UGANDA ESSENTIALS - primates & grande faune – 7 jours

Arrival at Entebbe airport and immediate departure for the north of the country and the Ziwa reserve (200 km of paved road - 3 hours), and there we make a walking approach supervised by a rhinoceros specialist, in the heart of the 7000 ha protecting 37 rhinoceroses. Continue to Masindi and Uganda's largest national park: Murchison Falls. Check into a 3-star lodge in the heart of the forest (110 km of paved road – 2 hours). Murchison Falls National Park, with its 3,840 km² ranging from the coast at 620 meters to 1,300 meters above sea level, actually covers 5,000 km² of protected nature when taking into account the adjacent nature reserves. The park boasts landscapes of endless forests and savannahs dotted with palm groves, areas teeming with abundant wildlife, where mammals, birds, and reptiles are very well represented. Transfers/Transport: by private safari vehicle (approximately 5 hours) Meals: lunch and dinner Accommodation: at http://sambiyariverlodge.com or equivalent Note: if arriving the previous evening, overnight stay**(*) booked in a B&B (15-minute airport transfer), presumably at Boma https://www.boma.co.ug

A 30-minute morning transfer takes you to Kaniyo Pabidi, the gateway to Budongo Forest, the largest forest in East Africa (825 km²), associated with the Jane Goodall Foundation. Among other primates, it is home to a thriving community of over 100 chimpanzees, accessible on foot. 8:00 AM: During this "Chimpanzee Habituation" walking excursion with one of our ranger friends, we will spend 3-4 hours in the company of the chimpanzees, observing them discreetly. The towering trees and relatively sparse undergrowth provide beautiful light and, consequently, lovely portraits of our closest cousins! Picnic lunch in the forest. Return to the lodge, which is nearby (33 km – allow 30 minutes by road, as speed limits apply in the park). Note: For the "Chimpanzee Excursion," please bring: your passport and a face mask; hiking boots and long pants, and possibly gaiters and a rain poncho or umbrella; a small backpack for water and your picnic; and gardening or work gloves to protect you from nettles and other thorny plants in the forest. Once you've recovered from your experience, upon returning to the lodge in the afternoon, between 2:00 and 4:00 PM (depending on the chimpanzees' location and your activity during the four hours spent with them), we can depart for a leisurely and spectacular walk near the lodge: Murchison Falls, the Victoria Falls of the Nile, located 12 km away. There, the Nile plunges precipitately into a narrow canyon 7 meters wide and 40 meters deep: a deafening and spectacular waterfall that a balcony path allows you to approach safely! After dinner, a night safari with a ranger will allow you to discover nocturnal species, herbivores, and especially hyenas and felines hunting by spotlight. Transfers/Transport: by private safari vehicle (1hour drive, then 30 minutes round trip). Accommodation & Meals: at http://sambiyariverlodge.com or equivalent. Note: The "Chimpanzee Habituation - 4 Hours with Them" experience is conducted in small groups of up to 6 participants (excluding July and August), departing at 8:00 AM and returning between 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM. ANOTHER OPTION is available year-round with two daily departures at 8:00 AM and a second at 2:00 PM: "Chimpanzee Tracking - 1 Hour with Them." Instead of the habituation experience, you can participate in two tracking sessions, which can accommodate up to 20 participants.

Check out and depart at dawn for a morning game drive with a ranger friend, in search of elephants, lions, leopards, hyenas, giraffes, antelopes, jabirus, and other colorful birds... and if you're interested, a walking safari with our armed ranger. An intimate approach to the savannah on easy terrain with a professional for 1-2 hours, depending on your preference; encountering giraffes, buffalo, elephants, and other species. Thrills guaranteed! After lunch, board directly from the lodge for a private 2.5-3 hour cruise with a private skipper*** for a discreet approach to wildlife in a small, four-seater boat on the Victoria Nile, heading towards Murchison Falls. We will approach the falls as closely as possible, depending on the water level and currents. A superb 2.5-hour safari cruise on the Nile in a private boat, where buffalo, warthogs, antelopes, and elephants come to drink. This will also be an opportunity to observe from the boat: crocodiles, hippos, Nile monitors and numerous water birds and birds of prey such as the jabiru, the African fish eagle and the osprey, various herons, egrets, geese and ducks, bee-eaters, egrets, stork ibis and jabiru, jacanas, spoonbills, hadada ibis & sacred ibis, stilts, hamerkops, herons, plovers, cormorants, kingfishers, pelicans. Return by boat directly to the lodge for a sunset on the Nile. Transportation: Private, open safari vehicle Accommodation and meals: Overnight stay at a lodge (http://kabalegalodge.com/ or equivalent)

