6-Day Primate Safari (Luxury)

Kampala – Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Early in the morning, our guide will pick you from your hotel and you’ll set off for Bwindi in the South West of Uganda. The first part of the journey takes you through central Uganda crossing the equator in Mpigi district on to Masaka then Lyantonde.

Following a stop in Mbarara for lunch you continue on to the last stretch through a gradually rising beautiful landscape of rolling hills fetching up in the picturesque highlands of Kigezi, famously nicknamed “The Switzerland of Africa“. Arriving at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in the early/late evening, you will check into the Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge or Mahogany Springs Lodge or Chameleon Hill Lodge.

Travel Time: 9 Hours
Activities: Scenic Drive
Meal Plan: Lunch and Dinner

Gorilla Tracking & Nature Walk

After a hearty breakfast, you will receive a briefing from the park guides on the dos and don’ts and then you’ll venture off into the forest. Tracking gorillas is an exhilarating experience taking you deep into the thick jungle and requires a modest level of physical fitness as it can take anywhere from 2-4 hours to find the gorillas. Once you have found the gorillas, you’ll be able to spend up to two hours with them! It is always best to hear from other visitors, and this is Stella and Trudy’s story:
“At a distance of about fifteen feet a mountain gorilla with her baby appears. She comes out of the bushes, looks at me and lies down. My presence does not seem to bother her. She just wants to rest, whether I am there or not. I can almost touch her. My heart dances with joy. I am in a good position to take pictures, so I let my camera do its work. It is the thrill of a lifetime. I cannot but agree with the American zoologist George Schaller, the first to study gorillas in the Virunga volcanoes, who once said: ‘No one who looks into the eyes of a gorilla, gentle and vulnerable, can remain unchanged.”
In the afternoon you’ll take a walk with a guide and visit the surrounding communities. You’ll meet and interact with the locals and immerse yourself in some of the traditional pastimes like cultural dances and storytelling. Returning to the lodge late in the day and settle in for a quiet evening, dinner and a good night’s sleep.

Activities: Gorilla Tracking & Nature Walk
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Bwindi - Queen Elizabeth National Park

After breakfast drive north to Queen Elizabeth National Park passing through the Ishasha sector of the park. Ishasha is dominated by acacia woodland and features the meandering Ishasha River, banked by a riparian forest and is most famous for tree climbing lions.

After a picnic lunch in Ishasha, drive northwards to the Mweya peninsula, arriving at the lodge in the late afternoon. The Mweya peninsula is located on the northern bank of the impressive Kazinga Channel at the convergence of the channel with Lake Edward. Your accommodation options are the quirky and rustic Ishasha Wilderness Camp or the more modern Mweya Safari Lodge.

Activities: Ishasha Game Drive
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Travel Time: 4.5 Hours

Game Drive & Launch Cruise & Drive to Kibale Forest

After an early breakfast, go for an early morning game drive in the park’s well maintained tracks. This drive provides excellent opportunities to see lions, leopards, warthogs, buffalo, elephants, waterbucks, Uganda kobs, topis, bush bucks and many more.
After lunch, take a rewarding scenic boat cruise down the channel which joins lakes George and Edward. You’ll cruise just meters from hundreds of enormous hippos and buffalos while elephants linger on the shoreline. You’ll return to the lodge and make trails for Kibale Forest.

The Kibale-Fort Portal area is one of Uganda’s most rewarding destinations to explore. The park lies close to the tranquil Ndali-Kasenda crater area and within half a day’s drive of the Queen Elizabeth, Rwenzori Mountains and Semuliki National Parks, as well as the Toro-Semuliki Wildlife Reserve.

Arriving at the park in the late afternoon, you’ll check into Ndali Lodge or Kyaninga Lodge and spend the rest of the day relaxing or take a leisurely walk in the surrounding area.

Activities: Game Drive, Launch Cruise & Scenic Drive to Kibale
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Travel Time: 3 Hours

Primate Tracking & Nature Walk

After breakfast, with a packed lunch in hand, you’ll receive brief instructions before setting out on the track of chimpanzees, other primates and the many animal species that make up the forest ecosystem.

Kibale Forest is the most accessible of Uganda’s major rainforests and yet home to a remarkable 13 primate species, including the red colobus and L’Hoest’s monkeys. You will also have the opportunity to track habituated chimps. These delightful apes, more closely related to humans than to any other living creature, are awesome to watch as they bicker and have fun in fruit trees. A network of shady forest trails provides much to engross botanists and butterfly lovers, while birders are in for a treat with 335 species recorded including the Prirogrine’s ground thrush.

After lunch, you’ll take a walk in Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary which is located outside the park in Magombe Swamp. Rich in biodiversity and beautiful scenery, the wetland is a birder’s paradise with about 138 species. It also hosts eight species of primates including the black-and-white colobus, grey-cheeked mangabey, red-tailed, l’Hoest’s and blue monkeys, and olive baboons. Bushbucks and mongooses can also be found here. The sanctuary was set up to preserve the exclusive environmental features along with the wetland and is managed by the local community.

Return to the lodge in the evening for dinner, delightful conversation, a good book and some zzzs.

Activities: Chimpanzee Tracking & Nature Walk
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Kibale – Kampala - Entebbe

After breakfast, you’ll hit the road and head back to Kampala. You’ll lunch in Kampala before heading out to Entebbe for your flight to Kilimanjaro.

Activities: Scenic Drive
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch
Travel Time: 5 Hours