8 Days Gorillas and Chimps of Uganda Tour Package

Duration: 8 Days / 7 Nights
Priced From: $8,105 pp.dbl.occ.
Dates: Jan - Dec

Itinerary

Day 1 Fly USA to Entebbe (Via Dubai)

Fly overnight (Via Dubai) to Uganda.

Day 2 Arrive Entebbe

Today you arrive at the newly refurbished and modern Entebbe International Airport, where we will meet you and transfer you to your hotel for a welcome drink and briefing.

Day 2 Kibale Forest National Park

In the morning, you are transferred to a nearby airstrip for your flight to Kasese airstrip, where you are met and transferred to your lodge.

Kibale Forest is 766-square-kilometer tropical rain forest is the natural habitat for an amazing 12 primate species, and contains the highest primate density of an area on Earth. Here, on a guided forest walk, you may find families of Chimpanzees and Red Colobus Monkeys chattering and swinging through the ancient forest trees. Some of the trees are 50 to 60 meters (150 to 180 feet) in height, and provide a majestic canopy for the profusion of rain forest life, including 325 bird species. Even though you may only rarely see them, the park is home to the largest population of Forest Elephant in Uganda, and is also home to Buffalo, Uganda Kob, Genet, Civet, Waterbuck and Bushbuck. This afternoon we go for our first guided walk through this fascinating forest.

Day 3 Kibale Forest National Park

This morning we take another guided walk through the forest, following the well-marked trails. After lunch we visit a nearby forest swamp that is excellent for viewing more primates and other forest animals.

Day 4 Kibale Forest National Park to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

This morning we travel to a nearby airstrip to take an air charter to the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. On arrival, we are welcomed to our camp. The rest of the afternoon is at leisure to relax or explore. After dinner, we retire for the night, lulled to sleep by the sounds of one of Africa’s most incredible natural environments. 

Day 5 and 6 Gorilla Tracking

The next two days activities may be amongst the most exciting and challenging of our entire expedition. The Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi are part of a worldwide population of just 600 individuals. The gorillas we are allowed to track belong to either one of two habituated family groups. For up to five years each, these groups have undergone an extremely delicate process that has gradually brought them to tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period every day and allowed a few privileged visitors to interact with them in the wild.

The gorillas are by no means tame, and are completely wild animals. However, experienced guides will accompany us on our tracking, many of who have been involved in the habituation process themselves. The guides will use their knowledge of the gorillas’ habits and information from the previous day to locate the group’s whereabouts.

Because of this, the time taken to track the gorillas varies enormously, from as little as half an hour to as much as 9 hours before one returns to camp. Once the gorillas are located, our group will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them. This is one of the world’s truly memorable experiences – a look into one of these magnificent creatures eyes brings home the bond that exists between them and us. It also brings home the poignant fact that they are on the edge of extinction, and that our presence here contributes to ensuring their continued survival. The hour is often over all too quickly, and we slowly make our way back to camp to recount the day’s adventures.

Day 7 Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to Entebbe

Today we fly back to Entebbe. Huge vistas that open up on our one-and-a-half-hour journey belie Uganda’s small size. We see in the distance the hills and plains of Rwanda and Tanzania and the Rift Valley dropping away from us towards Lake Edward and the Congo. Below us rolling ranchland soon gives way to dry scrub and gigantic wetlands just before our final approach over Lake Victoria.

On arrival we are transferred back to Kampala where we have the afternoon at leisure.

Day 8 Fly Entebbe to USA (Via Dubai)

Today you are transferred to the airport for your onward flights back to the USA.

Hotels

Entebbe

• Emin Pasha

• Primate Lodge

• Gorilla Forest Camp

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