This 14 Days Rwanda and Uganda Gorillas, Wildlife, Primates Safari takes on a magnificent travel experience to some of the top tourist destinations in Rwanda and Uganda. Start your safari with a pickup from Kigali and drive to Nyungwe national park where you will explore the canopy walkway and trek the Black and White colobus monkeys. You will also visit Lake Kivu in Gisenyi town, track golden monkeys in Volcanoes national park, visit Ibyiwacu village, trek Mountain gorillas in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable national park, track lions in Queen Elizabeth national park, and also enjoy a boat cruise on Kazinga Channel.
During the 14 Days Rwanda and Uganda Safari, you will also do chimpanzee trekking in Kibale National Park, enjoy a game drive and boat cruise in Murchison Falls National Park as well as trek white rhinos at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Drop off will be in Kampala or at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda.
Highlights for 14 Days Rwanda and Uganda Gorillas, Wildlife, Primates Safari
Day 1: Pickup in Kigali and Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park.
Day 2: Colobus Monkey Trekking and Canopy Walk.
Day 3: Transfer to Gisenyi- Evening Boat Cruise on Lake Kivu
Day 4: Optional Coffee Tour & Transfer to Volcanoes National Park and Ibyiwacu Village Tour.
Day 5: Golden Monkey Trek and Optional Visit to Karisoke Centre
Day 6: Drive to Bwindi
Day 7: Gorilla Trek in Bwindi and Optional Batwa Cultural Tour
Day 8: Drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park & Evening Game Drive
Day 9: Lion Tracking Experience/ Morning Game Drive & Afternoon Boat Cruise
Day 10: Drive to Kibale National Park and Optional Bigodi Swamp Walk
Day 11: Chimpanzee Trek
Day 12: Drive to Murchison Falls National Park and Drive to Top of the Falls
Day 13: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise
Day 14: Rhino Trekking at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and Drive to Kampala.
Detailed Itinerary for 14 Days Rwanda and Uganda Gorillas, Wildlife, Primates Safari
Day 1: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park.
In the morning, you will be picked by the driver from your hotel in Kigali and drive southwards to Nyungwe forest National Park. You will have a stopover in Butare, where you will visit the national museum of Rwanda, the king’s palace in Nyanza with lunch enroute. Dinner and overnight at Gisakura Visitor Center (Budget)/ Nyungwe Top Hill View (Mid-Luxury).
Day 2: Colobus Monkey Trekking and Canopy Walk.
Have breakfast early in the morning and meet up with your driver guide. You will then drive to the park headquarters where you will be briefed for your colobus monkey trek. Trekking begins at 8am in the morning and can last between 4-6 hours or more depending on their location. After your colobus monkey trek, you will drive back to your lodge for hot lunch at your lodge and then spend the rest for a while.
After having your lunch, you will embark on a guided nature walk along the famous canopy walkway bridge- a swing bridge 50 meters in length that is suspended from large trees. You will be able to see the amazing rainforest with a bird’s eye view, spotting wildlife moving about below you there after connect to your accommodation to spend the evening at leisure. This hike takes only 2 hours. Later transfer back to your lodge/hotel for dinner and overnight same as above. Gisakura Visitor Center (budget)/ Nyungwe Top Hill View Hotel (Mid-Luxury)
Day 3: Transfer to Gisenyi- Evening Boat Cruise on Lake Kivu
After having your breakfast at the hotel, you will transfer to Gisenyi arriving in time for lunch at the hotel and later you will enjoy an evening boat ride on Lake Kivu. Later return back to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay at Paradise Malahide (Budget)/ Gorilla Kivu Lodge (Midrange)/ Kivu Serena Hotel (Luxury).
Day 4: Optional Coffee Tour & Transfer to Volcanoes National Park and Ibyiwacu Village Tour.
After having breakfast in the morning, you will meet your guide and drive to Volcanoes national park. You can do an optional coffee tour where you will visit Kinunu washing station in Gisenyi. Take a tour of the coffee plantations and processing plant and you will also get to taste a cup of Rwandan made coffee. Enjoy the beautiful views as you traverse the countryside arriving in Volcanoes NP in the afternoon in time for lunch.
You will embark on a cultural tour to Ibyiwacu village aka ‘The Gorilla Guardians Village’ where you will get to interact with the locals and watch dance and singing performances from the local dance troupe. If you still wish to explore more, you can do other optional activities such as visiting the Elle DeGeneres Campus for the Dian Fossey Fund where you will be taken on a tour of the campus facilities including the classrooms, laboratories and exhibition hall. Dinner and overnight stay at Muhabura Hotel (budget)/ Tiloreza Eco Lodge (Midrange)/Virunga Resort Inn & Spa Hotel(Luxury).
Optional Activities: Coffee Tour at Kinunu Washing Station, Visit Elle DeGeneres Campus for the Dian Fossey Fund
Day 5: Golden Monkey Trek and Optional Visit to Karisoke Centre
After breakfast on the sixth day of your 9 Days Rwanda Safari, you will go for golden monkey tracking. This activity also takes like 2-3 hours in the Virunga forest. Later return back to your lodge for early lunch and spend the rest of your evening at leisure.
