This 20 Days Uganda, Rwanda Gorillas, and Tanzania Wildlife Safari is one of our customized long-haul tours that give you an opportunity to explore some of the top tourist destinations in the East African Region. Visit the most powerful waterfalls in the world situated in Murchison Falls National Park, and trek chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, go gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, wildlife in Queen Elizabeth National Park, golden monkeys in Volcanoes National Park, explore the Canopy Walkway in Nyungwe Forest National and also visit the vast savannah lands in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This 20 Days, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania Safari begins in Entebbe/Kampala in Uganda and ends in Arusha, Tanzania.
Highlights for 20 Uganda, Rwanda Gorilla, and Tanzania Wildlife Safari.
Day 1: Arrival in Entebbe
Day 2: Drive to Murchison Falls National Park via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
Day 3: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise-Top of the Falls
Day 4: Transfer to Kibale National Park
Day 5: Chimpanzee Trek and Optional Bigodi Swamp Walk
Day 6: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Day 7: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise
Day 8: Transfer to Bwindi NP- Afternoon Batwa Cultural Experience
Day 9: Gorilla Trekking– Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Day 10: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park via Cyanika Border
Day 11: Golden Monkeys and Ibyiwacu Village Tour and Transfer to Gisenyi
Day 12: Drive to Nyungwe Forest National Park- Canopy Walk
Day 13: Transfer to Kigali
Day 14: Fly to Arusha (at your own cost) and Transfer to Tarangire NP (About 2½ hours)
Day 15: Full-Day Game Drive
Day 16: Visit Olpopongi Masai Village to Ngorongoro- Game Drive (About 2½ hours)
Day 17: Ngorongoro Crater Drive
Day 18: Drive to Serengeti National Park- (Approximately 3 hours’ drive)
Day 19: Full-Day Game Drive
Day 20: Transfer Back to Arusha and Departure (Approximately 7 hours drive)
Detailed Itinerary for 20 Uganda, Rwanda Gorilla, and Tanzania Wildlife Safari.
Day 1: Arrival in Entebbe
Depending on your time of arrival at Entebbe International Airport, you will find your driver guide waiting for you upon your arrival. You will then transfer to your hotel where you will check in and refreshen up. Later have dinner and an overnight stay at your preferred hotel.
Day 2: Drive to Murchison Falls National Park via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
Today after breakfast, your guide will pick you up from Kampala to Murchison Falls NP. En route, you will visit Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary where you will go for rhino tracking with an experienced ranger, which gives you a unique opportunity to view the rhinos from a close distance.
Have lunch and proceed with your drive to Murchison falls national park where you will embark on an afternoon boat cruise on the Nile River. You will have an opportunity to see wildlife basking at the river banks including hippos, Nile crocodiles, elephants, reedbucks, waterbucks and so many more.
After your boat trip, you will drive to the top of the falls and experience the thunderous roar with impressive views. Later transfer to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 3: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise-Top of the Falls
Today after breakfast, you will depart for an early morning game drive across the rolling plains of Uganda’s largest National Park. The 3,893 sq. km park is home to a range of animals, and you will have a chance of viewing some of the Park’s residents including lions, giraffes, hartebeest, buffalo, and elephants. For the birders amongst you, these areas support the secretary bird and the black-chested snake eagle, to name a few.
In the afternoon, go for a boat trip to the base of Murchison Falls, where the Nile thunders through a small 7-meter gap plunging 43 meters into the Nile on the way to Lake Albert. The banks of the Nile are densely populated with crocodiles, hippopotamus, and a range of other wildlife that come to the river to drink.
After the boat safari, you will hike to the top of the falls. From here you have a wonderful panoramic view of the magnificent Murchison Falls and fantastic photo opportunities! Have dinner and overnight stay at your lodge.
Day 4: Transfer to Kibale National Park
Today you will begin your journey to Kibale Forest N.P. The long drive is incredibly scenic, passing through tea plantations and the lush green countryside which characterizes so much of Uganda.
Kibale Forest National Park is located in west-central Uganda just east of the Rwenzori Mountains, near the town of Fort Portal. The 766 Km² Park predominantly covers evergreen rainforest and ranges between 1100 and 1600m in elevation. Kibale Forest is one of the last remaining expanses to contain both lowland and montane forests and forms a continuous forest with Queen Elizabeth National Park.
