4 Day Chimpanzee Trekking & Sempaya Hot Springs Trip
Overview
Welcome to visit Sempaya Hot springs, Semliki NP & Chimpanzee Trekking, Kibale NP. East of the Rwenzori mountains, Kibale NP is a habitat to over 13 primate species. You will go chimpanzee Trekking with an opportunity to see other primates whereas Sempaya Hot springs are in the floor of the Albirtine Rift Valley with Rwenzori mountains overshadowing. Kibale NP is a home to over 13 primate species. You start/end the trip in Entebbe & or Kampala. It’s an ideal for weekend escape!
Included/Excluded
- Chimpanzee Trekking Permit
- Meals (3 Breakfasts, lunches & Dinners)
- Accommodation listed on the itinerary or similar
- Roundtrip Transfers in a 4X4 Vehicle Van
- Sempaya Hot springs visit
- English speaking driver
- Park’s entrance fees among others
- Price excludes all other things of personal nature like the bar bills, visas, gratitudes, personal insurance, porter hire among others
Tour Plan
From Entebbe transfer to Kibale NP ( Home of Chimpanzees)
After an early morning breakfast at your Hotel in Entebbe, your driver guide meets & greets, shortly after briefing transfer to Kibale Forest National Park. Upon arrival if time allows you will do Swamp Walk & community walk. The Bigodi Swamp Walk is an initiative of the local people geared towards conservation in this area. On this walk you have a chance to see different bird & butterfly species, primates like black & white colobus monkey, red tailed monkey, blue monkey & grey-cheeked mangabeys among others. There is also a variety of interesting plant species. Then interact with local communities to learn about the traditional way of living which includes a visit to the traditional doctor, testing local browed coffee & local made beers very interesting. Return to the lodge after this captivating experience. Overnight at Chimpanzee Forest Lodge or similar.
Uganda Chimpanzee Trekking experience, kibale NP & Bigodi Community Walk
The Uganda chimpanzee trekking experience is a unique opportunity that will allow you to follow a chimpanzee group in its daily activities. Accompanying Kibale reserve researchers & rangers, you will be on the forest floor to watch the chimps search for their fruits & vocalizing. Then you will follow them for an hour observing the full gamut of their behavior. You will be part of the Uganda Wildlife Authority initiative to trek the chimpanzees without changing their natural environment. It’s one of the great moments of your safari! In the afternoon do the community & swamp walk offered by the member of Bigodi Community. It’s one way of learning about the traditional cultural of Africa. Overnight Chimpanzee Forest Lodge or similar.
Kibale NP - Sempaya Hot springs Experience, Semliki NP - Fort Portal
An early morning breakfast will be followed by a transfer to semliki National Park to experience the Sempaya Hot Springs. Steam rises above the hot mineral encrusted swamp area of Semuliki National Park's Sempaya Hot Springs in the Western Region of Uganda. They’ve got 2 Sections known as Biteete (Male Section) & Nyasimbi (Female Section). With over 100 °C you the hot springs gives you an opportunity to boil eggs, green bananas & Irish potatoes and they get ready for consumption. After this experience return to photo portal and if time allows you’ll visit the Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru caves before checking in at the lodge in Fort portal. Overnight at Nyaika Hotel or similar.
From Fort Portal transfer to Kampala/Entebbe
After a leisurely breakfast, you can embark on the spectacular scenery journey back to Kampala marking an end of the 4 Day Chimpanzee Trekking & Sempaya Hot Springs Trip. Your driver guide will drop you at your planned destination in Kampala/Entebbe & or at the airport for your outbound flight. 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