Overview
Suggesting a 20 days Rwanda, Uganda gorilla and Wildlife adventure safari means you’re to experience adventure in both countries. This trip will start in Kigali the capital of Rwanda goes through notable Rwanda tourist destinations, cross to Uganda and will end at Entebbe in Uganda. This border crossing safari has one of the special adventure encounters which only remained here including gorilla trekking, golden monkey and chimpanzee tracking, wildlife game drives and boat cruise, incredible people and many encounters. The trip will start from Kigali goes to Nyungwe, Akagera, Volcanos and crosses to Uganda to Mgahinga, Bwindi, Lake Bunyonyi, Queen Elizabeth, Lake Mburo and Kampala.
Trip summary
- Day 1: Arrival in Rwanda Via Kigali International Airport
- Day 2: Kigali City Tours
- Day 3: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park
- Day 4: Chimpanzee Tracking
- Day 5: Transfer to Akagera National Park
- Day 6: Akagera Game Drive and Boat cruise
- Day 7: Transfer to Volcanos National Park
- Day 8: Golden Monkey Tracking and Dain Fossey
- Day 9: Cross the Border to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
- Day 10: Hike Mount Sabinyo
- Day 11: Batwa Community Visit and Transfer to Nkuringo
- Day 12: Gorilla Trekking (Nkuringo)
- Day 13: Explore and Relax at Lake Bunyonyi
- Day 14: Transfer to Ishasha (Queen Elizabeth National Park)
- Day 15: Queen Elizabeth Game Drive and Kazinga Wild Boat Cruise
- Day 16: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park
- Day 17: Lake Mburo Horse Riding and Boat Cruise
- Day 18: Game Drive and Transfer to Kampala
- Day 19: Kampala City Tour
- Days 20: Take a tour to Entebbe and Drive to Entebbe International Airport
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Rwanda via Kigali International Airport
Today you will arrive in Rwanda via Kigali International Airport. Upon reaching Kigali, Early Trail Expeditions Uganda representative will be ready to receive you. Note that this representative will be your driver guide your other days to spend in Rwanda. Then will transfer to your lodge hotel in Kigali and relax after such a long flight. Dinner and overnight will be at your hotel
Accommodation (midrange): Hotel Villa Portofino Kigali
Day 2: Kigali City Tours
Start your adventure day with an astonishing Kigali city tour visiting some incredible and historical sites. Among the places you will consider visiting include; Kigali genocide memorial museum, visit the local markets like Kimironko market and drive through some streets of Kigali. Kigali is considered the cleanest city in African. Take a city tour alongside your lunch en-route and will go into shopping malls and make all the shopping you would prefer for your trip. Then return to your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation (midrange): Hotel Villa Portofino Kigali
Day 3: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park
This morning comes with a vibe driving to the Nyungwe to experience some of the Central African remnants. Nyungwe is located south of Kigali on border of Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo. This is a special is home to variety of wild species among which being a primate hub with about 13 primate species recorded at the park. Nyungwe forest retains the best experience of watching chimpanzees in Rwanda. Reaching these hyped tropical mountains will take an afternoon canopy walk on a swinging suspension. This is a world class canopy walk which leaves wanting more of the swings and walks overhead loftier trees. Then will check-in at your lodge for dinner and overnight
Accommodation (Midrange): Chimpanzee Lodge
Day 4: Chimpanzee Tracking
This morning after energizing with breakfast, will rush to the tracking point. Consider trekking in the morning session, Chimpanzee tracking at Nyungwe forest leads into the tea leaves contours, thick forests, bamboos, according to the trip kind of chimpanzee group to track. Chimpanzees at Nyungwe are habituated and trackers have a chance for a close-up encounter. The track can last between 30 minutes to about 3 hours searching for apes into the deep of the forest. And finding them, you have a limit of one hour in their presence.
And at the afternoon hours following your lunch refreshments will take a nature walk through the tea plantation for bird watching. The walk can last for about 2 to 3 hours and will return to your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation (Midrange): Chimpanzee Lodge
Day 5: Transfer to Akagera National Park
Today is a full day drive while transferring from Nyungwe Forest National Park southwards of Kigali to Akagera National Park eastwards of Kigali. The journey takes a full day driving with an en-route in Kigali for lunch. Reaching the park will just check-in at your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation (midrange): Akagera Game Lodge
Day 6: Akagera Game Drive and Boat cruise
Wake up under an open arrays of sunrise, and will consider a morning breeze while watching several of the animals in the East African savannah stretcher. A morning game drive through the savannah, and swampy landscapes of Kagera along the Akagera River. Expect to watch of some the big five like lions, rhinos, elephants, buffalos, and many other animals like antelopes, zebras and giraffes and so many animals makes the drive very effective.
