Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary

The 5-Day Gorilla-Chimpanzee Trekking Safari begins early. Depart your Hotel in Kampala at 6:30 am for Kibale Forest.  This is a 5-hour plus drive from Kampala – 6 hours from Entebbe. We are heading West toward Fort Portal and Uganda’s famed Explosion Crater Lakes region. Kibale Forest is the place in Uganda where West and Central Africa’s jungles meet East Africa. Afternoon – Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary Hike.  This is a guided 3-hour hike through a Jungle Swamp. Much of it is on planks like a boardwalk above the swamp.  Your experienced guide is from the local community that has maintained the Wetlands for many years, with thousands visiting each year. During the Afternoon, you might spot Chimpanzees, Colobus Monkeys, also baboons.  The area is well-known for birds. The chief attraction is the Blue Turaco. When it comes to Mammals, you can see otters, bush pigs, mongoose, and the rare Sitatunga Antelope, to name a few.

Kibale Forest National Park

The alternative is the all-day Chimpanzee Habituation Experience. That begins early in the morning and lasts until the late afternoon. Please Note – Chimpanzees are on the move foraging for Food, so it's not for everyone. The regular 3½ hours long Chimpanzee Trekking begins with an orientation at 8 am afterward. You are led into the forest where the chimpanzee group will be found. This is determined by pre-trackers who go out at the crack of dawn looking for the group. There are almost 1,500 chimpanzees in Kibale Forest. They primarily seek out fruit for their diet. Also, ants eat with a stick and are responsible for significantly reducing the forest’s red-tailed monkey population, hunting them down in packs. Chimpanzee communities can have over 100 members. They have a social structure that centers on relationships, with males as alphas and females in family groups. Hearing their hooting calls is common in the wild and observing their behavior can give insight into their daily habits.

Kibale National Park

After Lunch, we take the Top of the World Hike, where you pass by three crater lakes, and go through villages, tea plantations, and vanilla plantations. At the top of the Hill, you have splendid views of Crater Lakes, the Rwenzori Mountains of the Moon, Queen Elizabeth Park, and beyond. The Hike is about three hours in length. A moderate fitness level is required. The views of the scenic Crater Lakes, Kibale Forest, the Rwenzori Mountains of the Moon, and even Queen Elizabeth Park make it well worth the effort.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

After an early breakfast, we leave for Ruhija region of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Much of the journey takes us through Queen Elizabeth Park. This is a six-hour drive, and we stop for lunch. We arrive in the midafternoon at Lake Mulehe Lodge, where you can relax and chill out or take a pleasant boat ride or paddle a dugout canoe on Lake Mulehe. The lodge was formerly called Bwindi Jungle Lodge, but the name was changed to reflect Lake Mulehe. If you have selected the Gorilla Habituation Experience, Rushaga is the only location to participate in that activity.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Breakfast and pick your packed lunch. As to what to wear, the full instructions are found here. After a meeting at park headquarters, your assignment to a gorilla family, you are off into the Impenetrable Forest. Be sure to use a porter. It will help to free you on the trek. The trek itself can be between 3 to 5 hours or even longer, depending on the gorilla family’s location on that day. You will spend one hour with them, a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most. You are within 6 meters of a gorilla family, and you get to observe how they live, what they eat, and the emotions they express. After getting your share of pictures just by spending time observing the gorillas, it is that which will remain long after you return home. Gorilla Trekking is well worth the money and time invested by you to be with the Gentle Giants of the Forest in Bwindi. After the trek, we move to Lake Bunyonyi for relaxation and exploration.

Mabamba Swamp Shoebill Watching Entebbe

Lake Bunyonyi is the perfect place to relax and take in the peaceful, serene ambiance. The lake’s surface is as smooth and reflective as glass because it has little to no wave action. The green and lush terraced hills surrounding Bunyonyi shield the lake from high winds. Over 200 bird species have been identified here, making it a bird enthusiast’s heaven. Even if you aren’t a birder, will be entertained watching the activities of both the little and giant birds. Lake Bunyonyi is just not a tourist destination. Towns on its shores include Kyevu and Muko, and boats frequently carry villagers back and forth across the lake. If you have a 3 hours here, you can take a guided boat tour to see some of Bunyonyi’s 29 islands and catch a glimpse of local life. And surprise – there a few zebras on privately-owned Kyahugye Island, brought here from Lake Mburo National Park.

Green Equator Masaka Rd

After Breakfast, we return to Kampala, driving through the evergreen countryside of Uganda. Stopping for lunch and at the Equator for snaps. Reach Kampala/Entebbe in the late afternoon. Option: Add another day to this safari. Spend a day at Lake Mburo National Park, which eases the drive time to Kampala or Entebbe. Lake Mburo Park is the best location in Uganda for Zebras, the large Eland Antelopes, plus Biking in the park. Our 5-Day Primate Safari ends here.