10 Days Uganda, Rwanda And Congo Tour
per person
10 days Uganda Rwanda and Congo tour will begin from Kampala Uganda and end in Kigali Rwanda. During this 10 days safari, you will take part in adventurous activities such as chimpanzee trekking in Kibale forest national park, game drive, and boat cruise in queen Elizbeth national park which is most famous for tree-climbing lions in Uganda and canoeing on Lake Bunyonyi known as the Switzerland of Africa and also the deepest lake in Uganda. You will visit volcanoes national park for famous gorilla trekking, golden monkey trekking, and Iby’Iwacu Cultural Tour. From volcanoes national park you will go to Goma in DR Congo and hike Nyiragongo volcano which is the only active volcano in the Virunga ranges.
10 days Uganda Rwanda and Congo tour highlights
Day 1: Arrival and transfer to Kibale national park
Day 2: Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale and transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park
Day 3: Morning dame drive/lion tracking experience and afternoon boat cruise
Day 4: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
Day 5: Community tour and transfer to volcanoes national park Rwanda
Day 6: Gorilla trekking in volcanoes national park
Day 7: Golden monkey trekking and cultural tour
Day 8: Transfer to Gisenyi
Day 9: Hiking Nyiragongo volcano
Day 10: Descend from Nyiragongo volcano and departure to Kigali
Day 1: Arrival and transfer to Kibale national park
On arrival at Entebbe international airport, you will be welcomed by our English-speaking driver guide who will brief you about your 10 days Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo safari and then start on your journey to Kibale national park located in southwestern Uganda. The journey from Entebbe international airport to Kibale takes you about 5 – 6 hours and on your way, you will have a stopover at the equator for photographs and souvenirs and continue with your journey with a stopover at Igongo cultural center in Mbarara for lunch. After your lunch, you will continue with your journey to Kibale national park with beautiful views of landscapes, banana and tea plantations, local people, traditional homesteads, crater lakes, farmland, mountain Rwenzori and many others. On reaching the park you will check into your booked lodge and prepare for a guided nature walk.
In the evening you will for a guided nature walk at Bigodi swamp that is found outside Kibale national park. Bigodi swamp is a home to different wildlife species among which include primates like black and white colobus monkeys, olive baboons, red-tailed monkeys, vervet monkeys, other animals like the bush pigs, sitatungas, otters, bushbucks, birds like African jacana, great blue turaco, white-winged warbler, papyrus gonolek, plants and tree species. After the swamp nature walks, you will return to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.
Meal plan: Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Ndali crater lodge – luxury, Kibale forest camp – mid-range, Kitojo Guest Cottages – budget
Day 2: Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale and transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park
After early morning breakfast on your second day of 10 days Uganda Rwanda and Congo tour safari, you will pack all you need for chimpanzee trekking and meet your driver-guide to transfer you to the park headquarters for a briefing about chimpanzee trekking. During the briefing, you will be told about the dos and don’ts when you meet chimpanzees after which you will be grouped into 8 and you will be allocated a chimpanzee family to track. You will be given a ranger guide to lead you into the forest to look for these chimpanzees. Finding chimpanzees in Kibale forest national park takes you 3o minutes to 4 hours depending on where these chimpanzees are located because they like moving deep in the forest to search for food most especially when it’s the dry season. During chimpanzee trekking, you will get an opportunity to see primates like the red-tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, grey checked mangabeys, olive baboons, and birds such as tropical boubou, slender-billed weaver, great blue turaco, African pied wagtail, grey crown care, African jacana, plants, animals such as antelopes, buffaloes, elephants among others. Once you meet the chimpanzees you will be allowed to spend an hour with them in their natural habitat allowing you to learn about their behaviors, watch them do their daily activities as you take photographs and record videos. After a full hour with the chimpanzees in their natural habitat, you will trek back to the starting point meet your driver-guide to drive you back to your lodge for lunch.
After lunch, you will check out of your lodge meet your driver-guide for a transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park which will take you about 3 hours. On reaching queen Elizabeth national you will have beautiful views of animals like lions, elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs among others as you drive through the park to the lodge for check-in, dinner, and an overnight stay.