Then, en-route for lunch and take an afternoon boat cruiser on Lake Ihema watching crocodiles, hippos, several water birds like shoebill stork, kingfisher among others. Then will return to your lodge for dinner and overnight
Accommodation (midrange): Akagera Game Lodge
Day 7: Transfer to Volcanos National Park
This day embark on a cozy drive from Akagera National Park to returning back to Kigali and accelerate your drive northwards to Volcanos National Park. Along the drive, you will enjoy a rare scenic view of rolling landscapes, this continues rolls are based on to call Rwanda a land of a thousand hills. The drive will last for about 7 hours, and reaching with lunch en-route that can maybe be done in Kigali. Reaching the park it’s late afternoon or evening already will check-in at your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation (Midrange): Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge
Day 8: Golden Monkey Tracking and Dain Fossey
Today will embark into the forest to search and seek the forest for the amazing and beautiful golden monkey tracking at Volcanos National Park. Volcanoes National Park accommodates a reasonable number of golden monkeys which are endemic to the Virunga Conservation Area. The golden monkeys are habituated though they are shy with human presence, but trackers can get closer to them. The track can last between 30 minutes to 3 hours and finding the monkeys you have an hour in their presence.
Afterwards will re-launch your moves to return to your starting point, relax and take a drive to Karisoke research center for a narrative study on Dian Fossey and history of gorilla conservations. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation (Midrange): Da Vinci Gorilla Lodge
Day 9: Cross the Border to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Today take an incredible drive through Katuna border and cross the border to Uganda’s Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. The two parks of Volcanos and Mgahinga share on the same feeder the Virunga Conservation Areas.
Accommodation (midrange): Mount Gahinga Safari Lodge
Day 10: Hike Mount Sabinyo
Your adventure is initially getting challenged with a volcanic hiking. Energize with breakfast and packed with your lunch, enough drinking water and hiking boots, will take a hike to Mt Sabinyo (3,669m) Volcanos. The hike to the summit of the volcano takes about 8hours and have to be prepared. With a lead of the guide will embark to trek through various formed hiking trials. This will lead through valleys, slopes, and hills of bamboos and tropics alongside various wildlife views including monkeys, and several birds.
Accommodation (midrange): Mount Gahinga Safari Lodge
Day 11: Batwa Community Visit and Transfer to Nkuringo
Today consider reaching to one of the Batwa community to explore the unique of these lonely people. The people in 1991 the government evicted the Batwa and never replaced them anywhere. These people however were gathered and now do entertainment programs to earn a living especially to travelers interested in trekking the mountain gorillas. Afterwards with lunch eb-route will take a drive to Nkuringo sector south of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Reaching the sector will check-in at your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation (midrange): Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge
Day 12: Gorilla Trekking (Nkuringo)
A plus of the morning breakfast, drive to the starting point for the briefing and grouping. All that start at 7:30am get assigned to an armed and roll into impenetrable rolling landscape hiking through the inflatable thick terrain of the forest. Remember to wear long pants, jungle boots, carry at least 1 litter of drinking water and rain proof gears. Nkuringo sector is known to the most challenging trekking section due to thick forests and will tilted landscape. The trek can last 30 minutes to 6 hours, walking and searching for the endangered giants. Gorilla are followed considering where they had their previous night, and meeting them, trekkers have an hour before them. Watching gorillas is one of the few mesmerizing moments in the wild, looking face to face with the silverback you realized these are really human closest relatives. After seeing the gorillas you will return to the starting point, enjoy your relaxed lunch and take a rest at your lodge.
Luxury: Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge
Day 13: Explore and Relax at Lake Bunyonyi
Today, take an early morning drive to this gorgeous historical Lake Bunyonyi. This lake is the 2nd deepest lake in Africa, and jeweled with a simple and unique landscape view. Reaching at the lake you will take a boat ride to one of the islands. Then will check-in at your lodge and relax under the melodies of many small birds like the name suggests. Dinner and overnight at your lodge.