This is an awesome and exciting moment. En route there are a lot of chimpanzees and other types of the primates such as the monkeys, birds and so more. Return for lunch at the Lodge and in the afternoon, you may embark on an optional visit to the Karisoke research center where you can visit the Dian Fossey Museum and also the graves of the Late Diane Fossey, an American primatologist who was murdered because she was protecting these endangered mountain Gorillas. Return for dinner and overnight stay at Tiloreza Volcanoes Eco Lodge (Midrange)/ Muhabura Hotel (budget)/Virunga Resort Inn & Spa Hotel (Luxury)
Day 6: Drive to Bwindi
Have breakfast at your lodge and then meet up with your driver guide. You will embark on a 5hours drive from Ruhengeri to Bwindi Impenetrable national park in Uganda. Have lunch en-route with a brief stopover along the way for you to take a few pictures of the beautiful sceneries. Arrive in Bwindi in the late afternoon for dinner and overnight stay at your lodge. Buhoma Community Rest Camp (Budget)/ Buhoma Haven Lodge (Midrange)/ Mahogany Springs Lodge (Luxury)
Day 7: Gorilla Trek in Bwindi and Optional Batwa Cultural Tour
After an early morning breakfast, you will depart with your packed lunch and proceed to the park headquarters for briefing and take to the forest for gorilla trekking! Your child can spend that time at the hotel or in the company of guide as they visit around. Gorilla Trekking can take an hour or four depending on the movement of the gorillas.
The time remaining after visiting the gorillas can either be spent relaxing and remembering the trek or you can do an optional trek to visiting local Batwa communities in the area. Dinner and overnight at Mahogany Springs Lodge (Luxury)/Buhoma Haven Lodge (Midrange)/ Buhoma Community Rest Camp (Budget) as above
Day 8: Drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park & Evening Game Drive
On the 8th day of your 14 Days Rwanda and Uganda, After having breakfast at your lodge, you will meet your driver guide and drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park with lunch en-route to the park. Arrive in the park late afternoon and check into your lodge. Dinner and overnight stay at Pumba Safari Cottages (Budget)/ Elephant Hub (Midrange)/ Elephant plains Lodge (Luxury)
Day 9: Lion Tracking Experience/ Morning Game Drive & Afternoon Boat Cruise
After your breakfast, you will set off to an early morning Lion tracking experience/game drive where you will track lions in the park with a team of expert researchers and park ranger. This activity takes approximately 1-4 hours depending on the location of the lions. You will also enjoy a short game drive where you stand a chance to encounter other animals like buffaloes, elephants, waterbuck, Uganda Kob, and other types of antelopes. Then go back for lunch.
Afternoon, go for a 3 hours launch cruise along the Kazinga Channel into Lake Edward, this cruise will let you pass through a place of the highest concentration of hippos and you may also see many animals drinking at the water’s edge. The cruise also offers a good platform for photography, bird watching, and games. Dinner and overnight stay at as above Pumba Safari Cottages (Budget)/ Elephant Hub (Midrange)/ Elephant plains Lodge (Luxury)
Day 10: Drive to Kibale National Park and Optional Bigodi Swamp Walk
After breakfast at your hotel, set off to transfer to Kibale forest national park in the western part of Uganda with stopovers to stretch. Arrive at your lodge in Kibale in time to check in and have lunch.
You can do an optional visit to Bigodi Swamp if you wish to explore in the afternoon. The reserve is abundant with butterflies, plants, animals, in particular, birds and primates. Spectacular birds like Great Blue Turaco and rare Papyrus Gonolek will be of great interest to birders. The swamp is also home to more elusive animals such as Red Colobus monkeys and Sitatunga antelope. There is also the opportunity to visit local community projects that have been financed by tourism. Dinner and overnight stay at Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse (Midrange)/Isunga lodge for budget/Chimpundu lodge for luxury
Day 11: Chimpanzee Trek
On the 11th day of your 14 Days Rwanda and Uganda, After breakfast, drive to Kibale park head offices for briefing about the chimpanzees. Enter the forest and start trek the chimpanzees in their natural habitat, its take 2-5 hours to find them and on finding them, you are allowed 1 hour to be in their process as they swing from the branches in the canopy high above the forest floor. Have lunch at your lodge and spend the rest of your afternoon relaxing. Dinner and overnight stay at Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse (Midrange)/Isunga lodge for budget/Chimpundu lodge for luxury
Day 12: Drive to Murchison Falls National Park and Drive to Top of the Falls
Have an early breakfast and meet up with your driver guide. You will then embark on about a 6hours’ drive to Murchison Falls National Park located in northern Uganda and with lunch enroute to the park. Arrive in Murchison in the late afternoon and check into your lodge before heading out to view Top of the Falls. Get up-close views of the world’s most powerful waterfalls-Murchison Falls. Later head back to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay at Parkside Safari Lodge (Budget)/ Pakuba Safari Lodge (Midrange)/ Paara Safari Lodge (Luxury)
Day 13: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise
A full day of game viewing at Murchison; begin with a morning game drive, on the lookout for elephant, buffalo, giraffe, antelope, lion, leopard and jackal. If luck is really on our side, we may encounter one of Murchison’s few cheetahs.
In the afternoon, you will take a boat trip to the base of the 43m high falls. This is also a good opportunity to spot a few of Murchison’s 460 bird species including the shoebill stork and goliath heron. You will also see one of Africa’s densest hippo and crocodile populations. Dinner and overnight at Parkside Safari Lodge (Budget)/ Pakuba Safari Lodge (Midrange)/ Paraa Safari Lodge (Luxury) as above.
Day 14: Rhino Trekking at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and Drive to Kampala.
Have an early breakfast at the lodge and drive to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for rhino trekking where you will have an up-close encounter with white rhinos. Rhino trekking can take 1-2½ hours depending on the location of the rhinos. Make sure to wear long trousers and a good pair of hiking boots in order to have a good experience especially since the area is bushy.
After your rhino tracking experience, you will embark on a return journey to Kampala/Entebbe with lunch enroute. Upon your arrival in Kampala/Entebbe, your driver guide will drop you off at a hotel of your choice or at Entebbe Airport in order to board your night flight back home. End of Tour!
