Arrive in Uganda at Entebbe Airport where a Volcanoes Safaris representative will assist you to your hotel. 

Overnight at Hotel No. 5 (breakfast, dinner).

Transfer from your hotel to Entebbe airport where a representative will assist you with your domestic flight to Kasese airstrip, where you will be welcomed by your expert Volcanoes Safaris guide.

Drive for approximately 1 hour to Kibale Lodge, near Kibale National Park. Visit the Rwenzori Sculpture Foundation on the way and learn about the cultural partnership with Volcanoes Safaris to display sculptures relating to the traditional clans of Uganda around the lodge.

Kibale lodge has stunning panoramic views of the snow-covered peaks of the Rwenzori Mountains to the west, and the Queen Elizabeth plains and the Kazinga channel to the south. 

In the afternoon visit a local school as part of the Roots and Shoots program which aims to build women leaders in conservation, in partnership with Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust and the Jane Goodall Institute. Enjoy pre-dinner cocktails and a fireside chat with a vet from a primatologist and learn about their daily work looking after the health of the chimpanzees.

Flying time between 1 to 1.5 hours, driving time 1 hour. Overnight at Kibale Lodge (lunch, dinner)

Spend the morning trekking the exuberant chimp families in Kibale Forest, the Primate Capital of the World. Seeing the chimpanzees in their natural habitat, as they swing from the branches in the canopy high above is a thrilling experience. The forest quickly becomes alive with their noisy calls.

In the afternoon, go birding in the Bigodi Wetland. The reserve is abundant with butterflies, plants, animals and birds, including the elusive Red Colobus monkeys and Sitatunga antelope. Spectacular species including the Great Blue Turaco and rare Papyrus Gonolek will be of great interest to birders.  

Overnight at Kibale Lodge (breakfast, lunch, dinner)

After breakfast, go for a second chimpanzee trek in Kibale, you will track with a primatologist. Look out for the wonderful primates, mammals and birds, including Olive Baboons, nocturnal Bushbabies and the elusive Red Colobus monkey. The dense forest is famous for some of the world’s best birding, with a vast diversity of species including the Great Blue Turaco, Papyrus Gonolek and the rare Green Breasted Pitta. 

Depart for Kyambura Gorge Lodge and Queen Elizabeth National Park. Drive through the park on the way to the lodge and look for lions, leopard, elephants, buffaloes and large herds of Uganda kob.

In the afternoon, participate in the Kyambura Gorge Eco-tourism Project, run by Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust (VSPT). Try roasting coffee with the Kyambura Women’s Coffee Cooperative, go birding in the Kyambura reclaimed wetlands, and plant a tree seedling in the wildlife buffer zone. 

Enjoy a presentation from the Kyambura Lion Monitoring Team.

Overnight at Kyambura Gorge Lodge (breakfast, lunch, dinner)

After a bush breakfast overlooking the park go for a second trek in the Kyambura Gorge. As well as search for the chimpanzees, explore the magical gorge and enjoy the surprises of a walking safari. Your guide will help you track footprints and understand about the diverse wildlife living in and around this unique natural habitat.

In the afternoon take a wildlife boat cruise on the Kazinga channel, home to one of the greatest concentration of hippo in Africa and herds of elephant, buffalo and other animals come to drink at the water’s edge. 

Overnight at Kyambura Gorge Lodge (breakfast, lunch, dinner)

Enjoy an early breakfast and set out for a morning game drive. The Kasenyi plains are excellent for sighting lions, leopard, elephant and buffalo. The Mweya peninsula is one of the best places to look for leopards, which live in the dense, scrubby thickets. Go on your game drive with a member of the Kyambura Wildlife Team and learn about the Kyambura Lion Monitoring Project.

After lunch, go for a second trek in the Kyambura Gorge. As well as search for the chimpanzees, explore the magical gorge and enjoy the surprises of a walking safari. Your guide will help you track footprints and understand about the diverse wildlife living in and around this unique natural habitat.

