7-Day Gorilla & Chimpanzee Trek, Queen Elizabeth and Lake Mburo Park Wildlife Uganda Mini-Loop Safari

Day 1: Pick up and head west to the Kibale Forest Chimpanzee Park
After breakfast at your preferred Kampala or Entebbe lodging, the 7 days of Uganda memorable Experience begin with a Westward 5 – 6 hour drive to the Kibale Chimpanzee Park. The journey is a pleasant one and our 4-wheel drive vehicle, your English speaking driver will do his best so that you will enjoy the journey through the Ugandan countryside. It is a scenic drive and once again you will be reminded why Uganda is the Pearl of Africa. Depending on the schedule, we may stop off at Fort Portal town for lunch or just continue and have it at your preferred Kibale Forest National Park lodging. – There is the Up-market: Kyaninga Lodge, Moderately priced: Kibale Forest Camp, and Budget: Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse, go here for the entire list of options. Fort Portal is named for Sir Gerald Portal, a British Special Commissioner for Uganda, whose statue graces the main road of the town. Kibale Forest is one of the great African rainforest research reserves, famous for the variety of primates and it is a terrific area for birds.
After lunch/check in, whichever comes last, it’s the afternoon Bigodi Swamp guided walk. You are taken into the world of a jungle swamp, a rather unique experience. The wetland is a birder’s paradise with about 138 species and is best known for being home to the Great Blue Turaco. This is a 2½ - 3 hour walk and is a must for bird lovers. Bigodi Sanctuary is located outside the park in Magombe Swamp it also hosts eight species of primates including the black-and-white colobus, grey-cheeked mangabey, red-tailed, l’Hoest’s and blue monkeys, and olive baboons. Bushbucks and mongooses and many more can also be found here. Return to the lodge for dinner relaxation and overnight.

Day 2: Chimpanzee Tracking at Kibale Forest Park and Transfer to Queen Elizabeth Park
Have an early morning breakfast and drive to the Kanyanchu park headquarters for the chimpanzee pre-track briefing by the forest guide. Kanyanchu in the central part of Kibale, is the main trailhead for the park's famous forest walks, the most popular of which is the regular Primate Walk.

Chimpanzee trekking can take up to 3 hours. Chimpanzees are our closet cousins though they are one of the most threatened primate species. Unlike other Uganda chimpanzee locations, we are over 98% certain that you will see the find them here. We find the chimps by listening to their pant-hooting calls, then hustle to the area from which they are calling. Also, expect to see other primates such as Black and White Colobus Monkeys, Black faced Red Colobus, Red Tailed Monkeys, Olive Baboons and an incredible array of bird life, including the Great Blue Turaco. You are with the chimpanzees for one hour and get to observe them up close allowing you to take some close-up pictures. The chimpanzees are habituated, a process that takes up to two years and gets the chimpanzees used to human presence so that they continue with their regular activities while you are present.

The things you need for the day include long trousers preferably jeans, long-sleeved shirts, light hiking boots, daypack with a liter of bottled water, wide-brimmed hat and a light rain-jacket.

Kibale National park, is about 3,300 feet in elevation, it's an extension of the great rainforests of central Africa. It is inhabited by three large "communities" of chimps, each numbering more than 100 individuals. Each community has a complicated social structure. The big adult males dominate the group and defend the community territory against incursions by male outsiders; the females usually wander in small family groups. Return to your lodge for lunch or lunch on the way as you transfer to Queen Elizabeth Park in the afternoon. Dinner in evening as you arrange for the next day. You may consider learning more about the Chimpanzees of Uganda,..go here

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We leave for Queen Elizabeth National Park (about 2½ - 3-hours) and our goal to check into the lodge you have chosen. You may consider a late afternoon Safari Drive or the Explosion Crater drive – choice can be made same day. The 27 kilometer Katwe Explosion Crater drive takes you the highest point in Queen Elizabeth Park with splendid views of the Rwenzori Mountains of the Moon, Western Rift Escarpment with the vast Savanna below, Lake George and Lake Edward connected by Kazinga Channel – there are about 12 explosion craters, made famous by the National Geographic. The explosion craters do not attract elephants, buffaloes, antelopes and birds. Some of the craters are lakes, while others are covered by savanna grass or forests.

Proceed to the Lodge, check in,dinner and night stay

Day 3: Drive to Queen Elizabeth Park – Late afternoon Game Drive
Choose breakfast or an early game drive which can begin at 6:30am as down breaks over the Savannah at Queen Elizabeth Park and the equatorial sun rises over the horizon bathing the candebra euphoria trees in the early morning glow – it is a great time for good picture taking of the predators who are returning from the night’s hunt, elephant herds, buffaloes, antelopes such as the majestic Uganda Kobs, topi, Bush Pigs Warthogs savannah birds, and you have both the driver guide and the Uganda Wildlife Authority Ranger to point out the various wildlife that you might otherwise miss.

