7 Day Rwanda Uganda Gorilla Trekking & Wildlife Tour
Overview
With an East African Tourist Visa obtained at kigali Airport, Rwanda on arrival or online through the Rwandan immigration website. You’re set and very much ready to go on this 7-Day Rwanda Uganda Gorilla Trekking & Wildlife Tour. This tour gives you an exposure to interact with gorillas, chimpanzees and wildlife on game viewing and boat cruise safaris.
Included/Excluded
- 1X Ugandan Gorilla Trekking Permit
- 1X Chimpanzee Trekking Permit
- Ground transportation in a standard safari Vehicle
- Accommodation listed on the Itinerary or similar
- Meals (6 Breakfasts, Lunches & Dinners)
- Park entrances fees
- Services of English speaking guide driver
- Boat cruise
- Bottled drinking water enroute
- Game drives
- Visas
- International Flights to/from
- Gratitude’s
- Porter hire
- laundry
- Personal insurance
- Bar bills
- Phone calls
Tour Plan
Day 1; Kigali, Rwanda transfer to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Uganda
Your private guide, with his/her 4WD vehicle, meets you at your Hotel in Kigali after your breakfast. Visit Kigali Genocide Museum to pay your last respect to the victims of 1994 before Leaving the lively capital, you drive north-west through lush hills and bustling market towns for abut 3-4 hours, to the stunning Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Overnight at Travelers Rest Hotel or Similar
Day 2; Golden Monkey Trekking, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.
After an early morning breakfast, transfer to the park headquarters at Ntebeko ahead of Golden Monkey Trekking. with in a company of the ranger guide hike in the slopes of the virunga volcanoes in search the beautiful golden monkey, once you find them like gorillas you’re permitted to stay with them for an hour. After the day expeience return to the lodge. Overnight at Travelers Rest Hotel or Similar
Day 3; Gorilla Trekking Bwindi/Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Spend a day tracking endangered mountain gorillas, which share 97.7% of our DNA, spending up to an hour among them. See mothers keeping infants close as they knucklewalk on three limbs. Toddlers scamper around and get reined in by an attentive father, whose job is to protect his family. When you look into the eyes of a mountain gorilla, there is no mistaking the bond that exists between primate and man — and no escaping the poignant reminder that these creatures lie on the brink of extinction. Overnight at Travelers Rest Hotel or Similar
Day 4; Bwindi/Mgahinga Gorilla National Park – Queen Elizabeth National Park
After breakfast, drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park, home to elephants, lions, hippos, buffalo and baboons. Participate in game drives this afternoon and the next day. While exploring, watch above for tree-climbing lions, a sight rarely to be seen anywhere else in Africa. You may also see some of Uganda’s largest elephant herds. Overnight at Bush Lodge or Similar
Day 5; Game Drive & Boat Launch Queen Elizabeth National Park
After an early morning breakfast, participate in the game drive and late transfer to Mweya Peninsular for a boat cruise on Kazinga Channel. The boat trip within Queen Elizabeth National Park is done on the impressive Kazinga Channel a 40 kilometer water long natural channel that links Lake Edward plus Lake George. This launch cruise takes 2 hours to well explore the water and the wildlife along the shores of the Kazinga Channel. There are professional guides right on the boat who will be give you all the necessary information pertaining this safari or tour as well as answer any questions that may arise about the wildlife or anything else. In addition, the professional as well as well experienced guides will point out any wildlife which you may have failed to notice. Overnight at Bush Lodge or Similar
Day 6; Queen Elizabeth National Park – Lake Mburo National Park
After an early moning breakfast transfer to Kyambura Gorge to track chimpanzees in the dramatic Kyambura Gorge on the eastern side of the park. It is home to a variety of wildlife, including the only primates in the Queen Elizabeth National Park. The area is an important water source for many animals and is surrounded by savanna, but is generally noted for its high concentration of primate life located in the gorge. You can also find red-tailed monkey, black-and-white colobus, baboons and vervet monkeys. The gorge is also known for its variety of bird species including various falcons, the blue-headed bee-eater and the African Finfoot. This will be followed by a transfer to Lake Mburo National Park. Overnight at Mihingo Lodge or similar
Day 7; Lake Mburo National Park – Entebbe International Airport
We will begin with Horse safaris are an awesome way to see the wildlife while in Lake Mburo, without the noise of motor engine you can hear so much more & you really feel part of nature. Riding a horse means you often get the chance to see the more timid animals. If you are very lucky you may see eland and buffalo. And if lucky enough you may see the leopards on a horse ride! However, this was a very rare sighting. You will nearly always see a mixture of warthog, topi, impala, duiker, bushbuck, waterbuck and zebra. Of course the time of year and the weather do affect the number and variety of animals that you see, as the animals graze where the grass is the most delicious. Watching animals from a horse is so peaceful and a totally different experience from being on a game drive; zebras come towards you to check out the strange relative without stripes. Return to the lodge for breakfast & this will be followed by a transfer to Entebbe targeting for your outbound departure time. End
Request Quote
Communication via WhatsApp to make arrangements went very smooth with Aron being quick and clear in his responses.