You will have packed lunch en route, arriving in the evening for overnight and dinner
Day 5: Chimpanzee Trek and Optional Bigodi Swamp Walk
Have breakfast and report to the park headquarters for briefing after which you embark on the Chimpanzee trek. You will enter the forest early and watch chimps leaving their overnight nests between 6:00 – 6:30 am before feeding, copulating, hunting, breastfeeding, and resting. Return for lunch at your lodge and spend the rest of the afternoon at leisure or you can do an optional Bigodi Swamp Walk where you stand a chance of seeing the prehistoric Shoebill stork. Later have dinner and overnight as above.
Day 6: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
You will have breakfast, and then continue your journey to Queen Elizabeth National Park with a visit to the crater lakes and stalagmites site in Fort Portal town. You will cross the equator again in Kasese.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda’s second largest park, located at the base of the majestic Rwenzori Mountain range, adjacent to Lake Edward and Lake George. The park has game including Uganda kob, warthog, and waterbuck. Lions are often sighted both in and at the entrance to the park. Be ready to see huge numbers of hippos and elephants, and keep your eyes on the lookout for a leopard lazing in the sunshine.
In the late afternoon, you will relax at the lodge with dinner and an overnight stay at your preferred lodge.
Day 7: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise
Today you wake up early. A little before sunrise coffee, tea and donuts will be served in the lounge before we head out for a long game drive in time to see the first rays of light. You will search for all the wildlife in the park and are likely to come across elephants, Buffalo, Lion, Waterbuck, Leopard, Uganda Kob, and many Warthogs.
After your early morning game drive, you will take a boat safari along the Kazinga Channel which joins Lake George and Lake Edward.
Here, you will see a lot of hippos (more than you can possibly imagine!), as well as a variety of other animals which come to the waterhole to drink or bathe. You can expect to see buffalo, crocodiles, bathing elephants, and a range of beautiful birds. This will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of your tour.
After the boat safari, you will have lunch and transfer to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay same as the previous night at your preferred lodge.
Day 8: Transfer to Bwindi NP- Afternoon Batwa Cultural Experience
Have your breakfast in the morning and meet up with your driver guide. You will then embark on a 5-6 hours drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park with lunch en route to the park. Upon your arrival in Bwindi, check in at your lodge, and later in the afternoon, you will head out for a cultural experience to the neighboring Batwa community where you will have a chance to interact with the friendly locals and learn more about the interesting Batwa culture through dance and singing performances from the local Batwa dance troupe.
Later drive back to your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay at your preferred lodge.
Day 9: Gorilla Trekking- Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Today after early breakfast, you will be transferred to the park headquarters for a briefing about gorilla tracking. You will encounter one of Bwindi’s endangered mountain gorillas. For most people this is the absolute highlight of their tour in Uganda.
Bwindi Impenetrable national park boasts both mountain gorillas and chimpanzees – the only forest in Africa that can make this claim. It also hosts five other species of primates, 113 species of mammals, over 200 species of butterflies, and 360 species of birds. The gorillas you track are habituated and can tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period of time, every day.
The time taken to track the gorillas can be as few as 2 hours to as many as 7 hours or more depending on the location of the gorillas. Once the gorillas have been located, your group will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them. Coming face-to-face with a mountain gorilla is a truly humbling and emotional experience. This is a fantastic and privileged opportunity to get up close and personal with Uganda’s very own ‘Gorillas in the Mist’.
Later have dinner and an overnight stay at your preferred lodge.
Day 10: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park via Cyanika Border
Have breakfast at your lodge and then drive to Volcanoes National Park via the Cyanika border taking approximately a 5-hour drive (giving ample time for clearance at the immigration office. Lunch will be had en route to the park. Upon your arrival at the park, you will check into your lodge and spend the rest of your afternoon relaxing. Dinner and overnight stay at your preferred lodge.
Day 11: Golden Monkeys and Ibyiwacu Village Tour and Transfer to Gisenyi
After an early morning breakfast, transfer to the park headquarters for briefing and later enter the forest and hike while in search of the golden monkeys. Tracking the golden monkeys’ rewards views of other primates such as the black and white Colobus monkeys, and Olive baboons among others. After your golden monkey trek, you will visit Ibyiwacu Village for a cultural experience and then head back to your lodge for hot lunch and then drive to Lake Kivu in Gisenyi town where you will have dinner and overnight stay at your hotel overlooking the lake.
