Itinerary

1. Day 1- Pick up from Kigali Airport/Lodge

   • You will be picked up from Kigali International Airport/Any Hotel in Kigali to start your journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park via the Genocide Museum and Kigali city tour if time allows. 
   • The journey is very scenic and will take you through a country of a thousand hills to the Pearl of Africa. 
   • You cross over to Uganda at Katuna or Chanika border for a stop at Kabale town (Katuna) or Kisoro (Chanika) before proceeding to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for overnight.

   Accommodation and Overnight Stay at Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge

2. Day 2- Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi National Park

   • You will wake up early in the morning and head to the park headquarters to join other clients for a briefing about dos and don’ts while with mountain gorillas on your habituation experience. 
   • After briefing, you will start your trek into the forest guided by researchers and guides. 
   • During your trek, you may encounter several birds, other animals, and primates in the forest, and once you have found the gorillas you will spend four hours with them and return to the Lodge overnight. 
   • You will have an opportunity to listen and observe researchers doing their work of habituating gorillas and if possible, you will be called upon to participate by collecting samples, naming of group members, making calls and so much more.

   Accommodation and Overnight Stay at Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge

3. Day 3- Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park from Bwindi

   • After breakfast, you will depart for Queen Elizabeth National Park located in western Uganda arriving in time for Lunch at Elephant Hab Lodge. 
   • This will be followed by a short relaxation and an evening game drive in the savannah plains of Kasenyi where wild animals like buffaloes, elephants, antelopes, and big cuts such as lions and leopards can be spotted depending on your luck. 
   • Return to your lodge for overnight stay.

   Accommodation and Overnight stay at Katara Lodge or Mazike Valley Lodge

4. Day 4- Morning Game Drive and afternoon Boat Ride

   • This morning you will head back to the plains of Kasenyi for a morning game drive to try to find what could have missed the previous day. 
   • Lunch will be served at the lodge and after you will head to the jetty along the Kazinga channel for the afternoon private boat cruise. 
   • This cruise offers you chances to view animals like hippos, water birds, elephants, buffaloes, crocodiles, and many other wildlife that flock to the channel for drinking water.

   Accommodation and Overnight stay at Katara Lodge or Mazike Valley Lodge

5. Day 5- Morning Game Drive and Transfer to Kibale National Park

   • After an early breakfast drive to the northern bank of Queen Elizabeth National Park (Kasenyi) area in search the wild animals which include Elephants, Buffalos, wild cats, Savanna birds, and different species of antelopes such as waterbuck Uganda Kobs among others. 
   • After lunch, you will drive to Kibale Forest National Park arriving at your lodge in the evening.

   Accommodation and Overnight stay at Papaya Lake Lodge

6. Day 6- Chimpanzee Tracking in Kibale National Park

   • After breakfast, you will be transferred to Kibale National Park headquarters at Kanyakyu to join other trekkers for briefing and eventual chimpanzee trekking. 
   • You will be led by a well-trained ranger/guide who will take you for a guided primate walk inside Kibale Forest National Park.
   • This forest provides an opportunity to visit one of the habituated communities/part of chimpanzees and spend an hour with them observing and taking photographs. 
   • Kibale National Park is home to other 11 primate species coupled with forest birds. 
   • After your chimpanzee trek, you will drive to Bigodi Village for a wetland walk that was designed to benefit the local community living around Kibale Forest National Park. 
   • Return to the Lodge for overnight.

   Accommodation and overnight stay at Papaya Lake Lodge.

7. Day 7- Depart Kibale Forest National Park for Lake Bunyonyi.

   • Drive from Kibale Forest National Park you will drive to Lake Bunyonyi to break the long journey to Kigali and relax after the lodge tour. 
   • Lake Bunyonyi is one of the three lava-dammed lakes that was formed when lava flowing from one of the volcanoes blocked a river channel and water was forced to flow back hence filling the space to create Lake Bunyonyi. 
   • Bunyonyi locally means small birds due to the abundance of small birds in this area. 
   • Lake Bunyonyi is said to be the deepest lake in Uganda and the second deepest in East Africa. A person visits Lake Bunyonyi for its beauty and is one of the best places to relax after your long safari.

   Lodging: Bird Nest Main Lodge

8. Day 8- Optional Canoeing or Hiking activities around the Lake and transfer back to Rwanda to End the trip.

   • After breakfast, you are free to admire the beauty of the lake and its surrounding hills. 
   • You will have a choice of either taking a canoe ride on the lake to explore different islands with exciting history. 
   • You will for example visit Punishment Island where girls who would produce babies out of legitimate traditional marriage would be dumped and left to die. This is a whole day activity, and you will surely enjoy it. 
   • Alternatively, you can hike one of the hills around Lake Bunyonyi. 
   • After any of the optional activities drive to Katuna Border and head for Kigali with either a late flight or post-tour hotel on your own arrangement.