DAY 1: TRANSFER TO MURCHISON FALLS AND RHINO TRACKING

After your breakfast, you will be picked from your Hotel at exactly 7:00 am by our Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari guide and drive through the famous Luwero Triangle. This journey takes 6-7 hours. You will make a stopover at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to track white rhinos. The trek will be for one hour after which we shall continue the journey to Murchison Falls National Park with another stopover for lunch in Masindi town, arriving in the late afternoon.

Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

DAY 2: EARLY GAME DRIVE AND BOAT SAFARI LAUNCH CRUISE ON THE NILE RIVER

You will wake up very early and set off at 6.30am for a sunrise Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari game drive in the Nyamsika plateau to see the Cape buffaloes, Rothschild’s giraffes, Uganda kob, hartebeest and waterbucks. You may also spot oribi, bushbuck, Bohor reedbuck, shy sitatunga, bush duiker, warthog and bush pig plus large carnivores including lions, leopards and spotted hyenas. Chimpanzees and olive baboons head the list of six species of primates found in the park.

Crocodiles and hippos will be seen along the banks of the Nile River. Some of the more common birds that can be seen include goliath heron, Egyptian geese, pelican, bee-eaters, kingfishers, hornbill, cormorant, saddle-bill stork and the rare shoebill stork. You will return to your lodge for lunch some relaxation before you set off in the afternoon for a boat launch on the placid Victoria Nile, upstream, to the base of the falls. En-route you will see hippos, crocodiles, water buck and a wide variety of birds like the rare shoebill stork. The Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari boat stops just tens of meters from the “Devil’s Cauldron” for pictures to be taken of the photogenic and majestic Murchison Falls.

DAY 3: VISIT TO THE TOP OF THE FALLS AND TRANSFER TO KIBALE FOREST NATIONAL PARK

You will after your breakfast visit the “top of the thunderous Murchison falls”, where you will observe the Nile River squeezing itself in a 7 meter gorge before tumbling 40 meters down in a thunderous explosion and then flows down into a very peaceful river whose water banks are swarmed with a profusion of water and land animals as well as birds. You will thereafter set off on a 9 hour journey to Kibale Forest National Park. This Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari drive is through verdant countryside dotted with traditional homesteads and farms and via the towns of Hoima and Fort portal in the backdrop of the fabled Mountains of the Moon.

Have dinner and overnight at the lodge of your booking

DAY 4: CHIMPANZEE TREK AND BIGODI SWAMP WALK

After breakfast you will go for chimpanzee tracking in Kibale Forest National Park, where the greatest variety and highest concentration of primates in East Africa is exceptionally represented. The most famous of its 13 species is the Chimpanzee known to be a delightful ape. It is also a home of species like the rare I’Hoest’s monkey, the black and white Colobus, Blue monkey, Grey cheeked mangabey, Red tailed monkey, Olive baboon among others.

The walk takes 2-3 hours after which you will return to your Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari lodge for lunch. In the afternoon you will go for a guided nature walk in the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary or visit the beautiful Crater lakes region for a picturesque view of the breathtaking scenery. The sanctuary offers great birding opportunities and nature walks. Bigodi is also a rich cultural heritage site where you can mix with the local people to learn about their traditional activities and lifestyles.

Dinner and overnight will be at the lodge of your booking.

DAY 5: TRANSFER TO QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK VIA THE CRATER LAKES REGION

After breakfast, we will transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park with stopovers for sightseeing and lunch. One of the remarkable stopovers will be to see the Crater lakes region and to visit the Amabeere Ga Nyina Mwiiru caves. These are caves of wonder with milk-like substance oozing out of the rocks and with cultural mythology attached to them. You will learn about their cultural significance and also get the scientific explanation of their existence.

This is an amazing place to visit for those that love nature. The entrance to the cave is low and narrow and requires some stooping but most of its inside is big enough for one to walk upright except for a few areas. You will check out the chamber that is said to have been the resting place of the Bachwezi dogs and the ceiling shows pits resembling dog paws. There is also a waterfall that the locals call a natural Shower and it is there that the Bachwezi used to go to take showers. And the same way, the visitors / tourists both locals and foreigners are also allowed to take a shower from there if they wish to. You will have lunch in Fort Portal town and continue to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Dinner and overnight will be at the lodge of your booking.

