Uganda Gorilla and primate safari experience

Upon your arrival at Entebbe International Airport, you will be welcomed by our customer care representative and your allocated English-speaking safari guide for a meet and greet and, thereafter, a transfer to your booked hotel in Entebbe town. The hotel is about a 10 to 15-minute’ drive from the airport on the shores of Lake Victoria. Depending on your time of arrival, if time allows, visit the Entebbe botanical gardens that are found on the shore of Lake Victoria in Entebbe town for a walking safari. Botanical gardens are home to some primate species, such as vervet monkeys, and several bird species. The walk will take you to the shores of Lake Victoria, where you will have a chance to spot some water birds, enjoy the fresh breezes from the lake, and get used to Uganda’s beautiful nature. Lake Victoria is the largest water body in Africa and the second largest freshwater body in the world, and it is shared by three East African countries (Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya). Later, return to your hotel to have dinner and an overnight stay.

On this day, you will wake up early in the morning, have breakfast, and begin your adventurous journey to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. On your way to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. This is a long drive that will last for 8 hours however, the drive will be characterized by very experiential stopovers that will make you appreciate nature, people, and landscape. On your drive, you will make a stopover at the Kayabwe equator landmark, which is thought to divide the world into two halves: the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. While at the equator landmark, you will see the water experiment, which is done to show how forces move differently on each side of the planet and to prove the difference between the two hemispheres. For example, water drains from the funnel in a clockwise motion in the northern hemisphere, whereas it drains down in an anti-clockwise motion in the southern hemisphere. Here, the sun rises and sets rapidly, and the temperatures and weather are largely constant all year through. While at the Equator landmark, take some memorial photos with one foot in the southern hemisphere and another one in the northern hemisphere, which will allow you to take a photo while standing on both sides of the world at the same time. It is also said that while standing at the equator line, your body weight is reduced by about 3 kg, so you will have a chance to prove this statement right or false. After the water experiment, have a cup of coffee and then proceed with your journey to a cultural center in Mbarara city to have lunch. Tour the museum, one of Uganda’s richest heritages with the history, traditions, and lifestyle of the Ankole people and southwestern Uganda that will take you centuries back into the lifestyle of the people of western Uganda. Thereafter, proceed with the journey to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, where you will arrive in the evening to check in at your booked lodge and spend your evening relaxing. Dinner and overnight.

Today, wake up very early in the morning to have your backpack ready. Dress up in the recommended style for the best mountain gorilla trekking experience. long trousers, possibly khaki or jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, waterproof hiking shoes, a waterproof jacket, a round hut, and heavy-duty gloves. This is due to the unpredictable weather conditions in the forest; it can rain at any particular time of the day, and then, for protection. Later, you will be served breakfast, have a box of your picnic lunch, meet your safari guide, and drive to the park information center for the pre-gorilla trekking briefing about the mountain gorilla trekking rules and regulations, the expectations during the gorilla trekking, how to behave while with the gorillas, and many other things. You will be joined in groups of eight people per group and then be assigned a particular gorilla family for tracking, with two gun-baring rangers (for your security) and a tracker/guide with a machete to lead your way during the forest walk while searching for the magical mountain gorillas. Thereafter the briefings, start the forest walk to search for your assigned mountain gorilla family. The time taken while searching for the mountain gorillas is not known, but it can be anywhere between 45 minutes and 6 hours, depending on the location and the movements of your allocated gorilla family on that day. Therefore, you need to be mentally and physically fit and prepared for multiple hours of forest walking over uneven and steep terrain. So, it is better to ask to be assigned a nearer gorilla family if you are not fit to manage multiple hours in the forest. If you consider yourself fit, choosing a challenging family is more fun and enjoyable because you will have the opportunity to encounter several wildlife species that live in this forest, and the longer you stay in the jungle, the more you will enjoy it and have opportunities to see many things.
During the forest walk in search of the mountain gorillas, you may encounter other wildlife species since Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park hosts numerous species, including chimpanzees, African elephants, l’Hoest’s monkey, and many others, plus birds, and your forest guide will keep on giving you information regarding everything that you will encounter that will make you enjoy your forest time. Once you meet your assigned mountain gorilla family, you will have one full hour to interact with the magical mountain gorillas. You will be required to keep a low tone, and you will be free to take as many photos as you want as well as ask as many questions as you want to your guides regarding the gorillas. Get ready to encounter Mr. Silverback, who is the head and determines the movements of the entire family. Mothers nurse the young ones, and the juveniles entertain the family, which makes a stay with them so amazing. It is advisable to avoid looking directly into the eyes of the gorillas. In the event of a chance encounter with the gorillas, it is always important to stay calm and quiet and let them pass because running away or making any kind of noise may disrupt the gorillas, causing them to behave wildly despite being habituated. The chances of seeing mountain gorillas in Uganda stand at 99% on any particular day. After an hour with the mountain gorilla family, return to the trekking start point to receive your mountain trekking certificate in appreciation of your contribution to the conservation of the endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda, and return to your lodge for relaxation. Later in the afternoon, you will go and visit the Batwa community for the Batwa experience. Once you have arrived, you will check into the lodge and later visit the Batwa community for the community experience. The batwa is an interesting adventure where you will meet the short sighted people who used to stay in the forest for their entire life but now they are staying in the community and they still use traditional means of survival. You will learn how they used to hunt and make fire locally after this experience, you will check into your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

