8 Days Uganda safari from Kigali

The 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali is an amazing adventure that will take you to Bwindi impenetrable national park where you will engage in an incredible gorilla trekking activity which will give you unforgettable and lifetime experiences. You will also visit Queen Elizabeth national park which is the second largest national park in Uganda harboring abundant wildlife species including the big four mammals which are the elephants, lions, leopards and buffaloes. From Queen Elizabeth national park you will connect to Kibale national park where you will get an opportunity of viewing chimpanzees and other primates like l’hoest monkeys, vervet monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys among others. You will wrap up your safari with a tour to Lake Bunyonyi where you will participate in canoeing on the deepest lake in Uganda.

Highlights of the 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali

Day 1: Pick up from Kigali international airport and transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park

Day 2: Gorilla trekking

Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park

Day 4: Game drive and boat cruise

Day 5: Transfer to Kibale national park

Day 6: Chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi swamp walk

Day 7: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi

Day 8: Departure to Kigali international airport

Detailed itinerary

Day 1 of the 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali

Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park, depending on the time of arrival on the first day of your 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali, you will be picked by our driver guide at Kigali international airport who will brief you about your safari and then start the journey to Bwindi impenetrable national park. The journey takes about 3 to 4 hours drive and is filled with spectacular views of the rolling hills in Rwanda, landscapes, homesteads among others. You will have en-route lunch on your way and pass via Cyanika border in Kisoro or Katuna border in Kabale and continue to Bwindi impenetrable national park. Upon arrival you will check into the lodge, have dinner and overnight.

Day 2: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park

Gorilla trekking, after an early breakfast on day 2 of the 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali, you will carry packed lunch from the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing about the rules and regulations of gorilla trekking. After the briefing you will be allocated a gorilla family to trek and a park guide that is well conversant with the trails in the jungle.

Gorilla trekking takes about 30 minutes to 7 hours depending on the location of the gorillas and during trekking you will be able to view primate species, bird species, animals among others and once the gorillas are found you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat learning about their lifestyle, behaviors, taking photos and recording the moments. After the one hour encounter with the gorillas 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 and transfer back to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.

Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park

On day 3 of the 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali you will have breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park. You will pass via Ishasha sector in the southern part of Queen Elizabeth national park where you will engage in a game drive which gives you an opportunity to view animals like buffaloes, elephants, Uganda kobs and the tree climbing lions which will be lying up in acacia, fig tree branches looking down on the antelopes grazing in the open savannah plains. After the game drive you will have en-route lunch and then proceed to the lodge where you will check in, have dinner and overnight.

Day 4: Game drive/ lion tracking and boat cruise

Game drive, after an early breakfast on day 4 of the 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali you will meet up with your driver guide and go for a game drive or lion tracking experience in Kasenyi plains. The game drive is an interesting and exciting activity starts at around 7:00am and during the activity you will be able to view bird species, animals including elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, bushbucks, warthogs among others. After the game drive you will drive back to the lodge for lunch.

Boat cruise, after lunch you will go for an exciting boat cruise  activity on Kazinga channel a water body in the park that connects lake George and lake Edward. The scheduled boat cruise starts at the landing site near Mweya safari lodge and starts at around 2:00pm. During the boat cruise you will have an opportunity of cruising meters away from animals like buffaloes, antelopes, elephants among others which will be drinking water along the shores of the lake, large concentrations of hippos and crocodiles in water, view water birds like cormorants, African fish eagle, kingfishers among others. You will also have views of the fishermen organizing and preparing fishing nets for the night fishing. After the boat cruise you will drive back to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight.

Day 5: Morning game drive and transfer to Kibale national park

Game drive, on day 5 of the 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali you will have an early breakfast, meet up with your driver guide to go for another morning game drive in the park. During the game drive you will have an opportunity of viewing wildlife species that you will have missed during the previous game drive. After the game drive you will drive to Katwe Crater Lake where you will interact with the local people that will be extracting rock salt from the lake and selling it to traders to earn a living. From Lake Katwe you will drive back to the lodge for lunch.

After lunch you will check out of the lodge, meet up with your guide to transfer to Kibale national park. The journey takes about 3 hours drive and offers spectacular views of the Rwenzori mountains, landscapes, tea plantations among others and upon arrival you will check in at the lodge, have dinner and overnight.

Day 6: Chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi swamp walk

Chimpanzee trekking, after an early breakfast on day 6 of the 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali your driver guide will pick you up and transfer to Kanyachu visitors center for a briefing about the rules and guidelines of chimpanzee trekking. After the briefing you will be allocated a park guide who is well conversant with trails in the forest and then start trekking. Chimpanzee trekking in  takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on their location because they like to move from one place to another in search of food.

During chimpanzee trekking you will be able to view various bird species, plant species, animals, primates like vervet monkeys, l’hoest monkeys, red tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys among others and once the chimpanzees are found you will spend one hour with them in their natural habitat taking photos, learning about their lifestyle, recording videos among others which gives you exciting and memorable experiences. After spending one hour with the chimpanzees you will trek back to the park headquarters, meet up with your driver guide to transfer back to the lodge for lunch.

Nature walk, after lunch you will go for nature walk in Bigodi wetland a sanctuary that is managed by community initiative. The guided swamp walk will offers you incredible views of bird species like great blue turaco, barbets, hornbills, papyrus gonolek, plant species, primates like l’hoest monkeys, grey cheeked mangabey, black and white colobus monkeys, baboons among others. After the swamp walk you will drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Day 7: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi

On day 7 of the 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali you will have breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale. You will pass via Mbarara-Kabale road and along the way you will have great views of Kigezi hills, beautiful landscapes, roadside markets among others. On your way you will have en-route lunch and upon arrival you will go for a boat ride which is done in a dugout canoe on the lake. During the boat cruise you will enjoy great views of the landscapes, islands on the lake, terraced farmlands, local people carrying out their daily activities such as digging among others. After the boat cruise you will drive to the lodge, check in, have dinner and overnight.

Day 8: Departure to Kigali

After a relaxed breakfast where you will have a clear view of the lake and the sunrise on day 8 of the 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali you will check out of the lodge, meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Kigali. You will pass via Katuna border in Kabale and cross over to Kigali which takes about 3 to 4 hours drive and upon arrival you will go for a city tour where you will visit Kigali genocide memorial centre, museums where you will watch video testimonies from survivors, visit craft markets among others. After the city tour you will have lunch in one of the hotels in Kigali and then transfer to Kigali international airport for your next flight.

End of 8 days Uganda safari from Kigali

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