15-Day DRC, Rwanda & Uganda Gorilla & Wildlife Safari

After an early morning breakfast, transfer to Tshivanga, Kahuzi-Biega National Park headquarters. You will start with introduction by the park warden on the lowland gorilla facts and comparisons from other gorilla subspecies. Next will be to join a team of rangers and trackers to drive closer to a point where the trails hiking to see gorillas will begin. Gorilla trekking can be anything from 2-8 hours depending on the gorilla movements, once you find them you’ll be allowed to stay with them for 2 hours. After the day experience, you’ll travel back to the Bukavu for overnight

After a leisurely morning breakfast, with your passports transfer to Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda. There will be a border crossing back to Rwanda and thus your passports has to be nearby. There’s a beautiful scenery with tea estates as you drive up to Gisakura. In the afternoon, go for a canopy walk that starts at Uwinka visitors center and then return to the lodge for relaxation.

After an early breakfast, begin the journey on the lakeside to the stunning Virunga mountains that stretches the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo home to half the population of mountain gorillas for the other being inhabited at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Uganda. Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda is believed to be one of the best place for trekking gorillas with the price of the trekking ticket doubling if not tripling other sites for gorilla trekking. Lunch will be en-route at Lake Kivu before checking inn into the Volcanoes National Park.

Early morning start with breakfast and then transfer to the park headquarters at Kinigi to join other groups trekking gorillas. You will be allocated a gorilla group that you will go trekking in company of the lead ranger guide and his team of trackers. Gorilla Trekking can be anything from 2-8 hours and for this reason you’re encouraged to be with enough drinking water & Packed lunch for in case of the delayed trekking, you have backup food. Once you find the gorilla family, you’ll be allowed to stay with the family for an hour observing their daily activities, after this experience return to the lodge and enjoy the Wi-Fi while checking back on your camera the once in lifetime experience you’ve had.

After your morning breakfast, visit Gorilla Guardians Village (Iby’iwacu cultural center) to learn about Rwanda’s culture and at the end of activity you will be entertained by the popular Intore dance group. Afterwards head to the Uganda – Rwanda border then arriving Bwindi Impenetrable National Park early evening.

Today is the day that many of you will have been waiting for. We will embark on a full-day adventure to track the mountain gorillas in Bwindi Forest National Park. The trek will commence with a short briefing on gorillas trekking rules to ensure the safety of both the guests and the gorillas. We will then start the trek into the Impenetrable Forest to encounter the gentle giants of Bwindi National Park.​ We will follow the expert guides, looking for signs of the gorillas and changing direction accordingly until we find them. After this rare and memorable experience is over, we will spend the rest of the day and night in Bwindi National Park.

After a leisurely morning breakfast, transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park. On arrival if time allows participate in the afternoon game drive. Lunch will be enroute.

An early morning breakfast will be followed by a transfer to Kasenyi for a game drive. Kasenyi plains’ high concentration of prey attracts predators, which creates chances to encounter some of the big cats present in Queen Elizabeth National park while on this game drive adventure.

After lunch, we’ll take a boat trip along the Kazinga Channel where we will continue our wildlife spotting, this time we will see hippos, buffalo, crocodiles, bathing elephants, and a range of beautiful birds. This will undoubtedly be another highlight of your tour.

We will drive to Kibale National Park marvelling at the scenic views of the Ugandan countryside, leaving Queen Elizabeth National Park behind and driving northwards. The drive to Kibale will go through major western town of Fort Portal arriving early for lunch. In the afternoon, you can choose to join our optional activity and visit Bigodi Swamp Sanctuary known as a ‘birder’s paradise’.

The day starts with us heading to the Kibale Forest immediately after breakfast to track the chimpanzees in their forest home. If we are lucky on the trek, we may encounter other different species of monkeys in the Kibale Forest. These include colobus monkeys, olive baboons, and red-tailed monkeys. Spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the lodge preparing for the next day’s long drive to Murchison Falls National Park.

Have an early morning breakfast in Kibale National Park and this will be followed by a transfer to Murchison Falls National Park. Today involves a lot of traveling but will be great scenery with views of tea estates, ascending/descending in the rift valley escarpment & lake Albert in the great western rift valley before entering into Murchison Falls National Park.

Wake up to an exhilarating start to the day as we embark on a game drive in the park to spot elephants, lions, giraffe, and other wildlife. This Murchison Falls safari does not stop on the land because, in the afternoon, we will take a relaxing boat trip on the iconic River Nile where, if we’re lucky, we’ll have a chance to see crocodiles, hippos, and an array of rare birds. We will see for ourselves the point where the River Nile joins Lake Albert, which is one of the major highlights of this trip. Feel the immense power and force of the falls as the spray hits your face and you listen to the deafening roar of the water.  At the end of the boat trip, we will hike the famous ‘Top of the Falls’ where we have spectacular views of the Murchison Falls along the Nile River, a perfect photo opportunity for the budding photographers. We will return to our lodge for dinner and a good night’s sleep.

After an early morning breakfast transfer to Entebbe with a stopover at the top of the Murchison Falls that has a spectacular views of the falls and with another stopover over at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to participate in white rhino trekking. It’s the only place you can go rhino trekking on foot. Arrive in Entebbe with memories of the trip.

Depending on your outbound flight, you have option to go to Mabamba Swamp to spot the shoebill stock and other water birds. Later during the day transfer to the airport for your outbound flight marking an end of 15-Day Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda Gorilla Trekking and Wildlife Safari.