Midrange: Bunyonyi Overland Resort
Day 14: Transfer to Ishasha (Queen Elizabeth National Park)
This morning following your scenic breakfast at the balcony of your lodge, will board for long journey drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will reach the park in afternoon hours at Ishasha sector. With lunch en-route will take a moment, but consider a lunch en-route along the drive. Then will check-in at your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation (midrange): Elephant Plain Lodge
Day 15: Queen Elizabeth Game Drive and Kazinga Wild Boat Cruise
This morning you will set for a drive after breakfast to Kasenyi for the morning game drive. Kasenyi is the bleeding zone for several wildlife in Queen Elizabeth National Park, enjoy hundreds of Uganda Kobs at the entrance of Kasenyi at the mating grounds. It’s an opening of watching lions, elephants, buffalos, warthogs, bushbucks, duikers among so many others species.
Refresh with your lunch and take an afternoon boat cruise at from Mweya peninsular on Kazinga channel. This is one of the rewarding wild boat cruise that exposes you to variety of both water and land species. Along your cruise will watch crocodiles lousily laying on the shores, hippos back almost hitting your boat, monitor lizards, and other many land mammals coming to draw water at the river banks, and many of the bird species. Dinner and overnight
Accommodation (midrange): Elephant Plain Lodge
Day 16: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park, Night Game Driver
Today following the served tailored breakfast, will take a drive to Lake Mburo National Park. The drive is about 6 hours of driving with lunch en-route via Mbarara. You’re expected to reach Lake Mburo by evening hours, just have to relax for exciting night hours. At night at 7pm will take a guided night game drive on torches and make a night jungle hunt for the special encounters. This drive is an opening to find prides (either leopards or lions) actively hunting. Along a number of animals of which some are seen relaxed among which can he zebras, giraffes, buffalos, eland, Impalas among so many. Then will return back after for about 2 and half hours for your dinner and overnight.
Accommodation (Midrange): Arcadia Cottages
Day 17: Lake Mburo Horse Riding and Boat Cruise
This morning is started with a delicious breakfast, then drive to Mihingo lodge and do a horse ride. The wild horse ride is one exciting thing which brings you close to nature and its treasures. The absence of elephants in Lake Mburo makes it possibly easy to do wild horse rides. The horse rides takes various trails and rates according to the desires of the guest. After the horse ride, will refresh with lunch and take an afternoon boat ride on Lake Mburo. The boat ride is very rewarding with various animal encounters including buffalos, highest concentration of Impalas and many other considerations. Returning to your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation (Midrange): Arcadia Lodge
Day 18: Game Drive and Transfer to Kampala
This morning we served with a delicious breakfast, then take a morning game drive through various driving trackers. The drive is very rewarding with joy of nature, the drive will have a stopover at the Eqautor for photographs. Then will continue and en-route to Mabamba swamp and do some birding activities on the canoes with a main aim of watching several birds particularly a shoebill stork. Then after will drive straight to Kampala and check-in at your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation (Midrange): Golf Course Hotel
Day 19: Kampala City Tour
This second day in Uganda, you will first master the art of excitements within the capital. Kampala capital is greater numbers of tourist spots, but will take a drive to the Uganda Museum, Kasubi tombs and Old Kampala Mosque for an aerial view of Kampala. Can it be perfect for you to experience the Kampala night hours, this is a guided trip to one of the clubs, casinos or even take a simple night city walk.
Accommodation (Midrange): Golf Course Hotel
Days 20: Take a tour to Entebbe and Drive to Entebbe International Airport
This day take your relaxed morning breaker, it’s a day to meditate and prepare all what you still need and buying what you would not want to remain. Can go to one of the book shops buy yourself a book about Uganda, or buying a souvenir at the cultural village center. Then will take a drive to UWEC and watch these beautiful animals comparing with their natural appearances in parks. Then your driver will drop you at Entebbe International Airport for your flight back home.
On behalf of Early Trial Expedition Uganda, our driver guide will say goodbye to you. Then, take your flight back to your home. We believed after this trip you become our next ambassador for Early Trail Expeditions Uganda in your country and area. Thank you!
Trip inclusive;
- 4×4 safari vehicle
- All trip fuel
- All meals and soft drinks
- All Park entrances
- All planned trip activities
- Gorilla permits
- Chimpanzee permit
- Golden monkey permits
- Community visit
- Volcano hiking
- Accommodation
- Driver guide
- Community visits
Exclusive;
- Visa and air ticket
- Laundry
- All hard drinks
- Souvenirs
- Tips
- All international flights
