6 Days Rwanda and Uganda safari is a great African safari that travellers can take on to enjoy chimpanzee tracking in Nyungwe National Park as well as a canopy walk, Kigali city tour to learn of Rwanda’s culture and history. Travellers will also get to enjoy gorilla tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a Batwa cultural experience, game viewing and launch cruises on Queen Elizabeth National Park. This 6 Days Rwanda and Uganda safari has travellers exploring the prime attractions of both Uganda and Rwanda, giving a wonderful experience to travellers. The safari starts in Kigali Rwanda and ends in Entebbe in Uganda.
Tour Summary of the 6 Days Rwanda and Uganda safari
Day 1: Arrival in Kigali International Airport, transfer to Nyungwe National Park
Day 2: Chimpanzee Tracking in Nyungwe, Canopy walk in Nyungwe
Day 3: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Batwa cultural experience
Day 4: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi
Day 5: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park, afternoon launch cruise on Kazinga channel and an evening game drive
Day 6: Morning game drive, Departure
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Kigali International Airport, transfer to Nyungwe National Park
On this first day of your 6 Days Rwanda and Uganda safari, you will be picked up by our company driver-guide upon your arrival in Kigali International Airport, or hotel/apartment in Rwanda. The driver-guide will brief you about your safari and thereafter, depending on your time of arrival, you might have a Kigali city tour that will have you exploring the culture and historical heritage of Rwanda. The city tour will have you visiting the Rwanda genocide memorial, the Rwanda national museum, and a number of other monumental places. Thereafter, you will proceed to transfer to Nyungwe National Park. Check in, relax as you await dinner and an overnight stay at the lodge.
Day 2: Chimpanzee Tracking in Nyungwe, Canopy walk in Nyungwe
This day 2 of your 6 Days Rwanda and Uganda safari has you waking up early, and after having your breakfast at the lodge, proceed to the park headquarters where you will find park officials and other trekkers. You will be briefed about chimpanzee tracking in Nyungwe and given rules and guidelines to follow while at it. After, you will proceed to search for the noisy and very active chimpanzees in their natural habitat. Nyungwe National Park has other attractions worth looking out for say the abundant bird species, mammals, primates and plant life as well as butterflies. The chimpanzees are not so hard to find; given they make a lot of noise that can be heard at a far distance. You will find the chimpanzees playing and jumping from one tree to another as they feed, groom as others nap or do whatever else they deem fit. Chimpanzees live in larger groups of more than 25 individuals. They are very active so travellers will also need to be so since they are very mobile. You can take pictures and make videos if you want to. You will spend only one hour with the chimpanzees. The trek can take anything between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more depending on the location of the chimps.
Thereafter, you will have lunch and then proceed for a canopy walk in Nyungwe still. The canopy walk in Nyungwe National Park is one of a kind as it gives travellers an opportunity to have a bird’s eye-view of the forest. The canopy walk is very rewarding with great views of the forest and far beyond. You might chance to see chimpanzees again, along with other park animals especially the primates like baboons and a number of monkeys. Great pictures can be taken while on the canopy walk, be sure to carry a good camera. Binoculars are also a must carry if you want to see much more.
After, you will return to the lodge where you will relax as you wait for your dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 3: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Batwa cultural experience
Today, you will wake up early enough and get to enjoy a mouth-watering breakfast at the lodge. After, proceed to check out and be transferred to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, the home to the highest number of mountain gorillas in the world. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a UNESCO world heritage site that hosts well over 400 gorillas, making it a gorilla tourism hotspot. You will drive through Rwanda to Uganda via the Cyanika or Katuna border, with very beautiful sceneries that will leave you mesmerised.
You will arrive in Bwindi in time for your lunch and after enjoying it, you will go for a Batwa cultural experience, one that will introduce you to the Batwa people that co-existed with the gorillas and were hunter-gatherers who solely depended on the forest for their survival until not so long ago when they were evicted from the park. Visiting the Batwa on a cultural trail will have you being shown their way of life back then say how they locally cooked back then, their hunting skills, fighting skills, how they made fire with just a stick, among so many others. They will also show you medicinal plants and leaves that you might otherwise not have noticed. Visiting the Batwa takes you back to the stone age era.
