.

Morning Activity
Your Chimpanzee Trekking experience has finally arrived! It begins at the Uganda Wildlife Authority HQ at Kayanchu Gate where your trekking group will head into the forest with a guide after a short briefing. About 1 hour before your group sets off an advance party of guides will have entered the forest to locate where the Chimpanzees spent the night. Once located the advance party send a radio message back to your trekking group so that you can navigate through the forest. During the trek, you will also get to see the different birds, animals and plant species within the forest. Once you locate the Chimpanzees you can only spend one hour with them this ensures that the Chimpanzees don't become accustomed to human contact.

Afternoon Activity
The Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary is a part of the Magombe Swamp just south of Kibale National Park. A visit to the sanctuary enables you to see rare mammals and birds, like the webbed feet sitatunga as the great blue turaco call this place home. However, if you aren't lucky enough to see them there are still plenty of other animals, including bush pigs, black and white colobus monkeys and over 200 species of birds that inhabit the swamp. The Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary is a community-based programme that supports local residents and encourages a healthy link between tourism and the community it affects.

The excitement of Chimpanzee Trekking will probably still be with you as the  safari continues to Queen Elizabeth National Park, entry will be via the northern sector famous for the Kasenyi Plains and Kazinga Chanel.
Your journey will be approx; 150kms / 3hrs drive.

Morning Activity
The Kataara Women’s Poverty Alleviation Group was formed in 2005 to combat the problem of human-wildlife conflict in this particular area of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The group provides alternative income for Kataara families and an incentive to conserve Uganda’s precious wildlife. There is a proud mixture of Banaynkore, Bakiga, Batoro and Banayruguru tribe, which is reflected in the artistic diversity of the products that are created developed and sold. The women believe in maximizing the use of natural materials grown locally, even the dyes for the baskets are created by boiling leaves from local herbs. A visit to the group will enable to find out more about how this incredible enterprise works and be inspired by the individual stories that the women have. There will also be a chance to support the group by purchasing reasonably priced crafts.

Afternoon Activity
One of the highlights of visiting Queen Elizabeth National Park is the boat ride along the Kazinga Channel. The boat ride is a round trip beginning at the Mweya Peninsula and lasting around 3 hours. The Channel is a 32-kilometre long natural channel that links Lake Edward and Lake George. The channel has one of the world's largest concentration of hippos, numerous Nile crocodiles, buffalo, elephants and a whole host of birds. including African fish eagles, kingfishers, Herons, storks and skimmers.

Morning Activity
A game drive in Kasenyi sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park is a great place to see view differing landscape and ecosystems in Uganda. The park is the oldest and the most visited in Uganda. This game drive will take place on the Kasenyi Plains which are in the north-east section of the park and but west of Lake George. Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the most famous National Parks in Uganda and for good reason. There diverse landscape houses a wide range of animals, birds and plants which enables any visitor to partake in games drives in different locations of the park, a boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel where animals and birds line the banks of this waterway that stretches between two lakes and Chimpanzee Trek in Kyambura Gorge.

Today you will transfer from the North Eastern sector of the park to the Southern sector also known as the Ishasha sector, there are a wide range of birds, mammals and plant life that you may be able to see enroute and all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.
Your journey will be approx. 100km, 2hrs 30min drive.

Afternoon Activity
A game drive in the Ishasha sector gives you a chance to see the famous tree climbing lions that can be seen hanging out of large fig trees. No one really knows why lions in this area climb trees but there are many theories surrounding this behavior. However, lions are not the only animals to be found in the park. Large herds of Uganda Kob, Hippos, elephant and antelope also roam this part of the park making it an ideal place to view the wildlife at it's best.

It is time to leave Queen Elizabeth National Park and continue your journey towards Bwindi and the Gorillas, where the adventure of a lifetime awaits you! This section of the safari will see you enter the traditional area of Kigezi Kingdom which is the southern most Kingdom on Uganda,
Your journey will be approx; 70kms / 2hrs drive

Morning Activity
Your Gorilla Trekking experience is finally here, hope your camera is charged and you are ready for what lies ahead. An early start will see you transfer to the Park Headquarters for a briefing with the Uganda Wildlife Authority guides. An advance party of guides will have gone ahead into the forest to locate where the gorillas slept the previous night and will have began to track their movements. These guides will communicate with your team via a walkie-talkie and the trek into the forest will begin.

Locating the Gorillas can take a few hours or the whole day depending on how far they have moved from the place they spent the previous night. For conservation purposes, the amount of time allowed with the Gorillas is 1 hour. As you trek through the forest you will appreciate why the forest is called impenetrable. There is also a multitude of other animals that you might encounter including antelopes and rare monkeys not to mention the beauty of the forest itself. Once you have completed the trek you will return to the lodge, for a well earned rest and time to reflect on a truly magical experience. After your trek there will be plenty of time to relax at your lodge or if you are up to it take a gentle exploratory stroll.

Afternoon Activity
You will visit a community in the Buhoma area of Bwindi called Ride 4 a Woman. You will get to visit these incredible women and learn more about their story!

With your Gorilla Trekking experience still a vivid memory, it is time to leave the Gorillas and the Kigezi Kingdom all behind and head towards Lake Mburo National Park and into the heartland of the Ankole Kingdom. The drive is one of the most scenic in Uganda as you transition between the Impenetrable forest and into the Ankole grasslands, where the famous long-horned Ankole cattle graze.
Your journey will be approx; 260km. 6hrs drive

Afternoon Activity
One of the best activities to do in Lake Mburo is a scenic boat ride on the lake. This is one of the best ways to see the diverse wildlife that the Park has. The boat ride can be done at dawn or dusk depending on your safari itinerary and will normally take around 2 hours. All the rides begin at the Rwonyo jetty, it will not take you long before you begin to see large groups of hippos in the water as well as crocodiles and buffalo lining the banks of the lake. The lake is also famous for its bird life, from majestic fish eagles, colourful kingfishers, to hammerkops and their enormous nests.

Morning Activity
A Game drive in Lake Mburo National Park are a perfect way to begin or end a Safari in Uganda. The park has a variety of wildlife that almost contradicts it's small size in comparison to the other parks in Uganda. The park doesn't have any large cats apart from leopards who are normally only seen at night Lake Mburo has a large variety of antelopes and Rothschild's giraffe have recently been reintroduced. However, the highlights of the park have to be the Burchell's zebra and eland which are only found in two National Parks in Uganda.

After an incredible safari, it will be time to head back. During this final leg of the trip, you will leave the Ankole Kingdom and head back into the Buganda Kingdom, heading eastwards towards Entebbe. There are not many places in the world that have the wide range of wildlife, nature and culture. We hope you took loads of great photos and had a wonderful experience that will live with you for a long time.
Your journey will be approx; 270km. 6hrs drive