Day-by-day itinerary

What the operator has planned, day by day, across 7 days.

1. Day 1

   Transfer To Kibale National Park For A Primate Safari

   The day starts after breakfast with a drive to Kibale National Park, running along the Lake Albert escarpments with views down over the lake. Lunch is taken in Hoima before the road carries on through farming villages and evergreen country towards Fort Portal and the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains. Kibale sits between 1,100 and 1,600 metres and mixes montane and lowland forest, holding 13 primate species including chimpanzees, red colobus and the uncommon L'Hoest's monkey, plus 250 tree species, 325 birds and 60 mammals; it was gazetted in 1932 and established as a park in 1993. On arrival you visit the crater lakes area and the terraced tea estates before returning to the lodge for the evening and dinner.

2. Day 2

   Chimpanzee Trekking And The Bigodi Wetland Walk

   Breakfast is early and the briefing takes place at park headquarters, with the search for chimpanzees starting by 8:00am. These are our closest relatives, sharing 98 per cent of our DNA, and they are usually located by listening for pant-hooting calls and walking towards the reply, after which you watch them feed, play and interact. L'Hoest's monkeys, golden monkeys, black and white colobus, grey cheeked mangabey, red tailed monkeys and bush babies share the forest, along with birds such as the green breasted pitta and yellow spotted nicator. The afternoon is given to Bigodi swamp, run by the local community, where baboons, mongoose, otters, bush pigs and bushbucks are seen along with birds including the great blue turaco.

3. Day 3

   Drive To Queen Elizabeth National Park

   After breakfast you either take a nature walk in Kibale forest or set off directly for Queen Elizabeth National Park, a drive of about three hours through Fort Portal. You arrive around the middle of the day, check in at the lodge and have lunch before heading out on a game drive, looking for elephants, lions, buffaloes, kobs, antelopes and birds. The park covers 767 sq miles and is known for the Kazinga Channel linking Lake George and Lake Edward, along with its crater lakes. Dinner and overnight are at the lodge.

4. Day 4

   Morning Game Drive And A Boat Cruise

   A very early start puts you on the Kasenyi track for the animals that move at first light, with lions, elephants, solitary buffaloes, kobs and antelopes often seen at close range. You return to the lodge for breakfast and lunch before the afternoon boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel. Crocodiles, hippos and buffaloes line the water, and the birds include pink backed pelicans, saddle billed storks and malachite kingfishers. Dinner and overnight follow at the lodge.

5. Day 5

   Transfer To Bwindi For The Gorilla Leg

   Breakfast is followed by the drive south through open savannah and out of the park by way of the Ishasha sector, where the tree-climbing lions are found. You reach Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, check in at the lodge and take lunch. A late evening game drive rounds off the day, with antelopes, kobs, waterbuck, warthogs, elephants and birds on the list.

6. Day 6

   Gorilla Trekking In Bwindi Forest

   An early breakfast is followed by the briefing at park headquarters on what is and is not allowed around gorillas, after which rangers lead the group into the rainforest. The walk can be hard going and the weather changes without warning, so rain coats and boots are worth having; porters can be hired to carry your bag. Time on the trail is unpredictable and depends on which family you are assigned and how far it has ranged from headquarters, but two to eight hours is the usual span, and you keep six metres back once the gorillas are sighted. Lunch is at the lodge, with the option of a Batwa community visit and cultural performances in the afternoon.

7. Day 7

   Departure To Kampala

   Breakfast is followed by the road back to Kampala, with a photo stop at the equator and lunch at Igongo cultural centre. The museum there can be visited if you wish, before carrying on to Kampala for a late afternoon arrival.