5 days gorillas and chimpanzees tour in Uganda

This 5 days gorillas and chimpanzees tour in Uganda offers you an unforgettable encounter with the two great apes. You will do the chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest National Park which is home to more than 1500 chimps, the highest population of chimps in Uganda. You will then travel to Bwindi National Park for the famous gorilla trekking adventure. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to over 400 mountain gorillas which is close to half of the world’s mountain gorilla population.

Tour itinerary:

Day 1 – travel to Kibale National Park and Fort Portal crater lakes tour

Today you shall be picked up from Kampala or Entebbe and leave for Kibale National Park in western Uganda. This will be a 6 hour journey. You will stopover for lunch in Fort Port town which is about 30 minutes drive away from Kibale National Park. After lunch you shall go explore the magnificent craters lake area enroute to Kibale, including hiking to a great view point to enjoy the scenic craters and beautiful landscape. Later you shall continue to your lodge.

Day 2 – chimpanzee tracking in Kibale National Park and Bigodi swamp walk

After early breakfast you shall transfer to the park office at 7am for briefing and head off into the Kibale forest for the chimpanzee trekking adventure. The adventure is lead by park guide who will follow clues to locate the chimps which may also be heard screaming and pant-hooting from far away. It may you take about 1 hour to find the chimps and you shall spend 1 hour with them, following them through the forest

After lunch you shall go for walk in the Bigodi wetlands which are situated at the edge of Kibale National Park. The wetland contains several species of monkeys, birds and plant life. You will also visit the local communities around the wetland and learn about their cultures and traditions.

Optional tour:

Chimpanzee habituation experience (CHEX): Instead of doing the chimpanzee trekking which allows only 1 hour with the chimpanzees you can do the chimpanzee habituation experience which is a full day adventure allowing you to spend a whole day with the chimps in Kibale forest, observing them from the moment they wake up to the time they make new nests to sleep. You would go into the forest as early as 5am to find the chimps before waking up from their nests, observe them as they leave the nests and follow them for the rest of the day. You can also end the experience anytime you feel you have had enough.

Day 3 – transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

After breakfast, you shall check out and travel to Bwindi National Park in southwestern Uganda. This will be 5 – 6 hour journey

Day 4 – gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

After your breakfast you shall take a lunch box and transfer to the park office by 7am. You shall meet the park guides for briefing about the gorilla experience and the park rules after which you shall be assigned to the habituated gorilla families and head off to the track the gorillas in the impenetrable jungles of Bwindi. The gorilla tracking adventure allows you a maximum of 1 hour to observe the gorillas after finding them.

Optional tour:

Gorilla Habituation Experience: Instead of the gorilla trekking adventure is about tracking down the gorillas via the shortest route and spend 1 hour to observe them, you can do the gorilla habituation experience which gives you 4 hours to experience the gorillas and their lifestyle. You set off as early as 6am and join a team of researchers and park trackers who are going out on their routine to habituate the gorillas (habituation is a process of getting the gorillas used to human presence through continuous visits). The gorilla habituation experience starts after locating the last known location of the gorillas from the previous day and then go on to track down gorillas by following clues left behind as they traveled through the jungle, collecting vital data about the gorillas and then finally observing the gorillas after finding them. The habituation experience is 4 hours long and it includes the time taken tracking the gorillas, hence giving you an opportunity to learn more about the gorillas and a possibility spending more time with the gorillas

Day 5 – travel back to Kampala

After breakfast you shall check out and transfer back to Kampala. Along the way you shall stopover at the Uganda Equator for picture moments and curio purchases.