Overview
This exceptionally amazing safari takes you to two of Uganda’s well-endowed National Parks namely Queen Elizabeth National Park which is also among the most visited National Parks in the country and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park also regarded as a home to half of the world’s remaining gorilla population. Await to enjoy the wildlife encounters as you take on a game drive and an afternoon Kazinga cruise that will expose you to spectacular sceneries of a dusk on Lake Albert and the beauty of various peninsulars. Gorilla encounters amidst their natural habitat will melt down your heart as you wait to meet an indigenous Batwa tribe that represents a harmonious relationship between Homo sapiens and nature.
Day 1: Arrival and transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Our professional driver guide will be waiting to receive you upon your arrival at the airport. He will then brief you through your travel plan and expectations after which he will transfer you to Queen Elizabeth National Park with a stopover at the equator line in Kayabwe to have that two hemisphere experience. You will proceed to Mbarara town for your lunch, embarking on your drive to Kasese and arriving to check-in at your reserved lodge in the late afternoon as you wait to have dinner and a night stay.
Day 2: Morning game drive – launch cruise
Wake-up to a scrumptious breakfast, meet your driver guide and a game ranger to go and have a wildlife encounter in the Kasenyi savannah grasslands where you will spot herds of elephants, buffaloes, lions, bushbucks, Uganda kobs, warthogs to mention but a few featured with a variety of bird species. Get back to the lodge to have a relaxed lunch before you head for an afternoon boat cruise along the Kazinga channel. You will have great views of schools of hippopotamuses, crocodiles and concentrations of animals like elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, kobs to mention but a few as they quench their thirst along the Kazinga shores. Return to the lodge for your dinner and an overnight.
Day 3: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park via Ishasha sector
Having enjoyed your morning breakfast, check-out and embark on your drive in the southern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park through the Ishasha sector where you will have the opportunity to spot tree climbing lions lying and hanging up in the fig tree branches as they enjoy the sunrise. You will proceed to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park arriving in the afternoon to check in at a pre-arranged lodge, have lunch and relax as you wait to have dinner and an overnight.
Day 4: Gorilla trek- Batwa cultural experience
Wake-up to an early morning breakfast and be driven to the park headquarters for a briefing about the gorilla trekking etiquettes by the ranger guides. The ranger guides will lead you into Bwindi’s forests to start on the search of the gentle giants in their natural habitat as you encounter various bird kinds and primates like the red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, black and white colobus to mention but a few. Trekking these apes may last for 2 to 6 hours depending on their movement after which an hour is allowed with the gorillas as you watch them go by their routine duties. Return to the lodge for lunch and later proceed to the Batwa communities led by a Twa guide as he narrates how they thrived in the forests for example their hunting techniques, medicinal herbs as you will enjoy their cultural performances. Retire back to the lodge for dinner and an overnight.
Day 5: Transfer to Kampala and departure
Enjoy your last safari breakfast and check-out to be driven back to Kampala as you enjoy the scenic beauty of Kigezi’s rolling and terraced hills while you experience the true African settlement patterns along the way. Your lunch en-route will be in Mbarara and proceeding to arrive in Kampala in the evening to either be dropped off to your hotel or to the airport to catch your departing flight back home.