QENP is surrounded by snow-capped 16,000-foot Rwenzori Mountains, and in the north, "Mountains of the Moon". The park is 767-square-miles of conservation area and is bordered on the North East by Lake George, and Lake Edward on the South West; its western border adjoins the Zaire Parc Du Virunga.

A game drive is about three hours in length giving you plenty of time to relax, to put down your safari impressions in your daily Safari Journal, even upload you blog impressions  and staying in one of the Tents gives you that added privacy and privacy in the African Bush.

At 2.00 pm, it’s the afternoon boat safari. We leave for the boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel. This gives you more opportunities to see wildlife real close; On the shores, there are hippos, hippos and more hippos. There are about 1500 hippos found along this channel with almost 5000 in this park. In between are hundreds of birds of all kinds. There are elephant herds that can number over 50 in the dry season. Buffaloes, Antelopes, Moinitor Lizards, Crocodiles can all be seen here during your slow-moving boat ride along the channel.  Crocs had been absent from the channel for a thousand years but once villages, paths were establishes along the Semliki River into which Lake Edward flows they returned in the 1950s to the park and have thrives here. The boat safari is one of the highlights of your 7 Day Uganda Mini-Loop Safari. It is simply a fabulous, slow boat ride. Return to the lodge for dinner and night rest.

Day 4: Drive to Bwindi via the Famous Ishasha Region - A Late Game Drive along the way
Breakfast and we're of to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. We drive further south through stunning savannah grasslands as we head towards the breathtaking adventures of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. We pass through the southern sector of the park – Ishasha, a remote and beautiful extension of Queen Elizabeth National Park that is home for a large variety and volume of wildlife. It is interesting to spot lions draped from the trees and nowhere in Africa do you stand a better chance of seeing this than in the large low limbed fig tree of Ishasha). Or take the alternative route through cultivated expanses. Check into the Lodging of your choice at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. In the afternoon we take a forest walk the location depending on where we have the permits for the gorillas. Lots of opportunities for other mammals and birds to be seen as we are guided by a Uganda Wildlife Authority Ranger. We return to the lodging facility for a break, dinner and sleep for the night.

Day 5: Mountain Gorilla Trekking - Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Early morning breakfast and proceed to the briefing point. Enjoy the highlight of your trip - Gorilla trekking, which may last from 2 to 8 hours depending on the group you are visiting. We trek through the rainforest and bamboo covered slopes, accompanied by a Uganda Wildlife Authority guide and other trackers, in search of a mountain gorilla family. The walking can sometimes be tough and long, but when you catch a glimpse of the magnificent silverback, any discomforts will be quickly forgotten.

The gorillas move to a new location daily and never stay in the same place, twice. When sighted, visitors will be guided to within 5 metres from the gorillas, sit around them for not more than one hour while gazing into their big round eyes. A party of not more than 8 will be allowed to visit a gorilla family each day. Children under 15 are not permitted. Gorilla trekking is unpredictable. It's difficult to foresee how many hours you will hike. The gorilla excursion can take from 2 up to 8 hours. Expect to walk along distance in steep and muddy conditions, sometimes with rain overhead, before you encounter any gorillas. A good physical condition is recommended.

For conservation purposes, time spent with the gorillas is limited to one hour. A ranger will brief you on how to behave with the gorillas.
After your tracking (trekking) experience return to your accommodation for a well deserved rest. If there is time you might do an afternoon walkabout in a pigmy village and give you some cultural insights into the local Batwa culture. Further Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park Information.

Day 6: We move to Lake Mburo National Park:
It is early breakfast and off to Lake Mburo National Park. The perfect place to break a long journey at one of the most delightful places in Uganda. You can stay at one of the classy up-market tented camps that are eco-friendly and simply one of the nicest places you have ever stayed at or you can stay at the budget facility.
We arrive for an afternoon lunch and check-in and then it is off to leisurely cruise around the lake. There is much wildlife to be seen from hippos to crocodiles, birds of all kinds, buffaloes, zebras, antelopes and much more. You will also see several other lakes such as Kazuma, Lake Bwa.

Day 7: Morning Game Drive & Return to Kampala
Breakfast and a morning Game Drive through the savannah or an ultimate treat. Check out Uganda’s wildlife besides the mountain gorillas in Bwindi such as zebra, warthog, buffalo, klipspringer, eland, oribi and waterbuck. Lake Mburo national Park, a haven for “impalas” small antelopes and herbivorous are most concentrated in Lake Mburo of all the Ugandan national Parks. There is more to impalas, Kampala; Uganda’s capital derives its name from here, it’s beautiful animal. A horseback safari, ATV quad safari tour is also possible. The choice is yours.

Drive to Kampala with stops at Mbarara for lunch, along the equator if you missed on the first day and at the Buganda Royal Drum Makers. Arrive in Kampala in late afternoon....Creating everlasting memories of the Pearl of Africa.

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