5 Days Gorilla Tracking and Queen Elizabeth National Park
This 5-day safari trip is designed for the guest who has time only for a relatively short visit but wants to explore Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda’s most popular destination, in greater depth. You will have two days to seek out the leopards that roam the Kasenyi plains, encounter large herds of elephants and the vast array of other resident and migratory wildlife, as well as travel to the southern Ishasha sector in search of the tree-climbing lions of the region. You will even have time for a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel and see hippos, crocodiles and buffalo. This trip starts with a chance to track the mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest plus visit with the Batwa people who share the same forest.
Detailed itinerary
Arrival: You will be picked up either from the airport the day before the trip or from your hotel if you are already in Uganda. Please note, accommodations prior to or following the trip can be arranged at additional cost.
Day 1: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Following breakfast, you will be driven by your safari guide to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in southwestern Uganda. After a brief photo-op stopover at the equator in Kayabwe, some 70 km from Kampala, you will travel on to Mbarara for lunch and then continue your journey past banana plantations and through the hills of the Kigezi region into the gorilla highlands, reaching Bwindi in the evening for dinner and overnight at your lodge.
Accommodation: Bweza Lodge or Rushaga Gorilla Havens
Meal plan: lunch and dinner
Day 2: Gorilla tracking
After an early breakfast, your lodge will provide you with a packed lunch and you will then be driven to the briefing point in the park where you will check in. The briefing begins at 8:00am; however guests are requested to arrive by 7:30 am for the safety briefing. With your assigned ranger guide and small group, you will then begin your trek into the Impenetrable Forest in search of the gorillas. Depending on where the gorillas slept the previous night, this trek can take 4 hours or more. Once you locate the gorilla family, you will have one hour to photograph them and observe their behavior, after which you will hike back to the ranger station to receive your gorilla tracking certificate. Drive back to the lodge or visit the Batwa (pygmies) communities around the park.
Accommodation: Bweza Lodge or Rushaga Gorilla Havens
Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
After an early breakfast, your safari guide will drive you on the approximately 4½-hour journey to Queen Elizabeth National Park, which will take you through the Kigezi district with its misty hills. En route, you will see the Karegyeya mythical rocks, the Kitagata hot springs, rolling tea plantations and some of Uganda’s many crater lakes.
You will check in at your lodge and following lunch and relaxation, a late afternoon game drive is scheduled. Dinner and overnight at your lodge.
Accommodation: Bush Lodge or Kazinga Wilderness Camp
Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 4: Game drive and boat cruise
After an early breakfast, your safari guide will drive you into the park for a 2-3 hour game drive through the Kasenyi plains, during which you can expect to see Uganda’s great wildlife such as lions, kobs, elephants, buffalos, hyenas and much more. Some bird species are migratory, others residential, so a great variety are always possible.
After lunch back at your lodge, your safari guide will drive you to the Kazinga Channel for a boat cruise. The channel serves as a watering hole for several species such as hippos, crocodiles, monitor lizards and water birds. It is also a great opportunity to view and photograph multigenerational elephant herds up close. Dinner and overnight at your lodge.
Accommodation: Bush Lodge or Kazinga Wilderness Camp
Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner
Day 5: Transfer to Entebbe/Kampala
After an early breakfast and check out, your safari guide will drive you to Entebbe or Kampala (as per your plans) via Mbarara. Depending upon the time of your departure, lunch will be either in Mbarara or Masaka. A stopover will be made at Mpambire Drum Village and another at the equator as you proceed to your destination in Entebbe or Kampala.
End of tour.
Trip includes:
• Accommodation and meals as per the itinerary
• Safari 4x4 vehicle
• Drinking water
• Airport or hotel transfer on the first and last day
• Driver/Tour guide
• Fuel for the entire trip
• All park entrance fees
Trip excludes:
• International and/or internal flights
• Visa
• Tips
• Food and beverages not otherwise indicated
• Laundry
• Gorilla tracking permit (to be booked and paid for in advance; preparation upon request)