DAY ONE.
Our Safari guide will collect you from your Hotel and you will depart by road heading south to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This scenic drive takes approx 9-10hrs. You will have a short stop at the Equator for a photographic opportunity as well as an informative talk. You will continue stopping at Brovad Hotel in Masaka for lunch. Your drive will take you through Uganda rolling green hills and through the highlands, also known as the ‘Switzerland of Uganda’. Your road will then head even higher to where you can see the triangular peaks of the Virunga volcanoes of Rwanda and the Congo. We then drop down into a valley, to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, home of the mountain gorillas. Tonight you will sleep to the sounds of the mountain rainforest.
Overnight at Kisoro Tourist Hotel (Full Board)
DAY TWO.
Up relatively early for a hearty breakfast to give you the energy needed for gorilla tracking in Nkoringo. Before 8:00 am report to the ranger station for registration and a talk by one of the rangers; the guides will then take you through the forest pushing your way through the undergrowth, parting thick creepers, to track the gorillas. (This trek can take from half an hour to 5 hours – a reasonable degree of fitness is required as well as a sturdy pair of walking shoes). Sit in the forest among the gorillas, listening to them grumble to each other, and marvel at the sheer size of the dominant male; the silverback. It is an extraordinary feeling sitting in the dense rainforest knowing you are with a few of the last remaining mountain gorillas. It’s amazing to think there are only about 650 of these beautiful creatures left!
If you have energy in the afternoon, you will take a village walk – see how the Ugandans live!
DAY THREE.
Following a morning breakfast, we will depart with our packed lunch to Queen Elizabeth National Park. This scenic drive will take approx 5-6 hours. Queen Elizabeth is a host to a large variety and volume of wildlife. There over 560 species of birds found here including the martial eagle, black-rumped buttonquail, Verreaux’s eagle owl and African skimmer to name but a few.
Tonight you will sleep in Mweya Safari Lodge. This is a large, first class lodge overlooking the famous Kazinga Channel with its large hippo population. The Lodge comprises of 49 rooms, all of which have en-suite bathrooms and mosquito nets. They have a swimming pool sunk into the large deck, looking out over the Kazinga Channel. They have a boutique from which you can purchase clothing, local crafts, basic necessities and souvenirs. The meals are generally served as a buffet.
After checking in, you will head for a 3:00 o’clock boat ride along the Kazinga Channel. This gives you the opportunity to view wildlife up close: hippo’s huff and spray mere feet away from the boat, buffalo linger in the shallows. The shores of the channel are also home to an array of birds including pink backed pelicans, pied and malachite kingfishers, saddle billed stork and many others. After this wonderful afternoon, a slow drive back to Lodge.
DAY FOUR
After breakfast, your safari guide will take you for a “sunrise game drive” to the Kasenyi area of the Park. Here you will be able to see numerous elephants as well as water hog, lion, hyena, Uganda kobs, waterbuck and bushbuck.We will then drive back to Kampala with our packed lunch arriving in the afternoon.
