Day 1 : Kampala – Kibale Forest National Park After breakfast we depart Kampala and head west to Fort Portal. On your way look out for black-and-white colobus monkeys as many of these primates are hiding in trees along the road. Fort Portal rests in the shadow of the fabled Mountains of the Moon and famous for the many tea plantations. From this lovely town we will continue to Kibale National Park for a stay within the tropical forest. Dinner and overnight at the cottages of Primate Lodge Kibale.
Day 2 : Kibale Forest & Bigodi Village Today the forest opens it doors for a sensational chimp tracking. Kibale Forest is reputable of having the greatest variety and highest concentration of primates in East Africa. Enjoy a guided nature walk in the tropical rainforest in search of the wild chimpanzee, red-tailed monkey, black-and-white colobus monkey and many others. After a hearty lunch we transfer to Bigodi Village. This guided walk takes you for a closer meeting with the Bigodi Trading Centre, where you will visit several homesteads, local schools, Catholic churches, have a meeting with a traditional healer and listen to the storytelling of the mzees (elderly). Dinner and overnight at the cottages of Primate Lodge Kibale.
Day 3 : Exploration of the Crater Lakes Today we will explore the region of the crater lakes. Enjoy the beauty of the numerous small lakes, surrounded by gentle hills, and the stunning views. Take a hike at Lake Nkuruba to encounter different species of primates and birds, and visit the Mahoma Falls. Meet the local people as you walk through their villages, learn about the customs of the Batoro tribe and enjoy the panoramic views. You can also visit the Rubingo Abeteraine Women’s Group and see how they earn their money by weaving baskets. Dinner and overnight at the cottages of Primate Lodge Kibale.
Day 4 : Mountains of the Moon & Tea plantations Kibale Forest is located closely to the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains. Here you can enjoy a guided nature walk with scenic views of the rolling hills, green valley and large banana plantations. You will get a glimpse of the village life and visit a traditional witchdoctor at this home. In the afternoon we will visit one of the many tea plantations that surround the rainforest. Watch the workers tipping and weeding, and witness the progress of transforming the leaves to black (made) tea. Of course you will be able to get a taste of the final product! Dinner and overnight at the cottages of Primate Lodge Kibale.
Day 5 : Bigodi Swamp – Kampala The Bigodi Swamp Walk is another initiative of the local community and with the revenues different community projects are supported. The Magombe Swamp is known for its rich diversity of birds and primates and offers different trails to encounter stunning flora and fauna. After lunch we calmly transfer back to the capital city. Arrival in Kampala in the late afternoon.
Included in the price: - Ground transport per comfortable 4WD safari vehicle - English speaking driver/guide - Overnight in the mentioned accommodation, based on a double room - Full board except for breakfast on day 1 and dinner on day 5 - Bottled mineral water throughout the safari - Park entrance fees and ranger fees - Activities as described in the program
Exclusions: - International flight - Visa - Meals and drinks not mentioned above - Laundry and tips - Items of personal nature
Note: If you wish to stay in the adventurous Sky Tree House or the luxury safari tents of Primate Lodge Kibale, please notify so we can inform you about the upgrade fees. Please complete the enquiry form below for more details and tailor-made safaris in Uganda and Rwanda!
Our unique relationship with our tour operators ensures only people who have participated in a trip after making an enquiry for it at The Africa Guide can leave a review.
The email we send you when you make an enquiry has full instructions for registering a booking and leaving a review - both are free services.
Feel free to read through the reviews for any trip you like the look of.
Trips with no reviews are usually new to the The Africa Guide but are normally operated by a tour operator who is established here. Most tour operators listing here will usually have gained reviews about other trips they have listed here.
Thanks for visiting, happy travels and don't forget to send us your reviews...
I was very impressed with the website when I was looking for a company to plan our trip to Murchison Falls. My friend and I were going to Uganda to visit my daughter and her friend who were working as volunteers with an NGO in Jinja. The four of us wanted to visit Murchison Falls.
We were pleased that the operator was able to make arrangements to suit our budget. They also accommodated our wish to be picked up in Jinja instead of Kampala.
Our driver, Beki was wonderful. Not only was he a very competent driver, but he was full of good humour and knowledge about the culture of Uganda and its animals and plants. He answered all of our questions about everything we saw on our trip to Murchison Falls and we had many as this was our first trip to Africa. He pointed out many things of interest to us and made us feel so comfortable on our trip. Beki helped to make our safri a most enjoyable and memorable experience.
The company sent us an information package and a complete itinerary before we went on our safari. I thought this was very helpful. I have only praise for their staff. If Beki is representative of all their drivers, then you are ensured of an amazing safari experience.
We thought they did a very good job of meeting our needs during our trip to Uganda. They were responsive when we asked to modify the standard itinerary - visiting a local hospital, the Kampala marketplace, and the veterinary school at the University.
At our request, they substituted an extra game drive for the scheduled activity, and accommodated our request for a different hotel in Kampala on our last days.
Our guide/driver was named David, and he answered all of our questions, maintaining his composure despite some unforeseen circumstances (car broke down, and he had to get a different driver to bring us back to Kampala).
We took the luxury option except for Travellers Rest, which we chose when the Nkuringo Lodge was not able to honor our reservations. It was an unexpected pleasure to stay at Travellers Rest -- wonderful food and friendly service at a very reasonable price. The Primate Luxury Tented Camp, where we stayed when we tracked chimps in Kibale, seems like it's not quite ready for prime time but shows promise for the future.
Overall, we were very pleased, and if we were going to make the trip again, we'd call them.
We would be delighted to provide you with information about our holiday. We have nothing but praise for this operator, both for their helpfulness throughout and their flexibility in planning our itinerary.
We had a rather unusual plan for our holiday, in that, as well as touring the game parks, we wished to seeand meet Ugandans on the ground as much as possible,and also we wished to end our holiday by being taken to Gulu, where our daughter is working as an NGO.
They responded to this by including a 2-day visit to a farm in the far south-west, near the Tanzanian and Rwandan borders, and by agreeing to drop us off in Gulu, rather than returning us to Kampala.
We visited Lake Mburo, Queen Elizabth, Kibale and Murchison Falls National Parks, in addition to Nshenyi village referred to above. All this was achieved in an 11-day itinerary, at a very reasonable cost. Our driver was fantastic. He was not only one of the best drivers I've ever come across either inside or outside of Uganda, but he was also very friendly, and most knowledgeable about all the wildlife, including the rich variety of birds we saw. He also had phenomenal eyesight; even when the road he was negotiating was particularly pitted and rough, he still managed to catch sight of birds and game a long way of, which we would have missed.
Altogether a most positive, enjoyable and educational trip. I'd recommend anyone to go; Uganda is a truly beautiful country. We look forward to returning.
I found the safari operator to be very accommodating with any special requests we had regarding the itinerary.
The Safari Lodge pool made for a perfect setting for a sunset swim, overlooking the channel filled with hippos. The lodge also provided the unique experience of waking up to a hippo grazing outside our door.
