6 Days Primates & Wildlife of Uganda

Tour details

Duration: 6 days

Best for: Travellers with six days who want both a chimpanzee and a gorilla trek, plus a game drive for balance

Group size: Private tour, your group and your guide

Travel style: Safari, Chimpanzee tracking, Gorilla trekking, Primate trekking

Introduction

Six days. Two primate treks. One country that holds half the world's remaining mountain gorillas. This itinerary is built for you if your time is short but your priorities are clear: gorillas, chimps, and a taste of the savanna in between.

You'll fly into Entebbe and drive roughly 6 hours to Kibale Forest, with a lunch stop in Fort Portal. Kibale holds 13 primate species, including chimpanzees, colobus monkeys, L'Hoest's monkeys, and grey-cheeked mangabeys. Your chimp trek runs about 3 hours on average. You must be 12 or older to join, and you'll trek in a group of 6. Sessions start at 8:00am and 2:00pm.

After your morning chimp trek, you'll head back to your lodge for lunch, then transfer to the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Ishasha is known for tree-climbing lions. You'll also see buffalo, elephant, topi, kob, and several monkey species on the plains. From there, you'll drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for your gorilla trek.

On this journey, you will explore the following highlights:

Chimpanzee Tracking

Kibale Forest National Park – The Primate Capital

Ishasha (Queen Elizabeth National Park)

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – Home of the Mountain Gorillas

Gorilla Tracking - The Ultimate Wildlife Encounter

Cultural Encounters – Meet Uganda’s Communities

Day to day programme

Day 1: Arrive in Entebbe

Your driver-guide meets you at Entebbe Airport and takes you to your hotel, a 10 to 30 minute drive. This same guide stays with you for the rest of the trip. Bed and breakfast included.

Budget: Papyrus Guest House. Midrange: Boma Guest House, 2 Friends Guest House, or Best Western Hotel. Upmarket: Hotel No. 5 or Lake Victoria Serena Resort.

Day 2: Drive to Kibale Forest National Park (6 to 7 hours)

After breakfast, you'll drive through the Western Rift Valley's Albertine Escarpment, past farmland and homesteads in the Bunyoro and Toro Kingdoms. On a clear day near Fort Portal, you'll see the snowcapped peaks of the Rwenzori Mountains, known locally as the Mountains of the Moon.

Kibale holds 13 primate species and over 325 bird species, including the rare green-breasted pitta. You'll check in at your lodge in the afternoon, then head out for a nature and bird walk through Bigodi Swamp. This wetland is run by the local community and funds youth employment through guiding work. Dinner and overnight at your lodge. Full board.

Budget: Kibale Guest Cottages. Midrange: Turaco Tree Tops. Upmarket: Crater Safari Lodge, Chimpundu Safari Lodge, or Primates Lodge.

Day 3: Chimpanzee trekking, then transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park

After breakfast, you'll head to the park headquarters at Kanyanchu for a 30 to 40 minute briefing on chimpanzee behavior and forest ecology. Then you'll set out to find them. Once you do, you get one hour to watch, film, and photograph them.

Along the way, you may spot L'Hoest's monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, blue vervet monkeys, and black and white colobus monkeys, plus forest elephants and buffalo. After the trek, you'll return to your lodge for lunch, then transfer to the Ishasha sector, home to Queen Elizabeth's tree-climbing lions.

Budget: Enjojo Lodge, tents. Midrange: Enjojo Lodge, cottages. Upmarket: Ishasha Wilderness Camp.

Day 4: Ishasha game drive, then transfer to Bwindi (approximately 5 hours)

An early morning game drive gives you your best shot at the tree-climbing lions. In the afternoon, you'll drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, home to Uganda's mountain gorillas. Full board.

Budget: Ride 4 a Woman, Bakiga Lodge, or Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge. Midrange: Buhoma Haven Lodge, Gorilla Safari Lodge, or Engagi Lodge. Upmarket: Mahogany Springs Lodge, Bwindi Lodge, or Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge.

Day 5: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi

This is the day you came for. After breakfast, you'll head to park headquarters for briefing, the exact location depends on which sector your lodge is in. Bwindi has 4 trekking sectors: Buhoma and Ruhija in the north, Rushaga and Nkuringo in the south.

Finding the gorillas can take 2 to 5 hours, depending on where they were last seen. Once you're with them, you get one hour to watch and photograph the family, and to ask your guides questions. The full activity, start to finish, runs 5 to 9 hours. Pack a lunch and hire a porter. Both make a real difference on a long trek day.

If time allows, you'll visit the Ride 4 a Woman project in Buhoma, where local women teach visitors basket weaving and other craft work. Dinner and overnight at your lodge. Full board.

Day 6: Bwindi to Entebbe (8 to 9 hours by road, or 1.5 hours by air)

After breakfast, you'll drive back to Entebbe with stops for lunch and photos at the Equator. You'll be dropped at the airport for your onward flight.

Prefer to fly? You'll transfer to the airstrip in Kihihi or Kisoro for a domestic flight to Entebbe with Aerolink Uganda, then connect to your international flight.

What you'll do

Private game drives in Queen Elizabeth National Park and the Ishasha sector.

Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest.

A nature walk through Bigodi Swamp.

Community activities in Bwindi.

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What's included

Includes

• Accommodation on a full board basis
• One gorilla permit per person
• Park entrance fees
• Internal domestic flights
• A private guide for every activity on the itinerary
• All transfers listed above

Excludes

• Drinks
• Gratuities
• International flights
• Travel insurance
• Visa

Accommodations

During the trip, you will stay at:

Entebbe: Papyrus Guest House, Boma Guest House, 2 Friends Guest House, Best Western Hotel, Hotel No. 5 or Lake Victoria Serena Resort, bed and breakfast.

Kibale Forest: Kibale Guest Cottages, Turaco Tree Tops, Crater Safari Lodge, Chimpundu Safari Lodge or Primates Lodge, full board.

Ishasha sector: Enjojo Lodge tents, Enjojo Lodge cottages or Ishasha Wilderness Camp, full board.

Bwindi: Ride 4 a Woman, Bakiga Lodge, Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge, Buhoma Haven Lodge, Gorilla Safari Lodge, Engagi Lodge, Mahogany Springs Lodge, Bwindi Lodge or Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge, full board.

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