7 Days Gorilla & Chimpanzee and Wilderness Safari in Uganda

After a welcome breakfast at 6:30 am, you drive south through lush, varied scenery, from savannah woodlands and plains to shrubby vegetation. After about an hour you visit the Equator and take photos in the northern and southern hemispheres. You stop in Mbarara for a one-hour lunch break, then continue to the beautifully terraced hills of the Kigezi Highlands and on to the territory of the gorillas near Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. You have an early dinner and a briefing from your guide about the gorilla trek, then overnight at your lodge.

You wake early to the humming sounds of this ancient jungle for breakfast. With your packed lunch, you attend the pre-trek briefing from the rangers, who tell you what to expect in the jungle. The trek may last anywhere from three to eight hours, depending on where the gorillas are resting, so good physical stamina is needed, and the trek will test your fitness. Local porters can be hired, at extra cost, to carry your backpack and camera gear, which supports the surrounding community and gives you personal help through the forest. Once you are within earshot of the mighty mountain gorillas, your energy is revived. When your ranger locates the gorilla family, your group has a full hour to observe and photograph the scenes before you. Then your rangers and group head back to the lodge. At dinner you talk about your jungle experiences with other travellers. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi is a memory to last a lifetime. You overnight at the lodge.

The sweet melodies of the jungle creatures set the pace for the day. After breakfast you travel to Ishasha, in the southern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park, looking for tree-climbing lions on a game drive. Tree-climbing lions are found in only a few places in Africa. After lunch you set out on an evening drive to the Katwe area for beautiful scenery. On the way back you may see nocturnal creatures not usually seen on the morning drives. You overnight at a lodge in the park.

You wake at 6:30 am to warm up with a hot cup of tea, then have a hot breakfast before climbing into the vehicle for the day’s safari. The drive takes you through herds of buffaloes, elephants and a variety of antelope species, and your guide keeps looking for the big cats as they hunt. You have lunch at the Mweya Peninsula, where you are likely to be joined by warthogs. After lunch you head to the jetty for a two-hour cruise along the Kazinga Channel, about 32 kilometres long, which connects Lake Edward and Lake George. The channel is home to a large population of hippos wading in the cool water, and buffaloes and elephants may be seen beating the afternoon heat on the banks. Many bird species are seen along the channel, and the boat’s captain will also be watching for the elusive monitor lizards. You overnight at the lodge.

After breakfast you drive out of Queen Elizabeth National Park, with spectacular views of the Rift Valley and of the “Mountains of the Moon”, the Rwenzori Mountains. You have lunch at your accommodation. In the evening you go on a nature walk to the “Top of the World”, which offers excellent photo opportunities and unique scenery. You overnight at a lodge near Kibale.

After a good breakfast you start your search for the forest’s inhabitants in Kibale National Park. You spend half the day in this rich forest, with great sights of colobus monkeys and baboons. You walk over the flat landscape, listening to forest birds, as you search for the chimpanzees, our closest relatives and an endangered species. Your senses are on alert as you see, feel, hear and smell the forest, with beetles and beautifully patterned butterflies along the way. Chimpanzee sightings can’t be guaranteed. In the afternoon you visit Bigodi Swamp for a community walk. It is a great outing for birders, and it helps local people conserve their environment. You will have fantastic photo opportunities and a sense of a different landscape in Uganda. You overnight at the lodge.

After breakfast you leave Kibale and travel to Fort Portal, passing large tea estates and banana plantations. You then drive on to Nyakasura to see the legendary Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru, which literally means “the breasts of Mwiru’s mother”. Its stalagmites and stalactites carry great history and culture that define the people of the Tooro Kingdom. You drive back to Kampala with lunch en route, and you are dropped at the airport.