10-Day Rwanda & Uganda Safari: Gorillas, Big Five

Detailed 10-Day Uganda Rwanda Safari Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival and Pick Up

Arrive at Kigali International Airport, where a driver guide from Magical Gorilla Adventures will welcome you with a briefing on the safari, then drive you to your hotel to rest.

Day 2: Kigali City Tour and Transfer to Volcanoes National Park

After breakfast, join a city tour around Kigali, including a visit to the Genocide Memorial site, which covers Rwanda’s pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial history through exhibits, photos, and video footage.

After lunch, travel from Kigali to Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda’s main home for mountain gorillas and golden monkeys, with views of the Virunga range along the way.

Day 3: Golden Monkey Tracking and Transfer to Bwindi

After breakfast, transfer to the park headquarters for registration and a briefing on golden monkey tracking. Golden monkeys are rare, found only in a few populations in the Virunga forests of Volcanoes National Park and Mgahinga National Park in Uganda.

Local ranger guides will lead you into the forest to observe the monkeys, spending an hour watching them move between tree branches.

After the trek, return to the lodge for lunch, then drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, home to over three quarters of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas. Check in at your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 4: Gorilla Tracking and Batwa Cultural Encounter

After an early breakfast, head to the park visitor center for a gorilla trekking briefing, then join a group of up to eight people for the trek through the forest.

Once you find the gorillas, spend an hour observing them. Return to the lodge after the trek.

After lunch, visit the Batwa community for a cultural experience with reformed poachers, learning about their traditional hunting and gathering methods, along with performances and local food.

Day 5: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park (Ishasha Game Drive)

After an early breakfast, drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park via the Ishasha sector, known for its tree-climbing lions. Join a game drive to see the lions resting in fig trees.

Have lunch en route as you continue to the northern part of the park, where you check in for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 6: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise on Kazinga Channel

After an early breakfast, join a morning game drive, spotting buffaloes, elephants, lions, warthogs, bushbucks, kobs, hyenas, topis, and waterbucks in the Kasenyi plains.

In the afternoon, after lunch, take a boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel, seeing elephants, hippos, buffaloes, and crocodiles, along with bird species such as great pelicans, along the 40km channel connecting Lake Edward and Lake George.

Day 7: Chimpanzee Tracking in Kalinzu Forest and Transfer to Fort Portal

After an early breakfast, head to Kalinzu Forest, near Queen Elizabeth National Park, for chimpanzee tracking, watching them play and forage for food.

Continue through rolling hills and terraced land to Fort Portal, Uganda’s tourism city, with stops for photos along the way.

Day 8: Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park

After an early breakfast, begin your transfer to Murchison Falls National Park, driving through the Great Rift Valley, with lunch provided en route.

Day 9: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise

After an early breakfast, join a morning game drive along the northern bank, spotting elephants, lions, giraffes, antelopes, jackals, hyenas, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, and hartebeests.

After a lunch break, join an afternoon boat ride on the Victoria Nile, getting close to hippos, Nile crocodiles, elephants, and buffaloes along the riverbanks.

Day 10: Drive Back to Kampala with a Stop at Ziwa for Rhino Tracking

After an early breakfast, check out and start the drive back to Kampala, stopping at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, where rhinos are being reintroduced to the wild in Uganda. Join a walking trek around the sanctuary, have lunch, then proceed to Kampala or Entebbe.

Book this 10-Day Rwanda and Uganda Safari today and see mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, and the Big Five in one trip.