8-Day Gorilla, Chimpanzee & Lion Safari

Drive early from Kampala city through the scenic tea plantations to Fort Portal (western part of Uganda) where you will stop for lunch. Continue to Kibale National Park, which is particularly alluring to nature lovers with its excellent chimp tracking and birding. It has the highest concentration of primates in East Africa with 13 primates species including chimpanzee, vervet, red-tailed, L’Hoest and blue monkeys. Go for an afternoon primate walk to Kanyanchu River Camp, the most popular walk in the park with highlights including a miscellany of flora and fauna within the forest.

Accommodation: Kibale Forest Camp (safari tent, mid-range tented camp just outside the park)
Meal plan: All meals and drinking water

Today you have the opportunity to track chimpanzee. The forest walk will take 2 to 3 hours where you will follow chimpanzees, find them as they go about with their daily activities and watch them for an hour. After lunch, you will do a swamp walk at Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, which is good for general monkey viewing and one of the finest birding trails in the country. Overnight at your lodge.

Optional Activity: Chimpanzee Habituation

For an extra USD 70 per person, you can do the chimpanzee habituation tracking instead of the regular chimp tracking. This will take the whole day and you will be 100% sure to come face to face with chimps. Book early because only 6 people are allowed to go per day. Your swamp walk can be postponed to the next morning.

Accommodation: Kibale Forest Camp (safari tent)
Meal Plan: All meals and drinking water

Have breakfast at the lodge and relax before driving to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Together with Kyambura and Kigezi Wildlife Reserves, Queen Elizabeth National Park forms one of the most diverse ecosystems in Africa. There are two main lakes, George and Edward, as well as the connecting Kazinga Channel. Thousands of hippos populate these lake shorelines. Open savannah dotted with acacia and euphorbia trees provide habitat for elephants, lions, leopards, Uganda kobs and big herds of buffaloes. An afternoon game drive is good for hippo and elephant viewing in large numbers as well as leopard.

You stay in Irungu Forest Lodge which is located just outside Queen Elizabeth National Park. It offers private safari tents on raised wooden floors and canvas walls that can be rolled up to allow you to sit comfortably watching the savannah plains and breathtaking views across the park and Rwenzori Mountains.

Accommodation: Irungu Forest Safari Lodge (mid-range lodge just outside the park) 
Meal Plan: All meals and drinking water

Set off quite today with packed breakfast for an early morning game drive to catch the early risers in the Kasenyi Sector of the park. Expect to see elephants, buffaloes, lions, waterbucks, Uganda Kobs and a number of others. Return to your lodge for lunch. In the afternoon head out for a 2-hour launch cruise along the Kazinga Channel where you will see large concentrations of wildlife along the banks of the river like hippos, bathing elephants, buffaloes and a large number of bird species. This will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of your tour. After the boat safari, you have an en-route game drive back to the lodge.

Optional Activities

• Hot Air Balloon Safari (USD 380 per person)
• Lion tracking (USD 85 per person) – actively participate in monitoring some of the lions in the park (95% chances to see them)

Accommodation: Irungu Forest Safari Lodge 
Meal Plan: All meals and drinking water

Today you drive about 7 hours to Lake Mutanda, located in the south-western part of Uganda and close to the borders with Rwanda and Congo. You cross a beautiful part of the country often referred to as ‘the Switzerland of Africa’. En route, pass through countryside, bamboo forest and admire great views over the Virunga Mountains. For lunch, you stop at a local restaurant (not inclusive). Your comfortable lodge has spectacular views overlooking the beautiful Lake Mutanda and the Virunga volcanoes. Tomorrow you will depart from here for the gorilla tracking so it’s best to get a good night’s sleep.

Accommodation: Mutanda Lake Resort (mid-range lodge in or near Lake Mutanda)
Meal plan: All meals and drinking water 

Get up early and report to the park headquarters for a brief talk with the guide. From here you set off into the montane forest for an encounter with the mountain gorillas. Listen out for their voices and grumbles, watch the young as they swing from tree to tree and marvel at the sheer size of the dominant male; the silverback. It’s an extraordinary feeling sitting in the dense rain forest knowing you are with a few of the last remaining mountain gorillas. The time taken to track the gorillas can be as few as 2 hours to as many as 7 hours. The gorillas you track belong to one of nine habituated family groups who can tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period every day. En route to the gorillas, your guide will point out signs of previous gorilla activity, including dung, nests and chewed bamboo shoots.

Optional Activities

• Take a guided community walk among the Batwa inhabitants of the park (USD 30 per person)
• A guided walk to see wildlife and an array of birds (USD 30 per person)

After an early breakfast at the lodge, we will drive back to Kampala or Entebbe Airport stopping at the equator for the requisite snapshot, a bit of souvenir shopping and lunch. You’ll be transferred to the airport for your onward travel. If you would like us to book one (or more) nights in Kampala and/or Entebbe, please let us know.

Meal Plan: Breakfast and Lunch