This 10 days Uganda safari and Rwenzori climbing tour takes you through Uganda’s greatest treasures. These include visiting Lake Bunyonyi, Bwindi Impenetrable for a gorilla trekking safari and Queen Elizabeth National Park where you may sight tree-climbing lions in Ishasha, dominated by acacia woodland and scrubland.
Continue on this Uganda safari and Rwenzori climbing tour for a great short mountain hiking adventure on Rwenzori Mountains, for 4 days, reaching Bujuku hut at 3,972m. You will then descend back to Nyakalengija. Book for this unique Uganda safari combinations this season for a memorable experience.
Uganda Safari and Rwenzori Climbing Itinerary:
Day 1: Kampala – Lake Bunyonyi
Our guide/driver picks you at 0700am from Entebbe International Airport. Drive to Mbarara (283km from Kampala) via Masaka. You may make a first stop over at the Equator crossing for snacks and photography, then proceed with a rewarding and amazing visit to Igongo Cultural Village and the Ankole museum.
You will get your lunch break at Agip Motel in Mbarara town. After lunch, drive and proceed to Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale, famously known as the ‘Switzerland of Africa’. You will be moved by the winding scenery and the beautiful rolling hills.
Dinner and overnight stay at Birdnest Bunyonyi Resort. Meal Plan: Lunch and Dinner.
Day 2: Lake Bunyonyi – Bwindi Impenetrable
Begin your day with a cup of coffee, and get on an early morning sunrise boat ride a long lake Bunyonyi as you watch a variety of colourful bird species. After lunch you will drive to Bwindi, the lushest highland rain forest on earth, filled with primates and exotic birds, valleys, hilltops and papyrus swamps.
Dinner and overnight stay at Silverback Lodge. Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 3: Bwindi Gorilla Trekking – Part of Uganda Safari and Rwenzori Climbing
Begin the day with breakfast as you get ready for a gorilla trekking tour, which begins at 8:00am with briefing from Uganda Wildlife Authority staff. Ensure that you carry along with you a rain jacket, drinking water, snacks and jungle boots among others.
Guides will lead you inside the jungle to see the shy primates for a group you have been booked for. Do not forget to take your lunch boxes and all the necessary gear to track the rare mountain gorilla, which is perhaps one of the most exciting wildlife experiences on earth. Tracking may take between 2 to 6 hours but it’s well worth the effort.
The afternoon is spent on a village walk, so the Buhoma Village Walk gives you a great opportunity to see how the people surrounding Bwindi Impenetrable Forest live. It is also a great way to support the local community in a direct way. The walk begins with your guide at Buhoma Community Rest Camp and is more informative and rewarding to visitors. It will amaze you how resourceful the local people are as you see and learn their ways.
Dinner and overnight stay at Silverback Lodge. Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
Day 4: Bwindi – Queen Elizabeth National Park
After early breakfast you will head to Ishasha, which is the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will carry out an amazing game drive with high chances of sighting tree-climbing lions. Ishasha is dominated by acacia woodland and scrubland, featuring the meandering Ishasha River, banked by a riparian forest.
After your picnic lunch, drive all the way to the northern sector of the park.
Dinner and overnight stay at Enganzi Lodge. Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
Day 5: Queen Elizabeth National Park – Still on Uganda Safari and Rwenzori Climbing
Get on an early morning game drive to see more animals that habit this park, including predators like lions, leopards and other game. Over 500 bird species have been identified here, making it a Mecca for bird-watchers. They include the black bee-eater, 11 different species of kingfisher and several falcons, eagles and other raptors.
Queen Elizabeth National is one of the most outstanding treasures of Uganda, and has been designated a Biosphere Reserve for Humanity under UNESCO auspices. It borders on Lake George and Lake Edward as well as Kazinga channel in the western area of the Great Rift Valley escarpment.
After lunch, you will take a 2-hour launch cruise on the Kazinga channel. This waterway joins Lakes Edward and George and it is filled with schools of hippos, buffaloes and giant African elephants at the banks. This launch cruise offers an excellent platform for photography, bird watching and game viewing. The prolific birdlife is colorful and stupendous with well over 550 resident species.
Dinner and overnight stay at Enganzi Lodge. Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
Day 6: Queen Elizabeth – Rwenzori Mountains
With previous day’s memories, enjoy your breakfast ready for guided primate walk along Kyambura Gorge to look for habituated chimps through the gorge with birding through the gorge as you will be watching a number of beautiful birds. After primate walk, drive to Kasese at the Rwenzori Mountains ready for the next day’s adventure trekking for 4 days. Overnight and dinner at Equator Snow Lodge Meal plan Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 7: First Day Trek – Nyakalengija 1600m – Nybitaba Hut 2650m
From the Rwenzori Mountains National Park headqarters at Nyakalengija (1,646m), you will receive the briefing from the guides, with the possibility of hiring climbing equipment. The hike starts through the plantations and homes of the Bakonjo People, people of the mountain, gradually reaching garden plots and elephants grass. You will follow the Mobuku River and cross the Mahoma River.
The trail passes through an open bracken fern slopes and Podorcarpus Forest, up to Nyabitaba Hut, (2,652m), which is the arrival point for the day. This will take from 5 to 6 hours. From this location, you are facing the North of the portal peaks, 4.627m, that is in front of Mount Kyniangoma. During the day, you might see monkeys, the Rwenzori Turaco and hear the sounds of chimpanzees.
Day 8: Second Day Trek – Nyabitaba Hut 2650m – John Matte Hut 3380m
Descend the ridge to the Mubuku River then climb through bamboo forest toward John Matte Hut (3,380m). The afternoon is tiring boulder hopping ascending along the north side of the Bujuku river, through the giant heather forest (4.1/2-5.1/2 hours).
Day 9: Third Day Trek – John Matte Hut (3380m) – Bujuku Hut 3972m
Trek from John Matte Hut (3380m) to Bujuku Hut (3,977m). We encounter the first of notorious bogs for which the Uganda approach to the peaks is famous. Traverse around Bigo Bog and Lake Bujuku. Look for the ‘everlasting flower’ known to remain on the plants for 40 years.
Day 10: Fourth Day Trek – Bujuku Hut 3972m – Nyabitaba – Nyakalengija
From Nyabitaba Hut, you will head to the Nyakalengija road, that is about 2 hours. Descend steeply off the ridge and enter the warm rain forest. Here, you can look for tropical forest birds and various monkey species.
You will then be driven back to Entebbe with lunch on the way, for either out bound flight or next destination.
Uganda Safari and Rwenzori Climbing Inclusions and Exclusions
Includes
- Airport transfer
- Transportation by a 4 x 4 Safari Land cruiser
- One Gorilla permit per person
- Community walks Bwindi
- Accommodation and meals as per the Itinerary even while on the mountain
- Igongo cultural visit
- Two hour boat trips in Queen and along lake Bunyonyi
- Park fees
- Driver/guide subsistence allowance.
- Guide fees on the mountain
- Enroute lunches
- Ranger guide fees
- Rwenzori Hiking
- Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura Gorge
Excludes
- Flight fares
- Personal insurance
- Equipment for the hike
- Extra Luggage (extra 25kg per person)
- Any changes in the program itinerary while in the Rwenzori
Important for Uganda Safari and Rwenzori Climbers:
- Climbers must be prepared to walk for up to 8 hours every day via steep cliff and muddy paths.
- Climbers must bring along their own climbing gear or hire it at the base camp.
- Our porters carry 8 kg of personal climbing gear