Trekking Rhinos, Chimpanzees & Mountain gorillas plus Lions & The Nile on a Wildlife Safari
Nov 22-29, 2024
Duration: 6 nights, 7 days
Group size: 5 max
Overview:
A safari in Uganda takes you to her Mountain gorillas and the Nile, meeting her people and lavishing in the richness of landscapes that makes Uganda, the Pearl of Africa. Join Rupi Mangat, a third generation local and a leading Kenyan travel writer who lives in this tropical paradise on the Equator, the denizen of big game – elephants and rhino; lions, leopards and cheetahs; and mighty raptors that soar the skies.
Imagine adventure-filled days on a mountain, the sweeping savannah and on the mighty Nile revered from the era of the pharaohs. Be amazed by Uganda’s wildlife that is a treasure-trove of life on earth – from the endangered Mountain gorillas to the endemic Uganda kob; from the chimpanzees to prehistoric Shoebill; from the predators and prey of the African plains to so much more.
You will be enchanted.
November is one of the most exciting months to be on safari and watch the land turn lush and green at the end of the short rains. Typically the days are interspersed with spells of showers followed by hours of sunshine for the wildlife (and us) to soak in.
Highlights
- Luxury Safari in diverse wildlife areas
- Seeing Africa’s big game including the gorillas and chimpanzees in the wild
- Trek for the Mountain gorilla with the award-winning CTPH gorilla guardians
- Stay in unique wildlife lodges, one by the Nile
- See Uganda’s, rare endemic animals only found in Uganda
- Stay in a luxury hotel on the shores of the world’s 2nd largest freshwater lake that is the source of the Nile
- Sail the Nile to the most powerful waterfall in the world
- Be awed by the Mountains of the Moon
- Toast to Africa every evening
- Indulge in mouth-watering international and Uganda’s cuisine
Your days will be filled with watching the big cats like the lions and leopards, and elephants and all that African wildlife in diverse parks with iconic backdrops like the Mountains of the Moon i.e. the Ruwenzoris and ending each day with a toast to the wild in the glow of the ‘golden light’.
You will meet the gorilla guardians working with the dynamic Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoma founder of the award-winning Conservation Through Public Health who will amaze you with the success story of Uganda’s Mountain gorillas and the local people living there.
->Want to see Mountain gorillas, then you got to safari in Uganda!
Here’s what’s so special about it!
PS: Since then in 2015, Mountain gorillas numbers are up: 1,063 from 800
More on the African safari
This specially curated safari is for you to be awed by Uganda’s iconic Great Apes that are the gorillas and the chimpanzees and Africa’s amazing wildlife. You will meet the dynamic community who working pioneering gorilla research projects in Uganda that gives you a front seat view of conservation in the 21st century.
All lodges are luxurious with en suite baths and toilets, some with spas, swimming pools and all with mouth-watering gourmet meals. This safari is for people who want to see the Great Apes in the wild, love nature, big and small game, birds and plants while also enjoying the finer things in life.
More on our Host, Rupi Mangat
Rupi is a travel writer with a particular concentration on wildlife conservation and sustainability. She is 3rd generation Kenyan who has been on safari countless times since she started writing professionally in 1998. She works with the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya as the editor of Komba, the magazine to promote wildlife conservation amongst schoolchildren. With her strong connections with conservation organizations like the East African Wild Life Society and the Conservation Through Public Health which are not-for-profits doing amazing wildlife conservation work in today’s challenging world.
Day 1 Friday 22nd November
Fly into Entebbe the lakeshore city of Uganda. You will be met at the airport by our representative who will guide you through arrival. You will then be driven by your driver-guide to your hotel, the Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort& Spa.
The Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort is one of Entebbe’s finest hotels on the shores of Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile, the world’s longest river. On 30 July 1858 the British explorer John Hanning Speke saw Africa’s largest lake and correctly identified it as the source of the Nile– and so solving the greatest mystery that even perplexed the pharaohs.
The day is at leisure. The hotel is a few minutes’ drive to the central business district. Entebbe works at a leisurely pace. The core of the city boasts early colonial architecture and the Entebbe zoo. Or you may just want to enjoy a sundowner on the lake, a round of golf on the PGA-rated 18-hole course or treat yourself at the spa before the safari (at own cost).
6 p.m: We will meet at the Marina Restaurant overlooking the lake for sundowners and dinner (at own cost).
