Gorilla and chimpanzee safari in Uganda
| country: | Uganda |
| departures: | This trip can be arranged anytime throughout February & March |
| price: | From US $1378 (8 days) excluding flights. Price per person based on two sharing. Single supplement applies. Price includes accommodation, all park & tour guide fees, all local travel and a bonus trip to Kasubi Royal tombs or Bulange the seat of the Buganda Kingdom. |
| offers: | Celebrating the first ever World Cup to be held on the African Continent, we are offering a 10% discount on all our trips fully booked before the opening of the tournament in South Africa! |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Gorilla and chimpanzee safari in Uganda
This trip combines three of Uganda's national parks and therefore offers a lot more excitement, combining Gorilla and Chimpanzee safaris and experiences.
The most accessible of Uganda's major rainforests, Kibale is home to a remarkable 13 primate species, including the very localised red colobus and L'Hoest's monkey. Kibale's major attraction, however, is the opportunity to track habituated chimps - these delightful apes, more closely related to humans than to any other living creature, are tremendous fun to watch as they squabble and play in fruiting trees. A network of shady forest trails provides much to delight botanists and butterfly lovers, while birders are in for a treat with 335 species recorded including the endemic Prirogrine's ground thrush.
The elusive forest elephant, smaller and hairier than its savannah counterpart, moves seasonally into the developed part of the park, while other terrestrial mammals include buffalo, giant forest hog and a half dozen antelope species.
From open savannah to rainforest, from dense papyrus swamps and brooding crater lakes to the vastness of Lake Edward, it is little wonder that Queen Elizabeth National Park boasts one of the highest biodiversity ratings of any game reserve in the world. Almost 100 mammal species and a remarkable 606 bird species makes this superb safari territory, with elephant, a profusion of hippos, the elusive giant forest hog and handsome Uganda kob all regularly sighted around the tourist village on the Mweya Peninsula - which also boasts a marvelous waterfront setting in the shadow of the Rwenzori Mountains.
Elsewhere, the remote Ishasha Sector is famed for its tree-climbing lions, the Kyambura Gorge harbours habituated chimps, the Maramagambo Forest is home to an alluring selection of forest monkeys and birds, and flocks of flamingo are resident on the crater lakes.
Bwindi National Park is home to roughly half of the world's mountain gorillas. Looking deep into the expressive brown eyes of these gentle giants is surely the most exciting and poignant wildlife encounter that Africa has to offer. The national park has 90 mammal species, including 11 primates, of which the black-and-white colobus, with its lovely flowing white tail, is prominent.
The forest birding ranks with the best in Uganda, with 23 highly localised Albertine Rift endemics present.
The most accessible of Uganda's major rainforests, Kibale is home to a remarkable 13 primate species, including the very localised red colobus and L'Hoest's monkey. Kibale's major attraction, however, is the opportunity to track habituated chimps - these delightful apes, more closely related to humans than to any other living creature, are tremendous fun to watch as they squabble and play in fruiting trees. A network of shady forest trails provides much to delight botanists and butterfly lovers, while birders are in for a treat with 335 species recorded including the endemic Prirogrine's ground thrush.
The elusive forest elephant, smaller and hairier than its savannah counterpart, moves seasonally into the developed part of the park, while other terrestrial mammals include buffalo, giant forest hog and a half dozen antelope species.
From open savannah to rainforest, from dense papyrus swamps and brooding crater lakes to the vastness of Lake Edward, it is little wonder that Queen Elizabeth National Park boasts one of the highest biodiversity ratings of any game reserve in the world. Almost 100 mammal species and a remarkable 606 bird species makes this superb safari territory, with elephant, a profusion of hippos, the elusive giant forest hog and handsome Uganda kob all regularly sighted around the tourist village on the Mweya Peninsula - which also boasts a marvelous waterfront setting in the shadow of the Rwenzori Mountains.
Elsewhere, the remote Ishasha Sector is famed for its tree-climbing lions, the Kyambura Gorge harbours habituated chimps, the Maramagambo Forest is home to an alluring selection of forest monkeys and birds, and flocks of flamingo are resident on the crater lakes.
Bwindi National Park is home to roughly half of the world's mountain gorillas. Looking deep into the expressive brown eyes of these gentle giants is surely the most exciting and poignant wildlife encounter that Africa has to offer. The national park has 90 mammal species, including 11 primates, of which the black-and-white colobus, with its lovely flowing white tail, is prominent.