After, you will be transferred back to the lodge where you will have your dinner from and an overnight stay.
Day 4: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi
Day 4 of your 6 Days Rwanda and Uganda safari has you undertaking one of the most anticipated and sought after activity, gorilla trekking in Bwindi. After your breakfast at the lodge, you will be transferred to the park headquarters for briefing about gorilla trekking. The park officials will also state the rules and guidelines to be followed while gorilla trekking in Bwindi and after, you will be placed in groups of 8 and allocated gorilla groups to track. You will then proceed to search for the gentle apes in their natural habitat, all the while looking out for other park animals like forest elephants, and a number of birds. Gorilla trekking is done with the guidance of park rangers. Once you encounter the gorillas, you will spend an hour with them during which time you can take pictures and make videos of the near-human gorillas as they play, feed, groom each other, making nests, nap or whatever else they might be doing. The silverback is always watchful, be sure not to leave your group, look straight in any gorilla’s eyes, or even touch any of them especially the infants and the juveniles, much as the juveniles are very curious.
After an hour is elapsed, trek back, making a lunch stopover somewhere in the jungle to munch on your packed lunch. After, proceed to trek to the headquarters where you will receive your gorilla trekking certificate from. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi can take between 30 minutes to 6 hours or more, depending on the location of the ever-moving gorillas. Your driver-guide will be ready to transfer you back to the lodge, from where you will spend the rest of the day resting, dinner and then an overnight stay.
Day 5: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park, afternoon launch cruise on Kazinga channel and an evening game drive
After an early breakfast at the lodge, check out and depart Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for a transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park. The drive is approximately 4 hours, and you will arrive via the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, that is famously known for the tree climbing lions. Enjoy sighting these lions as they dangle their tails down tree branches, or see a number of them roaming around in search of prey. You will also see other wild animals as you drive to the restaurant from where you will have your lunch.
After an enjoyable lunch, you will go for an afternoon launch cruise on Kazinga channel, that links lakes Edward and George. While on a launch cruise, you will see serried ranges of hippos as they busk in and out of the waters, Nile crocodiles, and a number of water animals and water birds. At the shores, elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, among so many others with various bird species can be spotted as they come for an afternoon drink. The launch cruise takes 2 hours.
You will head out for an evening game drive on the vast savannah area of Queen Elizabeth National Park after enjoying your afternoon launch cruise. The game drive will reward you wild animals returning from the long day’s hunt and grazing. Animals like African elephants, ranges of buffaloes, antelopes, waterbucks, warthogs, among so many others. You might even spot jackals and lions. After the game drive, you will proceed to your lodge where you will have dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 6: Morning game drive, Departure
On this last day of your 6 Days Rwanda and Uganda safari, you will have an early breakfast at the lodge and then checkout and proceed for an early morning game drive. This early morning game drive gives you a chance to see returning nocturnal animals after a long night of hunting. You will also see many other animals as they rise to head out for the day. Enjoy the game drive and take as many pictures of the 1000 and more mammals and over 600 bird species that Queen Elizabeth inhabits.
Proceed on a departure of the park for Entebbe. You will make a lunch stopover at Igongo cultural centre, and then another at the Equator at Kayabwe where you will have a polar water experiment and an opportunity to take pictures and buy souvenirs if you will. Thereafter, you will drive straight for Entebbe International Airport for your departure flight.
End of 6 Days Rwanda and Uganda Safari
Inclusions;
- Gorilla Trekking permit
- Chimpanzee Tracking permit
- Comfortable 4*4 safari vehicle great for game viewing and photography
- Full time English speaking driver-guide
- Full board accommodation
- All en-route lunches
- All park entrance fees and activities listed in the itinerary
- Bottled drinking water whilst in the tour vehicle
Exclusions;
- Air Ticket
- Visas
- Beverages
- Tips and souvenirs
- Extra activities not included in the itinerary
- Personal expenses like cigarettes, laundry, telephone
