7 Day Rwanda Uganda Gorilla Trekking & Wildlife Tour
Overview
Embark on a 7 Day combination of Uganda & Rwanda Gorilla Trekking & Wildlife Tour. You will visit the stunning Volcanoes NP & Bwindi NP to participate in trekking famous mountain gorillas which are found only in the Virunga Volcanoes that straddles the borders of Rwanda, Uganda & DRC as well as in Bwindi Impenetrable NP, Uganda. Wildlife encounter will take place within Queen Elizabeth & Lake Mburo N Parks in Conjunction with Chimpanzee Trekking at Kyambura Gorge. Obtain an East African Visa at Kigali airport on arrival to facilitate the cross-country movements seamlessly.
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 - Volcanoes National Park
A representative of S2G Tours and Your driver guide with a safari 4WD vehicle, meets & greets you at your Hotel in Kigali. Following the trip briefing visit the Kigali Genocide Museum to pay your last respect for victims of 1994 Rwandan Genocide against tutsi before Leaving the lively capital, you drive north-west through lush hills & bustling market towns for approximately 2.5 hours, to the stunning Volcanoes National Park – well known as the venue for Dian Fossey's pioneering studies of the mountain gorillas. Overnight at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge or Similar.
Day 2: Optional Rwanda Gorilla Trek Tours Volcanoes NP - Bwindi Impenetrable NP.
Today to participate on the Rwanda Gorilla Trekking a Gorilla Trekking ticket at additional cost of $1,500 is required & or participate in the alternative Golden Monkey Trekking Tour.
Early morning breakfast will be followed by a transfer to Kinigi park headquarters for trekking briefing and then hike up into the rainforest to a troop of magnificent mountain gorillas. Each troop has its own 24 hour guard, so their location is known, you usually have an hour with them, time to sit and observe them at very close quarters indeed. After the day experience transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Overnight at Travelers Rest Hotel or Similar.
Day 3: Gorilla Trekking Tours Bwindi/Mgahinga Gorilla NP
After an early morning breakfast, transfer to the ranger station for uganda Gorilla Trekking Briefing on dos and don’ts while you will be interacting with gorillas, afterwards you will be accompanied by a senior ranger guide & hike into the forest in search of gorillas. once you find them you usually have an hour with them, time to sit and observe them at very close quarters of 10 meters & After the experience return back to the lodge. Overnight at Travelers Rest Hotel or Similar.
Day 4: Bwindi/Mgahinga Gorilla NP - 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 also have an opportunity to see some of Uganda’s largest elephant herds, herds of buffaloes, & lots of antelopes. Overnight at Bush Lodge.
Day 5: Game Drives and Boat Cruise safaris Queen Elizabeth NP
After an early morning breakfast, participate in a morning game drive. The drive through the Kasenyi Plains which is a spot for predators hunting the prey. The game drive provides you with an excellent opportunity to view animals such as jackals, bushbucks, forest hogs, Buffaloes, elephants & kob as they will be going about their daily routines. In the afternoon, head to a fantastic launch cruise on the Kazinga Channel & observe beautiful birds & wildlife. A Ugandan wildlife safari without a boat cruise safari on Kazinga Channel is considered incomplete. The channel attracts large concertation of wildlife & birdlife to quench their thirst & this boat launch safari would certainly expose you to these creatures. After the boat safari enjoy the evening game viewing as you return to the lodge. Overnight at Bush Lodge or similar.
Day 6: Chimpanzee Trekking, Kyambura Gorge, QENP - 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, 35kms from the Lodge. It is home to a variety of wildlife, including the primates in the Queen Elizabeth NP. 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 NP. Overnight at Rw
Day 7: Lake Mburo National Park - Entebbe
We will begin with a walking 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. You will nearly always see a mixture of warthog, topi, impala, duiker, bushbuck, waterbuck & zebras. 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 a walk is so peaceful & 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 marking the end of the 7 Day Uganda Rwanda Gorilla Trekking & Wildlife Tour. Your guide will drop you at your planned hotel and or transfer you to the airport for a night flight back home. 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