8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanos national park safari : This 8 days/ 7 Nights Queen, Bwindi & Volcanos national park safari combines an African safari to Queen Elizabeth national park, Bwindi impenetrable national park both in Uganda and volcanoes national park in Rwanda. This 8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanos national park safari starts from Entebbe Uganda and ends in Kigali Rwanda.

Highlights of 8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanos national park safari

• Day 1: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
• Day 2: Morning game drive/ Lion tracking experience and afternoon boat cruise
• Day 3: Game drive in Ishasha sector and Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park
• Day 4: Gorilla trekking safari in Bwindi impenetrable national park

• Day 5: Transfer to Volcanoes national park
• Day 6: Golden monkey trekking & Ibyiwacu cultural tour
• Day 7: Explore Gisenyi town and Lake Kivu
• Day 8: Departures

DETAILED ITINERARY

Day 1: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park

Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park: On the day 1 of 8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanoes national park safari, you will start your day with either a hotel or airport pick up depending on your previously communicated pick up location. You will then be briefed about this 8 days safari as you embark on a journey to Queen Elizabeth national park situated in the western part of Uganda the pearl of Africa. Along the way, you will enjoy a stopover at the Equator for a photo taking session, you may as well purchase some souvenirs and crafts. Your next stop will be in Mbarara for an enroute lunch as you proceed to Queen Elizabeth national park a home to the tree climbing lions and the great population of crocodiles. Upon park arrival, you will enjoy a short evening game drive with an opportunity to spot some park dwellers including Buffaloes, Elephants, warthogs, waterbucks, Lions, and many more.

Day 2: Morning game drive/ Lion tracking experience and afternoon boat cruise

Game drive in Kasenyi plains: After early breakfast, you will meet with your safari driver for yet another adventurous day. This 2^nd day of your 8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanoes national park safari will take you onto an early morning game drive starting at 6:00am taking you into the wilderness of Kasenyi plains  for a game drive. Kasenyi plains is the riches part of Queen Elizabeth national park when it comes to the wildlife. You will drive amidst abundant of wildlife species including buffaloes, elephants, warthogs and many more. On a lucky morning you will spot Lions, Hyenas, Leopards and other animals that dwell in this beautiful savanna park. The park as well harbors a good population of bird species so keep an eye open to the open plains for an opportunity to watch lots of bird species.  After the game drive, you will connect back to the lodge for lunch.

Afternoon boat cruise: Later in the afternoon, you will head to the Kazinga channel for a breath taking afternoon boat cruise amidst bathing hippos and basking crocodiles. During this 2 hours Kazinga channel boat cruise, tourists have an opportunity to watch lots of animals that graze along the channel plus lots of birdlife such as herons, papyrus gonolek, Cormorants, Pelicans and many more. After boat cruise, you will enjoy an evening game drive as you return to the lodge for dinner and night sleep.

Day 3: Game drive in Ishasha sector and Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park

Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable national park: On the 3^rd day of your 8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanoes national park safari, you will check out of your lodge with packed lunch box and meet your safari driver for a transfer to Ishasha sector where you will majorly have a game drive in search of the tree climbing Lions. By the way in Africa, these tree climbing lions are only found in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth national park and in Lake Manyara national park Tanzania so spotting these lions in their natural habitats is one of the life time experience. After the game drive, you will enjoy your picnic lunch and proceed southwards to exit Queen Elizabeth national park and embark on a journey to Bwindi impenetrable national park where you will check in your lodge, freshen up, and have a meal before grabbing a night rest.

