9-Day Uganda & Rwanda Safari Gorillas, Chimpanzees, Wildlife & Cultural Experience

Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, you will be met by our professional safari guide and transferred to your hotel. Depending on your arrival time, enjoy a brief city tour of Kigali, one of Africa's cleanest and most vibrant cities.

After breakfast, enjoy a guided Kigali city tour, including a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. An early lunch will be taken in Kigali. Later, drive through Rwanda's beautiful rolling hills and cross into Uganda via the Katuna border. Arrive in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in the evening and enjoy the cool environment surrounding the Lodge.

Today marks the highlight of your safari adventure. After an early breakfast, you will proceed to the park headquarters for a briefing by experienced ranger guides before setting off into the dense forest in search of a habituated mountain gorilla family. The trek can take anywhere from a few hours to most of the day, depending on the gorillas' location. Once you encounter the gorillas, you will have the extraordinary opportunity to spend one unforgettable hour observing these gentle giants in their natural habitat. Watch them feed, groom, play, and interact with one another while gaining a deeper appreciation for their behavior and conservation. This intimate wildlife encounter is often described as one of the most profound and life-changing experiences in Africa.

After breakfast, depart Bwindi and travel to Queen Elizabeth National Park through the Ishasha Sector, famous for its tree-climbing lions. The journey from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to Queen Elizabeth National Park is essentially an impromptu game drive. Passing through the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth, this 2 to 6-hour scenic trip features the famous tree-climbing lions and offers stunning views of the Western Rift Valley escarpment. You will experience the contrast of two completely different environments, moving from the dense, misty mountain rainforest of Bwindi directly into the expansive, golden savannah grasslands of Queen Elizabeth. After the game drive, proceed to the hotel for lunch before heading on an afternoon boat trip along the Kazinga Channel. Enjoy an afternoon of wildlife viewing as you cruise along the channel, observing elephants, buffaloes, hippos and crocodiles.

Begin the day with an early morning game drive across the Kasenyi Plains, one of the most rewarding wildlife viewing areas in Uganda, where you will have excellent opportunities to spot lions, elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, and a variety of other plains game as they become active in the cool morning hours. After the game drive, depart Queen Elizabeth and head for Kibale Forest National Park. The route is dotted with beautiful, extinct volcanic crater lakes carved into rolling green hills. Check in for lunch and enjoy some rest. In the late afternoon, head out for the Bigodi wetland walk. The wetland is a vital feeding ground for 8 primate species. You can easily spot the Uganda red colobus, black-and-white colobus, grey-cheeked mangabey, L'Hoest's monkey, and red-tailed monkey and over 200 bird species inhabit the dense papyrus. Keep an eye out for the Great Blue Turaco, Papyrus Gonolek, hornbills, and weaver birds. If you are lucky, you might also spot the elusive Sitatunga (a swamp-dwelling antelope with splayed hooves), otters, or mongooses.

After an early breakfast, depart for Kanyanchu Visitor Centre, where the chimpanzee trekking briefing takes place. Morning treks begin at 8:00 AM, and last roughly 3 to 5 hours, depending on where the chimps are foraging. Known as the primate capital of the world, Kibale is home to over 1,500 chimpanzees and 12 other primate species. Treks here offer a 90% success rate for close encounters. Once you locate the habituated chimpanzee community, you are allowed one hour to quietly observe, photograph, and learn about their fascinating social behaviors. After the trek, return to the lodge for lunch and enjoy the rest of the day at rest.

After breakfast, we embark on the 350-kilometer (6-7) journey from Kibale National Park to Murchison Falls. The journey serves as a scenic safari in itself, allowing you to witness dramatic geographical shifts and diverse wildlife along the way. You will have lunch en-route and later proceed with the visit to the "Top of the Falls" in Murchison Falls National Park, which is one of Africa’s most iconic natural spectacles. Here, the mighty Victoria Nile is forced through a narrow 7-meter gorge and plunges 43 meters into the "Devil's Cauldron," creating a permanent rainbow and a thunderous roar. From there, continue to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

After an early breakfast, embark on an exciting morning game drive through the northern sector of Murchison Falls National Park. This vast savannah landscape is home to an abundance of wildlife, including elephants, giraffes, lions, buffaloes, hartebeests, oribis, and numerous bird species. The cool morning hours provide excellent opportunities for wildlife viewing and photography as animals are most active at this time of day. In the afternoon, enjoy a scenic boat trip along the Nile River to the base of the magnificent Murchison Falls. As you cruise upstream, keep an eye out for large pods of hippos, Nile crocodiles basking on the riverbanks, elephants coming down to drink, and a wide variety of water birds. After the boat trip, continue with another game drive till late evening.

After breakfast, check out of your lodge and begin your journey back to Kampala. Depending on your departure time, en route, you can make a stop at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, the only place in Uganda where wild rhinos can be observed in their natural habitat. Enjoy a guided rhino tracking experience on foot, offering a unique opportunity to get close to these magnificent creatures while learning about ongoing conservation efforts to reintroduce rhinos into Uganda's protected areas. Following the rhino trek, enjoy lunch before continuing your drive through Uganda's scenic countryside. Arrive in Kampala or Entebbe in the late afternoon, marking the end of your memorable safari experience.