5 Days Gorilla and Chimpanzee Trekking Safari
5 Days Gorilla and Chimpanzee Trekking Safari : Have a magical encounter with Uganda’s iconic primates – the endangered mountain gorillas and the playful and intelligent chimpanzees on this 5 days Gorilla and Chimpanzee Trekking Safari, this Uganda tour takes you on a visit to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – home for mountain gorillas and Kibale Forest National Park – Home to Chimpanzees.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the most popular gorilla trekking destination in the world and is home to a huge population of mountain gorillas as well as habituated gorilla families open for gorilla trekking adventure.
Kibale Forest National Park dubbed as the primate capital is home to 13 primates including the largest population of chimpanzees in East Africa, the park dominated by rainforest is the best place to track chimpanzees in East Africa.
Highlights of 5 Days Gorilla and Chimpanzee Trekking Safari
Day 1: Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park – Evening Swamp Walk in Bigodi Swamp
Day 2: Chimpanzee Tracking
Day 3: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Day 4: Gorilla Trekking
Day 5: Travel back to Kampala
Detailed itinerary of 5 Days Gorilla and Chimpanzee Trekking Safari
Day 1: Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park – Evening Swamp Walk in Bigodi Swamp
On arrival at Entebbe International Airport or after breakfast at your hotel in Entebbe or Kampala, meet your safari driver guide and start on your journey to Kibale Forest National Park. The journey takes approximately 5 hours passing through major towns of Mityana, Mubende and Kyenjojo before reaching in Fort Portal – Uganda’s tourism city.
Continue to Kibale Forest National Park, check in at your lodge for lunch and in the afternoon go for a swamp walk at Bigodi Swamp Sanctuary, the Bigodi Swamp Sanctuary is home to over 280 bird species including the great blue turaco, black and white casqued hornbill, white browed coucal, Ross’s turaco among others which you will spot during the walk. You will also see several primates such as baboons, black and white colobus monkeys among others. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation: Chimpudu Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Lunch and Dinner
Day 2: Chimpanzee Tracking
Have early breakfast, then after drive to Kanyanchu Briefing Center for registration, briefing, grouping and getting a range guide who will lead you through the forest for chimpanzee trekking in a group of 6 people.
The chimpanzee trekking experience takes approximately 2 to 6 hours or more depending on the movement of the chimpanzees in search for food and where they spent the previous night. When you encounter the chimpanzee family you are trekking, you will spend one hour in the presence of the chimpanzee watching them go on with their life in the forest and take amazing pictures of them.
After an amazing experience of being in presence of our closest cousins, you will return to the lodge for lunch and in the afternoon. You will choose either to go for a village for an encounter and interaction with the local people or a Crater Lake exploration walk.
Accommodation: Chimpudu Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 3: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Enjoy breakfast, checkout of the lodge and drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park with a drive through Queen Elizabeth National Park with an en-route game drive. Along the way, you will see animals such as Elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs among others.
You will have en-route lunch and continue to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park arriving in the evening, check in at your and spend the rest of the day relaxing at the lodge as you wait for the next day’s adventure which is another highlight of this safari.
Have dinner and overnight
Accommodation: Buhoma Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 4: Gorilla Trekking
Have early breakfast and transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park’s headquarters to attend a briefing session in which you are taken through rules and regulations to follow, you will be grouped into 8 people and be assigned a gorilla family to trek. Then head to the starting point and enter into the forest looking for mountain gorillas, the trek takes approximately 2 to 6 hours depending on the movement of the gorillas and their location.
Along the way you will encounter other forest creatures such as birds and chimpanzees, when you locate the gorillas you will spend one hour in their presence watching them go on with their lives in the forest , take pictures of them among others.
After the success of this experience, you will head back to the starting point to pick your gorilla certificates and also meet your guide, head back to the lodge where you will spend the rest of the day at relaxation. Or head to the Batwa Community for a cultural experience where you will be entertained by local dances and drama, visit the local medicine man among others.
Accommodation: Buhoma Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 5: Travel back to Kampala
After breakfast, you will embark on a journey back to Kampala which is a drive of approximately 8-9 hours, you will have stopover in Mbarara for lunch and another stopover in Kayambwe for pictures at the Equator where you will have a chance to stand both in the Northern hemisphere and Southern hemisphere .
When you arrive in Kampala, you will be dropped off either at your hotel or at Entebbe International Airport for your onward flight.
End of 5 Days Gorilla and Chimpanzee Trekking Safari
