Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Uganda Gorilla tour & Cultural safari

This safari item is found in Gorilla treks category.
Uganda Highlights Safaris (10 Days)

Day 1 ARRIVAL.
Meet and greet our guide who will transfer you for dinner and over night at Serena/ Sheraton /Holiday Express Hotel.

Day 2 MURCHISON FALL NATIONAL PARK – RIVER NILE CRUISE
Leave Kampala at 0800hrs. Drive through the famous Luwero triangle. Take a stop over at

Top of Murchison falls

Top of Murchison falls

Masindi hotel for lunch. We will continue through the park stopping at the top of the falls which is a fantastic sight. Here the Nile, the longest river in the world, is forced through a narrow gap in the rock (only 7 meters wide), before ferociously plunging down 43 meters. From here we will continue on, taking a ferry across the river to Paraa Safari Lodge. Game viewing on the way is very good; look out for hippos, elephants, buffalos and many other animals, seen grazing on the banks of the river. Overnight at a Luxurious Paraa Safari Lodge (Full Board)/ Nile safari Camp/ Sambiya River lodge/ Red Chillis Camp.

Day 3 Morning game drive and boat Trip
After a cup of tea, embark on an early morning game drive on the northern bank where your guide will help you spot elephants, lions, Cape buffalo, rothchild’s giraffes, hartebeasts, waterbucks, oribi, bushbucks, bohor reed bucks, hyenas, and on rare cases leopards. Return to the lodge for mid morning breakfast. Relax at the lodge. After lunch, you will take an afternoon trip to the foot of Murchison Falls. This boat trip along the Nile is often cited as being the highlight of a trip to Murchison since it allows you to get up-close and personal with the animals. Along this stretch of the river, there are reported to be around 4,000 hippos in addition to some enormous Nile crocodiles. The bird life is stunning with brightly colored kingfishers and bee-eaters darting along the riverbanks. If lucky, you may see the rare and prehistoric looking shoebill, which is a cross between the dodo and a dinosaur. The boat takes you to the base of the falls which only adds to their impressiveness.
Overnight at a Luxurious Paraa Safari Lodge (Full Board)/ Nile safari Camp/ Sambiya River lodge/ Red Chillis Camp.

Day 4 FORT PORTAL
After break fast, we will depart with our packed lunch to Kibale National park. Driving through the country side.  We will arrive Fort portal town in the late afternoon. Tonight you will overnight at primate lodge Kanyankyu (FB)/ Ndali lodge/ Kanyankyu tourist Centre.

Day 5 KIBALE NATIONAL PARK - QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
A relatively early morning start, to report to the ranger station in Kibale National Park at

Chimpanzees in Kibale

Chimpanzees in Kibale

08.00am to track habituated chimps – these delightful apes, more closely related to humans than to any other living creature, are tremendous fun to watch as they squabble and play in fruiting trees. The incredibly diverse forest is home to over 13 species of primates including red Colobus monkey, the rare L’Hoest, blue monkey, grey mangabey, pottos, black faced vervet monkeys, baboons and also bushbabies. A network of shady forest trails provides much to delight botanists and butterfly lovers, while birders are in for a treat with 335 species recorded including the endemic Prirogrine’s ground thrush. The elusive forest elephant, smaller and hairier that its savannah counterpart, moves seasonally into the developed part of the park, while other terrestrial mammals include buffalo, giant forest hog and a half dozen antelope species. After this wonderful experience, we will depart to Queen Elizabeth National park. Overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge (FB)/ Institute of Ecology.

Day 6 GAME DRIVES AND LAUNCH

This morning you will leave for early morning game drives. Expect to see various mammals like

Uganda antelope

Uganda antelope

buffalo, hippo, lions antelopes, hyenas among other species. We will return to the lodge for lunch and a chance to relax before taking an afternoon boat trip along the Kazinga channel. This will give you the opportunity to view wildlife up close: hippo’s huff and spray mere feet away from the boat, buffalo linger in the shallows. The shores of the channel are also home to an array of birds including pink backed pelicans, pied and malachite kingfishers, saddle billed stork and many others. After this wonderful afternoon, a slow drive back to the lodge. Overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge (FB)/ Institute of Ecology.

Day 7 BWINDI NATIONAL PARK
This morning, you will leave for Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. You will drive through the seasonal southern sector of Queen Elizabeth called Ishasha. Here we will take lunch by the Uganda Lion enjoying mealIshasha River and try to find the famed Ishasha tree-climbing lions before continuing to Bwindi, home to the few remaining mountain gorillas. Bird life and primate life in Bwindi is quite superb, and there is an incredible variety of flora. Bwindi is the Bird watchers haven! It holds 348 species of birds and supports 24 of 26 Albertine Rift Endemics that occur in Uganda; and seven red data book species. Once continuous with the forests of the Virunga Volcanoes (Dian Fossey’s stomping ground), Bwindi is now an ecological island, surrounded by cultivation on the rich volcanic soils. Overnight at Buhoma Hometead (FB)./Gorilla Resort camp/ Buhoma Community Bandas.

Day 8 FINDING THE GORILLAS – 5 PAX ONLY

Bwindi Mountain gorilla

Bwindi Mountain gorilla

Up relatively early for a hearty breakfast to give you the energy needed for gorilla tracking for 5 pax and the rest will trek the following day. Before 8:00 am report to the ranger station for registration and a talk by one of the rangers; the guides will then take you through the bush pushing your way through the undergrowth, parting thick creepers, to track the gorillas. (This trek can take from half an hour to 5 hours – a reasonable degree of fitness is required as well as a sturdy pair of walking shoes) Sit in the forest among the gorillas, listening to them grumble to each other, and marvel at the sheer size of the dominant male; the silverback. It is an extraordinary feeling sitting in the dense rainforest knowing you are with a few of the last remaining mountain gorillas. It’s amazing to think there are only about 650 of these beautiful creatures left. Overnight at Buhoma Hometead (FB)./Gorilla Resort camp/ Buhoma Community Bandas.

Day 9 MBURO NATIONAL PARK – KAMPALA
Transfer to Lake Mburo National park. You will have lunch in Mbarara and then proceed to the park fro an evening boat ride or a game drive. Dinner and over Mantana Luxury tented Camp/ Muhingo lodge/ Rwonyo Camp

Day 10 KAMPALA – ENTEBBE

Transfer to Kampala for a city tour from where you will taken to the airport for your next flight back home

Send Tour Inquiry

You can leave a trackback from your own site.