7 Days Uganda Primates and Wildlife Safari
7 Days Uganda Primates and Wildlife Safari
This 7 days Uganda primates and wildlife safari starts and ends in Kampala. The safari will take you to Lake Mburo national park in western Uganda where you will engage in a game drive and boat cruise. You will later continue to Bwindi impenetrable national park in southwestern Uganda where you will participate in a breathtaking gorilla trekking activity which will help you spend time with the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. From Bwindi impenetrable national park you will connect to Mgahinga gorilla national park for golden monkey trekking and Batwa trail experience where you will be able to know about the Batwa or pygmies. You will wrap up the safari with a tour at Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale where you will engage in canoeing and have spectacular views of the beautiful scenery, terraced farmlands among others.
Highlights of the 7 days Uganda primates and wildlife safari
Day 1: pick up and transfer to Lake Mburo national park
Day 2: Morning game drive and boat cruise
Day 3: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
Day 4: Gorilla trekking transfer to Mgahinga gorilla national park
Day 5: Golden monkey trekking and Batwa trail experience
Day 6: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
Day 7: Departure to Kampala
Detailed itinerary
Day 1 of the 7 days Uganda primates and wildlife safari
Arrival and transfer to Lake Mburo national park, depending on your arrival time at Entebbe airport on the first day of the 7 days Uganda primates and wildlife safari, you will be welcomed by our driver guide who will brief you about the safari and then start the journey to Lake Mburo national park. Lake Mburo is one of the smallest national parks in Uganda but rich in biodiversity, on your way you will pass via the Equator where you will take photos, buy souvenirs like art pieces, painting, craft items like sandals among others. From the Equator you will proceed the journey with en-route lunch and upon arrival you will check into the lodge, have dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Morning game drive and afternoon boat cruise
Morning game drive, after breakfast on the second day of your 7 days Uganda primates and wildlife safari you will meet up with your driver guide and go for the morning game drive in the park. During the game drive you will follow different tracks like the Zebra track, Kazuma track among others which will offer you great views of animal species like giraffes, bushbucks, reedbucks, oribi, zebras, buffaloes, topi, waterbucks, elands, impala among others along the road and bird species like the black bellied bustard, Abyssinian ground hornbill, grey crowned crane, rufous bellied heron among other. After the game drive you will drive back to the lodge for lunch.
Boat cruise, after lunch you will go for an interesting boat cruise on Lake Mburo. The scheduled boat cruise starts at around 2:00pm and takes about 2 to 3 hours ride. during the boat cruise you will be able to view animals such as buffaloes, antelopes, warthogs among others along the water banks, hippos and Nile crocodiles in water, aquatic bird species such as blue headed weaver , herons, shoebill stork, malachite kingfisher, African fish eagle, pied kingfisher, rufous long tailed starling among others. After the boat cruise you will drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
On the third day of the 7 days Uganda primates and wildlife safari, you will have breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park in south western Uganda. On your way you will have en-route lunch and great views of Kigezi hills, landscape, beautiful scenery, homesteads, smiling people, terraced farmlands among others. Upon arrival in the park you will check into the lodge, have dinner and overnight
Day 4: Gorilla trekking and transfer to Mgahinga gorilla national park
Gorilla trekking, after an early breakfast on the fourth day of the 7 days Uganda primates and wildlife safari you will carry packed lunch, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing about the rules and regulations of gorilla trekking. After the briefing you will be put in a group of 8 people where each group will be allocated a gorilla family to trek and a park guide who is well conversant with trails in the jungle. Grouping of individuals is done according to age, physical fitness and personal preference because gorilla trekking is done in strenuous areas therefore in case you are not physically fit you are advised to communicate to your driver guide so that they allocate you a gorilla family that is easy to trek.
Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park starts at around 8:00am and takes about 30 minutes to 7 hours depending on where the gorillas are located, during trekking you will have views of bird species such as handsome francolin, Rwenzori batis, strange weaver, dusky twinspot, primates like l’hoest monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, chimpanzees, blue monkeys, mammals like forest elephants, giant forest hog, bushbucks, duikers, plant and tree species among others. Once the mountain gorillas are found you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat which gives you an opportunity to learn about their lifestyle, behaviors, watch them carry out their daily activities like feeding, breast feeding, take photos, record videos among others. After the one hour with the gentle giants you will trek back to the park headquarters where you will be awarded a certificate for participating in gorilla trekking, meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Mgahinga gorilla national park. The journey takes about 4 hours drive and upon arrival you will check into the lodge, have dinner and overnight.
Day 5: Golden monkey trekking and Batwa trail experience
Golden monkey trekking, after an early breakfast on the fifth day of the 7 days Uganda primates and wildlife safari, you will meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Ntebeko park headquarters for a briefing about the rules, regulations and expectations of golden monkey trekking. After the briefing you will be allocated a golden monkey family to trek and a park guide who will be sharing information about the golden monkeys and also conversant with trails in the forest. Golden monkey trekking is an interesting and active activity that takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on where the golden monkey family is located because the golden monkeys like to move from one area to another in search of food.
During golden monkey trekking you will follow trails of leftover bamboo leaves, shoots and once they are found you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural environment. During the one hour you will be able to learn more about their lifestyle, behaviors, watch them jump up in tree branches, take photos and record the moments to show people back home. After spending one hour with the golden monkeys, you will trek back to the starting point where you will meet up with your driver guide and transfer to the lodge for lunch.
Batwa trail experience, after lunch you will go for Batwa trail experience in the forest where the Batwa used to live before the forest was gazetted into a national park. The Batwa trail tour will be led by the Batwa themselves and the walk begins with a prayer by Batwa guides who will be begging the spirits to keep everyone safe during the forest walk. During the Batwa trail experience you will learn about different plant species which were used to cure different diseases like fever, diabetes, learn how they used to make cups from bamboo, listen to their ancient stories, visit Garama caves which used to be the Kings Palace, food store and hiding area by the Batwa. The Batwa trail experience will end with entertainment through traditional dance, music and drama from Batwa men and women. After the Batwa trail experience you will meet up with your guide and drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 6: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
On the sixth day of the 7 days Uganda primates and wildlife safari, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale district. Lake Bunyonyi is the deepest lake in Uganda and second deepest lake in Africa, the journey takes about 2 to 3 hours drive and is filled with views of beautiful scenery, smiling people, Kigezi hills, farmlands among others. Upon arrival you will check into the lodge for lunch and relaxation.
Boat cruise, after lunch you will go for an amazing boat cruise on the lake. Boat cruise on Lake Bunyounyi is done in a dugout canoe and during the boat ride you will be able to explore some of the 29 islands, have views of different animal like zebras, bird species like grey crowned crane, African king fisher, herons, African harrier hawk, slender billed baglafetch, white tailed monad, local people, terraced farmlands, view beautiful landscapes, enjoy the cool breeze among others. After the boat cruise you will drive back to your lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 7: Departure to Kampala
After an ultimate breakfast on the last day of the 7 days Uganda primates and wildlife safari, you will check out of the lodge and your driver guide will pick you up to start the journey to Kampala. On your way you will have a stopover in Mbarara town for lunch and then continue the journey to Kampala where you will reach early evening and upon arrival your driver guide will drop you off at Entebbe international airport in case you have a flight to catch or drop off at any place of convenience.
End of 7 days Uganda primates and wildlife safari
Tour includes
- Gorilla trekking permit
- Golden monkey trekking
- Batwa trail experience
- Park entrance fee
- Boat cruise fees
- An English speaking driver guide
- Full board accommodation
- Pick up and drop off
- Vehicle and fuel
- Bottled water
Tour excludes
- Air flight tickets
- Visas
- Optional activities not included on the itinerary
- Personal expenses like buying souvenirs, crafts, alcoholic drinks, laundry services, hiring a porter, tips among others.