It’s a grand way to end the day.
Hotel: Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort& Spa.
Day 2 Saturday 23rd November
Today the adventure begins.
6 a.m: It’s an early start to the day. After a hearty breakfast at the Citadel we will drive in our custom-made safari cruisers driven by expert driver/guides to Murchison Falls National Park 350 kms northwest of Entebbe, home of the world’s most powerful waterfall, Murchison Falls.
7 a.m: Leave for Murchison Falls with a stop at Ziwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch, the only place in Uganda to see White Rhinos. En route you will see Uganda’s lush countryside and her people.
11 a.m: Arrive at Ziwa. Refresh and off to search for the rhinos. Enjoy the trek with a rhino guard. It’s probably the closest you will get to a rhino in the wild.
Uganda was home to the Northern white rhino until the 1980s when all were killed in the war years. Today, the Northern white rhino is extinct in the wild with only two females remaining in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.
1 p.m: Lunch
3 p.m: Depart for Paraa Safari Lodge by the banks of the Nile.
5 p.m: Arrive at Murchison Falls National Park. We will enjoy a game drive en route to the lodge.
The 3,840-square-kilometer park spans the savanna between Lake Albert and Karuma Fall. The park is spectacular for its wildlife and tapestry of grassland, and swamps along the Nile, which at 6,000 kilometres is the world’s longest waterway. Murchison named after the Scottish geologist in 1864 by the 19th century explorer Samuel Baker who trekked the continent accompanied by his wife Florence, was also the first to document Lake Albert straddling the Uganda-Congo border in the Great Rift Valley.
5 p.m: Arrive at Paraa. Refresh and relax in your room overlooking the Nile.
7.30 p.m: We will meet for a cocktail at the bar and then dine on delicious foods as the Nile flows leisurely by. We’ll exchange the day’s highlights and enjoy the night sky before calling it a night.
Hotel: Paraa Safari Lodge
Day 3 Sunday 24th November
6 a.m: It’s an early start to the day. Wake up calls can be arranged.
Enjoy a cuppa coffee or tea and biscuits before you set out for an early morning game drive at 6.30 a.m. This is the best time to enjoy wildlife as well as late afternoons before the sun goes down. It’s the time when the animals are most active before the sun becomes too hot for them and lethargy sets in. The lionesses would rather hunt when it’s cooler but being opportunistic the hunt is on if the quarry is easy. Lions do not have sweat glands and you’ll hear them panting a lot. You will see Uganda’s unique wildlife like the Uganda Kob and Rothschild giraffe with lions and elephants for a good measure.
9 a.m. we will be back at the lodge for breakfast.
Take time to relax, swim, read a book and enjoy the grounds.
Optional: Balloon safari: After a cuppa tea/coffee, we will depart for a thrilling balloon safari (Please wear long pants and warm jacket, a hat and shoes) at sunrise with a champagne breakfast on landing. It’s a novel way of game watching catching an eagle’s eye view of the land and life below.
10 a.m.: Enjoy a game drive enroute to the lodge.
12.30 p.m: We’ll enjoy an early lunch, before driving to the waterfalls that squeezes through the six-metre-wide gorge to crash down 43 metres and continue its flow to the pharoses’ land.
It’s a slow boat ride looking out for the crocodiles and hippos with sightings of the plains game coming to quench their thirst before the thundering roar of the amazing waterfalls. It’s a sight to behold.
6.30 p.m: We will return to the lodge. Take some time to refresh with a cold beer at the bar or a cool shower.
7.30 p.m. We’ll meet for another gourmet feast by the Nile and retire after a nightcap by the fire pit.
Hotel: Paraa Safari Lodge
Day 4 Monday 25th November
8 a.m: After breakfast, drive to Budongo Forest Field Station to trek for the chimpanzees in the ancient forest. The forest is home to some 700 chimpanzees, some which are habituated to humans. It’s a stunning forest and a close encounter with our ape cousin is unforgettable.
12.30 p.m: Lunch (at own cost) at the centre. The restaurant offers a simple menu and you may get an opportunity to meet some of the researchers to learn more about our close cousins.
3 p.m: A leisurely drive back to Paraa for dinner and overnight.
Hotel: Paraa Safari Lodge
Day 5 Tuesday 26th November
10 a.m: After breakfast, depart with a picnic lunch for Pakuba airstrip.
