Gorilla Trekking and So Much More

Upon arrival in Entebbe, Uganda you will clear customs and pick up your luggage.

Transfer to the Uganda Wildlife Educational Center (UWEC) and check-in for the night. This is a perfect place to relax after a long flight from North America. Here you can walk around the lush grounds and visit the many animals they have on the property, including chimps, rhinos and lions before heading up to the restaurant overlooking the beautiful huge and calm, Lake Victoria. Overnight in standard banda type accommodation

Breakfast at the UWEC and then you will be picked up by a local expert guide who will provide a quick briefing about the day and who will also provide knowledge and assistance throughout your entire tour. Travel south as you set off in a land rover for a 7-hour drive toward the Kyamburu Gorge lodge. The drive is beautiful and scenic the entire way. Watch the landscape change from rolling green hills of tea plantations, to papyrus marshes to lush jungle forests. Today, lunch is included at a typical local restaurant which includes local foods such as steamed mashed bananas, maize, rice and traditional Ugandan peanut sauce. You will stop and stand on the Equator before continuing to Queen Elizabeth National Park. On arrival at the lodge, you will be welcomed by the staff and escorted to your room where you will spend three nights. Enjoy pre-dinner drinks on the veranda that overlooks the savannah plains with the magnificent Rwenzori Mountains as a backdrop in the distance before enjoying a freshly cooked dinner. This is a luxurious and contemporary lodge. (LD)

Overnight at Volcanoes Kyambura Gorge Lodge

Start the day with fresh coffee being brought to your room while you sit on your veranda and listen to the sounds of animals and birds waking up. Taking an early morning or evening drive, and resting during the heat of the day, provides the best opportunity to see game. What you see depends on the season, but the Kasenyi plains are excellent for sighting lions and large herds of Uganda kob. The Mweya peninsula offers excellent game drives with magnificent views across the water to the Rwenzori Mountains. Mweya is one of the best places to look for leopards, which live in dense, scrubby thickets. Time permitting visit the Kyambura Women's Coffee Cooperative and its coffee processing station or the wetland reserve to spot birds. Both projects were set up and are supported by the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Project. An option is to relax around the pool or enjoy a complimentary massage offered by the lodge staff. (BLD)

Overnight at Volcanoes Kyambura Gorge Lodge

The Kyambura Gorge is an extraordinary natural environment and forms a stark contrast to the surrounding grasslands. Here you can track one of our closest animal relatives, the chimpanzee. The chimp population is quite mobile and viewing can be unpredictable but the walk itself is enchanting. In the afternoon take a cruise on the Kazinga Channel which flows between Lake Edward and Lake George. Cruise along the banks for two hours in a boat with cushy leather seats and chilled white wine and snacks. Kazinga is home to one of the greatest concentrations of hippos in Africa and herds of elephants, buffalo and other animals come to drink at the water's edge. You may even see lions on our drive-out. Return to the lodge for some time to relax on the terrace or take an optional guided walk along the gorge. Tonight you can ask the staff to light a fire so you can sit on the stone deck a sat under a dark sky full of bright stars. (BLD)

Overnight at Volcanoes Kyambura Gorge Lodge

Your safari now continues to the primeval Bwindi forest. Travelling via Ishasha - subject to road conditions - you can observe the unusual behaviour exhibited by the tree-climbing lions. The long journey through the rapidly changing landscape takes you to Volcanoes Bwindi Lodge, which looks across to the towering trees of the forest. Depending on when you arrive, there may be time to explore the lodge grounds with its clear mountain stream or visit the local village. (BLD)

Overnight at Volcanoes Bwindi Lodge

After enjoying an early breakfast, you set off gorilla tracking. Trekking through the steep, densely forested hills and then finally coming across the gorillas camouflaged in the vegetation is an inspiring and privileged moment. Tracking in the Bwindi forest requires stamina and can often take most of the day. (BLD)

Overnight at Volcanoes Bwindi Lodge

Breakfast at the lodge and either go gorilla trekking again or head off to the park headquarters to meet your guide and then start a rainforest walk (approximately 3 hour round trip) to three waterfalls hidden in the jungle. The walk is easy and gives you an opportunity to get right into the mud and jungle of the rainforest. This area is home to several endemic bird species, clouds of butterflies and rare plant life. You will cross a few photographic manmade bridges overgrown with dense rainforest growth on your way to see beautiful waterfalls.