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Mweya safari lodge – luxury, Elephant Hab lodge – mid-range, Pumba safari cottages – mid-range
Day 3: Morning dame drive/lion tracking experience and afternoon boat cruise
After morning breakfast on your third day of 10 days Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo safari, you will meet your driver to take you through a game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park. The game driver begins at 7:00 am to meet nocturnal animals and predators who will be going back to their hiding places. During the morning game drive you should expect to see animals like lions, buffaloes, elephants, giant forest hogs, Uganda kobs, bushbucks, waterbucks, warthogs, leopards, bird species such as yellow-throated long crow, grey crowned crane, African jacana, African wattled plover, red throat spur flow, black-headed gonolek, black-bellied bustard among others, enjoy beautiful views of the landscape, sunrise, take photos and record videos. After the morning game drive, you will drive to Katwe crater lake where you will see local people extracting rock salt, sick animals licking salt from the lake migratory birds among others. After all this, you will get back to your lodge for lunch.
In the afternoon you will go for a boat cruise on the Kazinga channel. Kazinga channel is a water body that connects lake Edward to lake George and offers boat cruises that take 2 hours to 3 hours. During the boat cruise at kazinga channel, you will see animals like waterbucks, elephants, buffaloes, monitor lizards among others drinking water on the lake shores, hippos, Nile crocodiles in the waters, birds such as papyrus gonolek, martial eagle, African skimmers, pelicans, African spoonbills, fish eagles, cormorants, kingfishers, and watch fishermen. After the boat cruise, you will drive back to the lodge for relaxation, dinner, and an overnight stay.
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Mweya safari lodge – luxury, Elephant Hab lodge – mid-range, Pumba safari cottages – mid-range
Day 4: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
After a relaxed morning breakfast on your fourth day of 10 days Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo tour, you will check out of your lodge and meet the driver ready to transfer you to Lake Bunyonyi in southwestern Uganda. On your way to Lake Bunyonyi you will have great views of the rolling hills of Kigezi, terraced farmlands, Rwenzori mountains, and happy people. When you will Lake Bunyonyi you will proceed to your lodge, check-in and have lunch.
After having your delicious lunch you will go for a boat cruise on the deepest lake in Uganda which is done in a wooden dugout canoe, during the boat cruise you will explore some of the 29 islands of the lake among which include Akampene island which is also known as the punishment island were girls who used to get pregnant before marriage were taken to starve and die. You will have stunning views of terraced farmlands, hills, bird species like herons, malachite kingfisher, pied crow, egrets, African harrier hawk, small mammals among others. You will take photos and videos to go and share with family and friends back home. After canoeing, you will drive back to your lodge to relax, have dinner, and an overnight stay.
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Arcadia cottages – luxury, Bunyonyi Rock Resort – mid-range, Bushara island camp – budget
Day 5: Community tour and transfer to volcanoes national park Rwanda
After morning breakfast on your fifth day of 10 days Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo safari, your driver-guide will pick you up for a community tour in the neighboring villages. During the community tour you will meet the Batwa group of people and the Bakiga and with this, you will get to interact with them see how to they live their day-to-day life, learn about their culture and tradition. You can visit schools, hospitals, farmlands, market center and taste their local foods. After the community walk, you will drive back to the lodge for lunch.
After enjoying your lunch, you will check out of the lodge and find your driver guide ready to transfer you to Volcanoes national park Rwanda in the northwest of the country. The journey from Lake Bunyonyi to Volcanoes national park Rwanda is about 3 to 4 hours driving via Cyanika border in Kisoro or Katuna border in Kabale. On your way to volcanoes national park, you will have beautiful views of the rolling hills of Kigezi and Rwanda, terraced farmlands, homesteads, road markets, happy people among others. On reaching the park you will continue your lodge to check-in, get dinner, and an overnight stay.
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel – luxury, Le Bambou Gorilla Lodge – mid range, Garden Place Hotel – budget
Day 6: Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park
You will wake up very early in the morning for a morning breakfast and meet up with your driver guide to transfer you to Kinigi park headquarters for a briefing about the dos and don’ts of gorilla trekking. After the briefing, you will be grouped into 8 and given a gorilla family to track out of the 10 habituated families in the park. A ranger guide will lead you into the forest searching for these giant apes. Gorilla trekking in the park takes about 30 minutes to several hours depending on the location of the gorilla, season, and speed of trackers. During the trekking, you will come across other park animals like elephants, giant forest hogs, and sounds of different bird species. Once you meet the gorillas you will be allowed to stay around them for a maximum of one hour in their habitat allowing you to learn more about their lifestyle, behaviors, watch them do their daily activities such as hunting, breastfeeding, take photos, record videos to share with family among others. After an hour with these giant apes, you will trek back to the starting point meet your driver to transfer you to the park headquarters for your gorilla trekking certificate, then proceed to the lodge for lunch, an evening relaxation, dinner, and an overnight stay.
