13 Days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari
This 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari is an amazing primate and wildlife adventure that starts from Kampala Uganda and ends in Kigali Rwanda. The safari will take you to Murchison falls national park where you will be able to view different animals including buffaloes, lions, elephants, leopards, waterbucks among others, Kibale forest national park also known as the primate capital where you will be able to spend time with the chimpanzees, Queen Elizabeth national park where you will be able to view different animals like buffaloes, elephants, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, bushbucks, lions, leopards, warthogs, hippos among others during the game drive and boat cruise on Kazinga channel. The 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari will also take you to Lake Bunyonyi which is the deepest lake in Uganda, Bwindi impenetrable national park and Volcanoes national park where you will be able to spend time with the endangered mountain gorillas and golden monkeys in their natural environment.
Highlights of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari
Day 1: Pick up and transfer to the hotel in Entebbe
Day 2: Transfer to Murchison falls national park
Day 3: Morning game drive and afternoon boat cruise
Day 4: Transfer to Kibale national park
Day 5: Chimpanzee trekking and transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park
Day 6: Morning game drive and afternoon boat cruise
Day 7: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
Day 8: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park
Day 9: transfer to Lake Bunyonyi-boat cruise
Day 10: Transfer to Volcanoes national park
Day 11: Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park
Day 12: Golden monkey trekking and Ibyi’wacu cultural tour
Day 13: Departure to Kigali
Detailed itinerary
Day 1: Pick up and transfer to a hotel in Entebbe
Depending on your location in Kampala on the first day of 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, you will be welcomed by our driver guide who will brief you about the safari and then transfer to a hotel in Entebbe for dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Transfer to Murchison falls national park
After breakfast on day 2 of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to start the journey to Murchison falls national park. On your way you will have a stopover at Ziwa rhino sanctuary for rhino tracking and then proceed with another stopover for en-route lunch. After lunch you will continue the journey with great views of the beautiful scenery, landscape, farmlands among others and upon arrival you will drive directly to the top of the falls where you will enjoy views of the waterfall, beautiful scenery, water splashes, listen to roars of the waterfall among others. From the top of the falls, you will drive to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Morning game drive and afternoon boat cruise
Morning game drive,
After an early breakfast on day 3 of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, your driver guide will pick you up from the lodge to go for a morning game drive where you will be able to see animals like buffaloes, Uganda kobs, warthogs, elephants, Jacksons hartebeest, giraffes, waterbucks among others grazing in the open savannah plains, view predators like lions, leopards, hyenas before they go back to their hiding areas, view different birds among others. After the game drive you will return back to the lodge for lunch.
Afternoon boat cruise,
After lunch you will drive to Paraa jetty landing site for an exciting boat cruise to the bottom of the falls. During the boat ride which takes about 2 hours you will have spectacular views of the beautiful scenery, hippos and Nile crocodiles in water, elephants, buffaloes, warthogs, antelopes along the shores, water birds like kingfishers, bee-eaters, cormorants, fish eagles among others. After the boat cruise you will meet up with your driver guide and return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Transfer to Kibale national park
After breakfast on day 4 of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Kibale national park in western Uganda. It’s a whole day journey and on the way you will have en-route lunch and stunning views of the traditional homesteads, local people, beautiful scenery, views of the Rwenzori Mountains, crater lakes, tea plantations among others. Upon arrival in the park you will check into the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 5: Chimpanzee trekking and transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park
Chimpanzee trekking,
After an early breakfast on day 5 of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a chimpanzee trekking briefing. After the briefing you will be grouped into 6 people, allocated a chimpanzee family to trek and a park guide who will lead you into the forest during trekking. Chimpanzee trekking is an interesting activity that starts at 8:00am and takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on where the chimpanzees are located because they like to move from one place to another in search of food especially during the dry season. During trekking you will be able to see other primates like red tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, grey cheeked mangabey, vervet monkeys, view some bird species, mammals, plants species among others. Once the chimpanzees are found you will be able to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat which gives you an opportunity to learn about their behaviors, habits, watch them feed, play, fight, hunt, mate, take photos and record the moments. After the one hour with the chimpanzees you will trek back to the park headquarters where you will meet up with your driver guide and transfer to the lodge for lunch.
Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park
After lunch you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park. On the way you will enjoy great views of the crater lakes, tea plantations and upon arrival you will check into the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 6: Morning game drive/ lion tracking experience and afternoon boat cruise
Morning game drive,
After an early breakfast on day 6 of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, your driver guide will pick you up from the lodge to go for a morning game drive or lion tracking experience in Kasenyi plains. During the game drive you will have great views of animals like buffaloes, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, giant forest hog, elephants, bushbucks, lions, leopards, hyenas, views of different bird species among others. After the fascinating game drive you will return to the lodge for lunch.
