15-Day RUTSIINA Safari with Hugo safaris

15-DAY TOUR

Safari’s summary

• Arrival at Entebbe International airport and overnight at the booked Hotel/lodge.
• Bird watching at Mabamba (for the shoebill) and other precious birds. Also we can pay a visit to historical places like the Kasubi tombs where they burry the traditional kings/ruler (Kabaka) of Buganda kingdom, first missionary churches in Uganda like Rubaga(Roman catholic),Namirembe church of Uganda(protestants) and the Gadhafi mosque(Muslims) and the Namugongo shrines for the Uganda Martyrs all in the Ugandan capital Kampala.
• Transfer to Murchison fall National Park with a stop-over at Zziwa Rhino sanctuary for Rhino trekking and afterwards continue to the top of the falls.
• Proceed to Kibale NP, the Primate capital of Uganda, East Africa.
• Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park near Rwenzori mountains
• Transfer to Ishaasha, the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth for the tree climbing lions
• Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable NP for Gorilla trekking and visit the Batwa people
• Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale, the Switzerland of Africa
• Transfer to Lake Mburo National park
• Transfer to Kampala
• Transfer to Jinja for rafting on the source of the Nile
• Return to Entebbe airport for a sweet journey home.

Day-1

Upon the arrival at Entebbe international airport, you will be received by our English/Spanish/Dutch/German/French/Chinese speaking Hugo safaris guide/driver who will welcome you to Uganda, the Pearl of Africa. Thereafter you will be transferred to the booked accommodation in Entebbe or Kampala.

Day-2 Visit lake Victoria- Mabamba  for  the shoebill.

A warm welcome to Uganda by a welcome breakfast and afterwards head for Bird viewing in Mabamba on the Shores of Lake Victoria (the biggest lake shared by all the three East African countries-Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) specifically for the endangered bird specie called the SHOEBILL but this friend doesn’t stay alone, there are a variety of other bird species like the grey crested crane and others. Return to the hotel, relax, have lunch and in the afternoon, go for a tour around Kampala city and visit historical places like Kasubi tombs, the Namugongo shrines for the Uganda martyrs, the missionary churches like Namirembe (Protestants),Rubaga(the Roman catholic) and Gadhafi mosque(Muslims),return to the hotel, relax for the next day’s journey to Murchison falls National park.

Day-3 Transfer to Murchison falls National Park with rhino trekking at Zziwa Rhino sanctuary.

The English tour guide will pick you from the hotel after breakfast and head for Murchison falls National Park. On the way, you will have a stop-over at Zziwa Rhino sanctuary for the Rhino tracking. You will atleast have an hour with the Rhinos while being guided by an armed Ranger from the Uganda wild life authority (UWA), while you are here, you will have a chance to view other grazers (especially antelopes) like the Red bucks, water bucks and a variety of birds, vervet monkeys and baboons. After the rhino trekking, you will have lunch and head straight to the top of water falls on the Victoria-Nile in the Murchison falls NP.

Murchison falls being Uganda’s biggest national park of an approximate area of 3893km2, its divided into the southern bank (the Forested area with a lot of primates like baboons, monkeys and chimpanzees at Budongo forest) and the Northern bank (mostly Savanna with a lot of animals both carnivorous and herbivorous) and when its game reserves are all included, it’s around 5663km2.

View of Murchison falls from the top

Day-4 Game driver and boat cruise at Murchison falls NP

Wake up early in the morning, have breakfast and head for a wonderful morning game drive through the most beautiful and rolling plains of Uganda’s biggest park where you shall have a chance of viewing lions, herds of cape buffaloes, herds of Giraffes, herds of elephants, schools of hipos, spotted hyenas, leopard, herds of antelopes like the Uganda kob, Jackson hartebeest, Orbis and for the bird lovers, this park has a lot of bird species like the northern red bishop, black chested snake eagle, secretary bird and others, return to the hotel, relax  and have lunch.   After lunch, go for a boat cruise at the base of Murchison falls where you will be able to see a variety of mammals/animals in and out of the water like buffaloes, elephants drinking water, Nile crocodiles, schools of Hipos and fish, antelopes and a variety of birds not seen in the savanna. You will continue to the bottom of the falls and if you love hiking, it’s a bite strenuous but the journey to the top of the falls will be unforgettable and it takes around 3-4 hours, return to the hotel/lodge but if there is time, you can have a short game drive to the hotel.

Day-5 Transfer to Kibale National park.