The forest birding ranks with the best in Uganda, with 23 highly localised Albertine Rift endemics present.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrival at Entebbe International Airport and driven to Kampala City for familiarization and rest. Have a bonus welcome tour of Bulange the Seat of the Buganda Kingdom and Kasubi Royal Tombs, the burial Place for the Buganda Royals. |
| Day 2: | Drive to Fort Portal town via Mityana and Mubende towns and through rolling tea plantations arriving there in early afternoon. After Lunch visit Bugodi swamp which is home of the great Blue Turacos in Kibale Forest National Park and marvel at small mammals, birds and primates. Highlights are finding the rare colubus Monkey, the Sitatunga and the Turacos. Dine and overnight at Kibale tented Camp. |
| Day 3: | Search for Chimpanzees and 10 other primates in Kibale National Park. These include I’hoestes, red Colubus monkey, Blue, red tailed and grey magabeys, all types of Monkeys. This takes a whole day and lunch is packed and taken along. In the evening return to CVK Guest House for dinner and overnight. |
| Day 4: | Early Morning start the journey to Queen Elizabeth National Park following the scenic Rwenzori Mountain ranges for most of the journey. A long the way you will be rewarded with sights of lions, antelopes, elephants, buffaloes hyenas etc. After lunch enjoy a unique 2-hour boat cruise on the Kazinga channel into lake Edward. Here you will see hippos blowing the waters and many other animals drinking water at the edges of the lake. The cruise offers an excellent platform for photography, bird watching and game viewing. The bird life is colourful and stupendous within the range of 500 species. Dine and overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge. |
| Day 5: | We have two game drives, one in the morning and another one in the afternoon just to give our customers a real feel of game viewing and see what this park really has to offer. Dine and overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge or Jacana Safari Lodge. |
| Day 6: | From Mweya drive south-westwards through the most beautiful hills in Africa often dubbed the Switzerland of Africa and these are the Kigezi Highlands. We hit the winding roads and by late afternoon we are in Bwindi National Park. Dine and overnight at Kitandara Tented Camp. |
| Day 7: | Brief by the Guides, and with packed lunch head for the Gorilla tracking all with the opportunity to enter the gorilla sanctuary for the adventure of a lifetime. Return to Buhoma in the evening for the overnight to be entertained by the local groups and have a chance to visit typical homesteads, a traditional healer and a banana beer brewery. |
| Day 8: | Drive back to Kampala for a short rest in preparation for your departure. |
travelling with a local operator
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.how this holiday makes a difference
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Environment
We operate a “No waste dumping policy” and all waste generated by our visitors is collected and taken out of the park. We strictly observe the prohibition on wood fires which degrade the environment and we advise against damaging the trails, only follow your guides closely and avoid making new paths that destroy the vegetation. Littering of the areas visited by throwing of empty plastic bottles, waste paper etc is strictly taken care of by providing trash bags en route which are then emptied at convenient disposal points. All parks have rules that govern behaviour whilst in there and we make these rules available to every traveller in order to ensure that they are informed and take care not to damage anything within the visited areas. We support efforts to keep green belts through planting of trees and encourages the use of only the marked trails in order to avoid damage to any plants/grasses. Community As a Uganda Wildlife Authority Policy, 20% of all the fees collected is shared by the Parishes bordering the Park and so this one trip really spreads and benefits a whole spectrum of people. The road side markets are also another sight to watch, offering various items ranging from food stuffs to articrafts for sale. Accommodation in all these parks is very varied and ranges from expensive modern hotels to real modest camp sites managed by local operators. These include Mwaya safari lodge, Jacana, Ishasha Wilderness camp, Kibale Primate lodge, Sebitoli cottages, Ndali crater area and many more along the trip. We have Bigodi wetland sanctuary which is a community run initiative and benefits the community as a whole. All these properties employ very friendly locals and foods served in all these facilities are produced by the neighbouring communities who the primary producers and suppliers. In the evenings there are live performances by different groups of local entertainers who are always on hand to earn from visiting travellers. We work in concert with local communities surrounding the parks and game reserves and all the visited areas to promote awareness of the benefits that come from conservation and contribute to programmes that generally improve on the welfare of the communities. As a young organization, we are committed to the support of local projects that benefit entire groups of people in the various areas, this commitment though is still limited by the infancy of company but will be realized as our organisation grows. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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