This 8 Days Queen Elizabeth Wildlife and Rwanda Safari has been carefully designed to give you the best experience during your safari in both Uganda and Rwanda. During this 8 Days Queen Elizabeth Wildlife and Rwanda Safari, you will start in Uganda’s Entebbe or Kampala and drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park where you will embark on guided game drives in the park, enjoy a boat cruise on Kazinga Channel and also track chimpanzees in Kalinzu Forest.
For the second half of your 8 days Queen Elizabeth wildlife and Rwanda safari, you will be visiting Volcanoes National Park for gorilla trekking and Golden monkey trekking excursions, and then conclude your tour with a visit to Akagera National Park for a game drive and boat cruise. Drop off will be in Kigali.
Highlights for 8 Days Queen Elizabeth Wildlife and Rwanda Safari
Day 1: Pickup & Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Day 2: Chimpanzee Trekking in Kalinzu Forest
Day 3: Optional Lion Tracking/Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise on Kazinga Channel
Day 4: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park and Iby’iwacu Village Tour.
Day 5: Gorilla Trekking and Optional Visit to Karisoke Center
Day 6: Golden Monkey Trek and Transfer back to Kigali.
Day 7: Transfer to Akagera National Park and Afternoon boat cruise
Day 8: Morning Game Drive and Transfer Back to Kigali.
Detailed Itinerary for 8 Days Queen Elizabeth Wildlife and Rwanda Safari
Day 1: Pickup & Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Pickup from your hotel in Entebbe or Kampala and embark on roughly a 7 hours’ drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park. On the way to you will have en-route lunch where after you will continue the journey with spectacular views of the beautiful scenery, the Rwenzori Mountains, tea and banana plantations, crater lakes, among others. Upon arrival you will go for an optional evening game drive where you will be able to view various animals like elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, warthogs, among others.
Dinner and overnight at your lodge.
Day 2: Chimpanzee Trekking in Kalinzu Forest
After breakfast, you will meet up with your driver guide to transfer to Kalinzu forest for the briefing about the rules and regulations of chimpanzee trekking. After the briefing, you will start trekking in the forest in search of the chimpanzees, which takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours, depending on where the chimpanzees are located, because they like to move from one place to another in search of food.
During trekking you will enjoy great views of other primate species, view colorful bird species, plant and tree species, among others. Once the chimpanzees are found you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat, which helps you to learn more about their habits and behaviors, watch them carry out their daily activities like feeding, breastfeeding, playing, hunting, resting, take photos, record the moments among others. After spending one hour with the chimpanzees you will trek back to the starting point where you will meet up with your driver guide and transfer back to the lodge for lunch.
After lunch you will either spend the rest of the day at leisure or visit the Crater Lakes where you will visit Katwe Crater Lake, interact with the local people who will be extracting rock salt from the lake so as to earn a living, visit Nyamunuka Crater Lake which is known as the hospital for animals, Lake Bunyampaka, Nyamunuka among others. After the Crater Lakes tour you will drive back to the lodge for an evening relaxation, dinner and overnight as above.
Day 3: Optional Lion Tracking/Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise on Kazinga Channel
After an early breakfast, you will meet up with your driver guide and go for a morning game drive or an optional lion tracking experience in Kasenyi sector where you will be rewarded with great views of predators like lions, leopards, hyenas which will be going back to their hiding areas, other animals like elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, bushbucks, Uganda kobs, warthogs, giant forest hogs, different bird species, plants among others. After the game drive you will return to the lodge for lunch.
After lunch you will go for an amazing boat cruise on Kazinga channel, a water body that joins Lake George and Lake Edward where you will be able to view large concentrations of hippos and crocodiles in water, elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, warthogs drinking water along the shores of the lake, view aquatic bird species, view fishermen preparing their fishing gears for night fishing, take beautiful photos among others. After the boat cruise adventure you will drive back to the lodge, have dinner and overnight as above.
Day 4: Transfer to Volcanoes National Park and Iby’iwacu Village Tour.
After having breakfast in the morning, you will meet your guide and drive to Volcanoes national park in Rwanda crossing the land border at Cyanika/Katuna. You will have with a stopover for lunch enroute to the park. Enjoy the beautiful views as you traverse the countryside arriving in Volcanoes NP in the late afternoon.
You will embark on a cultural tour to Iby’iwacu village aka ‘The Gorilla Guardians Village’ where you will get to interact with the locals and watch dance and singing performances from the local dance troupe. Dinner and overnight stay at your accommodation.
Day 5: Gorilla Trekking and Optional Visit to Karisoke Center
The fifth day of this 8 Days Rwanda Safari highlights a gorilla trekking activity. Early in the morning after breakfast and a briefing from the RBD officials, set off for the gorilla tracking. This experience of gorilla tracking is a once in a life time adventure. The rangers will lead you deep into the forest in search for the Gorillas.
You will move up and down the rugged terrain until you finally meet these harmonious creatures that will entertain you with performances for about 1 hour. The activity in Rwanda can take 3-5 hours since the gorillas move up and down.
This is an awesome and exciting moment. En route there are a lot of chimpanzees and other types of the primates such as the monkeys, birds and so more. Return for lunch at the Lodge and in the afternoon, you may embark on an optional visit to the Karisoke research center where you can visit the Dian Fossey Museum and also the graves of the Late Diane Fossey, an American primatologist who was murdered because she was protecting these endangered mountain Gorillas. Return for dinner and overnight stay at your accommodation.
Day 6: Golden Monkey Trek and Transfer back to Kigali.
After breakfast on the sixth day of your 8 Days Rwanda Safari, you will go for golden monkey tracking. This activity also takes like 2-3 hours in the Virunga forest. Later return back to your lodge for early lunch and drive back to Kigali, arriving in the evening in time for dinner and overnight stay at your hotel.
Day 7: Transfer to Akagera National Park and Afternoon boat cruise
Have breakfast from your hotel in the morning. You will be met by your driver guide at your agreed location in Kigali to transfer to Akagera national park where you will arrive in time to embark on the late afternoon boat cruise on Lake Ihema where you will see game like hippopotamuses, Crocodiles and many bird species that live around the lake and the surrounding swamps. Dinner and overnight at lodge in Akagera Park.
Day 8: Morning Game Drive and Transfer Back to Kigali.
After having breakfast at your lodge, check out of your lodge and meet up with your driver guide. You will then embark on a morning game drive where you will explore the northern sector of the national park. You may view a variety of wildlife animals including lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras and antelopes among others.
Later meet up with your guide and drive back to Kigali. Upon your arrival in Kigali city, you can choose to have your driver drop you off at any hotel of your choice of at Kigali international airport where you will board your flight back home.
End of your 8 Days Queen Elizabeth Wildlife and Rwanda Safari!
