5 Days Uganda Wildlife & Gorilla Trekking Safari

5 Days Uganda Wildlife & Gorilla Trekking safari is a tour to the famous Uganda National Parks like Bwindi impenetrable & Queen Elizabeth National park. Bwindi impenetrable national park is one of the best Ecosystems in Africa located in the south-western part of Uganda in Kanungu district bordering DRC and Rwanda. This park is best known for harboring half of the mountain gorillas that exist in the world today making it the best destination for gorilla trekking in Uganda and Africa at large.

On the other hand, Queen Elizabeth National Park is the second-largest park in Uganda after Murchison falls which is the biggest. Queen Elizabeth national park covers 1,978 Km2 of land in the western part of Uganda. The Park obtained its name after the Royal visit of Queen Elizabeth II of England.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is well known for having beautiful fauna and flora thus attracting several visitors throughout the year who come into Uganda to explore the beauty hidden in the pearl of Africa. The major attractions in Queen Elizabeth national park are the Tree climbing lions which are found in the Ishasha sector, leopards, zebras, hippos and crocodiles on the Kazinga channel crocodiles, buffalos, several bird species, primates and insects among others. A drive from Bwindi impenetrable national park to Queen Elizabeth national park takes around 3-4 hours.

A combined 5 days Bwindi impenetrable national park and Queen Elizabeth national park trip will offer you the best sightings of several mammals including the tree-climbing lions, primates including gorillas, birds such as shoebills, reptiles like lizards, butterflies, and plenty of savanna grassland and tropical forest.

Highlights of the 5 Days Uganda Wildlife & Gorilla Trekking safari

Day 1: Transfer to Bwindi
Day 2: Gorilla Trekking
Day 3: Transfer to Queen
Day 4: Game Drive & Boat Cruise
Day 5: Return To Kampala

Detailed Itinerary

DAY 1: Transfer from Kampala to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Transfer to Bwindi: On the 1st day of your 5 Days Uganda Wildlife & Gorilla Trekking Safari, you will be picked up from your hotel in Kampala or from Entebbe international airport or anywhere around Kampala City as communicated by your tour guide/driver and start the journey at around 8:00 am heading to Bwindi passing through the Kampala- masaka-mbarara- kabale road.
Igongo Cultural Center: Make a stop for lunch at Igongo Cultural Centre in Mbarara. Your driver will then drive you direct to Bwindi where you will check in at Buhoma haven lodge, freshen up, have your dinner and overnight

Day 2: Gorilla trekking

Gorilla Trekking: Wake up at around 5:30am, enjoy your breakfast, pack your lunch box provided at your lodge then meet with your driver who will take you to the headquarters for a briefing before you start the journey to trek the mighty gorilla. At exactly 8:00am, a trained game ranger will lead you through various trails in the thick blush and tall impenetrable forest in search of a habituated Gorilla family that is used to humans. This trail takes around 2-5hours depending on your speed and the location of the gorilla family. Once a certain gorilla family is reached, you will be given only one hour with these primates interacting with them as you learn their behaviors such as feeding habits, breastfeeding, and copulation and many more. During the Gorilla trekking, keep your eyes open in the forest for the possibility of spotting a variety of wildlife including over 200 different tree species, 120 mammals including elephants, frogs, over 350 bird species and butterflies.
Community Tour: After trekking, meet up with your driver who will take you back to the lodge, freshen up and go for a community encounters. During the community encounter, you will be able to meet the Batwa clan who are the shortest people in Uganda as they demonstrate for you about the life they used to live in the forest and how they used to obtain food through hunting and gathering in the impenetrable forest. You will enjoy the entertainment by the Batwa people as they sing and dance for you their traditional song and there your will close your day with smiles and return to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Day 3: Transfer to Queen – Tree climbing lions

Transfer to Queen: Arise in the morning, have your breakfast served, check out of the lodge then meet up with your driver at around 8:00 am to start your journey from Bwindi impenetrable national park to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Along the way, your driver will be explaining everything to expect in Queen Elizabeth national park. After a 3 – 4 hours’ drive, you will arrive in Queen Elizabeth National Park, check-in at park view hotel, enjoy your lunch, have a cool bath and
Tree Climbing lions Experience: …..join your driver for tree climbing lions which are found in the southern part of the park in ishasha sector. You will see the lazy lions hanging in the tree branches as they hide away from the hot ground and the flies that bite them.
Evening Game Drive: After watching these lion’s, proceed for an evening game drive where you will spot some lions in the eastern parts of kasenyi plains and some Nocturnal mammals as they come out of their hideouts in search of food in the park. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Day 4: Game drive and evening boat cruise

Game Drive: On the fourth day of your 5 Days Uganda Wildlife & Gorilla Trekking Safari, be ready to see a lot of wildlife in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Wake up at around 5:30 am, enjoy your breakfast and meet with your driver to start. Around 6:30am in Kasenyi plains where there is congestion of variety wildlife. This drive offers greater opportunities for spotting the Nocturnal mammals before they return to their hideouts. Several herbivores such as buffalos, elephants, and Uganda kob will also be seen as they graze in the fresh green bushy grassland of kasenyi plains. This game drive will take between 5-6hours. After the game drive, return to the lodge for lunch and warm up for an evening boat cruise on the Kazinga channel which is located in the Mweya Peninsular.
Boat Cruise: Evening boat cruise starts at 2:00 pm and you will be cruising on the Kazinga channel which is home to several Hippos so be sure to see more than enough of them yarning and bath along the Kazinga channel. Several herds of herbivores such as Buffalos, Uganda Kob, Elephants and many more are also seen along this channel as they quench their thirst. After the boat cruise, drive back to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

5 Days Uganda Wildlife & Gorilla Trekking safari

Day 5: Transfer to Kampala – Equator

Return to Kampala: This is the last day of your trip. Wake-up at around 7:00am, have your breakfast at the lodge then check out of the lodge , meet your driver to start your journey heading to Kampala with a stopover in Mbarara town at Igongo cultural center for lunch break. After lunch, proceed with your journey to Kampala where your driver will make another stop at the equator for experiments and beautiful photographs then continue straight to Kampala where your driver will return you to the lodge where you were picked on your first day of the 5 Days Uganda Wildlife & Gorilla Trekking safari or to the bus stop to proceed with your next destination or to the airport in case you want to depart the country.
Brief City Tour: You will arrive in Kampala late in the evening and in case you are sleeping in Kampala or nearby areas, then your driver can take you for an evening city walk around Kampala streets, Nakasero market and then return you to your lodge and your trip will be done. The drive from Queen Elizabeth to Kampala is about 6-7hrs

End of the 5 Days Uganda Wildlife & Gorilla Trekking safari

5 Days Uganda Wildlife & Gorilla Trekking safari Itinerary includes:

Park entrance fee
Ugandan gorilla permit
A full board accommodation for two nights at Buhoma haven lodge
A full board accommodation for two at Park view lodge
Meals as per the itinerary
Enough bottled drinking water
A 4×4 trip vehicle with fuel
A tour guide
Boat cruise
Game drive both morning and evening

The itinerary excludes

All the travel expenses such as visa and air tickets
Laundry
Tips
Juices and Alcoholic beverages
Airtime
Life insurance