Choose between an early morning departure for another "chimpanzee habituation" session if you're a primate enthusiast! (supplement of USD 250 per person), followed by an afternoon safari, or another full day of game driving in other areas of the Park, offering different landscapes and other iconic Murchison Falls animals (for example, the northern carmine bee-eater, the red monkey & the leopard, photos below...) with a return to the lodge for lunch or a picnic. Transportation: Private, open-top safari vehicle Accommodation: Overnight stay at a lodge (http://kabalegalodge.com/) or equivalent

Departure on a private boat cruise from the lodge, this time towards Delta Point and Lake Albert, due west. Among other objectives: finding the shoebill antelope and getting close to elephants bathing (photos below)! Our vehicle will meet us there after a 2-hour boat safari with our luggage and a picnic lunch that we will prepare on the banks of the Albert Nile before heading to Murchison Airfield. 1:15 PM: Departure for Kasese (2:15 PM) and Bwindi (3:30 PM) on a domestic flight (please allow 40 minutes before your Cessna Caravan departure). Arrival at 3:30 PM: You will be met and transferred for a 30-minute ride to your lodge*** overlooking the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. A radical change of scenery awaits as you fly over the Western Rift Valley, passing by Lake Albert, the Ruwenzori Mountains (110 km long – 5109 meters high), the lakes and savannas of Queen Elizabeth National Park, and finally the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest with the Virunga volcanoes, which form the southern border with Rwanda, as a backdrop. You will be met and transferred for 45 minutes to your lodge***, perched above the forest. Transportation: by boat and private vehicles (safari and transfer to the lodge) and by plane. Accommodation: at the lodge http://mahoganysprings.com or equivalent.

a 10-minute transfer to the ranger headquarters. After a safety briefing from your rangers, you will enter the dense Bwindi jungle, either directly on foot or after a short transfer depending on your assigned gorilla family group, to meet one of the 21 Ugandan mountain gorilla groups acclimatized to humans. After a 1- to 3-hour trek through the forest, you will make contact with "your" group: a one-hour silent observation of our peaceful, vegetarian giant cousins. Their family groups generally consist of 8 to 15, or even 20 individuals, with a dominant silverback male that can reach 250 kg and a height of 1.70 meters! Note: for the "gorilla excursion", please bring your passport and respiratory protection mask; 1 pair of hiking boots & long pants, possibly gaiters and a rain poncho or umbrella; 1 "small" backpack for water and your picnic; "gardening or DIY type" gloves can also protect you in the forest from nettles and other thorny plants. Rest at our guesthouse after this memorable day with our cousins. OR Twa Walk: an unusual and fun cultural walk to meet a friendly Twa pygmy community, interesting for its integration, as noted by some sociologist friends of mine from a local NGO. The Twa people originally lived by gathering and trapping in the forest bordering Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo, before being evicted from the forest in 1991 solely for the benefit of mountain gorillas, for reasons of strict conservation of our primate cousins... we discover their habitat, how they use medicinal plants, and their lively songs and dances! OR a stroll through the nearby village with its many gorilla-themed craft shops...; with a visit to the neighboring "Bwindi Plus School" (subject to school opening dates) and a visit to the "Ride4AWoman" charity project, a cooperative of 300 women. Transportation: by private vehicle Accommodation: at the lodge http://mahoganysprings.com or equivalent

Breakfast and one-hour transfer to Bwindi-Kihihi Airfield. Check-in 40 minutes before departure time: 9:45 a.m. flight to Entebbe Airport; arrival at 11:25 a.m. at Entebbe International Airport.