15 days Murchison, Rwenzori Safari
Day 1: Arrival and drive to Murchison Falls National Park
Upon arrival at Entebbe international Airport, you will be welcomed by the Rwenzori Expeditions safari guide who will brief you about the Entire trip overview and start on the drive to Murchison falls National Park – Uganda’s largest national park. You will have a stopover at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for Rhino tracking and later proceed to Kabelega for enroute lunch. After, continue with the drive to the park and check in at Sambiya lodge for refreshment, dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Game Drive & Boat Cruise
You will have early breakfast. At 6:30am, you will be taken for your first morning game drive where you will finally see the parks great Savannah grasslands and overlooking Budongo forest. You will also see several mammals including warthogs, antelope, lions, hyenas, giraffes and primates among others. You will have Lunch from the Paraa Lodge Restaurant so that you can relax awaiting the boat cruise on the Nile. While on the Boat cruise, be prepared to spot more than 200 bird species (Kingfishers, the shoebill stork etc), Nile crocodiles, hippos, monitor lizards, elephants and many of the animals seen during your early morning safari drinking along the river Nile shores. You will be awestruck by these great falls with wonderful surrounding vegetation. The water from the falls generates mist which has colors of the rainbow.
In the evening, you will be transferred back to the Lodge for Dinner and overnight
Optional activity: Zip lining at the lodge
Day 3: Hike to the top of the falls and continue to the Rwenzori mountains
Have your early breakfast and checkout of the lodge for your transfer to the top of the falls where you will witness a 7m gap where water squeezes to form the thunderous falls. You will take beautiful photographs and later drive to Rwenzori Mountains National Park – home to the highest point of Uganda. Arrive at the park in the evening, check in at the lodge for refreshment, dinner and overnight
Overnight at Snow Height lodge
Day 4: Hike from Nyakalengijja to Nyabitaba camp
The Rwenzori Central Circuit starts at Nyakalengijja. You need to arrive in the morning to allow ample time to rent equipment and meet your guides and porters. The trail begins by passing through farmland to the park boundary beyond which it follows a thick forest along the Mubuku River, crossing its Mahoma River tributary before starting a long, steep climb up onto a massive ridge to reach Nyabitaba hut. During this part of the trip you may hear chimpanzee and see black and white colobus, blue monkey and the brilliantly coloured Rwenzori turaco.
The hike takes an average of 6 -7 hours.
Day 5: Nyabitaba – John Matte Camp
From Nyabitaba follow the trail that drops down through the forest to the Kurt Shafer Bridge, just below the confluence of the Mubuku and Bujuku rivers. Passing through the bamboo forest, traverse through a long and exhausting stretch of slippery moss-covered rock. From the Nyamuleju rock shelter, Mount Stanley and Mount Speke can be seen before passing into the zone of the giant heather, lobelia and groundsel. Finally reach John Matte Hut after passing through the tiring bog, for dinner and overnight at the hut.
The hike takes an average of 7 – 8 hours.
Day 6: John Matte – Bujuku Camp
From John Matte Hut the trail drops down to cross the Bujuku river and enters Lower Bigo Bog, the home of giant lobelias. Jumping from tussock to tussock, the bog is finally crossed but rarely without the feet sampling some of the freezing ooze below. The upper Bigo bog gives way to Bujuku Lake, with views of Mt Baker to the South and Mt Stanley to the West. Bujuku Hut, well located in the shadow of Mount Baker and Mount Speke, is set in a narrow valley below Stuhlmann Pass.
This camp is good for acclimatization for clients attempting the summits of peaks Mount Stanley and Mount Speke. Dinner and overnight at Bujuku hut.
The hike takes an average of 4 – 5 hours.
Day 7: Bujuku – Elena Hut
Leaving Bujuku, the trail takes you through more bog, while climbing the steep slopes west of the lake and through the magical and forest of Groundsel Gully. Turn to your right up to Elena Hut and Mount Stanley on a steep trail over large boulders, while the trail on your left leads to Scott-Elliot Pass and down to Kitandara Lakes the trail on he left leads those who are not climbing Margherita to Kitandara Hut. Those climbing the peak will have their Dinner and overnight at the coolly and Icy Elena Hut.
The hike takes an average of 5 – 6 hours.
Day 8: Elena Hut – Margherita peak – Kitandara Camp
Very early in the morning, you attempt climbing the highest peak, Margherita of Mount Stanley. To reach the summit of Margherita, the climb takes about 4 -5 hours depending on the weather conditions and the pace of climbing this mountain.