Aron drove us most of the time, but we also had a ride with driver Barnice. Every time they were in time, most of the times even early to make sure we could leave whenever we wanted. The service was more than just a private taxi service: Aron told us many interesting things about Uganda and let us taste some local food. That really made our trip more colourful and interesting.They know a lot of good places all over the country, like restaurants and accomodation. Although we organized our trip by ourselves, that was still an advantage. Above that, Aron uses his business in Uganda to help other Ugandans as well.
We would definitely recommend to travel with Safari 2 Gorilla Tours.
Jon Peters
USA
In my iniitial email to him I had explained that I'm Kenyan and would be travelling to Rwanda from Nairobi, Kenya. As an east African citizen I thought this information was useful in terms of national park fees and so on; little did I know that it would affect my whole Gorilla trek experience.
I'd settled the balance of my invoice in November 2019 and Aron emailed to confirm full payment. I never heard from Aron again except when I emailed him to find out the arrangements for when I arrived in Rwanda. At the time I didn't think much of it as I'd read so many glowing reviews of Aron and his tour company; his attentive nature, professionalism and general good nature. A fortnight or so before my arrival I'd still not heard from him so I emailed to find out the itinerary for when I arrived in Rwanda - nothing. Just a curt response confirming that he had the number for my hotel and presumably (Aron did not confirm) that he would call me at my hotel to arrange a time to pick me up from my hotel.
I arrived at the hotel, following a 10 hour flight from London on Friday, 24 January to find there was no message was left by Aron advising when I'd be picked up the following day. On Saturday, 25 January at about 9 am the receptionist knocked on my door to inform me that a driver had arrived to pick me up and drive me to Uganda. As I'd not had any advance information of this arrangement I was not ready; i hadn't showered or eaten breakfast. And so we did not set off until gone 10 am. This was the first poor service i'd received.
I'd paid for a 3-day Gorilla trek etc which included on the first day a visit to the Rwanda Genocide memorial. When the driver set off we'd been driving and passed a sign to the memorial site, after almost an hour I asked if we were still going to the memoial site, and only then did the driver inform me that due to the late departure he had decided to postpone the visit to the memorial until the return leg of my three day trip. The second poor service i'd received.
Bwindi national park is in Uganda and so I was driven through Rwanda to Uganda via a land border, an eight hour journey that ordinarily shouldn't have taken that long. The third poor service.
During the drive Aron maintained constant communication with the driver - whose name escapes me - and not once did he ask the driver to pass the phone to me so that he could speak to me. By that I mean even welcoming me, asking me how my trip was, finding out if there was anything I needed, any issues or problems with the trip I'd paid for. The fourth poor service I received
When we arrived at Rushaga camp each visitor at dinner was assigned a table with the name of their guide on it; stupidly I immediately thought Ohhh so Aron had sent a driver to pick me up from Rwanda and that now I was going to meet him! How wrong i was. When i sat down expecting to meet Aron who should turn up? but the driver! Cheekily I asked if he was Aron and offended he curtly replied no!. When i asked what happend to Aron he informed me that Aron had been in constant communication throughout the day! When I asked why Aron hadn't even said hello or welcomed me he just said that Aron was on another tour. At that moment I realised what was happening and why. In Aron's eyes I was a black African tourist that yes, had paid for the same service and support that my white counterparts had received but due to his low perception of me and fellow black Africans I did not warrant the same service, attention, or even respect. I did not speak to the driver again for the rest of the evening. I was surrounded by fellow travellers that were accompanied by guides who made them feel welcome, valued and respected; they sat together sharing stories from their travels whilst I and the driver sat silently. Even as I tried to get the driver to understand how insulted and disrespected I felt he just didn't get it. A part of me feels if i was white he wouldn't have found it so hard understanding how poorly I'd been treated. But as a black African what reason did I have to complain? The fifth poor service I'd received
On the second day i was due to visit Mgahinga national park almost a two hour drive away. As debrief started at 8 am we arranged to leave Rushaga Gorilla camp by 6 am; arranging to meet for breakfast at 05:30 am. 06:00 am the driver was nowhere to be found. Finally at 06:30 he appears in the dinning room feigning an alarm malfunction. I had to demand an apology from him. The sixth poor service i'd received.
We arrived at the national park at 08:25. I was the only black tourist and when I asked the guide to summarise the debrief he audibly commented that as I'd arrived late he'd not be able to repeat it for me. Cynically I felt that If I was white he'd problably have ignored the fact that the driver had got me to the debrief late and still gone through the key points. The seventh poor sevice I'd received.
I could go on and on but I won't. I think you get the gist. I never once spoke to Aron, met him or communicated with him during my time in Rwanda and Uganda. I left Rwanda on Tuesday, 28 January 2020 and have delayed posting this review until now to see whether or not I'd hear from Aron. I haven't and I know I never will.
I would never recommend this company to anyone regardless of who you are. I pity and despise racists and would never support a business that openly discriminates against black Africans.
Would absolutely recommend Safari 2 Gorilla Tours! Thanks Aaron and Martin for an unforgetable trip!
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Address
Plot 1 A, Cohen A Road
Makanga Hill,
P.O.BOX 568 Kabale