5 Days Bwindi Gorilla Trekking + Chimps in Kibale National Park Tour
Safari Overview
Uganda 5 Days Gorilla Trekking And chimpanzee tracking kibaleThis safari offers you a live experience of the world’s biggest primates, mountain gorillas and chimpanzees in the jungle. You visit Uganda’s prime destinations – Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for mountain gorilla tracking and Kibale National Park for Chimpanzee tracking and 11 other primates. You drive through Queen Elizabeth National Park on your transfers.
Day 1: Kampala-Bwindi
Our guide/driver picks you at 8:00 am from your hotel or place of residence in Kampala. Drive to Mbarara (283km from Kampala) via Masaka. Make a first stop over at Equator crossing for snacks and photography. Proceed with a visit to Igongo Cultural village this is more rewarding and amazing as you visit the Ankole museum. Lunch break is made at Agip Motel Mbarara. After lunch, drive to Bwindi. This is the lushest highland rain forest on earth, filled with primates and exotic birds, valleys, hilltops and papyrus swamps. Overnight at Ruhija Gorilla Friends Camp/ Buhoma Community Restcamp/ Gorilla Valley Lodge/ Travellers Rest Hotel Kisoro (lower budget)
Moderate: Gorilla Resort Bwindi/ Silverback Lodge / Gorilla Safari Lodge/ Lake Kitandara Camp/ Lake Mutanda Resort/ Chameleon Hill Lodge
Up-market: Buhoma Lodge/ Mahogany Lodge/ Rushaga Gorillas Safari Lodge)
Meal Plan Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 2: Gorilla Trekking Bwindi
Begin the day with breakfast ready for trekking, which begins at 8:00 a.m with a briefing from the UWA staff. Ensure to carry along with you rain jacket, drinking water, snacks, jungle boots etc The guides will lead you inside the jungle to see the shy Primates for a group you have been booked for. Do not forget to take your lunch boxes and all the necessary gear to track the rare Mountain Gorilla, perhaps one of the most exciting wildlife experiences on earth. The tracking may take between 2 and 6 hours but it’s well worth the effort. The afternoon is spent on a foot safari birding around the Bamboo for the Handsome Francolin White-starred Robin, Red-throated Alethe, Dusky Crimson wing Grauer’s Warbler and many other birds around the park. Overnight at Ruhija Gorilla Friends Camp/ Buhoma Community Restcamp/ Gorilla Valley Lodge/ Travellers Rest Hotel Kisoro (lower budget)
Moderate: Gorilla Resort Bwindi/ Silverback Lodge / Gorilla Safari Lodge/ Lake Kitandara Camp/ Lake Mutanda Resort/ Chameleon Hill Lodge
Up-market: Buhoma Lodge/ Mahogany Lodge/ Rushaga Gorillas Safari Lodge)
Meal Plan Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3: Bwindi- Kibale National Park
Early morning after breakfast we continue driving through the undulating highlands of southwestern Uganda on our way to the greener and beautiful Fort Portal area. Traveling on both asphalt and unpaved roads, you pass through traditional Ugandan Villages where you see people at work tending their traditional crops of millet, sorghum, beans and maize. The lush rolling hills of this region provide good “photo opportunities”. As you approach Fort Portal in the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains, you enter Uganda’s famous tea plantation region. A carpet of green spreads before you, as far as the eye can see, and seems an unusual contrast to the countryside through which you have just passed.
Overnight and dinner at Ndali Lodge/ Kyaninga Lodge/ Kibale Forest Lodge/ Primate Lodge (Luxury Lodge facility) or
Kibale Forest Camp (in rooms)/ Mountains of the Moon Hotel (mid-range moderate facility) or
or Chimpanzee Forest Guest house/ Kibale Forest Camp in tents/ Rwenzori Travellers Hotel (Budget facility)
Meal Plan Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4: Chimpanzee tracking, Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary
Assemble at Kanyankyu River camp at 0800hours to go for the most popular activity in this park which is Chimpanzee tracking. Chimpanzees are man’s closet cousins though they are one of the most threatened primate’s species. More primates like Black and white Columbus monkeys, L’Hoest Monkeys, Grey cheecked Mangabey, Red tailed monkeys, bush babies, pottos and many bird species like the yellow spotted nicator, rumped tinker bird, Little greenbul, green breasted pitta, the crowned eagle, black bee eater and mammals like Elephants can be seen in this walk.
Kibale National park, which averages about 3,300 feet in elevation, is an extension of the great rainforests of central Africa. It is inhabited by three large “communities” of chimps, each numbering more than 100 individuals. Each community has a complicated social structure. The big adult males dominate the group and defend the community territory against incursions by male outsiders; the females usually wander in small family groups.
Typically, we locate the chimps by listening for their pant-hooting calls, then hustle to the area from which they are calling. We get to observe them as they feed in fruiting trees, lounge, and socialize with each other, or even, occasionally hunt.
In the afternoon we visit a nearby forest swamp that is excellent for viewing primates and other forest animals. At the Eastern edge of Kibale forest is Bigodi Wetland sanctuary which is maintained by the local community. You will expect birds like the great Blue turaco, blue monkeys, baboons, otters, mongoose, bush bucks, bush pigs and among others.
Overnight and dinner at Ndali Lodge/ Kyaninga Lodge/ Kibale Forest Lodge/ Primate Lodge (Luxury Lodge facility) or
Kibale Forest Camp (in rooms)/ Mountains of the Moon Hotel (mid-range moderate facility) or
or Chimpanzee Forest Guest house/ Kibale Forest Camp in tents/ Rwenzori Travellers Hotel (Budget facility)
Meal Plan Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Instead of a 3 hour chimp Tracking, you can do an all day Habituation Experience (US$ 220 per person). This experience can be done any time at Kibale Forest.
Day 5: Depart from the Chimps Trek Park Kibale, transfer to Kampala
Breakfast and head for Kampala with our packed lunch through Fort Portal and Mubende. This route travels through breathtaking scenery and delightfully rolling plantations, some of the best in Uganda, arriving Kampala in the afternoon.
The safari package to include:
Transportation by a 4 x 4 station wagon.
One Gorilla permit per person to be secured and paid for well in advance
Chimpanzee tracking permit in Kibale
Accommodation and meals as per the itinerary
Park fees
Driver/guide subsistence allowance.
Enroute lunches
Ranger guide fees
However, the package excludes expenses of personal nature like: drinks, laundry, tips, telephone, cigars, etc.