5 Days Uganda Gorillas & Chimpanzee Safari

Experience the best of 5 Days Uganda gorillas and chimpanzee safari, which takes you 4 nights and 5 days. This is a typical primate safari package and is designed to let you enjoy a thrilling gorilla trekking and chimpanzee tracking adventure. The endangered mountain gorillas will be visited in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, and chimpanzees will be explored in Kibale National Park.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park shelters almost 50% of the remaining mountain gorilla population. Tracking Bwindi gorillas is done starting from any of the 4 sectors: Ruhija, Buhoma, Rushaga, and Nkuringo. This Park alone has about 24 habituated groups of mountain gorillas.

Kibale National Park, home to 13 primate species, offers a lifetime opportunity for you to meet the endangered chimpanzees in the wild. Out of 5050 chimpanzees that live in Uganda, about 1500 of them reside in Kibale, with about 4 habituated communities present for tracking.

The Brief Itinerary

Day 1: Pick up & drive to Kibale to see chimpanzees in the wild

Day 2: Go Chimpanzee tracking & Bigodi Wetland tour

Day 3: Kibale –Bwindi with Kikorongo Equator experience

Day 4: Enjoy the Bwindi gorilla trekking experience & explore Batwa cultures

Day 5: Pick up and drive back to Kampala/Entebbe City

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Pick up & drive to Kibale Forest National Park

At around 7: 00 am, get to meet the safari expert in Uganda to take you through the 5 days Uganda gorillas and chimpanzee safari itinerary. After the insight into your itinerary, set out for the actual road trip to Kibale National Park, driving through the Mityana-Mubende-Fort Portal tourism city route. Access to Kibale in a 4x4 safari vehicle takes about 6 hours, and you will embrace the spectacular views of the countryside. Arrive at Fort Portal tourism early and enjoy views of the tea plantations, plus the Rwenzori Mountain ranges.

Continue up to the city to settle for lunch and stretch your legs. Leave Fort Portal later in the afternoon for you to go check in at your respective lodges. Spend the rest of the evening chilling and preparing relevant gear for tomorrow’s chimpanzee tracking expedition.

Accommodation options

Budget: Chimpanzee Guesthouse/Isunga
Midrange: Turaco Tree tops/Primates Lodge
Luxury: Ndali Lodge or Kyaninga Lodge

Meals –Lunch and Dinner

Day 2: Go Chimpanzee tracking & Bigodi Wetland tour

Have a heavy breakfast and leave the lodge with essential gear for your chimpanzee trekking excursion. First, you will assemble at Kanyanchu to be taken through the guidelines for chimpanzee trekking regulations. By around 8:00 am, expect to set off for the actual chimpanzee trekking excursion, which involves walking through the Kibale Forest in search of Eastern chimpanzees.

You will be visiting one of the 4 habituated chimpanzee communities in Kibale for about 2-4 hours. Tourists have a maximum of 1 hour to be with chimps once they have located them in the jungle. Get to learn more about chimpanzee behaviors and take pictures in their natural environment. This is a rare opportunity Kibale has to offer you, and it is completely different from visiting chimpanzees in the zoo.

Walk back and you will be picked up by the driver. Transfer safely to the lodge, where lunch will be offered. To end the Kibale tour in a memorable way, there will be an afternoon excursion in the Bigodi Wetland/Swamp. The Bigodi wetland tour rewards nature lovers with more primate encounters, including colobus monkeys, l’hoest monkeys, baboons, and, not to leave out, the diversity of birds.

Accommodation options

Budget: Chimpanzee Guesthouse/Isunga
Midrange: Turaco Tree tops/Primates Lodge
Luxury: Ndali Lodge or Kyaninga Lodge

Meals – Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 3: Kibale –Bwindi with Kikorongo Equator experience.

At leisure, you will have a great time to enjoy your breakfast. Later, officially check out, and today, you will be heading to Bwindi in the Southwestern Uganda. Accessing Bwindi will involve driving via the crater dominated region, then also you have a chance to experience the Kikorongo Equator crossing.

After taking pictures at the Kikorongo, continue to Bwindi through Queen Elizabeth National Park, and on the extreme southern side, you will have amazing sightings of Ishasha wonders, including the tree- climbing lions (on a lucky day). Have the last drive journey to the Buhoma sector, which lies in the Northern side of Bwindi National Park.

Accommodation options

Budget: Ride 4 A Woman
Midrange: Mahogany Springs or Engagi
Luxury: The Luxurious Bwindi Lodge/Buhoma Lodge.

Meals –Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner.

Day 4: Enjoy the Bwindi gorilla trekking experience & explore Batwa cultures

After a hefty breakfast, you will transfer to Buhoma Visitor Centre for registration, and also later, you can join the briefing session. During the briefing session, you get a chance to learn the gorilla trekking regulations and to be allocated to gorilla groups/families. Today, each of Buhoma’s gorilla groups will be explored by a maximum of 8 (eight) pax as per the park authority standards. It will take you between 2 and 6 hours to finish the complete search for gorillas and that also covers an hour for up up-close encounter.

Return from Buhoma gorilla trek and rest, enjoy a delicious lunch. The Batwa community is expected to commence late in the afternoon, and your group will be led by an experienced cultural tour guide. The guide will enrich you with the Batwa pygmies’ distinct cultures, traditions, and practices.

Accommodation options

Budget: Ride 4 A Woman
Midrange: Mahogany Springs or Engagi
Luxury: The Luxurious Bwindi Lodge/Buhoma Lodge.

Meals –Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner.

Day 5: Pick up and drive back to Kampala/Entebbe City

Wake up energized, and today, you will only have breakfast, then check out. The next thing will be to bid farewell to your lodge and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Drive back to Kampala/Entebbe, and you will have another photography opportunity at the Equator but at Kayabwe.

End of the 5 Days Uganda gorillas and chimpanzee safari

Safari Inclusion