Afternoon boat cruise,
After lunch you will go for an exciting boat cruise which is carried out on Kazinga channel a 40km long channel that connects Lake Edward and Lake Gorge. The boat ride starts at around 2:00 pm and rewards you will breath-taking views of large concentrations of hippos and crocodiles in water, views of elephants, buffaloes, warthogs, antelopes along the shores, water birds like kingfishers, fish eagles, hornbills, cormorants, bee-eaters among others. After the boat cruise which takes about 2 hours you will drive back to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 7: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
After breakfast on day 7 of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park via Ishasha sector where you will be able to view the tree climbing lions lazily laying up in tree branches during the game drive if you are lucky. After the game drive, you will have lunch and then continue to Bwindi impenetrable national park and upon arrival you will check into the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 8: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park
Gorilla trekking experience,
After an early breakfast on day 8 of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, you will carry packed lunch and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing about the rules, regulations and expectations of gorilla trekking. After the briefing you will start trekking in the jungle with an experienced park guide who is well conversant with gorilla trekking trails. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park takes about 2 to 7 hours depending on where the gorillas are located because they like to move from one place to another in search of food. During trekking you will be able to view other primate species like l’hoest monkeys, baboons, bird species, mammals, different plant and tree species among others. Once the gorilla family is located you will be able to spend one hour with the gorillas where you will get an opportunity to watch them carry out their daily activities, learn about their behaviours, habits, take photos and record the breath-taking moments to show people back home. After the one-hour experience, you will trek back to the park headquarters where you will meet up with your driver guide and return back to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 9: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi-boat ride
On day 9 of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, you will have breakfast at leisure, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to start the journey to Lake Bunyonyi which is the deepest fresh water lake in Uganda. upon arrival you will go for an amazing boat ride where you will be able to explore the 29 islands, enjoy stunning views of the highlands, terraced farmlands, water birds among others. After the boat ride, you will drive to the lodge for lunch where after you will spend the rest of the day relaxing at the lodge or engage in optional activities like zip lining, guided nature walk, cultural tour among others.
Day 10: Transfer to Volcanoes national park
After breakfast on day 10 of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Volcanoes national park. On the way you will have en-route lunch and enjoy great views of the scenery, rolling hills among others. Upon arrival in Volcanoes national park, you will check into the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 11: Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park
Gorilla trekking experience
On day 11 of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, you will have an early breakfast, carry your lunch box and later meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a gorilla trekking briefing. After the briefing, you will be subdivided into groups of 8 people where each group will be allocated a habituated gorilla family to trek and an experienced park guide. Trekking of mountain gorillas in Volcanoes national park takes about 30 minutes to 6 hours depending on where the gorilla family/group is located because they like to move from one place to another in search of food. During trekking you will be able to spot other primates like red tailed monkeys, vervet monkeys, different bird species among others and once the mountain gorillas are located, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their environments which gives you an opportunity to learn more about their habits, behaviours, watch them carry out their daily activities like feeding, playing, resting, breastfeeding, grooming young ones, take photos and record videos.
After the one hour with the mountain gorillas, you will trek back to the starting point where you will meet up with your driver guide and return to the lodge for an evening relaxation dinner and overnight as above.
Day 12: Golden monkey trekking and Ibyi’wacu cultural tour
After an early breakfast on day 12 of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, you will carry your lunch box and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a golden monkey trekking briefing. After the briefing, you will be allocated a habituated golden monkey group to trek and an experienced park guide who is conversant with trekking trails in the forest. Trekking of golden monkeys in Volcanoes national park takes about 30 minutes to 5 hours depending on where they are located because they like to move from one place to another in search of food. Once the golden monkeys are located, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their environments which gives you an opportunity to learn more about their habits, behaviours, watch them play, feed, jump up in tree branches take photos and record videos.
After golden monkey trekking, you will return to the starting point where you will meet up with your driver guide to go for an exciting Ibyi’wacu cultural tour where you will be able to interact with the local people, learn about their culture, way of living, enjoy their traditional performance among others. After the cultural tour, you will return to the lodge for dinner and overnight as above.
Day 13: Departure to Kigali
On the last day of the 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari, you will have breakfast at leisure, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer back to Kigali. Upon arrival, you will go for a short Kigali city tour where you will be able to visit the genocide memorial centre, Kimironko market, art centres among others. After the city tour, you will have lunch and later your driver guide will drop you off at Kigali international Airport for your departure flight/ drop of at your hotel depending on your schedule.
End of 13 days Uganda Rwanda wildlife safari
Tour includes
- Chimpanzee trekking permit
- Gorilla trekking permit
- Lion tracking experience
- Rhino tacking
- Top of falls drive
- Golden monkey trekking permit
- Park entrance fees/ game drives
- Boat cruise fees
- Professional English speaking driver guide
- Full board accommodation
- Ground transfers (in a 4WD vehicle)
- Vehicle and fuel
- Bottled water
Tour excludes
- International air flight tickets
- Visas
- Optional activities not included on the itinerary
- Life insurance
- Personal expenses like buying souvenirs, crafts, drinks, laundry services, hiring a porter, tips among others.