Queen Elizabeth & Gorillas Of Bwindi Safari| 5 days
This safari will take you through an exploration of one of Uganda’s most favourite National Parks – home to numerous mammal and bird species as well as spectacular natural features like crater lakes, a rift valley gorge and Kazinga channel; It also gives you the prestigious opportunity to explore the depths of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest – the habitat to many of the few remaining mountain gorillas on this planet.
Day 1: Travel (by road) from Kampala to Queen Elizabeth NP
Our driver-guide will pick you up from your overnight accommodation facility and you will head Southwest to Queen Elizabeth National Park stopping over at The Equator for a few snapshots and some local-craft shopping if you like and then proceeding to Mbarara Town for lunch.
After the luncheon, you will drive to the park through the East African Rift Valley and head straight for a late afternoon game drive in the park along different tracks of the Northern wing where you may catch sight of wildlife species of the Elephant, Lions, Leopard, Giraffe, Harte beest, Uganda Kob, Oribi, monkeys, … and a variety of Savannah and woodland birds.
After the game drive, you’ll be driven to the hotel/lodge (Jacana Safari Camp or Mweya Safari Lodge) where you will have your dinner and overnight stay.
*Meals include breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Transit time: 6 – 7hrs
Approx. distance: 350km
Day 2: Explore the Queen Elizabeth National Park
Soon after an early coffee at the lodge, our tour guide will take you for the morning game drive along other tracks of the Northern wing for an opportunity to view the early morning wildlife in action and perhaps at close range while the sun rises with its beautiful scenery. You may return to the lodge for a more sumptuous breakfast and relax till lunch.
Game drive: 3-4hrs
Boat cruise: 3 hrs
The Kazinga Channel is the joinery of Lakes Edward and George and is believed to have the largest concentration of hippos in Africa. Your afternoon cruise after lunch will take you along this channel in search of solitary buffalos, elephants, hippos, and some crocodiles that have recently been sighted there since so many years ago. Our guide will then move you back to your lodge for the evening/night.
Day 3: Travel between Queen Elizabeth NP and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP
Enjoy an early breakfast and remember to carry your packed lunch as you leave the lodge. You’ll have an exit game drive travelling towards Bwindi Impenetrable National Park through the Ishasha sector, located in the Southern wing of Queen Elizabeth National Park where the famous tree-climbing lions have always been sighted; other game here includes elephant, buffalo, topi and hippos. Arrive at your destination (The Gorilla Resort Bwindi) in the late afternoon for dinner and an overnight stay.
*Meals include breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Transit Time: 8 – 10hrs
Approx. distance: 380km
Day 4: Gorilla Tracking day -Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Enjoy an early but sumptuous breakfast and remember to carry your packed lunch as you leave the lodge to the park headquarters to meet your park rangers for a thorough pre-tracking briefing. The rangers here serve as your guides for the day’s excursion which may last from an hour or two to eight hours, before you can meet the gorillas. Nonetheless, once you meet the gorillas, you will be able to spend one full, unforgettable hour with them. The day’s tracking is normally guided by where the gorillas were found the previous day. Depending on your return time and state of body, you may choose to relax the afternoon away at the lodge or take a nature walk around the surrounding Batwa community after which you will return for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 5: Travel back to Kampala
Soon after your delicious breakfast at the lodge, you will embark on your return journey to Kampala stopping along the way in Mbarara town for lunch and perhaps again at The Equator if you like. You will arrive in Kampala in the evening to your accommodation facility.
Transit Time: 7 – 8 hrs
Approx. distance: 450km