5 Days Uganda Safari Tour  – Overview

The 5 Days Uganda Safari is a Gorillas & Chimpanzee trekking Uganda tour is a wonderful safari in Uganda offering lifetime memories of primate tracking in Uganda.

The safari starts with you exploring Kibale Forest National Park which is the only African park that has the loveliest varied tracts of tropical forest and the largest number of Chimpanzees with over 12 other primate species including L’Hoest, red-tailed and blue monkey, black and white colobus, and baboon among others.

The 5 Days Uganda Safari will enable you to visit Bigodi Wetlands which is home to various Birds and wildlife in Scenic Kibale Forest National Park, the safari also offers you that long-awaited chance to encounter the Bwindi mountain Gorillas along with 11 other primates.

Bwindi is one prime destination for birders and hence you can enjoy 350 bird species including the seven which are IUCN red data listed and 90% of all Albertine rift endemics, species which are difficult or impossible to see in any other part of East Africa.

5 Days Uganda Safari Tour – Highlights

• Day 1: Transfer from Kampala Kibale Forest National Park (Drive distance of 358km)
• Day 2: Kibale Forest National Park (Chimpanzee tracking, plus 12 primates in Kibale Forest National Park)
• Day 3: Depart from Kibale to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
• Day 4: Mountain gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (2-8 hours trek
• Day 5: Transfer from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – Kampala (Drive Distance of 527 km)

5 Days Uganda Safari Tour – Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Transfer From Kampala to Kibale Forest National Park

After your morning breakfast in your Kampala or Entebbe lodge/hotel, you will be picked up by our driver guide at 6:30 am in the morning for a westward 5-6hr drive to Fort Portal – Kibale Chimpanzee Forest National Park.

The journey to Kibale is a pleasant one since it will take you through an attractive scenic landscape that makes Uganda the pearl of Africa.

It is a scenic drive and once again you will be reminded why Uganda is the Pearl of Africa. You will continue with your wonderful drive to Uganda’s tourist town Fort Portal.

On arrival to the town, you will take 30 minutes drive to tour the fascinating Amabere ga Nnyinamwiru which is famous for stalagmites and stalactites that look like cow breasts.

Listen to the amazing story about the natural wonder explained to you by an experienced guide who will attend to you.

After that short rewarding tour, you will drive back to Port Town and proceed with 26 26-distance drive to Kibale National Park. Arrive at Kibale Forest and check into your preferred lodging for dinner and overnight.

Accommodation: Ndali Lodge (Luxury/Upmarket), Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse (Mid-range/Standard) or Rwenzori View Guesthouse (Budget/Basic).

Day 2: Kibale Forest National Park (Chimpanzee Tracking, plus 12 primates in Kibale Forest National Park)

After an early morning from your respective lodge, you will drive to the Kanyankyu tourism center which is situated in the Center of the Kibale Forest and where chimp trekking activities start.

Here you will be briefed by a ranger guide and then led by the UWA ranger guide for memorable chimp trekking in the loveliest forest of Kibale.

Chimpanzee tracking starts at 8:00 am local time and it can take up to 2- 3 hours. Chimpanzees are our closest cousins though they are one of the most threatened primate species.

Unlike other Uganda chimpanzee locations, at Kibale Forest Park, your chances of meeting the Chimps are over 98%.

When you meet the chimps, you are allocated one hour to interact with them and get to observe them up close allowing you to take some close-up pictures.

The chimpanzees are habituated, a process that takes up to two years and gets the chimpanzees used to human presence so that they continue with their activities while you are present.

After a memorable chimpanzee encounter, you will return to the park’s Kanyankyu Tourism Center for a short relaxation and have time to take your packed lunch if you did not consume it during the trek.

After here, you will take the afternoon guided walk in the prominent Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary where you will be taken into the world of a jungle swamp, a rather unique experience.

The wetland is a birder’s safe haven with about 138 species and is best known for being home to the Great Blue Turaco.

The walk will take you around 2 – 3 hours walk and is a must for bird lovers. Bigodi Sanctuary is located outside the park in Magombe Swamp it also hosts eight species of primates including the black-and-white colobus, grey-cheeked mangabey, red-tailed, l’Hoest’s and blue monkeys, and olive baboons.

Bushbucks mongooses and many more can also be found here. Return to the lodge for dinner, relaxation, and overnight.

Accommodation: Ndali Lodge (Luxury/Upmarket), Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse (Mid-range/Standard) or Rwenzori View Guesthouse (Budget/Basic).

Day 3: Depart From Kibale to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

After an early morning breakfast, you will embark on the drive to the gorilla trekking haven of Bwindi in the southwest of Uganda.

While on your journey, you will enjoy the drive through the wonderful Kigezi hills, and green tea plantations and also have Lunch en route.

Gorilla trekking in Bwindi is done in four main regions Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo, and Rushaga. Your transfer from Kibale will lead you to the Buhoma sector which is the first sector where gorillas were first habituated and opened to tourists in the year 1993 in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable.

On arrival to Bwindi‘s Buhoma sector, you will drive directly to your lodge for dinner, and overnight waiting for the next morning to encounter the mountain gorilla in their natural habitat.

Accommodation: Buhoma Lodge (Upmarket/Luxury), Silverback Lodge (Mid-range/Standard) or Buhoma Community Rest Camp (Budget/Basic).

Day 4: Mountain Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

You will wake up very early in the morning; take an exuberant breakfast to give you the energy needed to hike the hills in the slippery trails of Bwindi forest when searching for rare mountain gorillas.

After breakfast, you will proceed with your packed lunch to the park’s headquarters for an early morning briefing at 8:00 a.m. about the code of conduct when trekking the gorillas.

Afterward, you will be led by a ranger guide to trek the gorillas in the thick creepers and undergrowth afro monotone vegetation of Bwindi and this will take you between 2 – 8 hours depending on the movement of the mountain gorillas.

Once up close to the group, a memorable, magical one hour is given to you to be with these gentle giants. You can decide to sit in the forest among the Gorillas, listen to them grumble to each other, and marvel at the sheer size of the dominant male Silverback.

The steeply forested landscape of Bwindi is incredibly dense but crisscrossed by numerous animal trails allowing access to tourists.

It is an extraordinary feeling being with these beautiful yet endangered Creatures. When the one hour is done, you will make U-turn back to where you started the trek and proceed to the lodge for refreshment before embarking on a walk to the nearby community to have a cultural encounter with the Batwa people famously known as pygmies in Uganda.

Accommodation: Buhoma Lodge (Upmarket/Luxury), Silverback Lodge (Mid-range/Standard) or Buhoma Community Rest Camp (Budget/Basic).

Day 5: Transfer from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – Kampala

After an early morning breakfast, you will embark on a transfer drive from Bwindi to Kampala. The long drive is tiresome but very rewarding and you will have your Lunch at Igongo Cultural Center.

On your way, you will bypass Mpigi village, famous for the Royal Drums Makers, and of course, the Ugandan Equator, where you can take pictures and shop for a souvenir.

You will arrive in Kampala late in the evening and the driver will drive you back to your Kampala hotel or Entebbe for dinner and overnight.

End of The 5 Days Uganda Safari Tour