Dinner and overnight stay at your preferred lodge.
Day 12: Drive to Nyungwe Forest National Park- Canopy Walk
Wake up at leisure and have breakfast at your hotel. You will then embark on 4-hour drive from Gisenyi to Nyungwe national park with lunch en route. Upon your arrival at the park, you will embark on a 2 hour’s hike along the famous Canopy walkway bridge where you will get a panoramic view of the park and a chance to view various primate species during your hike. Later return to your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay at your lodge.
Day 13: Transfer to Kigali
Have your breakfast at leisure and then embark on about a 6-hour drive to Kigali City with a stopover visit to the King’s Palace in Nyanza and a lunch en-route to Kigali City. Depending on your time of arrival in Kigali, you may do an optional tour of Kigali city where you can visit Kigali Genocide Memorial Center and Caplaki Craft Village among others. Later have dinner and an overnight stay at your lodge.
Day 14: Fly to Arusha (at your own cost) and Transfer to Tarangire NP (About 2½ hours)
Have breakfast in the morning from your hotel. You will then be driven to Kigali International Airport where you will board your morning flight to Arusha airport. Find your Tanzania driver guide waiting for you at the airport from where you will have lunch and drive to Tarangire National Park. Upon your arrival at the park, you will have an evening game drive and later check into your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay at your preferred lodge.
Day 15: Full-Day Game Drive
Wake up in the morning and have your breakfast. Today you will be having a full-day game drive in the park where you will view a variety of wildlife animals like cheetahs, lions, buffaloes, common elands, waterbucks, elephants, zebras, rhinos and so many more. You will have a break for lunch at your lodge and later dinner and overnight stay at the same lodge as the previous night at your preferred lodge.
Day 16: Visit Olpopongi Masai Village to Ngorongoro- Game Drive (About 2½ hours)
Have breakfast at leisure and check out of your lodge. You will then drive to Olpopongi Maasai Village for a community cultural tour. Take a guided tour of the local Maasai homesteads and also be entertained to local folk dance and singing performances from the local dance troupe. You will also visit the local craft shops in the community where you can purchase authentic locally made Maasai crafts as souvenirs to take home. Have lunch and drive back to Ngorongoro Crater Area where you will check into your lodge in time for lunch and later enjoy an evening game drive where you view a variety of wildlife animals like gazelles, wildebeests, hartebeest, buffaloes, zebras and so many more. Dinner and overnight stay at your preferred lodge.
Day 17: Ngorongoro Crater Drive
Have breakfast in the morning and head out for a game drive at Ngorongoro Crater Area. Ngorongoro Crater is the largest unfilled inactive volcanic crater in the world. During your game drive, you will get to view wildlife such as elephants, lions, antelopes, leopards, rhinos, wildebeests and so many more. Dinner and overnight stay at the same lodge as the previous night.
Day 18: Drive to Serengeti National Park- (Approximately 3 hours’ drive)
Wake up in the morning and have breakfast. You will then meet up with your driver guide and embark on 3 hours drive to Serengeti National Park arriving in time for lunch at your lodge. After having your lunch, you can opt to spend the rest of your day relaxing at the lodge or head out for an evening game drive in the park. Dinner and overnight stay at your preferred lodge.
Day 19: Full-Day Game Drive
Have breakfast early at leisure and end out for a full-day game drive. Spend the entire day exploring the vast plains of the Serengeti, giving you a great opportunity to explore all through the kopjes and riverine areas. Most of the camps are permanent, allowing for optimal wildlife viewing activities while still being close to central areas. Serengeti is Tanzania’s oldest park and contains a plethora of animals. It is popular for the annual migration of over 1.5 million white-bearded wildebeests, over 200,000 zebras, etc. Serengeti is a wild part of the world, an ethereal landscape that has to be seen to be believed! Dinner and overnight stay at your preferred lodge.
Day 20: Transfer Back to Arusha and Departure (Approximately 7 hours drive)
After breakfast, you will do a short morning game drive in the park and then drive back to Arusha with lunch en route to the city. Upon your arrival in Arusha, your driver guide will drop you off at a hotel of your choice or at Arusha Airport if you have an evening flight back home. End of Tour!
