 | Green Planet Expedition’s
Uganda Mountain Gorilla Adventure
Sample Itinerary |
Day 1 Entebbe Upon arrival in Entebbe, you will be met at the airport by your Expedition Leader and transferred to the Lake Victoria Hotel, a charming colonial hotel with beautiful gardens. This recently refurbished 4-star hotel offers 99 rooms and suites set in well-maintained gardens in 9 acres of grounds. Rooms are air-conditioned and equipped with minibar, hairdryer, phone and satellite TV. Facilities include a swimming pool, with pool bar and an area for poolside dining, and health club. In addition to the restaurant, the hotel offers 24-hour room service. If time permits we will visit the famous Entebbe Botanical Gardens. This evening we will gather at approximately 6:30pm with our Expedition Leader for a cocktail party and our group welcome dinner. Overnight Lake Victoria Hotel. (D) http://www.uganda.at/reiseinformationen Day 2 Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary
This morning we will take a boat ride to the new Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary on Lake Victoria. The sanctuary was created by the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre and The Jane Goodall Institute, among others, to offer a home to 32 orphaned chimpanzees in a natural environment the chimps are free to roam the 100-acre tropical forest island. The chimpanzee viewing is a highlight of this trip and a wonderful opportunity to observe these otherwise elusive animals while helping in their rehabilitation. Overnight Lake Victoria Hotel. (BLD)
http://www.ngambaisland.org/ Days 3 Kibale Forest
On Day 5, we will travel to Kibale Forest, enjoying the ever-changing scenery of this fertile country, which includes gently rolling hills and lush tea, coffee and banana plantations. Along the way we will stop to enjoy our Picnic lunch and then continue to our destination, Ndali Lodge Camp. The lodge, comprised of 8 cottages, is set on a hillside overlooking a crater lake. It is powered by candle and lantern light conjuring images of days gone by. Overnight at Ndali Lodge Camp. (BLD)
http://www.ndalilodge.com/ Day 4 Kibale
This morning at the forest entrance, we will meet our local trackers before entering the park in search of chimpanzees, red colobus, black-and-white colobus, red tails, gray-cheeked mangabey and other primate species. We will also enjoy a “swamp walk” offering excellent primate viewing at close range. Overnight at Ndali Lodge Camp. (BLD) Day 5 Queen Elizabeth National Park
After another forest walk this morning, we will drive about 3 hours to Queen Elizabeth Park and settle into Mweya Lodge. Mweya Safari Lodge is located on a peninsula within the heart of the spectacular Queen Elizabeth National Park. Mweya Safari lodge offers breathtaking views from every room, an abundance of game and some of the best birdwatching in East Africa. The lodge also offers a pool and a poolside bar. Overnight Mweya Lodge. (BLD)
http://www.game-reserve.com/uganda_queen_elizabeth.html
http://www.mweyalodge.com/ Day 6 Queen Elizabeth National Park
This morning, we will enjoy a launch trip on the Kazinga Channel, home to countless hippos, as well as baboons and abundant birdlife. We will also explore Queen Elizabeth National Park, which covers nearly 800 square miles and spreads along the eastern shore of the Rift Valley’s Lake Edward. Here we may spot lion, leopard, herds of Uganda kob, bushbuck, waterbuck, reedbuck, oribi and buffalo. In addition, the park also hosts the largest concentration of hippos in the world, and we will surely encounter many of them during our exploration. If we’re lucky, we may also catch sight of one of the resident elephant herds. The Ruwenzori Peaks provide a magnificent backdrop to antelope-filled plains. Overnight Mweya Lodge. (BLD) Day 7 Maramagambo Forest
Today we will take a walk through Maramgambo Forest. While here, we will visit bat caves that can be observed from above, seeing thousands of bats and often a python or monitor lizard catching the bats. Overnight Mweya Lodge. (BLD) Day 8 Bwindi
Today we will drive to Bwindi National Park and our base at Buhoma. It is from here that we will make our treks to the mountain gorillas. In rote to Bwindi we will game drive in search of tree climbing lion and other game. Overnight Gorilla Forest Camp. (BLD)
www.sanctuarylodges.com/gorillaforestcamp.htm Days 9 & 10 Gorilla Treks
We awaken early today in preparation for one of the most exciting days of our lives. After an early morning briefing from our park's guides, we set out on our long-anticipated adventure. The trail through the tropical rainforest is both challenging and exciting, and we will travel deep into this dense jungle, alluded to by early explorers as “the Impenetrable Forest." Our goal is to reach the gorillas by midday, at which time these massive vegetarians rest from their morning foraging, allowing their food to digest as the youngsters play. We will travel to the group's last known position, where the guide will seek signs of gorillas: broken and torn vegetation indicative of a night nest, stripped bark and chewed leaves where the gorillas have been feeding, and even gorilla dung. Our pulse quickens as we climb over vines and dense foliage and approach the group, our guides signaling for silence and then proclaiming our peacefulness to the gorillas with amiable grunts. During our stay with the gorillas we may see a range of ages: young ones playing in the trees, mothers carrying babies, and the mighty silverback, the leader of the group. The terrain and length of the treks vary according to the movements of these great primates. The thrill of meeting these animals face-to-face in their own habitat is one that you will remember for the rest of your life! Our lodging at Gorilla Forest Camp has been designed to blend seamlessly into this most atmospheric of environments, carefully appointed towards the misty valleys and looming, forest-clad mountains that protect this fragile eco-system. Accommodation is in 8 double tents, raised on wooden platforms, each with en –suite facilities and hot and cold running water, WC, basin and unusually – a bathtub looking out onto the forest. Each tent has a spacious wooden veranda where guests can relax, enjoy a private meal and absorb the exotic mystery of the surrounding rainforest that provided the inspiration for the animation of Disney’s The Jungle Book. The Gorilla Forest Camp offers a bar and dining cottage overlooking the rain forest, as well as a raised natural platform for open air dining. Overnights Gorilla Forest Camp. (BLD) Day 11 Entebbe / Home
We will take our charter flight to Entebbe. We will have our farewell meal upon arrival there and transfer to the airport for your departing flight. Dayrooms at the Lake Victoria Hotel. (BL) Physical Requirements
The strenuous (sometimes very strenuous) trek to the gorillas usually takes between two and three hours, but can take as short as fifteen minutes and as long as four to eight hours. We travel at a pace to accommodate all hikers. Travelers are not required to participate in all activities and are welcome to forego any portion of the program. Travelers should be aware that if they turn around due to fatigue, illness or any other reason the remainder of the group, including the Program Leader, will go on. The returning traveler will be escorted by a local guide. |
