Gorilla Heights Lodge
Stone-and-thatch cottages on a ridge above Buhoma, looking straight into the forest where the gorilla treks start.
This 5-day safari combines gorilla and chimpanzee trekking in Uganda: mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, then chimps and the Bigodi wetland in Kibale.OverviewThe 5 day Gorilla and Chimpanzee takes you through Bwindi Impenetrable forest National Park and Kibale Forest…
This 5-day safari combines gorilla and chimpanzee trekking in Uganda: mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, then chimps and the Bigodi wetland in Kibale.
Overview
The 5 day Gorilla and Chimpanzee takes you through Bwindi Impenetrable forest National Park and Kibale Forest National Park. this safari gives you a chance to meet the African apes and the remaining mountain gorilla and chimpanzees. Bwindi is a home of mountain gorillas, and Kibale national park – the Primate Capital and a home of chimpanzees.
Safari Summery
Our team will meet at the Airport or guest house, depending wherever you will be, welcome you give you a short briefing about your 5 day safari and hand you over to the guide you’ll drive towards the south-western part of Uganda.
En route, you’ll come across a local community that is popular for making drums and crafts. It’s a good place to purchase some well-crafted souvenirs. Precede to the equator line, taken as one beautiful scenery in Africa –the pathway of the sun, and take photographs. Pass by mountains, tropical rainforest and bamboo forest during the nine-hour journey.
Your gorilla tracking journey in Bwindi will start today. Following breakfast and a briefing about the park regulations, you’ll embark on the tracking trip, which can take up the entire day. Through the rainforests and bamboo-covered slopes, we’ll track the gorilla family. Walking in this environment can sometimes be tough and long with no guarantee of success. But once you spot the.
Gorilla family and the male head of the group, the silverback, any discomfort will tangibly vanish. Most often, you’ll be sitting just 6 to 10 meters from the family and gaze into their big eyes as they continue on with their daily activity. But it is difficult to foresee how long the journey will take as tracking the gorillas are unpredictable. The walks are mostly along steep and muddy conditions, sometimes accompanied by mid-day shower.
Thus a good physique is recommended and patience is required. For the sake of conservation, a maximum of one hour is allowed to stay with the gorillas. How to behave when you’re near the gorilla family will be briefed to you at the park gate. Overnight at your chosen lodge
After breakfast, we check out and drive to Kibale National Park, where you enjoy nice scenery and good views of the shadows of the mountains of the moon –the Ruwenzori. Kibale National Park, which averages about 3300 feet in elevation, is an extension of the great rainforests of central Africa. It is inhabited by three large communities of chimps, each numbering more than 100 individuals. Each community has a complicated social structure.
The big adult males dominate the group and defend the community territory against incursions by male outsiders; the females usually wander in small family grouped .chimps tend to forage in small parties or even as individuals. They usually travel on the ground but being primarily fruit eaters , they mostly feed in trees.
They sometimes form a larger group when they come across an abundant food source such as near the fruiting fig trees. Typically, we locate the chimps by listening for their pant hooting calls, then hustle to the area from which they are calling. We get to observe them as they feed in fruiting trees, lounge, and socialize with each other or even, occasionally, hunt.
Assemble at Kanyankye River Camp at 0800hours to go for the most popular activity in this park which is chimpanzee tracking. Chimpanzees are considered the closest species to man, but they’re also among the most threatened primate species.
Primates like L’hoest monkeys, black and white colobus, grey checked mangabey, red tailed monkey, bush babies, along with bird-like yellow spotted nicator, rumped tinker bird, little greenbelt green breasted pitta, black bee eater, the crowned eagle, and mammals like elephants can be spotted in the walking tour. The Kibale National Park averages about 3300 feet in elevation and is an extension of the Central African Great Rainforest into the eastern part. it is inhabited by three large “communities “of chimps, each numbering more than 100 individuals. Each community has a complicated structure.
The big adult males dominate the group and defend the community territory against incursions by male outsiders; the females usually wander in small family grouped .chimps tend to forage in small parties or even as individuals. They usually travel on the ground but being primarily fruit eaters, they mostly feed in trees. They sometimes form a larger group when they come across an abundant food source such as near the fruiting fig trees.
Typically, we locate the chimps by listening for their pant hooting calls, then hustle to the area from which they are calling, You’ll observe them as they feed themselves in the fruiting trees, socialize with fellow chimps, or even hunt smaller animals. In the afternoon hours, we’ll come across a nearby forest swamp which is excellent for viewing primates and other forest animals of the park. The eastern edge of the Kibale forest is called the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary and is maintained by the local community. Fascinating birds like the great blue turaco, and smaller animals like otters, mongoose, bushbucks can be spotted.
Following breakfast at the lodge, you’ll be driven back to Entebbe via Mubende, which is a 5 hour drive time. The route travels through breathtaking scenery and mesmerizing rolling vistas, some of the best in Uganda. Depending on how much time we have on us we can tour around Kampala‘s craft and souvenirs markets before checking in at your hotel or being transferred to the air port
End tour
All activities mentioned in the itinerary
Yes. Every Fuga safari is private, so we can add or remove days, change lodges or combine this tour with another park. Tell us what you'd like when you enquire.
As early as possible: permits are limited each day. Uganda permits cost US$800 and Rwanda permits US$1,500. See our gorilla permits guide.
We can run this tour at budget, mid-range or luxury level. The lodges change, the route stays the same, and we quote each level separately.
Send an enquiry with your dates. We check permit availability, send a costed itinerary, and confirm once you pay the deposit. See how to book.
Stone-and-thatch cottages on a ridge above Buhoma, looking straight into the forest where the gorilla treks start.
A friendly, good-value lodge close to the Buhoma park gate, with forest views from the terrace.
The only lodge inside Kibale Forest, steps from the chimpanzee trekking start point.
Log cottages on the rim of Kyaninga crater lake, with the Rwenzori Mountains behind.
Choose budget, mid-range or luxury: we price every tour at each level.
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