5 Days Golden Monkey & Gorilla experience
Safari overview
The five-day gorilla and golden monkey monitoring safari takes you to a natural gorilla sanctuary and Uganda’s smallest national park known as Mgahinga Gorilla National Park which is located in the country’s southwestern corner. Mountain gorillas, and also golden monkeys, call this park home.
The safari will carry you from Kampala to Kabale and Kisoro, passing through the Ankole Masaka corridor’s scenic and flat awe-inspiring landscapes. You will also get a lifetime opportunity to meet the Batwa, who used to be fruit gatherers and hunters before the Mgahinga forest was designated as a National Park.
Summarised Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival and pick-up from Entebbe International Airport
Day 2: Move to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park through the Equator.
Day 3: Gorilla trekking and a cultural visit to the Batwa Trail
Day 4: Golden Monkey Monitoring (Experiential) and Lake Mutanda Boat Cruise
Day 5: Transfer back to Entebbe
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival and pick-up on day one
Our driver guide will pick you up from Entebbe International Airport and welcome you to Africa’s pearl. He’ll drive you to the cabin, where you’ll have dinner and spend the night.
Entebbe International Airport
Day 2: Transfer to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park via the Equator.
Early in the morning, get a cup of tea, and then leave Kampala for Kisoro, which is a 9 to 10-hour trip. You will cross through Buganda territory, make a stopover at the Equator in Kayabwe town for lifetime remembrance photo. Then you’ll head to the Igongo Cultural Center for lunch.
After lunch, you’ll go across Ntungamo’s flat landscapes to Kabale’s peaks, then into Kisoro’s winding paths. When you arrive at your hotel, sign in for dinner and a night’s stay.
Uganda Equator – Kayabwe
Day 3: Gorilla trekking and a cultural visit to the Batwa Trail
On the early morning, get an early breakfast and bring a packed lunch with you; the guide will take you to the Mgahinga National Park headquarters for the briefing. To ensure that you are able to trek mountain gorillas, your passport information will be requested prior to the briefing.
You will be given information on gorilla trekking, like dos and don’ts, as well as directions to obey when on the trek, with the gorillas, and afterward. Then you’ll be guided into the jungle to look for mountain gorillas.
Just one habituated mountain gorilla family, called Nyakagezi, lives in Mgahinga National Park. It used to migrate between Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park and Mgahinga National Park, but it is now a permanent resident in Uganda.
On an encounter with the Gorilla Family, you’ll have a magical 1-hour with these endangered primate species and also visit the Batwa groups in the afternoon and immerse yourself their culture through dances and traditional performances plus knowing how they survive in the jungle. Retreat to your Lodge for refreshment and overnight.
Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga National Park
Day 4: Golden Monkey Monitoring (Experiential) and Lake Mutanda Boat Cruise
Breakfast first thing in the morning, grab a sandwich, then travel to the park headquarters for a briefing. The golden monkey tracking experience will be led into the forest by ranger guides. Unlike the other one-hour experience, this one will provide you with a four-hour meeting with these rare species found only in the Virunga ranges.
Drive to Lake Mutanda in the evening for a boat ride on the Volcanic Crater Lake after which you head back to the Lodge for dinner and an overnight stop.
Golden Monkey tracking
Day 5: Transfer back to Entebbe
The tour will conclude with a move to Entebbe International Airport or a hotel on this day. Before being dropped off at your destination of Entebbe International Airport, you can make a picture pause at the Equator.
End of safari
