10 Days Explore Rwanda and Uganda Safari
This 10 Days Explore Rwanda and Uganda Safari offers you the best opportunity to explore wildlife, primates and culture in both Rwanda and Uganda. During this 10 days Rwanda and Uganda safari, you will do double chimpanzee and gorilla trekking in Rwanda and Uganda, as well as golden monkey trekking in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, canopy walk in Nyungwe forest national park and Bigodi swamp walk near Kibale national park where you will get a chance to see the prehistoric Shoebill stork.
Highlights for 10 Days Explore Rwanda and Uganda Safari
DAY 1: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park
DAY 2: Chimpanzee Tracking and Canopy Walk.
DAY 3: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park.
Day 4: Gorilla Trek in Volcanoes National Park.
Day 5: Golden Monkey trekking
Day 6: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Optional Batwa Cultural Tour
Day 7: Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi
Day 8: Transfer to Kibale National Park
Day 9: Chimpanzee Trekking and Bigodi Swamp Walk
DAY 10: Transfer back to Kigali
Detailed Itinerary for 10 Days Explore Rwanda and Uganda Safari.
DAY 1: Transfer to Nyungwe Forest National Park
In the morning, you will be picked by the driver from your hotel in Kigali and drive southwards to Nyungwe forest National park. You will have a stopover in Butare, where you will visit the national museum of Rwanda, the king’s palace in Nyanza with lunch en-route. After lunch, you will connect to your accommodation to spend the evening at leisure. Dinner and overnight stay at your lodge/hotel.
DAY 2: Chimpanzee Tracking and Canopy Walk.
Enjoy breakfast and go for briefing about the endangered chimpanzees before entering the forest in search of the active and playful fellows in Nyungwe forest. The Chimpanzees are much easier to spot as they jump from one tree to another, chattering and laughing. Chimpanzee tracking usually takes about 3 hours. On finding them, spend an hour while taking pictures and videos. You will then return to your hotel to freshen up, have lunch then check out and later in the afternoon participate in After lunch, you will go on a walking trail that will take you to the Canopy Walk-a swing bridge 50 meters in length that is suspended from large trees. You will be able to see the amazing rainforest with a bird’s eye view, spotting wildlife moving about below you there after connect to your accommodation to spend the evening as the night before.
DAY 3: Transfer to volcanoes national park.
Rise up early have breakfast as you get ready to embark on your journey to Volcanoes national park with lunch en-route, arriving Ruhengeri in the evening. Dinner and overnight stay at your lodge.
DAY 4: GORILLA TREK IN VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK.
As early at 6am, you will be expected to be up for breakfast and ready to set off for the trek. Our guide will meet you after having your breakfast and your lunches packed and he will take you to Kinigi Headquarters where you are expected to be given a brief before starting the gorilla trek. This brief is done at 7am. You are given guidelines during this brief before you are allowed to start the trek. This gorilla trek can take to about 2 hours to half a day as its unpredictable. When you finally find the gorillas, you will have to maintain a 7 meters’ distance and you are allowed one hour to admire and take photos of the gorillas.
After the trek, you will have lunch and taken back to your hotel as the night before to relax and reminisce on the experience. You can also embark on the Iby’iwacu cultural village tour which will give you an insight of the people of Rwanda by visiting the local community which will give you the chance to observe their unique cultural values through dance, food and many other features that you will get to observe when you participate in the activity. After the experience you will head back to your hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 5: Golden Monkey trekking
You will enjoy early morning breakfast and transfer to the park headquarters with your packed lunch and bottled drinking water for briefing by the park ranger guides at 7:00am. After briefing, you will start your golden monkey trekking journey accompanied by the ranger guides in search of the golden monkeys; this takes 2 to 8 hours depending on the movement of the gorillas. The guides will try to find them from where they were last seen the previous day! You will spend 1 hour with the species and later return to your lodge to refresh and relax. After the safari experience you will head back to your hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 6: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Optional Batwa Cultural Tour
After having your breakfast, you will meet up with your driver guide and embark on a 1-3-hour drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park arriving in time to have lunch at your lodge. After lunch, you can head out for an optional cultural tour to the neighboring Batwa communities. Get a chance interact with the locals and learn more about the Batwa culture and history. They are the indigenous dwellers of Bwindi forest and depended entirely on the forest for their survival until the Ugandan government resettled them in the communities outside the park.
Day 7: Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi
After breakfast, go to the park headquarters for a briefing on mountain gorilla trekking by a local guide. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi takes between 2 and 8 hours, depending on the movement of the gorillas. Meeting gorillas suddenly is one of life’s most intriguing events. You will be able to watch and photograph at extremely close range. You’ll see adults eating and grumbling among themselves. It is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Following an hour with the long-awaited gorillas, your guide and rangers will return you to the starting point, where your driver will be waiting to take you back to the lodge. Have supper and an overnight stay as described above.
Day 8: Transfer to Kibale National Park
Your safari guide will pick you up from your lodge after you have had your breakfast. After a briefing, you will proceed to Kibale National Park, which is a 5-6-hour trip with a late lunch stop along the way.
Take a tea plantation tour to understand how tea is cultivated, harvested, and prepared for the cup. You will continue to your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 9: Chimpanzee Trekking and Bigodi Swamp Walk
After an early morning breakfast at the resort, head to Kibale forest for your chimp habituation adventure, bringing snacks and drinks. You will first go to the park headquarters for a briefing before heading into the forest for the activity.
This is a 2- to 5-hour adventure, so expect to encounter chimps, monkeys, forest elephants, buffaloes, bush pigs, duikers, warthogs, reptiles, and a brilliant array of butterflies. When you discover the chimps, you will be permitted to spend an hour with them.
In the late afternoon, you’ll go for a Bigodi swamp tour, which will allow you to see a variety of birds.
Return to the lodge for supper and an overnight stay, as described previously.
DAY 10: Transfer back to Kigali
Enjoy breakfast at leisure and transfer back to Kigali with a stopover for lunch en-route. After having your lunch at a local restaurant, you will be dropped at the hotel advised or you will be dropped at Kigali airport for your scheduled flight back home.
End of 10 Days Explore Rwanda and Uganda Safari
