This safari combines the wide savanna plains Queen Elizabeth National Park with the dense tropical rainforests of Bwindi National Park. During this safari retreat, you can experience an excellent wildlife viewing and encounter with the Chimpanzees at Ngamba Island Sanctuary as well as pay a visit to the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre.
Day 1: Arrival to Kampala
Welcome to the Pearl of Africa! You will arrive at Entebbe Airport, where you will be welcomed by a company representative and transferred to your hotel for relaxation. You will stay the night at Protea Entebbe Hotel B. The distance to the hotel will take approximately 10 minutes.Today’s meal plan includes dinner.
Day 2: Ngamba Island Sanctuary and UWEC Behind the scenes
After your breakfast, you will depart to the jetty for the 45 minutes’ boat cruise at 09:00 a.m. to Ngamba Island arriving in time for the chimpanzee feeding session. Upon arrival at the sanctuary, you will be directed to the visitor’s center where you will be given an introduction to the project, its history, the chimpanzee residents and their plight.
You will receive an educational orientation by a chimpanzee caregiver and view a feeding of the chimpanzees from the visitors raised platform area along the edge of the sanctuary fence at 11:00 a.m. before having lunch on the Island.
You will then return to the main land and head to the Uganda Wildlife Education Center for the Behind the Scenes Program. Experience the thrill by going beyond just watching the animals, visit the holding facilities or exhibits, food preparation areas, the pharmacy, quarantine facility, workshops, and taking part in rescues, and more.
Behind the scenes program will give you an inside view of what actually takes place in areas out of reach to the public including the animal holding facility, animal hospital, and rescue center upon advice of the veterinarian and within depth information from an animal keeper, veterinarian and educators. You will stay the night at Protea Entebbe Hotel. The distance to Ngamba Island Sanctuary is 45 kilometers. Today’s meal plan includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Day 3: Kampala to Queen Elizabeth National Park
After breakfast, you will head to Queen Elizabeth National Park with a stopover at the Uganda Equator for a water flow demonstration of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. You will then proceed to have lunch in Mbarara Town before heading to the park arriving in the evening for relaxation. You will have dinner and stay at Katara Lodge. The distance to Queen Elizabeth National Park is 430 kilometers and will take approximately around seven hours. Today’s meal plan includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Day 4: Game drive and launch cruise at Kazinga Channel
Arise early and set out for an early morning game drive and head to the mating ground of the Uganda kobs. You will search for lions, elephants, buffaloes, and other wild animals in their natural habitat before returning for the camp. You will have your breakfast packed for you by your lodge and enjoy it in the amazing wilderness.
After lunch, you will take on a scenic boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel, a natural and pre-historic canal that joins Lakes Edward and George. 33 kilometers long and two to three kilometers at its widest points. The Kazinga Channel was formed by tectonic activity millions of years ago, during the formation of the rift valleys.
On a scheduled two hours boat ride over a 12 to 14 kilometers stretch of the channel, guests are almost always guaranteed excellent wildlife sightings including, multitudes of hippopotamus, Nile crocodiles, wallowing buffaloes on the reedy banks, elephants, multitudes of birds including many endemics, as well as hundreds of other plains game that come to it for water all day long. Later head back to the lodge for relaxation. You will then have dinner and stay overnight at Katara Lodge. Today’s meal plan includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Day 5: Queen Elizabeth Park to Bwindi National Park
After a relaxed breakfast, you will be departing for Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, home of the endangered mountain gorillas arriving in time for late lunch and relaxation. The distance to Bwindi National Park is 260 kilometers and will take approximately five hours. You will then have dinner and stay overnight at Mahogany Springs. Today’s meal plan includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Day 6: Birding excursion with an optional gorilla tracking
After breakfast, head for a three-hour birding session at the Munyaga Waterfall trail. Look out for 40 to 50 bird species including bee-eater, bar-tailed trogon, black, white-headed, tinker birds wood-hoop, barbets, woodpeckers, African broad bill, assorted greenbuls, white-bellied robin-chat, red-throated alethe,brown-capped weaver Chapin's flycatcher, red-faced woodland warbler, black-faced rufous warbler, pink-footed puff back Grauer's warbler, short-tailed warbler, Oberlander’s ground thrush, mountain masked apalis, bocage's bush-shrike, Luhder's bush-shrike, Petit's cuckoo shrike, starlings, black-billed weaver, among other birds.
You will then return for lunch and head to River Ivi trail, a six-hour nature walk trail south through the rainforest, ascending and descending gently through beautiful areas with several viewpoints overlooking lush valleys. This trail is excellent for viewing birds, duikers and monkeys. You will then have dinner and stay overnight at Mahogany Springs. Today’s meal plan includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Day 7: Bwindi National Park to Entebbe
After breakfast, you will depart the impenetrable forest of Bwindi and head back to Kampala. You will then enjoy lunch at a local restaurant then proceed back to Kampala arriving in the evening. The distance to Entebbe is 590 kilometers and will take around 11 hours. You will then have dinner and stay overnight at Protea Entebbe Hote. Today’s meal plan includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Day 8: Departure
Enriched with an experience of a lifetime and unforgettable memories, you will say goodbye to the Pearl of Africa. Depending on your flight schedule, you can join Travelers Link Africa’s guide on a city tour and thereafter you will be transferred to Entebbe Airport for your international flight.
