10 Days In the Pearl of Africa

Upon arrival, you will be met by a Luxury Africa representative at Entebbe airport and then assist with check in for your onward scenic flight to the Kihihi airstrip. Touch down you will be transferred to your permanent tented campsite in the heart of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, enjoy a leisurely evening at Gorilla Forest Camp Sanctuary.

Today, trek through the park’s dense vegetation; Vehicles have never penetrated this forest. Trekking through dense forest with steep slopes means that visitors do need to be physically fit however gorilla trekking groups are assigned on fitness levels, so you can request a shorter or longer hike dependent on your preferences. In a group of 8, you will set off in the jungle and your guides use their experience, knowledge of the gorillas’ habits and information from the previous day to locate them. Once you have found the gorillas, you will be allowed to spend an hour with them. Keep your camera in silence and observe a 10 meters’ distance from the gorillas and keep your mask on at all times. It worth the slight physical discomforts, though, for the reward of a face-to-face encounter with one of the most endangered animals on the planet. Observe their subtle social interactions and remarkable behaviors closely resembling our own. After such a surreal experience , you will be driven back to the lodge for relaxation.

Psychologists say that experiencing an activity more than once is more memorable than a single event. With packed lunch, set off from the same trailhead this morning, but walk towards a different habituated gorilla troop. Remember each gorilla group has different behaviors so expect something unique from this group, from the number and makeup of individuals to their behavior and social structure.  After the thrilling experience, you’ll be driven back a relaxing evening at the lodge or an evening community walk.

For the next few days, you’ll have almost 2,000km2 of pristine national park at your fingertips and barely anyone to interrupt your view. The park has a variety of wildlife species such as elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, lions, and many others. After breakfast, you will travel to Queen Elizabeth National Park passing through the Ishasha sector which is home to tree climbing lions. When you arrive, have lunch at the lodge and go for a late afternoon game drive where you will be able to see the above animals and many more together with birds. Have dinner and an Overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge.

Wake up early, drive across the savanna and watch how it changes color with the rising sun. The morning game drive safaris in Queen Elizabeth National Park are full of praises, elephants come out of silhouette, antelopes gather in staggering numbers, and huge lumbering hippos charge towards the water. You will have more interesting sightings such as leopards, warthogs, lions and buffaloes. After this adventurous game drive, you will return to your lodge for relaxation. After lunch, you will go cruise down the Kazinga Channel alongside one of Africa’s densest concentrations of hippo. The hippos are not the only icon found along the water as this channel is the park’s lifeblood, the permanent source of goodness that all animals must stay close to. You’ll see large herds of Ugandan kob taking a drink, Nile crocodiles sunbathe on the banks while elephants disappear beneath the water, poking their trunks up like snorkels. Later, have a relaxing evening at the lodge.

After breakfast, you will drive to Kibale National Park, check-in at the lodge and later after lunch go for a walk in the visit Bigodi Wetland sanctuary were you will view more primates like the blue monkeys, baboons, otters, Bush bucks, mongoose, bush pigs and many more. After the community walk head to the lodge for overnight stay.

The most famous inhabitants of Kibale National Park, undoubtedly, are the chimpanzees, with over 1,500 protected within its borders. After breakfast at your lodge, transfer to Kanyanchu Tourist Center for a briefing on Chimpanzee tracking. With guides, set out to Uganda’s Kibale natural jungle, today as you spend a number of hours tracking these impressive creatures. You will be allowed to spend one hour with our mesmerizing relatives, as you observe them swing from one tree to another, feed, play about or progress speedily on the ground right in front of you. After trekking, drive back to the lodge.

Drive to Semliki and head to Bundibugyo and enjoy this spectacular drive with views of Lake Albert and the legendary Mountain Rwenzori ranges. On an afternoon game drive, you will explore the park’s antelopes and primates. In the night you will have a spot-lit game drive; you will search for leopards, the apex predator who loves to hunt for monkey troops. You will also see the thin white-tailed mongoose, very small nightjars plus several cats. Just follow the sounds, because the canopy dwellers make raucous noises to warn the rest. Spend the night at Aramanga Lodge located on an escarpment overlooking the Great Rift Valley, which is considered one of the most spectacular regions on the African continent.

After breakfast, you will go for an hour-long trail to the outer, “male” spring leads through a patch of forest where red-tailed monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys and black-and-white colobus monkeys are common. A tree house en-route provides an aerial view. Hike through palm forest from the main road to the inner, “female” spring, dominated by a boiling geyser. From here, you will proceed to visit the Batwa community. The Batwa’s hunter-gatherer lifestyle means they have always been dependent on Semuliki forest for food, shelter, medicine and tools, though this is beginning to change as a result of interaction with other local communities. Tourism offers an alternative source of income for the Batwa, and gives them the opportunity to maintain and display their rich cultural history through music and dance performances at Ntandi.

After breakfast, relax at hotel. Later you will you will fly to Kajjansi Airfield and drive to Entebbe Airport for your international flight.