After breakfast at the lodge/hotel, embark on the journey to Kibale National park (the primate capitalof East Africa) and the journey may take 6-7hours.While leaving the park, you will encounter some of the big mammals like elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, baboons etc. On the way to Kibale NP, you will have a chance of viewing the western rift valley escarpment, the fishing/landing sites of Butiaba on the shores of lake Albert, some Refugee camps near lake Albert just after Buliisa town and before reaching the sprawling and beautiful town of Hoima (the Oil city), with a rich historical  culture and being governed by a king called Omukama of Bunyoro and head to straight to Fort Portal city near Kibale np, stop-over in the city, visit the local market and continue to Kibale NP but before reaching the park, you will pass through many hills tops dotted with big plantations of Tea, check in at the hotel and relax for the next day’s wonderful encounter with our next cousins the chimpanzees.

Day-6 Chimpanzee trekking/habituation at Kibale National park

Wake up early morning, have breakfast while dressed in rainy jackets, jungle shoes/boots in a pair of trousers with long sleeved shirt and if possible with a cap without forgetting the mosquito repellents, clinical masks not to infect/transmit diseases like Covid-19 since we are closely related to the chimps before entering the forest but we shall kindly request you not to apply perfumes today because you can attract bees. You will first be led to the information Centre for briefing and afterwards embark on the journey to the dense rain forest of Kibale NP full other primates like black and white colobus monkey, red tailed monkey and many species of the birds. Also, this park being/having an animal corridor, expect to see forest elephants, forest animals plus the antelopes too.

This activity will allow you to accompany the Kibale Research/habituation team on their daily activity towards our close cousins. You will have a chance to spend a great part of the day with our next cousins in their natural habitat and you see them eating/feeding, making nests, de-nesting etc while getting first hand explanation from the ground. Later return to the hotel, relax and if time allows, have either swamp or community/cultural tour and get to know how the local people live, eat, make coffee and make local Gin called Waragi at Mr. Rest in Banana’s place, after this tiresome day, return to the hotel, relax and overnight at the hotel.

Day-7 Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National park

Wake up in the morning have breakfast and embark on the journey of 1hr30min to Queen Elizabeth, check in at the hotel, relax and have hot lunch and go for afternoon game drive. This park being one of the country’s most frequented tourist destination, the park features diverse Eco-systems (Home to a variety) of wild life species like the 10-primate species including the chimpanzees in the Kyambura Gorge and in Karinzu forest, more than 400-600 bird species and the big 5.

Day-8 Game drive in the park and afternoon Boat cruise

Wake up early in the morning and have breakfast at the lodge and head for the morning game drive along the Kasenyu plains where you expect to see lions, giant African elephant, leopard, cape buffaloes, Giant forest hogs, Defassa water bucks, various species of birds, return to the hotel for a hot lunch, relax and go for the afternoon boat cruise along the Kazinga channel which connects lake George to lake Edward. Along this trail, you will have a chance of visiting either the Katwe or Kasenyu salt pans and see how the local people extract the salt, how salt is formed and the processes it goes through to get formed.

Late in the afternoon, go for the Boat cru and during this boat cruise you will have a chance of viewing animals like elephants drinking water, buffaloes, antelopes, giant forest hogs near Katunguru, crocodiles, return to the hotel, relax and overnight at the hotel.

Day-9 Transfer to Ishaasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National park

Wake up in the morning, have breakfast and prepare for the new journey to the Ishaasha sector of Queen Elizabeth with the hope of seeing the tree climbing Lions.

This park lies on the boarder with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and at times these lions tend to cross the boarder or migrate to the other parts of the Queen as it has been observed by UWA staff, therefore there is a 60% chance of viewing them or at times they may be down in the grass trying to hunt the prey. During this journey/game drive since it’s within the park, you will also have a chance of seeing the black and white colobus, Red tailed monkeys, baboons, herds of elephants and buffaloes, topes. Therefore, once these lions are viewed, then it will be a nice and spectacular/unforgotten experience in your life, check in at the lodge, relax and overnight at the lodge.

Day-10 Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable National park

Wake up in the morning, enjoy you breakfast and prepare for a long journey to the Bwindi Impenetrable National park for Gorilla trekking. This journey will take us through mountainous tops and hills of Kigezi up to Bwindi impenetrable national park, check in at the hotel, relax and prepare for the excellent next day of Gorilla trekking.

Day-11 Gorilla tracking at Bwindi impenetrable National park

After having enough relaxation at the hotel, wake up a bite early, have breakfast and go to the information Centre for Briefing about Gorilla trekking. The Rules and dress codes are similar to the ones of chimpanzee except, here you shall add on No repeating the signs (or mimicking) what the Gorilla has done because you don’t know what that sign may mean to them and can cause danger to yourself or the group.

