9 Days Bwindi Gorilla Trekking and Kidepo Wildlife Safari
9 Days Bwindi Gorilla Trekking and Kidepo Wildlife Safari
9 days Bwindi gorilla trekking and Kidepo wildlife safari is a breathtaking and adventurous safari that will take you to the most visited national parks in Uganda that is Bwindi impenetrable national park, a national park that harbors the highest number of mountain gorillas in Africa. While in Bwindi impenetrable national park you will participate in gorilla trekking where you will be able to spend one hour with the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat and Batwa cultural experience an interesting activity that gives you an opportunity to interact with people who used to live in the forest many years ago. From Bwindi impenetrable national park, you will transfer to Kidepo national park one of the remote protected areas located in northern Uganda. Kidepo national park harbors abundant wildlife species such as giraffes, elephants, buffaloes, zebras, Uganda kobs, bush pigs, African hunting dogs, bat eared fox, cheetah, lions, leopards, bird species like ostrich among others and they can be viewed during the morning and evening game drive.
Highlights of the 9 Days Bwindi gorilla trekking and Kidepo wildlife safari
- Day 1: Pick up and transfer to a hotel in Kampala
- Day 2: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
- Day 3: Gorilla trekking and Batwa trail experience
- Day 4: Transfer to Kampala
- Day 5: Drive to Gulu
- Day 6: Drive to Kidepo and game drive
- Day 7: Game drive and cultural tour
- Day 8: Morning game drive and departure to Gulu
- Day 9: Transfer to Kampala
Detailed itinerary
Day 1: Arrival and transfer to a hotel in Kampala
- Arrival and transfer to a hotel in Kampala, depending on the time of arrival at Entebbe airport on day 1 of the 9 days Bwindi gorilla trekking and Kidepo wildlife safari, you will be welcomed by our driver guide who will brief you about the safari and then transfer to a hotel in Kampala. Upon arrival you will have lunch and then go for an optional city tour where you will visit different areas like the Uganda Museum, Bahai temple, Owino market, craft centers among others. After the city tour you will return to the hotel, have dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
- Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable: After breakfast on day 2 of the 9 Days Bwindi gorilla trekking and Kidepo wildlife safari, your driver-guide will pick you up from the hotel to start the journey to Bwindi impenetrable national park in the southwestern part of Uganda. It’s a whole day journey to Bwindi forest and on the way, you will have a stopover at the Equator in Kayabwe where you will buy souvenirs like art and crafts, art pieces, take photos among others. From the Equator, you will have another stopover at Igongo cultural center for lunch and after lunch, you will continue with the journey which will be filled with spectacular views of beautiful scenery, landscapes, Kigezi hills, terraced farmlands, smiling people among others. Upon arrival in the park, you will check into the lodge, have dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Gorilla trekking and Batwa trail experience in Bwindi impenetrable national park
- Gorilla trekking, after an early breakfast on day 3 of the 9 days Bwindi gorilla trekking and Kidepo 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 and regulations of gorilla trekking. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park is done in groups of 8 people where each group is allocated a gorilla family to trek daily and a park guide who will be sharing information about the gorillas as well as conversant with trails in the forest. Trekking of gorillas in the park takes about 30 minutes to 7 hours depending on where the mountain gorillas are location because they like to move from one place to another in search of food. During trekking, you will have great views of primates like chimpanzees, l’hoest monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, animals like bush pigs, forest elephants, buffaloes, bird species like dusky twinspot, regal sunbird, Rwenzori batis, cinnamon chested bee-eater, African harrier hawk among others. When the gorillas are found you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural environment which helps you to learn about their habits, behaviors, watch them carry out their daily activities like feeding, playing, breastfeeding, take photos and record videos. After the one hour with the gentle giants you will trek back to the park headquarters where you will be awarded a certificate for participating in gorilla trekking, meet up with your driver guide to return to the lodge for relaxation as you prepare yourself for an evening cultural tour.
- Batwa trail experience, in the evening you will go for Batwa trail experience in the neighboring communities around the park where you will visit the Batwa/ pygmies who used to live in Bwindi forest many years ago before the forest was gazetted into a national park. During the Batwa trail experience you will walk through the forest where the Batwa used to live, view different plant species which were used as medicine to cure various illness, visit the coffee and tea plantations where you will participate in tea harvesting and view the local people grinding, roasting, drying and packing coffee, taste local brew that is made from bananas. You will also be able to interact with the Batwa which gives you an opportunity to learn about their way of living, culture, tradition, visit their farmlands, village centers, homesteads, enjoy entertained through music, dance and drama from Batwa women, listen to ancient stories among others. After the community tour which takes about 2 to 4 hours you will drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Transfers to Kampala
- Transfers to Kampala: On day 4 of the 9 days Bwindi gorilla trekking and Kidepo wildlife safari, you will have breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet up with your guide to transfer to Kampala. On the way you will have en-route lunch in Mbarara town and great views of Kigezi hills, landscape, homesteads, roadside markets, terraced farmlands among others. Upon arrival your driver guide will drop you off at a hotel in Kampala.
