Gorillas & the Forest

Day 1: Arrival at Entebbe, Uganda You will be received by your driver/guide at the airport. Depending on your arrival time, if you arrive nighttime, we check into your hotel for a relaxation moment after the long flight. Luxury: Hotel No.5 Entebbe Midrange: Calm Waters Ecolodge Entebbe Low Budget: Papyrus Guesthouse Entebbe Day 2: Sezibwa Falls, Mabira Forest & Jinja to Sipi Falls After breakfast, an early morning drive on Jinja Road with our first visit being to Mabira Forest for 2 hours where we have a forest walk. The Mabira Forest is a rainforest area covering about 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi) in Uganda, located in Buikwe District, between Lugazi and Jinja. Mabira forest is home to over 300 bird species and many Ugandan primates. We continue to Jinja, to the source of the River Nile where we get to the speed boat and continue to Samuka Island for relaxation and lunch. if you are a bird lover, this is a must place for you. Return later and drive to Sipi Falls in Mbale. Accommodation (including all meals): Luxury: Sipi Valley Resort Midrange: Sipi Valley Resort Low Budget: Sipi Valley Resort Day 3: Sipi Falls Tour You will start your morning with a guided nature walk around the Sabiny community and a few Bagishu people and walk around the Sipi River with the 3-Sipi waterfalls. Get to the viewpoint and view Mt. Elgon National Park, plus the second-highest peak of Mt. Elgon-Jackson Summits. Return later and drive to Jinja for overnight to cut short the distance to Murchison Falls National Park. Spend the night at Accommodation Luxury: Wildwaters Lodge Midrange: Haven Lodge Jinja Low Budget: Kalagala Falls Lodge Day 4: Murchison Falls National Park We set off from Jinja at 7 a.m. after our morning breakfast and drive to Murchison Falls and the Ziwa Rhino tracking. You will track the rhinos in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for about 2 hours depending on where the rhinos are feeding from. Continue to Masindi town for lunch at the Masindi Hotel and continue to the park. Murchison Falls National Park is the largest in Uganda at 3,840 square kilometres. Here is the awe-inspiring Murchison Falls where the river Nile hurls itself in convulsions through a narrow crevice and then plunges 40 metres in one breathtaking leap. The park has a variety of vegetation ranging from riparian forests and swamplands to broad savannah and provides visitors with the opportunity of seeing large concentrations of wildlife including lion, leopard, civet, hyena, elephant, giraffe, buffalo, hippo, crocodile, a host of smaller game, small primates and many bird species, including the rare shoebill stork. The park is especially famous for crocodiles and hippos. Apart from game viewing, the launch trip to the bottom of the falls is another memorable adventure giving you the experience of the mighty Biblical Nile. Accommodation Options (Full Board) Up-market: Paraa Safari Lodge Moderate: Pakuba Safari Lodge or Fort Murchison Lodge Budget: Fort Murchison Lodge (tents) | Murchison River Lodge Day 5: Murchison Falls National Park After breakfast head to the delta in search of bird life and enjoy the game drive to look for lions, giraffes, herds of elephants, buffaloes and many more. We will drive back to the lodge for lunch before taking an afternoon boat cruise to the foot of Murchison Falls. This boat trip along the Nile is often cited as being the highlight of a trip to Murchison since it allows you to get up close and personal with the animals. Along this stretch of the river, there are reported to be around 4,000 hippos in addition to some enormous Nile crocodiles. The bird life is stunning with brightly colored kingfishers and bee-eaters darting along the riverbanks. If lucky, you may see the rare and prehistoric-looking shoebill, which is a cross between the dodo and a dinosaur. The boat takes you to the base of the falls which only adds to their impressiveness. Accommodation Options (Full Board) Up-market: Paraa Safari Lodge Moderate: Pakuba Safari Lodge or Fort Murchison Lodge Budget: Fort Murchison Lodge (tents) | Murchison River Lodge Day 6: Fort Portal & Kibale National Park Leave Murchison Falls National Park for Kibale Forest National Park via the Lake Albert escarpment, having a good view of the lake. Stopover at Kolping Hotel in Hoima for lunch and after a drive