However, the journey to our next cousins (approximately 98% human) is so interesting as we shall enter into the dense tropical/rain forests where you can expect rain at any time and the area is mountainous full of tall and short trees, the area too is home to some forest elephants, antelopes and a variety of birds plus monkeys. The journey may take 3-5hours (that is going and coming back) including 1 full hour while watching and interacting with our next cousins (beautiful, handsome, gentle giants) under the guidance of armed rangers from the Uganda wildlife authority (UWA). During this day, we shall go with our packed lunch and 2litres of bottled mineral water and in the event that there is/are some senior citizen(s), we shall need a porter at an optional cost, after visiting and viewing the endangered mountain Gorillas  of Uganda (approximately 1063 in numbers), we shall return to the Gorilla university for Graduation (that is to prove that you have successfully passed all the exams) and we return to the lodge with our degrees to relax.

After relaxation, you will undertake the Batwa/pygmy trail experience. The Batwa were the original inhabitants of these dense rain forests and have lived here for generations as fruit gatherers, hunters and fierce warriors. These indigenous warriors were depending on these forests for food, honey, shelter and medicine and in 1991-1992 after Bwindi impenetrable forest was gazetted as a park, the Batwa people who were inside became threatened and the government had to resettle them outside the park for them to have a decent and normal life and they now have schools and hospitals like Bwindi hospital which wasn’t there before, return to the hotel, relax and overnight at the hotel.

Day-12 Transfer to lake Bunyonyi in Kabale district

Having had a wonderful day with Gorillas, you will wake up, have breakfast and head for lake Bunyonyi in Kabale while passing through the park at an elevation/altitude of approximately 1190-2600m above sea-level. This journey will lead to lake Bunyonyi, the deepest lake in Uganda,2^nd in Africa after Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania and 3^rd in the world. Lake Bunyonyi is made up of 29 terraced islands, some are inhabited while others are not, while at Bunyonyi you will visit some of those islands without forgetting to visit the notorious punishment island where the Bakiga girls who would become pregnant before marriage were taken and left to die from there. Right now the island is acting as a tourist attraction and has got pretty of bird species around it, while on this lake, we can swim and also do canoeing plus zip-lining which is optional, return to the hotel, relax and overnight at the hotel.

Day-12 Transfer to lake Mburo National park

Wake up in the morning, take breakfast and embark on the journey to lake Mburo.

The journey will take you through Ntungamo town and the beautiful city of Mbarara where you will have a stop-over at Igongo cultural centre for a hot lunch, relax and afterwards proceed for a 30minute drive to the park, check in at the hotel and go for an evening game drive where you will expect to see herds of cape buffaloes, Zebras, topis, impalas, waterbucks and the largest antelope called the Eland. Also in the park, there are a lot bird species, warthogs, hynas, giraffes,hipos and leopard, return to the hotel, relax and overnight at the hotel.

Day-13 transfer from lake Mburo National park to Kampala

Morning breakfast and proceed for lake Mburo nature walk while being accompanied by an armed ranger from UWA, if well chanced, you will encounter hyenas returning to their dens after a tough night of hunting, see leopard, buffaloes, warthogs at close range and you will also end up on top of the hills where you will see the 9 lakes that surround lake Mburo and also visit the Banyankore cattle keepers who live near the park, see their long Horned cattle found only in this part of the world and  watch how they dress culturally, milk and how they preserve milk locally in their local milk pots, return to the hotel prepare and head for Kampala, en-route at the Equator take some beautiful Photos, buy souvenirs, have lunch and head straight to Kampala.

Day-14 Transfer to Jinja, the source of the Nile and do white water Rafting.

 Visiting Jinja, the source of the Nile located 85km away from the Ugandan capital Kampala,Jinja was established in 1907 and is one of the most interesting things one must visit in a safari. Before reaching Jinja, you will have a stop-over at Ssezibwa falls, Mabira forest and continue to Jinja town for a boat ride at the exact spot where the source of Nile river begins its journey to the Mediterranean Sea and late in the afternoon if time allows, do white water rafting, relax and overnight at the hotel

Day-15 White water rafting and return to Kampala for a flight home.

Wake up in the morning and have breakfast at the hotel and in the event that water rafting wasn’t done a day before, go for briefing and at 9am go for the white water rafting at the source of the Nile and head for Kampala, have lunch on the way and then to Entebbe international airport for a sweet journey back home.