Day 5: Transfer to Gulu
- Transfer to Gulu: After breakfast on day 5 of the 9 days Bwindi gorilla trekking and Kidepo wildlife safari, your driver guide will pick you up from the hotel to start the journey to Kidepo valley national park in northern part of Uganda. It’s a whole day journey to the park and on the way you will have en-route lunch and spectacular views of the beautiful landscape, scenery, homesteads among others. You will have a stopover in Gulu town and upon arrival you will check into the hotel, have dinner and overnight.
Day 6: Drive to Kidepo national park
- Drive to Kidepo national park: After breakfast on day 6 of the 9 days Bwindi gorilla trekking and Kidepo wildlife safari your driver guide will pick you up to proceed with the journey to Kidepo valley national park which takes about 3 to 4 hours drive. On the way you will have scenic views of the beautiful landscapes, hills, manyatas, seasonal rivers among others and upon arrival in the park you will check into the lodge and have lunch. After lunch you will relax and prepare yourself for an evening game drive where you will have great views of sunset, animals like giraffes, buffaloes, elephants, zebras, lions, waterbucks, bushbucks, take clear photos among others. After the evening game drive you will return to the lodge, have dinner and overnight.
Day 7: Morning game drive and afternoon cultural tour
- Morning game drive, after an early breakfast on day 7 of the 9 days Bwindi gorilla trekking and Kidepo wildlife safari you will meet up with your driver guide to go for a morning game drive where you will be able to view predators like lions, cheetahs, leopards, other animals like bush duikers, jackal, buffaloes, elephants, bushbucks, giraffes, zebras, bird species like ostriches, Kori bustard, yellow barbet, dark chanting goshawk, purple heron, yellow billed shrike, little green bee-eater, Karamoja apalis among others. After the game drive you will drive back to the lodge for lunch. During the game drive you will drive to the Narus valley, a permanent water body in Kidepo valley national park that attracts large concentrations of wildlife species such as elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, waterbucks, Uganda kobs, warthogs, hippos, big cats hunting, bird species among others. After the game drive you will return to the lodge for lunch.
- Cultural tour, after lunch you will go for a cultural tour to the neighboring communities where you will visit the Karamojong people. You will interact with the Karamojong which gives you an opportunity to know more about their lifestyle, culture where they marry many wives depending on the number of cattle you own, way of living, visit their homesteads which are known as manyatas, enjoy their traditional performances in form of dances and songs among others. After the interesting cultural tour you will meet up with your driver to transfer back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 8: Morning game drive and transfer to Gulu
- Game drive, after breakfast on day 8 of the 9 days Bwindi gorilla trekking and Kidepo wildlife safari, your driver guide will pick you up from the lodge to go for another game drive in the savannah woodland. During the game drive you will visit Kanangorok hot spring where you will have great views of the mountains, animals, get an opportunity to interact with different people who come to pay homage, offer sacrifices and seek blessings from the hot springs among others. From the hot springs you will drive shortly in the park to view some animals that you might have missed during the previous game drive and then return to your lodge for lunch.
- Transfer to Gulu, after lunch you will check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Gulu town in the northern part of Uganda. On the way you will have spectacular views of the beautiful landscape, homesteads, smiling people among others and upon arrival you will check into the hotel, have dinner and overnight.
Day 9: Departure to Kampala
- Departure to Kampala: On the last day of the 9 days Bwindi gorilla trekking and Kidepo wildlife safari, you will have a relaxed breakfast and your driver-guide will pick you up from the hotel to transfer to Kampala. You will have en-route lunch on the way and upon arrival in Kampala your driver-guide will drop you off at Entebbe international airport for your departure flight or drop off at any place of convenience.
End of 9 Days Bwindi gorilla trekking and Kidepo wildlife safari
Tour includes
- Park entrance fees
- Gorilla trekking permit
- Cultural tour
- An English speaking driver-guide
- Park entrance fee
- Full board accommodation
- Ground transfers
- Vehicle and fuel
- Bottled water
Tour excludes
- International air flight tickets
- Visas
- Optional activities not included on the itinerary
- Personal expenses like buying souvenirs, crafts, drinks, laundry services, hiring a porter, tips among others.