This tough walk takes you over three glaciers, slippery rock, ice and very exposed areas which are open on many sides. Climbing on to the glaciers, cross the Stanley Plateau and proceed with the ascent. Acclimatized to fog, altitude sickness and coolly weather, scramble up to the summit of Margherita the highest peak of the Rwenzori. The descend from Margherita peak back to Elena Hut will take you about 2 – 3hours. After your lunch at Elena hut, descend to the Scott-Elliot pass (4372m asl.), where there are spectacular views of Bujuku Lake and Mount Speke. After, the trail passes you through an alpine zone of sparse vegetation and rough boulders, descend past the Kitandara Lakes for dinner and overnight at the Kitandara camp.
The descend takes an average of 3 – 4 hours.
Day 9: Kitandara – Guy Yeoman Camp
From Kitandara, take on the trail that ascends steeply up the head wall, spreading out from the base of Mount Baker and continuing along the south side of the mountain to Fresh field Pass 4282m asl. At this point you can view into the Congo to the west and Mount Stanley to the north.
From the pass, take on the long high alpine mossy. Thereafter start the descend through steep rocky trails and the rock shelter at Bujongolo, the base camp for the historic expedition by the Duke of Abruzzi in 1906 and then an overnight at Guy yeoman camp.
The hike takes an average of 6 – 7 hours.
Day 10: Guy Yeoman – Nyabitaba – Nyakalengijja
Below Guy Yeoman, the route descends through the cliffs of Kichuchu which is muddy path that takes crosses the Mubuku River twice through a bamboo forest before climbing downwards to Nyabitaba to complete the circuit. Continue descending Nyabitaba Camp and complete your trek by the evening at Nyakalengijja, the base camp and you will proceed to spend the night in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Overnight at Eshama game lodge
Day 11: Game Drive & afternoon boat cruise Safari
This is another good day for your Uganda Safari tour. Wake up very early for your morning breakfast and set off for the a morning game drive to catch-up with the early risers and predators returning to their hideouts and you will most likely meet grazing Hippos, Elephants and Lions, spotted Hyenas, bush buck, water buck, stripped jackal, comical warthogs and the fierce leopard. Return for lunch and later on take on an afternoon Launch cruise along Kazinga Channel which joins Lakes Edward and George. The cruise is an astonishing way to see hippos, buffaloes, kob and the occasional Nile crocodile plus a spectacular bird watching on the water banks. Many who experience the launch cruise consider it the best part of their entire African safari. Return for dinner and overnight at your lodge. (full board).
Day 12: Chimpanzee Tracking in Kyambura Gorge
Very early in the morning drive to Kymbura gorge Chimpanzee tracking experience, where you will meet face to face with the chimpanzees for at most 1 hour when you find theme in their natural home. Thereafter, go for the second Game drive in the Queen Elizabeth National Park to visit the local community and enjoy community visits , Lake Katwa , Return to the lodge
Day 13: Game drive in Ishasha Sector and Proceed with Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
You will have breakfast at the lodge and Proceed with the en route to game drive in the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park – famously known for tree-climbing lions. The chance of spotting these lions is about 70% though sometimes they are really hard to spot (most especially when they’re down in the grassland looking for prey). Hoping you get the chance to spot them, the sight will be spectacular! proceed to the lodge for lunch and later proceed to drive connecting to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Ruhija Sector or Rushaga Sector depending on the gorilla permit secured.
Dinner and overnight at Gorilla mist lodge
Day 14: Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Set off early with guides after breakfast to track the Uganda mountain gorillas in their home. The thrill of your encounter will wipe out the difficulties of the potentially laborious climbing. Come with jungle boots and rain jackets because the park is often wet. Use time in wonder watching the gorillas go about their activities. Each gorilla encounter is different and has its own rewards, but you are likely to enjoy to the extremes when adults are feeding, grooming and resting as the youngsters play and swing from vines in a pleasantly good-humoured show.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a magnificent green swaddle of dense rain forest, so ancient that survived the last ice age. A recently proclaimed World Heritage site, it is one of the most biologically diverse areas on earth and its unique, precious flora sustains roughly half of the world population of mountain gorillas estimated at 600. There is also a substantial chimpanzee population and research shows that Bwindi is the only forest in Africa in which these two apes live together. Dinner and overnight at Bwindi at your booked accommodation.
Day 15: Transfer back to Kampala
Enjoy breakfast as a routine and start a day’s drive back Kampala. First, you will stop in Mbarara for a lunch break and secondly stop at the Uganda Equator for a photo moment. You will be in Kampala in the evening and proceed to Entebbe.