Day 4: Gorilla trekking safari in Bwindi impenetrable national park

Gorilla trekking adventure in Bwindi: Arise in the morning as early as possible on the 4^th day of your 8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanoes national park safari, have breakfast and pack your lunch box. You driver will be readily available waiting for you to be driven to the park headquarters for the gorilla trekking briefing about the dos and don’ts, the rules and regulations and many more that you need to know before embarking on your gorilla trekking excursion in the wilderness of Bwindi impenetrable national park. You will be grouped into 8 people after briefing and allocated different gorilla families depending on the physical fitness, age brackets, and any other considerations. At this time, you will need to hire the porter in case you have an extra back pack which you feel like you can’t handle while having the long treks in the habitat of the endangered mountain gorillas. At 8:00am, the trek into the forest commences and it takes about 30 minutes to over 7 hours or full day depending on various factors including but not limited to the movement of the gorillas since they are found of roaming the forest in search of fruits, the trekking speed which is always in favor of the slowest person in the group, and many other factors. However, upon finding gorillas, you have a full one hour with them as you watch and learn how they live in forest, their behaviors, watch them play, breastfeed and may more. After one hour with the gorillas, you will exit the forest and return to the park headquarters to pick your trekking certificate, meet your driver – guide and return to the lodge for a relaxed evening, dinner and overnight rest as above.

Day 5: Transfer to Volcanoes national park

Volcanoes national park:  After a relaxed breakfast at the lodge on the 5^th day of your 8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanoes national park safari, you will check out of the lodge and meet your driver for a drive to Rwanda the land of a thousand hills and the heart of Africa via Cyanika border point. Your next destination will be Volcanoes national park in Musanze.

Day 6: Golden monkey trekking & Ibyiwacu cultural tour

Golden monkey trekking in Volcanoes national park: Breakfast will be served early in the morning on the 6th day of 8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanoes national park safari, then meet your safari driver for a drive to the park headquarters where you will be briefed before embarking on the golden monkey trekking adventure. Golden monkey trekking is much easier and enjoyable as compared to mountain gorilla trekking but they are both worth your energy. So golden monkey trekking will last about 2-5 hours and it will allow you spend one hour with the pretty little cuties as you watch them play and swing their tails across the tree branches. You will finally exit the forest and return to your lodge for lunch and afternoon rest.

Ibyiwacu cultural tour: Later on in the evening of 6^th day of 8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanoes national park safari, you will be led to the gorilla guardian village for your evening cultural tour where you will spend time with the most beautiful Rwandese as they take you through their life style, listen to their stories about the genocide and many more. This cultural tour is usually climaxed by a traditional performance of dance and drama that will make your evening a memorable one. Dinner and overnight will be as above.

Day 7: Explore Gisenyi town and Lake Kivu

Full day Gisenyi excursion: After breakfast on day 7 of 8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanoes national park safari, you will depart Volcanoes national park and be driven to Gisenyi town where you will check in your hotel and enjoy lots of adventurous activities along Lake Kivu including boat cruise, swimming, nature walk, sport fishing and many more that will keep you fully occupied throughout the day.

Day 8: Departures

Departures: Today marks the end of your 8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanoes national park safari. You will arise on a relaxed breakfast depending on your flight details, then checkout of the lodge and meet your safari driver for yet a last drive from Gisenyi to Kigali city. If you still have some time, I will recommend that you do a Kigali city tour exploring different attractions including Kimironko market, the genocide memorial sites, visit some restaurant and taste some local food and finally be dropped off at the Kigali International airport for the flight to your next travel destination or back home. This marks the end of our 8 days Queen, Bwindi & Volcanos national park safari.

Safari Inclusions;

• Airport pick up and drop off
• Game drive – Uganda
• Boat cruise – Uganda
• Gorilla trekking permit – Uganda
• Golden Monkey trekking permit – Rwanda
• Gorilla guardian village – Rwanda
• Rangers fees
• Accommodation on full board basis for 7 Nights
• All meals as per itinerary
• Enough bottled drinking water

Safari exclusions;

• Extra accommodation before and after safari (Can be arranged upon request)
• Visa fees
• International Flight tickets
• All personal expenses
• Laundry
• Porter
• Tips
• Any other thing not mentioned in itinerary etc.