Luxury Gorilla Safari, Highlights of Uganda

ENTEBBE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT | THE BOMA HOTEL

Today you arrive in Uganda – the Pearl of East Africa! Perhaps you have already caught a first glimpse of the huge Lake Victoria from the plane. Once you are standing on its shores, you immediately feel enchanted and dazzled by the sun’s rays dancing across the lake’s surface. At the exit of the airport, your driver will already be waiting to take you to your accommodation. The drive only takes about 10 – 15 minutes. Here you check into your accommodation and can recover from the journey.

Visa has to be obtained before online: https://visas.immigration.go.ug/

The Page is sometimes not working, so please search in Google for “Visa Uganda Online” and choose the page mentioned above – then it works!

Yellow Fever vaccination is mandatory!

For further current entry requirements, please ask us!

Overnight at the Boma Hotel (Bed and Breakfast) or Similar

KISORO | MEET THE PYGMIES | LAKE MULEHE SAFARI LODGE

07:00 am. you will be whisked away on a small aircraft into the remote mountainous regions of southern Uganda. Upon arrival, you will head out for the ‘Batwa’ (pygmies) Cultural Trail. Doing this trail will enable you to interact and learn about the interesting lifestyle of Uganda’s unique pygmies. The Batwa pygmies were originally the traditional inhabitants of Mgahinga Forest that is currently occupied by the National Park. The trail exposes you to the in-depth hidden history of the Batwa pygmies before the year 1990 when they evacuated the forest area that had become protected and conserved as a National park.

The Batwa Trail is unique in a way that it showcases the authentic culture of the original inhabitants of this tropical forest whose lives mainly depend on the natural habitat. While exploring the trail, you will experience the naturally endowed forest through a rare view of the local people. The experience comes along with different unique demonstrations on how the pygmies were used to extract local herbs that were used for healing different diseases, traditional ways of fetching water using locally made bamboo mugs, and the construction of grass huts.

The highly rewarding cultural tour ends with a staged, authentic cultural performance organized by the Batwa community at the gate of the Garama cave which was highly regarded as a ceremonial place for the cultural leaders of the Batwa community. After your cultural excursion, check into your lodge for relaxation as you get ready for your big day tomorrow

Overnight at Lake Mulehe Safari Lodge (Full Board) or Similar

KISORO – MGAHINGA | GORILLA TREKKING | LAKE MULEHE SAFARI LODGE

Today is the big day… Prepare yourself for an encounter with Mgahinga’s gentle giant: the rare Mountain Gorilla. For most people, this is the absolute highlight of their tour in Uganda. You will be required to wake up early in the morning then be led to the visitor’s reception center for a briefing about the park. You are allocated guides before heading into the forest in search of Mountain Gorillas.

The Gorillas you will track belong to the habituated family group that can tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period every day. Your trek will be an exciting journey along forested slopes, entwined vines, bushes, and bamboo before you eventually reach the Gorillas’ habitat.

En route, your guide will point out signs of previous Gorilla activity, including dung, nests, and chewed bamboo shoots.

The time taken to track the Gorillas can take as little as 2 hours or more! Once the Gorillas have been located, your group will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them. Coming face-to-face with a Mountain Gorilla is a truly humbling and emotional experience. This is a fantastic and privileged opportunity to get up close and personal with Uganda’s very own ‘Gorillas in the Mist’.

Checklist for Gorilla Tracking

• Long sleeve shirts and trousers (old clothes recommended as they can get very dirty and torn from the thorns and jungle foliage)
• Insect repellent and sunscreen.
• Hat and sunglasses (although once in the jungle you are in the shade)
• Gardening gloves to protect your hand from the thorns and vines
• Good, comfortable sturdy hiking boots with good ankle support.
• Getters or Long socks to tuck your trousers into
• Rain jacket
• Camera
• Waterproof rucksack (or plastic bags inside your rucksack)
• Plenty of water (the camp provides a packed lunch and lots of water)
• For evenings, it is worth taking a warm fleece as evenings can be chilly. For the daytime light, casual clothes generally suffice
• On the starting point, please hire one porter, who will help to carry your backpack – this costs around 15 US per porter (plus a tipp) – this helps the surrounding communities to generate income and to profit from the tourism sector.

 Overnight at Lake Mulehe Safari Lodge (Full Board) or Similar

KISORO | GOLDEN MONKEY TREKKING | LAKE MULEHE SAFARI LODGE

The Golden Monkey is an endangered and endemic primate species to the Virunga massif having a population estimated between 2,000 and 4,000 and sharing its home with the world’s famous Mountain Gorillas. Learn about this primate life in the canopy and their habitat and other forest-dwelling animals that share their home with the monkeys.

This experience will allow you to have an insight and a better understanding of what it means to research, conserve, and protect an endangered species in the 21st century and the many challenges faced every day by the team out in the field.

There are more than 100 monkeys in this forest and reproduce successfully. The work being carried out to research, conserve and protect this species is important to its survival and its habitat, and the many other animals and plants that live there.

You will witness how these tree-dwelling primates are the gymnasts of the forests, gain an insight into their daily lives, and the challenges that they have to overcome to survive. You will also gain an understanding of the forest, the plant life, and other species found there. If you are lucky, you are likely to spot wildlife such as Buffalo, Forest Elephant, Bushbuck, and Duiker

Overnight at Lake Mulehe Safari Lodge (Full Board) or Similar

SOUTHERN QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK | ENJOJO LODGE

After breakfast, you will head out to the beautiful wilderness of Ishasha plains that are a part of Queen Elizabeth National Park – the oldest & second largest National Park in Uganda located at the base of the massive Rwenzori Mountains, adjacent to lakes Edward and George, covered by Savannah plains that provide an abundance of Game viewing like; Elephants that trumpet when you get too close, lazy Leopards laying in the sun, abundant Gazelle and buck, Lions, Buffaloes, Hippos and others.

Enjojo Lodge is situated just off the entrance to the Ishasha sector and is your accommodation for the night.

Overnight at Enjojo Lodge (Full board) or Similar

SOUTHERN QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK | ENJOJO LODGE

Today you go in for a morning and evening game drive in the Ishasha plains. If you’re lucky, a game drive through the open savannah of Acacia on the edge of the Albertine Rift valley will enable you to view ‘Tree climbing Lions’ and other wild animals.

The Ishasha sector is located near the southwesternmost edge of the Queen Elizabeth National Park. The landscape in this section of the magnificent park is very different from that in other parts of the Queen Elizabeth National Park. The Ishasha sector within QENP is a habitat for the tree lions, which are unique to this location. The males of these extraordinary lions have black manes.

Overnight at Enjojo Lodge  (Full Board) or Similar 

ENTEBBE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT | DEPART

Transfer back to Entebbe. En route, you will have a stopover at the Uganda equator crossing for a requisite snapshot and some souvenir shopping.

Upon arrival at Entebbe depending on how you feel you can choose to explore some craft shops for a final souvenir shopping or simply relax as you relive your safari highlights before departing to the airport from where you’ll catch your departure flight onwards.

This marks the end of what we hope will be an adventurous trip- Thank you very much!!!

Departure

We are waving goodbye and wishing you a safe flight back home! Kwa heri na karibu tena!