2.15 p.m: FLY for a 1 hour 15 minute to the town of Kihihi where the dirver guide will be waiting to drive (50 kms 1 and a half hours) to Bwindi on the edge of the Albertine Rift. It’s a mesmeric flight over the Ruwenzoris – also called the Mountains of the Moon by the first century Greek scholar Ptolemy and thought of them as the source of the Nile – and the lakes and on to the dense forest that the locals call Place of Darkness. This is the home of more than half of the world’s population of the Mountain Gorillas – only discovered in Bwindi in 1987 from their night nests in the trees.
3.30 p.m: We will be collected from the airstrip and driven to Mahogany Springs, our luxury address for the night overlooking the high forest-clad vales of Bwindi.
5 p.m. Arrive at Mahogany Springs, check-in and relax.
6.45 p.m.: Meet for cocktails on you first night in Bwindi, that is one the most bio-diverse places on Earth.
Dinner will be served fused with the rich forest air and lots of lively exchanges with the excitement of meeting the gorillas.
Hotel: Mahogany Springs
Day 6 Wednesday 27th November
This is your day for an encounter with the greatest ape on Earth – the Mountain gorilla.
6.30 a.m: We will meet for breakfast and a short drive will bring us to the legendary impenetrable forest for an exciting day of hiking for our close relative with who we share 98.4% of our genes.
We will be accompanied by Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) Gorilla guardian who knows many of the gorillas by name and give us a first-hand insight into their world. Thanks to the work of Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka who founded CTPH in 2003, the population of Bwindi’s Mountain gorilla is on the rise from 300 in 1999 to 459 and increasing. The Mountain gorilla is the only gorilla species whose population is increasing which has seen it removed from being listed as Critically endangered to Endangered.
The forest is also home to the extremely rare Forest elephant that number 300. If we see one with the Great Blue Turaco, a bird of the rainforests – we will be one of the few to ever witness this!
Depending on the duration of the hike, we will return to the lodge for a late lunch and then you have the afternoon to yourself in this magical paradise.
We will relish our last night in the home of the great ape and all the endangered species that Bwindi is home to and make a toast that this paradise will be theirs’ forever.
Hotel: Mahogany Springs
Day 8 Friday 29th November
Entebbe
Wake up to the crystal-fresh air of the mountains for a sumptuous breakfast after which we will say goodbye to this enchanting paradise, a special place on the planet and by now in your heart.
7.30 a.m: Depart for Kihihi for flight to Entebbe at 9.45 a.m.
11.30 a.m: Arrive Entebbe and head to the Entebbe International Airport for your return flights. There will be a lot of memories to take back home after your amazing African safari with new friends met.
Day room or overnight: *HOTEL CLOSEST TO AIRPORT
In the words of Dian Fossey: ”The more you learn about the dignity of the gorilla … and when you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future.”
We hope to welcome you back.
COST:
Group size of 5 adults
Per Person: US$ 5,800
Per Person Sharing: US$ 5,300
THE PACKAGE INCLUDES:
- 1 night accommodation at Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort & Spa on bed & breakfast basis and arrival airport transfer
- 3 nights accommodation at Paraa Safari Lodge, Murchison Falls National Park on full board basis
- 2 nights accommodation at Mahogany Springs Lodge on full board basis
- 1 chimpanzee tracking permit per person at Budongo Forest
- 1 gorilla tracking permit per person at the Buhoma area of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
- Entry fees to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and Rhino trek / 2 game drives at Murchison Falls National Park
- An excursion to the top of the falls
- Boat cruise to the base of the falls at Murchison Falls National Park
- Flights on Aerolink as indicated above
- Round trip airstrip transfers and transfer to the trekking point
- National park entrance fees
- All statutory taxes
NOT INCLUDED:
- Beverages, incidentals, gratuities and items of a personal nature
- Additional meals in Kampala or Entebbe
- Entry fees to any places of interest
- Optional porter, should you require a porter during the trek (payable direct)
- Optional nature walk or bird walk of $30 per person (non-residents / residents) or Shs. 10,000 per person (East Africans) – payable direct
- Any optional extra activities not indicated above
Join in on the Ugandan Great Ape safari
Contact: Rupi Mangat – CEO, Rupi the African Trotter Safaris
Email: rupi.mangat@yahoo.com
Rupi the African Trotter 