This afternoon visit and tour the Bwindi Hospital. It started as a health clinic under a tree and now proudly provides vital medical care and educational services to over 100,000 people living in the surrounding villages within a 70 km radius. You will have a staff member from the hospital take you around and explain how the hospital was started, their procedures, the donations, the volunteers, and the health care program and system which they have set up available to the people living in the surrounding villages. The Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust supports this project. (BLD)

Overnight at Volcanoes Bwindi Lodge

Continue onwards to Mgahinga after breakfast, the route winds through bamboo forests and then mountain roads to the Kanaba Gap with its spectacular views of the Virunga Volcanoes peaks. The road can be muddy through some parts of the forest but if you drive slowly, you have better chances of spotting various types of monkeys. The route drops dramatically, surrounded by terraced hills to the frontier town of Kisoro and climbs again to 2,300m to the Volcanoes Mount Gahinga Lodge, next to the Mgahinga National Park. Stop at the 'Travelers Rest Camp' this is where Diane Fossey stayed when she was travelling between the Congo and Rwanda and where she met the German man who helped set her up in Rwanda with the gorillas where she ended up doing her research. Upon arrival at Mount Gahinga Lodge, you will be greeted by the staff for check-in. Enjoy your pre-dinner drinks on the terrace with stunning views of the Volcanoes or warm yourself inside by the roaring fire. (BLD)

Overnight at Volcanoes Mount Gahinga Lodge

Today is a day for optional activities:

Hike the Muhavura or Gahinga or Sabinya Volcanoes.

Gahinga offers a gentler hike through the bamboo forest on the lower slopes and marshy craters at the peak. The lower slopes are rich with forest birds and the marshes near the summit are home to bushbuck and elusive duiker.

Muhavura is the most challenging peak in the park. The hike will take most of the day, but the adventurous will be rewarded with a great sense of accomplishment and on a good day - spectacular views.
Sabinya sits at 3676m and when you reach the third peak you are actually standing in three countries, Uganda, Rwanda and Congo.

Take a guided nature walk through the park to track the golden monkeys. The path takes you from the bamboo stands and a forested gorge on the lower levels to the elevated heath and moorland higher up. The forest is not only home to the rare golden monkey, but also a great diversity of bird and animal life.
Experience the lives of the Batwa Pygmies, and walk the Batwa Trail. Accompanied by Batwa Elders, this is an extraordinary opportunity to learn about the unique cultural heritage of the forest’s indigenous people. Whilst you walk through the forest, the Batwa will demonstrate their traditional hunting techniques and knowledge of medicinal plants. Alternatively, there are other exciting activities for those interested in the culture and natural history of Mgahinga:

Enjoy a performance from the Batwa Dance Group, an initiative fully supported by the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust. (BLD)

Overnight Volcanoes Mount Gahinga Lodge

This morning is more relaxed and you can do one of the activities in day 9 before journeying south and crossing the boarder into Rwanda. Drive to the lodge where you will stay for three nights. Volcanoes Virunga Lodge perched on the top of a hill overlooking the Volcanoes and Lakes Bulera and Ruhondo. From the terrace you can take in the panoramic sunset over the lakes and - weather permitting - enjoy a performance from the Intore Dance troupe. (BLD)

Overnight at Volcanoes Virunga Lodge

Gorilla tracking in the Parc National des Volcans, through the light mountain forest on the slopes of the Virunga range, is a magical experience. Once you reach the gorillas, you can spend an hour with them and be back at base in time for a late lunch! Some gorilla families are more elusive, and tracking can take a full day, especially if it is wet and muddy. Relax this afternoon around the lodge and take in the beautiful scenic views. (BLD)

Overnight at Volcanoes Virunga Lodge

Today is a day for optional activities:

Today, take a guided hike (approximately 5 hour round trip) to Diana Fossey’s Grave and the gorilla cemetery, through a beautiful and lush landscape.

Other popular excursions include visiting the local school and community projects supported by the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust; the Roz Carr Imbabazi orphanage and meet some of the hundreds of children helped by this uplifting project. Take a guided walk to Lake Bulera and experience local village life.

Travel south and relax on the shores of Lake Kivu, home to some of the finest inland beaches in Africa. This town is at one of the Congo boarder crossings and you can see the difference of the two countries. On one side, there are huge beautiful homes in Rwanda and across the street in the Congo, we could see slums. (BLD)

Overnight at Volcanoes Virunga Lodge

Your safari ends with your journey to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city. Enjoy a city tour which includes a visit to the genocide memorial, a moving testimony to this country’s past that it has courageously overcome. Return to your hotel for check-in for one night. Lunch is included at the famous Hotel Milles (Hotel Rwanda) (BL)

You will be transferred to the airport this morning to connect with your onward flights. (B)