13 Days Rwanda & Uganda Wildlife Safari

13 Days Rwanda & Uganda Safari

Overview

Some trips change your view. This one changes your rhythm.
The Rwanda & Uganda Safari is a 13-day immersion into wild wonder. You’ll thread through two countries whose landscapes are shaped by fire, rain, and resilience. Here, you’ll meet gorillas in the mist, laugh with chimps in tangled forests, and glide past hippos on Africa’s great rivers. Each day wakes you up. Each night tucks you into silence only the wild can offer.
This isn’t just a safari—it’s a soulful crossing into the untamed.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Kigali – The City of Courage and Grace

Your safari begins with a gentle landing in Kigali. You’ll be welcomed not just by your guide, but by Rwanda’s quiet strength. Visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where sorrow is honored and healing whispers through white roses.
Then stroll through vibrant craft markets, sample local coffee, and take in the city’s endless green hills. Kigali doesn’t demand attention—it earns it.
What to Pack: Respectful clothes, walking shoes, open heart.

Day 2: Into the Green Veins – Drive to Nyungwe Forest

Today, you leave behind the city and drive into Rwanda’s soul: Nyungwe Forest.
Along the way, visit the King’s Palace—where tradition sits in handwoven huts and sacred cows with long, curved horns.
Arrive at your forest lodge by late afternoon. Mist clings to the trees. Birds you’ve never heard call out from deep green shadows.
This forest is older than memory—and now, it’s yours to wander.
What to Pack: Jacket, camera, notebook for feelings you’ll want to remember.

Day 3: Chimps in the Canopy – Nyungwe Forest

Before sunrise, step into the jungle for a chimpanzee trek.
Their calls echo like laughter, sharp and sudden. You chase sounds through vines, slipping, ducking, laughing—until they appear: curious, wild-eyed, beautiful.

Later, walk the 60-meter-high canopy bridge. The wind hums in your ears as treetops stretch beneath your feet.
Today, you live both above and within the forest.

What to Pack: Hiking boots, rain jacket, energy bars.

Day 4: The Slow Rhythm of Water – Lake Kivu

Trade forest for lake today for an exciting and scenic short boat ride. Drive to Lake Kivu—calm, warm, and wide like a breath held for centuries.
Spend your day your way:

• Drift on a canoe.
• Sip tea by the water’s edge.
• Watch fishermen paddle out into the dusk, singing stories into the night.
  This is stillness with a pulse.
  What to Pack: Swimwear, flip-flops, a book you’ll probably ignore.

Day 5: Into the Volcanoes – Transfer to Volcanoes NP

After breakfast, climb higher into the northern hills and finally arrive at Volcanoes National Park. The Virunga Mountains begin to rise—green and ancient. Volcanoes stand shoulder to shoulder, half-shrouded in clouds.
Check into your lodge near the park entrance. The forest looms beyond like a secret ready to be shared.
Tomorrow, the wild gets personal.
What to Pack: Layers, camera, binoculars.

Day 6: Golden Monkey Trek or Dian Fossey Hike

Today, choose your adventure:

• Golden Monkey Trek: Quick, cheeky, golden sparks in the bamboo. Their antics will make you smile wide.
• Dian Fossey Tomb Hike: A solemn hike through the jungle to the resting place of the woman who gave her life for the gorillas.
  Both options deepen your bond with this land.

What to Pack: Hiking boots, waterproof jacket, tissues (yes, really).

Day 7: Cross into Uganda – Enter the Impenetrable Forest

Say goodbye to Rwanda and cross into Uganda. The hills roll endlessly, each one deeper green than the last. Villagers wave. The pace slows.
By afternoon, you reach Bwindi. The jungle here feels heavier. Wilder. Tonight, you sleep on the edge of legend.
What to Pack: Passport with visa, warm clothing.

Day 8: Face to Face – Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi

Today, you look into eyes that remember a thousand years. After a briefing, head into Bwindi’s tangled heart. Climb steep paths. Duck branches. Sweat. Hope. Then—a rustle. A grunt. A silverback stares, unmoved. Infants tumble. Mothers hum.
For one hour, you are no longer a visitor. After the gorilla trek, drive to Lake Bunyonyi for an evening relaxation.
What to Pack: Gloves, long sleeves, 2L of water, reverence.

Day 9: From Forest to Savannah – Drive to Queen Elizabeth NP

Enjoy your breakfast, then travel north toward Queen Elizabeth NP. Along the way, drive through the Ishasha Sector.
Look up—yes, up—for lions in trees, paws dangling, eyes half-closed in the sun.
Arrive at your lodge as the plains unfold in golden hush.
What to Pack: Earth-toned clothes, camera, insect repellent.

Day 10: Savannah Drama – Game Drive & Kazinga Cruise

Today, the wild is in motion. On your morning game drive, spot elephants marching, kobs leaping, and lions watching it all unfold.
In the afternoon, cruise the Kazinga Channel as you observe Crocodiles sunbathe. Hippos rumble. Birds fill the air with color.
The river tells its own stories. You just have to listen.

What to Pack: Sunhat, zoom lens, awe.

Day 11: Road to the Nile – Transfer to Murchison Falls NP

A long but scenic drive north takes you to Murchison Falls.
Watch the landscape change—from forested hills to sweeping savannah.
By evening, settle into your lodge on the banks of the Nile.
Africa’s longest river flows beside your dreams tonight.
What to Pack: Travel snacks, power bank, journal.

Day 12: Thunder and Grace – Game Drive & Falls Visit

Start with a dawn game drive. Giraffes glide like shadows. Warthogs scoot past like toddlers late for lunch. And if you’re lucky—a leopard slipping through morning mist.
Later, stand at the Top of the Falls. The Nile squeezes through a 7-meter gorge, roaring louder than thunder like wild force.
What to Pack: Safari wear, waterproof bag, adrenaline.

Day 13: Rhinos and Farewell – Ziwa Sanctuary & Return

Before the curtain closes, wake up early morning and Stop at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for a guided walk among the last rhinos in Uganda.
Watch them graze—massive, gentle, survivors. By afternoon, drive to Entebbe or Kampala for your flight home.