DAY 6: GAME DRIVE IN THE NORTHERN PART OF QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK

We set out early in the morning for a game drive in the northern part of the park in search of lions, elephants, leopards, Uganda kob, giant forest hog and solitary buffaloes. This is the best time for viewing the cats in action owing to the vast population of Uganda kobs. You will have an excellent chance to view just about every animal here at very close range.

Return to your Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari booked lodge for lunch and later go for a boat launch along the Kazinga channel whose shores habour a profusion of water animals and birds including pink backed pelicans, pied and malachite kingfishers, saddle billed stork and many others. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge of booking.

DAY 7: GAME DRIVE AND TREEE CLIMBING LIONS ISHASHA SECTOR

After breakfast we drive to the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park for another game drive safari. Ishasha Sector is famous for its tree climbing lions which you will see resting on the branches of Fig trees as they scan for kobs in the neighbouring mating grounds, their favourite prey. You will also see a variety of other wild animals and later take a Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari road drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Dinner and overnight will at the lodge of your booking.

DAY 8: GORILLA TRACKING IN BWINDI IMPENETRABLE NATIONAL PARK GORILLA TREKKING IN BWINDI IMPENETRABLE FOREST NATIONAL PARK

You will have an early Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari breakfast and be driven to the Park Headquarters for a briefing at 7:30am about the rules of Mountain Gorilla tracking. After the briefing, you will set off for the Mountain Gorilla trek in the thick jungle every lively with rich forest sounds.The trek takes between 2 – 8 hours and you have one hour to stay with the Mountain Gorillas once sighted. In the afternoon you can opt for either a community walk among the Batwa people who used to live in the Bwindi forest before it was gazetted as a National Park and learn about their life and culture as a forest people or spend the rest of the day relaxing at the lodge.

DAY 9: TRANSFER TO VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK

You will have breakfast and transfer to Rwanda. The Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari road drive will You will have breakfast and transfer to Rwanda. The Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari road drive will be through a beautiful part of the country often referred to as ‘the Switzerland of Africa’ because of its unique Mediterranean weather despite its location near the Equator. You will see a great country-side, bamboo forests and have great views of the scenic Virunga Mountains. You will cross the national border at Gatuna and drive to Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and check in at the lodge of your booking.

DAY 10: GOLDEN MONKEY TRACKING IN VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK

You will have an early breakfast and move to the Park headquarters where you will receive a briefing on the rules of golden monkey tracking and be allocated the golden monkey family you will be trekking. You will after the briefing, be led by the ranger guides into the forest to search for the Golden monkeys in the Volcano Virunga Hills and the verdant Valley.

Once traced, you will spend a maximum of one hour observing them in their natural setting. The tracking will beValley. Once traced, you will spend a maximum of one hour observing them in their natural setting. The tracking will be a 2-5 hour exercise after which you will return to your Best of Uganda Rwanda Safari lodge for lunch and relaxation. You will have dinner and overnight at your lodge of booking.

DAY 11: TRANSFER TO KIGALI AND VISIT TO GENOCIDE MEMORIAL KIGALI CITY TOUR

You will have breakfast and transfer to Kigali City where you will have lunch and later visit the Gisozi Genocide memorial site for a historical firsthand account of the genocide that claimed more than 1,000,000 people in the 1990s. You will retire to the Hotel of your booking for dinner and overnight.

DAY 12: CITY EXCURSION AND DEPARTURE

After your leisurely morning breakfast,you will enjoy another tour in kigali, have lunch then drive to the airport to catch your flight back home.

End of safari

Price Inclusions

• Transportation in a Tour Van/Land Cruiser

• Service of an English-speaking tour guide/Driver

• Park Entrance fee

• Gorilla Permit

• All meals on Safari

• Accommodation on full board.

• Transfers to and from Entebbe Airport/Kampala

Price Exclusions

• All activities not mentioned in the tour

• Tips

• International Transfers

• Personal insurance