5 Days Gorillas & Chimps

At 08.00 am we will start with the 4 hour chimp walk – during which you may also get to see 10 other primates! Kibale park is also known for all the butterflies and birds. In the afternoon we will walk through Bigodi Swamp (home to a community based project).

Early morning after breakfast start (8 AM) the drive to Kabale for lunch. From here the journey takes us through a beautiful landscape called the “Switzerland of Africa”. We pass mountains, hills and lakes with cultivated terraces, tropical rainforest and bamboo forest. On the last hill the landscape unfolds beneath us, in the vast plane of Uganda, Rwanda and Congo the Virunga volcanoes dominate the view. Down is Kisoro where we will stay in the famous Travellers Rest Hotel if staying in Kisoro. Just outside Kisoro, this unique hotel offers a cozy stay for the tourists, who come to see the endangered mountain gorilla. The hotel, built in a somewhat colonial style, and entirely renovated in 1999, has a comfortable ambiance. In the sixties the famous American ‘gorilla-woman’ Dian Fossey visited Hotel Travellers Rest many, many times to do paperwork, to relax or to meet people. Fossey said about the hotel: ,,It was my second home.” IF STAYING AT GORILLA VALLEY LODGE A long cherished dream of an Africa enthusiast came true in 2013: The Establishment of the lodge in the South of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP. Gorilla Valley Lodge is situated at the southern edge of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park on a hill near Rushaga, close to Rushaga Uganda Wildlife station. Gorilla Valley Lodge a ‘medium range hotel’, consists of 12 rooms, with spacious private bathrooms, Toilets, Dining/Waiting area beautifully situated in lowland evergreen Forest allowing breathtaking views of the African Eden, rich with wildlife and at a close distance the majestic Virunga Volcanoes. Every room has been lovingly furnished with twin beds and decorated in a modern retro style. Gorilla Valley Lodge is a slice of wilderness paradise far from the madding crowd; a place of renewal and reconnection with the natural world. And trust, one could never get closer to Bwindi!!!! The gentle Giants are at home at GVL, Sometimes the gorilla’s come out of the forest to spend some time feeding and playing in our gardens…… From the veranda of the rooms you can almost touch this national park and home of our mountain Gorillas. Day 3 and 4 Budget Tour: Gorilla Valley Lodge/Travellers Rest Hotel Comfortable Tour: Gorilla Valley Lodge/Travellers Rest Hotel

The day of gorilla tracking! You will travel by car to the starting point of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP. Once there you will first receive a briefing (7.45am) and at 8.30am you will start the tracking. Once you have found the gorillas, you will be able to spend up to one hour with them! You will be expected back to the starting point by 7.00pm at the latest. Being physically fit is recommended. It is always best to hear from other visitors, and this is Stella and Trudy’s story: “At a distance of about fifteen feet a mountain gorilla with her baby appears. She comes out of the bushes, looks at me and lies down. My presence does not seem to bother her. She just wants to rest, whether I am there or not. I can almost touch her. My heart dances with joy. I am in a good position to take pictures, so I let my camera do its work. It is the thrill of a lifetime. I cannot but agree with the American zoologist George Schaller, the first to study gorillas in the Virunga volcanoes, who once said: ‘No one who looks into the eyes of a gorilla, gentle and vulnerable, can remain unchanged.”

Early in the morning after breakfast you will travel back to Kampala. On the way back to the city you will have lunch in Mbarara town, and after Masaka there will be an opportunity to a stop at the Equator for photo shoots and buying souvenirs and have tea or coffee. We will then bring you to a guesthouse, campsite or hotel of your choice in Kampala or Entebbe – or, if you continue your holiday somewhere else or back home, we will bring you directly to Entebbe airport for an onwards flight. Driving time: ± 9 hours