Today, you will wake up in the morning and have breakfast and later start for the 6 to 7 hours drive to Kibale Forest National Park passing through the beautiful scenes of mountain Rwenzori and Queen Elizabeth National Park which is known for tree-climbing lions. Kibale Forest National Park is famously known for its biggest population of chimpanzees, amounting to more than 1500 individual chimpanzees, and some of these are well-habituated for tourism and research. The park is also referred to as Africa’s primate capital, with over 13 primate species recorded than any national park or wildlife reserve in Africa, hence making the park a primate lover’s haven. The park is also home to East Africa’s largest populations of the threatened and rare L’hoest’s monkey and red colobus monkeys. While at Kibale Forest National Park, you will see several primates such as the black-and-white colobus, blue monkeys, red-tailed olive baboons, grey-cheeked-mangabeys, and over 375 species of birds. Along the way to Kibale Forest National Park, you will enjoy the spectacular views of tea estates, several forests, and the shadow of the legendary Rwenzori Mountain that forms a mystic backdrop to the beautiful volcanic landscape. Have a stopover in Fort Portal City to have lunch, move around the city, and later continue with your journey to the park to check in at your booked lodge and if time allows you will go for a community experience and swamp experience.
Bigodi Sanctuary Swamp is punctuated by biodiversity and lovely scenery and is a paradise for bird lovers, with over 138 bird species and eight species of primates. These include the grey-cheeked mangabey, black-and-white colobus, l’Hoest’s and blue monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, and olive baboons, plus other mammals like bushbucks and mongooses can also be found here. The swamp is managed by the surrounding local community to preserve exclusive environmental features along with the wetland for future generations. So, during this walk, you will have an opportunity to spot several monkeys and bird species. The Bigodi community walk, will take you through the nearby community to have a chance to interact with local people to learn how they harmoniously live with wildlife species, take you through how they locally do their daily activities without applying modern technology, such as making nice gins from bananas, making delicious coffee, and making art crafts. Return to your lodge after the walk to relax, be served dinner, and overnight.

Wake up very early in the morning to dress in a recommended style for the most memorable chimp trekking experience, such as water-proof hiking boots, a long-sleeved shirt suitable for cold weather, a rain jacket, a round hut, and insect repellents. Be served breakfast, then meet your safari guide at the park information center for a briefing about chimp trekking rules and regulations, which are very important to keep you and the chimps safe. Thereafter, start the forest walk to look out for chimpanzees and other forest primates like l’hoest monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, blue monkeys, and olive baboons, as well as other mammals like forest elephants, bush pigs, buffaloes, sitatungas, and warthogs, as well as different bird species like the little greenbulb, black eared ground thrush, black bee-eater, collared apalis among others, On the planet, there is no other animal that reminds us so much of ourselves as the chimpanzee, and besides many common features and mannerisms, chimpanzees also share 98.8% of our human DNA, which makes them our closest living relatives and Chimpanzees can be found in only 21 countries throughout Africa, but Uganda is where they can be easily sighted due to the high concentration. So, seeing chimpanzees in Uganda is guaranteed on any particular day throughout the year. Kibale National Park harbors a population of over 1500 chimpanzees, which makes it the best chimpanzee trekking destination in the world. The forest walk in search of chimpanzees may take about 30 minutes to 4 hours, depending on their location, because they like to move from one place to another in search of food and they are usually fast. When you encounter them, you will be allowed to stay with them for a maximum of 1 hour and you will be free to take as many photos and ask as many questions as you want since your park guides are well-conversant about the forest and all its wildlife species, which will make your chimpanzee safari adventurous and memorable. After spending an hour with the chimpanzees, return to the park information center to receive your certificate of completion of chimpanzee trekking, meet your safari guide, and start your journey back to Entebbe International Airport for your flights Back Home and this marks the end of your 5 days Uganda gorilla and chimpanzee trekking experience safari.