Day 1

Arrive Arusha -Tanzania

Arrive in Arusha through Kilimanjaro International airport and be transferred to a Legendary Lodge. It is set in lush tropical gardens on a coffee farm just outside Arusha, featuring twelve beautiful garden cottages, designed with a unique blend of African arts and crafts, combined with old, colonial-style luxury. You will be checked in your room with great views. You’ll be pleased to relax at your veranda or main house. Later, you will be treated to a welcome dinner where you will be briefed by our head guide about how your trip will unfold

Day 2

Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park.

After breakfast, drive to Kibale Forest National Park through Uganda’s western lush highlands decorated with tea, coffee and banana plantations. You will have unobstructed views of Mountains of the Moon, Rwenzori (Uganda’s highest Mountain-5,109meters A.S.L). You will be checked in at Primate Lodge, right next door to the visitor information center where the forest activities begin. The lodge sits in a pollution free environment and comprises of beautiful chalets with plenty of hot water.  From the comfort of your Luxury Cottage, you can unwind and listen to the chattering of the red-tailed monkeys in the dense branches. At night, you can enjoy the views of the forest and its nocturnal mammals like the bush baby through large glass windows.

Day 3

Chimpanzee Trekking

Take an early breakfast and be transferred to the nearby briefing area where you will be welcomed by the park ranger guide. He will happily give you a detailed brief on dos and don’ts of chimpanzee tracking before leading you into the forest for a National Geographic moment with the 13 species of primates to whom the park is home: These include a mix of both old world and new world monkeys like baboons, Black-and-white Colobus Monkey, chimpanzees, Blue Monkey, Red-tailed Monkey, Grey-cheeked Mangabey and Bushbaby. The dense forest hosts a population of more than 1,000 wild chimpanzees. You will follow barely visible footpaths through the untamed forest to track have an up-close of these playful primates, man’s closest relatives. At some point, your guide will draw your attention to an evocative pant-hoot call that marks your proximity to the delightful apes.  Spend a full hour watching them feed, socialize and rest before trekking back to your lodge for a hot lunch.

Later in the afternoon, you will be driven to the nearby Bigodi Community for a signature swamp walk. The experience that offers a terrific opportunity to feel the pulse of nature has been featured on international media as one of the best community conservation models in Africa. The local guide will take you through a wetland sanctuary with more than 100 species of birds and primates including the red colobus, black-and-white colobus and other monkeys. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Day 4

Transfer to Rubona, Rwenzori Foothills.

After breakfast, drive through green villages dotted with banana plantations. Along the way, you will bypass men pushing weighty bunches of bananas on bicycles to the market. You will spend the night at Equator Snow Lodge. It sits on the foothills of Mount Rwenzori in Rubona with stunning scenic wonders of the bubbling Mubuku River. The lodge is hooked around ancient trees from where the sounds of birds create a masterpiece and harmony. You can choose to relax at a cozy fireplace for warmth during the chilly evening or be in your intriguing cottage that is built out of rocks. From either settings, you will hear roars of the nearby river as it speeds past rocks that have been eroded from the top of the mountain. As you retire to bed, a gaze through the large sky windows of your cottage will bring you closer to nature. Equator lodge is a perfect place for you to relax as you take short hikes to the Rwenzoris and village walks.

Day 5

Ruboni Hill Walk
Depart early in the morning to hike up Ruboni Hill. Enjoy scenic views of the River Mubuku as well as Baker and Portal Peaks as you ascend. On reaching the summit of this hill which sits at 2,300-meters above sea level, you will be rewarded with a panoramic view of the Mountains of the Moon and the glorious snow-capped Margherita Peak. Return to Equator Snow Lodge for dinner and relaxation.

Day 6

Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park

After breakfast, drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park through Kasese and stop at the Equator, proceed to Mweya Safari Lodge. This lavish colonial styled lodge hovers on a peninsula protruding into the Kazinga Channel. At night, interesting guests including hippos and warthogs are usually seen grazing by your windows.

After lunch, you will be transferred to the nearby docking area for boat cruise on Kazinga channel for great wildlife views including elephants, crocodiles, hippos, buffalos and hundreds of birds.,

Day 7

Game Drives in Serengeti National Park

Morning and afternoon game drives offer you incredible sightings of the densest wildlife populations including the big five (lions, elephants, Cape buffalos, leopards and rhinos), supplemented by a variety of birds, and big mammals like cheetahs, a fleet of Thomson’s gazelles, giraffe, warthog, dik dik, bushbuck, waterbuck, eland, impala, and topi. If you plan your trip around November and December or through early July, you will be treated to the legendary annual migration as vast herds of wildebeest and zebras embark on their yearly crossing from Kenya’s Masai Mara.

Day 8

First Mountain Gorilla Tracking Experience

This is a big day; you will have a rare encounter with gentle giant mountain gorillas. This is no doubt the absolute highlight of a tour to Africa for most visitors. It is a humbling experience to stand meters from the gentle giants as they eat rest, play and bond with their young ones. After a briefing by park authorities, you will embark on a forest trek lasting from one to five hours, depending on the location of the gorillas in the thick forest. There are 10 habituated gorilla families in the park. You will be blessed to encounter and spend time with one of the families that can be visited by a group of eight people per day! It comprises of members of different age brackets from newly born babies to Silverbacks that are over 20 years old. You will enjoy an exciting journey along forested slopes, bushes and bamboo before you eventually reach the gorilla family. Coming face-to-face with a mountain gorilla is a truly awesome and emotional experience. You will return to the lodge where we will offer you a complementary body massage. Overnight at Mahogany Safari Lodge (Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)

Day 9

Second Day Mountain Gorilla Tracking Experience

Experience has shown that you can visit the same gorilla group twice on different days and get completely different experiences. Individual Mountain gorillas behave differently and same mountain gorilla can behalf differently on different days depending on moods. Some individuals are more active than others, some juveniles are more playful.

On the second day, after briefing, you will be led into the forest to track a different gorilla and you will agree with us that it is a different experience!

In the evening, we will take you on an optional community experience to visit some nearby homesteads. Some of these live with former forest people (pygmies) who were evicted from the forest to pave way for gorilla conservation. They will demonstrate to you how they used to hunt for survival. The experience is crowned with enthusiastic cultural dances. Overnight at Mahogany Safari Lodge.

Day 10

Transfer to Kihehi, fly to Entebbe and Depart.

Have a relaxed breakfast, checkout and be transferred to Kihihi airstrip which is one and half hour’s drive away for a chartered flight to Entebbe International Airport. If your flight is later in the evening, we will arrange a day-room at Boma Hotel and later be transferred to airport in time for check in of your departing flight.