Check camera traps in the gorge as part of the Kyambura Carnivore Survey and look through photos and film of any animals captured last night.

In the evening participate in an informal wildlife storytelling, BBQ and movie night at the Kyambura Community and Conservation Centre with the lodge guides, wildlife monitoring team staff, and members of the local community.  

Overnight at Kyambura Gorge Lodge (breakfast, lunch, dinner)

After breakfast at the lodge your safari now continues to the primeval Bwindi Forest. Driving through the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, look for the famous tree-climbing lions. The fascinating journey through the rapidly changing landscape takes you up in the highlands to Bwindi Lodge situated on the edge of the impenetrable forest. 

Enjoy pre-dinner cocktails on the veranda overlooking the dramatic Bwindi Forest with the calls of more than 150 bird species echoing in the distance.
Enjoy a fireside chat with a vet from the Gorilla Doctors to learn more about gorilla conservation and research. 
Approximate driving time 5-6 hours. Overnight at Bwindi Lodge (breakfast, lunch, dinner)

After enjoying an early breakfast, you set off gorilla tracking. Trekking through the steep, densely forested hills and then finally coming across the gorillas camouflaged in the vegetation is an inspiring and privileged moment. Tracking in the Bwindi Forest can be steep and requires stamina as some gorilla families can be more elusive, and tracking can take a full day, especially if it is wet and muddy.
Visit the award-winning Bwindi Bar after your gorilla trek and celebrate with the signature Gorillini cocktail and taste the famous Ugandan ‘Rolex’ wrap! Bwindi Bar provides hospitality training to young, disadvantaged youth from the neighbouring communities. 

Approximate driving time to begin the gorilla trekking can be up to 2 hours, depending on the location of the gorilla groups. 

Late afternoon visit the Conservation Through Public Health for a tour of their facility to again an in depth understanding of the behind the scenes what they do to support the gorilla population in Bwindi. 

Overnight at Bwindi Lodge (breakfast, lunch, dinner)

Transfer to Kihihi Airstrip for a morning flight to Kisoro Airstrip. Drive across the border into Rwanda and to Virunga Lodge (driving time approximately 2 hours). The magnificent Virunga Lodge is perched on the top of a hill with panoramic views of the chain of volcanoes and Lakes Bulera and Ruhondo.  

Enjoy a birding and community walk, learn about the history of gorilla conservation in the Virunga Map Room with a vet from the Gorilla Doctors and learn about their daily work looking after the health of the mountain gorillas. 
Overnight at Virunga Lodge (breakfast, lunch, dinner). 

Wake up early and have breakfast before setting off for gorilla tracking in Parc National des Volcans. Hike through the enchanting bamboo forest on the slopes of the Virunga Volcanoes. After a climb of between one and three hours, you will spend one hour in the company of the majestic and gentle mountain gorillas before returning to the lodge in time for a late lunch.
 
Some gorilla families can be more elusive, and tracking can take a full day, especially if it is wet and muddy.
 
Visit the new Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund for a self guide tour of the facility. 
 
Relax after your day’s tracking experience and enjoy complimentary spa treatments and massages, including the famous Rungu massage at Virunga Spa and Sauna, and sundowner cocktails whilst watching a traditional dance from the Intore Dancers.
 
Overnight at Virunga Lodge (breakfast, lunch and dinner).

After enjoying an early breakfast, set off to track the rare golden monkeys through the bamboo forests of the mountains. The monkeys travel in large groups and are as energetic as they are photogenic, often seen playing in the high branches or foraging on the ground for bamboo shoots.

Overnight at Virunga Lodge (breakfast, lunch and dinner).

Leave Virunga Lodge and drive to Kigali, and time permitting, enjoy a city tour and a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial.
A visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial is a moving testimony to this country’s past that it has courageously overcome (guests to pay/donate entrance fees directly).
 Transfer to the airport in time for your return flight. Driving time approximately 3 hours.