across the interesting river Nkusi (flowing from the southern end of Lake Albert, through the villages of Kagadi, joining the Victoria Nile). Both rivers join Lake Kyoga and flow through the Murchison Falls, continuing to Lake Albert and north to the Mediterranean Sea. This is a great day as the drive takes you through the community and forests with chances of seeing vervet monkeys, and black and white Colobus monkeys jumping up in the trees as you advance into the Kyenjonjo on a rocky road. Accommodation Options (Full Board) Upscale: Ndali Lodge | Crater Safari Lodge Midrange: Isunga Lodge | Chimpanzee Forest Lodge (ensuite cottage) | Turaco Treetops or ensuite tents at Kibale Forest Camp Low Budget: Tents at Kibale Forest Camp (with bedding and mosquito nets, shared bathroom) | Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse Day 7: Chimpanzee Tracking in Kibale National Park & Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary Assemble at Kanyankyu River camp at 08:00 hours to go for the most popular activity in this park, which is chimpanzee tracking. Chimpanzees are man’s closest cousins though they are one of the most threatened primate species. More primates like black and white colobus monkeys, L’Hoest monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabey, red-tailed monkeys, bush babies, pottos and many bird species like the yellow-spotted nicator, rumped tinker bird, little greenbul, green breasted pitta, the crowned eagle, black bee-eater and mammals like elephants can be seen in this walk. Kibale National Park, which averages about 3,300 feet in elevation, is 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. Typically, we locate the chimps by listening for their pant-hooting calls, then hustle to the area from which they are calling. We get to observe them as they feed in fruiting trees, lounge, and socialize with each other, or even occasionally hunt. In the afternoon, we visit a nearby forest swamp that is excellent for viewing primates and other forest animals. At the eastern edge of Kibale Forest is Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary which is maintained by the local community. You will expect birds like the great blue turaco, blue monkeys, baboons, otters, mongoose, bushbucks, bush pigs and among others. Accommodation Options (Full Board) Upscale: Ndali Lodge | Kyaninga Lodge | Crater Safari Lodge Midrange: Isunga Lodge | Chimpanzee Forest Lodge (ensuite cottage) | Turaco Treetops or ensuite tents at Kibale Forest Camp Low Budget: Tents at Kibale Forest Camp (with bedding and mosquito nets, shared bathroom) | Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse Day 8: Tour Fort Portal, Crater Lakes, Amabeere ga Nyinamwiru Caves & Queen Elizabeth National Park. Leave the national park after breakfast and drive to Fort Portal. You will visit the Amabere caves in the Nyakasura area. This is the traditional home of the Bachwezi who were believed to be demi-gods. This area still has the historical regalia of the Bachwezi that helps one in understanding the life they lived while still on earth (they later disappeared). You will then take a nature walk to the crater lakes whose history is associated with the mysterious Bachwezi. We incorporate some crater lake hikes into this program. You will simply be amazed by the beauty of these ancient and not ancient crater lakes found in the Fort Portal area. After you have witnessed all these amazing landscapes, you will be transferred to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Accommodation Options (Full Board) Up-market/Luxury: Mweya Safari Lodge | Katara Lodge Mid-range: Buffalo Safari Lodge | Enganzi Lodge Budget: Bush Lodge (tents)| Simba Safari Camp (tents) Meals included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Day 9: Safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park After breakfast, we depart to Queen Elizabeth National Park which is dominated on its northern border by the snow-capped 16,000-foot Rwenzori Mountains - the famed "Mountains of the Moon". This 767-square-mile conservation area is bordered on the northeast by Lake George and on the southwest by Lake Edward; its western border adjoins the Congo Parc du Virunga. Later transfer back to Entebbe with a brief stopover at the Equator for photographs; arrive in Entebbe in the afternoon for your flight departure back home.