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel – luxury, Le Bambou Gorilla Lodge – mid range, Garden Place Hotel – budget
Day 7: Golden monkey trekking and cultural tour
After enjoying your morning breakfast on your seventh day of 10 days in Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo safari, your driver-guide will be waiting for you to transfer you to the park headquarters for a briefing about golden monkey trekking. After the briefing, you will be given a golden monkey family to track and a park guide to lead you into the forest. Golden monkey trekking is an easy activity that takes you about 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on the location of these primates because they move from one place to another looking for food. When trekking golden monkeys you will follow trails with leftover bamboo shoots and leaves and once you find the golden monkeys you will be allowed to spend a maximum of one hour with them in their natural habitat helping you to know more about their behaviors, habits, watch them play from one tree to another, take photos and record videos to show friends back home. After an hour with golden monkeys, you will trek back to the starting point, meet your driver-guide to drive you to the lodge for lunch.
After having lunch, you will go for Iby’Iwavu cultural tour near the park. During the cultural tour you will be able to interact with the local people giving you an opportunity to learn more about their tradition, culture, way of living, take a visit to homelands, taste local foods, learn how they make local beer from bananas, get entertained by women performing Kinyarwanda dance, songs and listen to poems about their tradition. After the amazing cultural tour, you will get back to your lodge for evening relaxation, dinner, and an overnight stay.
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel – luxury, Le Bambou Gorilla Lodge – mid range, Garden Place Hotel – budget
Day 8: Transfer to Gisenyi
After relaxed morning breakfast, you will check out of your lodge and meet with your driver ready to transfer you to Gisenyi near the shores of Lake Kivu. Lake Kivu is the biggest and freshwater lake in the country Rwanda. On reaching Gisenyi you will proceed to your lodge and have lunch. you will then go relax on the shores of Lake Kivu and enjoy beautiful views of the surrounding area, sunset, hills, birds, fishermen on the lake among others. After enjoying the cool breeze on the lake shores you will drive back to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay as you prepare to hike mountain Nyiragongo the next day.
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Lake Kivu, Serena – luxury, Inzonzi Lodge – mid-range
Paradise Malahide – budget
Day 9: Hiking Nyiragongo volcano
You will need to wake up very early in the morning for breakfast, get your packed lunch, and meet your driver-guide ready to transfer you to DR Congo through the Goma Grande Barrier border to meet other hikers for a briefing at the Kibati patrol post. During the briefing, you will be told about the safety precautions, guidelines, and expectations of the hike. After the briefing, you will be given a hiking stick and allocated a guide to lead you up the mountain. Reaching the top of mountain Nyiragongo takes you 4 – 6 hours depending on the speed at which you are hiking. During hiking, you will meet different animals and birds, vegetation while enjoying the beautiful scenery of the area. You will have a stopover to eat your lunch after which proceed to the summit. At the top of Nyiragongo, you will have wonderful views of the boiling lava lake and the cooks will prepare for you hot coffee as well as dinner. You will have your night at the cabin as you smell the boiling and bubbling lava.
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Cabin – mountain Nyiragongo
Day 10: Descend from Nyiragongo volcano and departure to Kigali
After morning breakfast at the top of mountain Nyiragongo, you will meet up with your guide and the group and start descending the mountain. Descending mountain Nyiragongo takes you 3 hours. You will have stunning views of Virunga national park, lake Kivu, Rwenzori mountain, and other volcanic mountains. Upon reaching the starting point you will find your driver-guide and he will transfer you to Gisenyi via the Grande Barrie border. On reaching Gisenyi you will have some lunch and continue with the journey to Kigali international airport to end your 10 days Uganda Rwanda and Congo tour
Meal plan: Breakfast and lunch
Tour includes
Chimpanzee trekking permit
Golden monkey trekking permit
Gorilla trekking permit
Bigodi nature walk
Cultural tour
Park entrance fees
Boat cruise
Park entrance fees
Canoeing at lkae bunyinyi
Service of the English-speaking guide
Accommodation
Hiking permit
Meals
Transportation
Drinking water
Tour excludes
International flights
Visa
Personal insurance
Optional activities
Tips