You will arrive at Entebbe International Airport, and a representative will assist in your transfer to a light aircraft bound for Kibale Forest National Park, located in the far west of Uganda. Descend with views over the Africa’s highest mountain chain, and then disappear beneath the canopy on your transfer to the lodge. After lunch, you can spend your afternoon on a walking safari in the surrounding area as blue monkeys, and black-and-white colobus monkeys can be seen with astonishing frequency. Sitatunga and bushbuck will provide new charm, and into the late afternoon, you might spot serval and various mongoose species. It will be an easy safari today and a chance to tune your senses to the sounds of the forest. Lounge on your lodge verandah after dark, and you will continue to see and sense the wild animals, as well as spot those that roam beneath the lodge’s floodlight.
Ugandan red colobus monkeys seem to mark the trail as you set off in search of chimpanzees as their tales drape down majestically and curl with an enduring grace. L’Hoest’s monkeys and Ugandan mangabeys are the other regulars on your journey, more examples of species from the depths of the Central African rainforest. Keep walking, and the trail will narrow further as your guide hacks it clear of tangled roots. Somewhat remarkably, you will be able to sense when the chimpanzees are close. Perhaps it will be the subtle change in smell or the unexplainable shift in the atmosphere. Take a few more steps, and you will hear their calls. Keep walking, and you will stop before one chimpanzee, an old female foraging peacefully in the canopy. Creep a little closer, and more of the troop will come into view with a dozen chimps scattered across the trees.
This troop has been habituated, and they are used to this daily hour of human contact. For the first few minutes, the chimpanzees will inspect you with curiosity as if wondering aloud at their visitors. They will soon settle back into their regular daily life with hands that grasp sharpened branches and use them as tools. Peculiar expressions will showcase their delight, confusion, amazement and annoyance. Communication is done with the whole body, from their open, expressive mouths to waving arms. Sometimes you will see a splinter family group of eight to 12 or so chimps, but on other occasions, it will be the full troop with upwards of 50 in the trees. For an hour, you will take in the idiosyncratic behavior that makes every chimpanzee trek absolutely unique. This will be a full-day activity, usually with a packed lunch on route and your lodge providing some peaceful downtime after your trek.
Follow the elephants and replicate their migratory route between the Kibale Forest and the savanna of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Occasionally, the elephants are spotted along the road, an indication of how many are hiding at today’s destination. As the forest rescinds, you will journey into the iconic image of East Africa, with the open savannah and the short golden grass and clumps of strange trees. Arrive in time for a short walking safari around the lodge before a luxurious lunch while overlooking the Kazinga Channel. Then move to get even closer with a boat safari that will take you past hundreds of rambunctious hippos.
The hippos are not the only icon found along the water as this channel is the park’s lifeblood, the permanent source of goodness that all animals must stay close to. Along the banks, you will see large herds of Ugandan kob taking a drink with their black and white spiraled horns making for fabulous photos. Nile crocodiles sunbathe on the banks while elephants disappear beneath the water, poking their trunks up like snorkels. Spending the day on a boat safari is a very relaxed introduction to big-game African safari as you can just sit back and absorb all of the encounters along the water.
Drive across the savanna and watch how it changes color with the rising sun. Elephants come out of silhouette, antelopes gather in staggering numbers, and huge lumbering hippos charge towards the water. You will be searching for the giants and getting up close to those that dominate the landscape. High in the tree, you may spot a lioness dozing the morning away with eternal elegance. Down below, you will likely find the rest of the pride with two cubs impishly playing in the grass and two other lionesses bounding quickly up the tree trunk. Even the large males like to climb trees, their unique black manes flowing as they ascend into the canopy. There are only a few places in Africa to see tree-climbing lions, and there is a real enchantment to the scene.
In the safari vehicle, you can approach an elephant herd and admire the curled tusks of a large bull and the cheerful demeanor of the younger pachyderms. Mothers wander with a matriarch’s grace, and soon there will be elephants on all sides of the vehicle, towering above you from all sides. The game drive may also find one of the park’s leopards, another stealthy figure lurking in the trees. After lunch at the lodge, you will have the choice between an afternoon walking safari or a game drive. Heading out on foot will bring you closer to the smaller animals and magnificent zebra strips, stout bushbuck, skipping topis, duiker, reedbuck, and the strange antelopes of the swamps will fill your eyes. Game drives can continue your search for the predators as those black-maned lions are accompanied by the raucous spotted hyena.
An early morning game drive, back to the camp for breakfast. Check out and drive via Kihihi local trading center, through remote Ugandan villages to Bwindi Bwindi Impenetrable NP, home of the endangered mountain gorilla. Check in at Mahogany Springs lodge for lunch; afternoon at leisure – you may opt for a guided visit to Ride4Woman local project, a local school (subject to being in session) – this at no extra costs.
Early morning departure from the lodge to the trailhead at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for your mountain gorilla trekking experience. After the briefing (touches on aspects of gorilla behavior, details on the gorilla family you’ll trek as well as safety precautions) your adventure will start! Gorilla trekking can be strenuous, and a certain level of fitness is required. Trekking can take from 30 minutes to three-quarters of the day, so one needs to prepare for both. Coming face-to-face with a mountain gorilla is one of the most memorable wildlife encounters in Africa, if not the world. Mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are a critically endangered species. At least 400 mountain gorillas inhabit the Bwindi Mountains and live at altitudes from 1,160m - 2,607m above sea level. There is a feeling of mutual understanding as you watch them in their home, going about their daily business. Youngsters will often show off, jumping to demonstrate their motor skills. Silverbacks may beat their chests as a sign of dominance, an exhilarating experience! Or they may sit peacefully as a family, chomping on bamboo and grooming each other, watching you with the same intrigue you are showing them. Gorilla trekking is for sure a life-changing and once-in-a-lifetime experience. Daily visits have an impact on gorilla activity patterns and are a source of animal stress – therefore the firm justification for the "only spend one-hour” rule. This is adequate time for photography and observing these great primates in their natural habitat. Afterwards, return to base where your driver will be waiting to transfer back to the Buhoma area (where your lodge is located) to continue with bird watching.
Another day in the Bwindi, you may opt for a second gorilla trek or just a guided forest walk or community walk or tree planting session at the lodge – all these at extra costs.
Uganda looks marvelous from above with the volcanic hills draped in dense forest and the golden plains divided by ochre-red dirt roads. You will fly back to Entebbe this morning, the plane looping around Bwindi Forest before crossing open swathes of savanna. It will be a dreamy aerial safari and a chance to savor the scale of what you have just explored. Touching down in Entebbe, you will be assisted in transferring onto your international departing flight.
