Uganda Gorilla Trekking and Safari Adventure

Get ready to @DavidAttenborough all night long, baby, because we’re going full on WILD in Uganda! Bust out your Luganda to navigate the city to your hotel – KIDDING. Official Explorer Chick reps will meet you at the airport and escort you to your safari vehicle. We’ll introduce you to your amazing driver who will also be your all-knowing guide. Off to your accommodation you go! Today is all about arriving and resting up for tomorrow.

You can arrive anytime today. Chill by the pool or take a nap as your adventurous wing-women roll in. Dinner is on your own. And the hotel has a nice restaurant out on their terrace overlooking Lake Victoria.

Drive Time: 15 minutes
Accommodation: Boutique Guest House in Entebbe. Shared 2 per room.
Meals: On Your Own

When your life one day flashes before your eyes, Kidepo National Park will be a part of the cosmic blur. This place is HEART-BREAKINGLY SPECIAL and REMOTE AF, stretching across the tippy-toppy northernmost point of Uganda. There will only be a handful of people around and the wildlife 100% outnumbers the humans.

We’ll zoom back to the airport and hop an 11-passenger charter flight, taking off over Lake Victoria and heading northeast over Lake Kyoga. You’ll notice the landscape morphing into arid plains and suddenly wonder if there’s a glitch in the Matrix because BOOM, out of nowhere there’s a fat green oasis and golden savannah. That’s our park, mamacita.

Keep an eye out for wildlife as we fly, including lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes and zebras. Kidepo is Uganda’s only park where giraffes and zebras roam together. Schwing!

We’ll taxi on Apoka airstrip and be met by a friendly guide who will transfer us to our lodge. Before we go inside, we’ll enjoy welcome drinks and peep the beasts lazing around the waterhole. The rest of the afternoon is yours to enjoy the pool or kick back on your private veranda spotting wildlife.

In the evening you’re heading out for your VERY FIRST GAME DRIVE!

Heavens to Betsy, we need to talk about this lodge

We sought out the most spectacular accommodation possible – because how many times will you go to Africa? A gorgeous 10-room lodge presents each pair of Explorer Chicks with a bougie bush hut, featuring private outdoor tubs cut into stone.

“The actual best shower of my life. Oh and it’s screened so you’re shampooing your hair while there’s some zebra hanging out. Or you’re soaking in the outdoor tub with zebra. So many zebra.” Direct quote from our founder who can no longer function outside of Uganda.

You’ll enjoy sprawling, wide open views of plains yet plenty of personal privacy, so everyone can comfortably free-ball it in the outdoor tub OR throw a bubble bath + wine party with your new Explorer Chick besties.

Did Becky just snort? Nah girl, that’s a warthog nosing around the watering hole. And is that soft glowing light the soul of Uganda? WHY WON’T DAVID ATTENBOROUGH RESPOND TO YOUR INSTA TAGS.

Just when you think life can’t get better, the sun taps out and diamonds spring into the sky.

Drive Time: 15 minutes
Fly Time: 2:15 hours

Accommodation: 5-Star Luxury Safari Lodge in Kidepo Valley National Park. Shared 2 per Cottage. Includes Non-Premium Alcohol
Meals: B-L-D

For the first time in your life Eye-Spy will not suck. Slather on the sun cream, shimmy into your layers and pack your mack-daddy camera lens because today is African Safari day! We’ll rise before dawn to peep the most diverse fauna of any Ugandan National Park: kudu, lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, spotted hyena, jackals, and many birds of prey.

After our early morning game drive, we’ll head back to the lodge to relax aka lay spread eagle in that effing outdoor bath again. Take time to read, nap, dance party with your Explorer Chicks or YouTube zebra mating calls.

But we’re not finished! We’re bookending the day with an evening game drive complete with a spectacular sundowner. There’s so much of this park to discover, from the rugged savannah to the 2,750m tall Mount Morungole to the Kidepo and Narus rivers.

After ogling all the magnificent beasts, our driver will pull the truck over and bust out sunset provisions, complete with a table, linens and some gin and tonics! Nibble on ground nuts and olives as the sun disappears behind the African plains.

We’ll then return to the lodge for a proper dinner, dusty and euphoric.

Accommodation: 5-Star Luxury Safari Lodge in Kidepo Valley National Park. Shared 2 per Cottage. Includes Non-Premium Alcohol
Meals: B-L-D

Can you really ever tire of game drives??? We think not! You’ll arise early once again to the most superb wake-up call and the sun rising gently beyond your veranda. Back out to the savannah we’re headed to see what we can see. Kidepo is a massive National Park and we explore new areas searching for new wildlife every time. What will it be this morning? Hammerkop and their giant nests, wobbling guinea fowl, ground hornbill, abyssinian roller? Yes, bird nerds rejoice!

In the afternoon, you’ll be greeted by the happiest of hosts from the Lorokul village as you experience one of the last true African lifestyles. Cultural dances, ancient traditions and thousands of smiling faces cannot wait to greet and welcome you. We’re also giving back when visiting the tribe. The fees paid by Explorer Chick to visit go directly to community projects such as the water system, the clinic, and medicine.

Trust us, you’ll leave down the dirt road waving and screaming, “Alakara!”

Accommodation: 5-Star Luxury Safari Lodge in Kidepo Valley National Park. Shared 2 per Cottage. Includes Non-Premium Alcohol
Meals: B-L-D

After another perfect African morning and delicious breakfast, we’ll bid our beautiful lodge farewell as we take our safari south. We’ll hop a transfer to Apoka Airstrip once more to board a charter flight to Kasese. Next stop: Queen Elizabeth National Park!

Once we land, we’ll be met by our guides who will transfer us to our lodge. Rest up for the evening safari, which will give us our first glimpses of the paws, hooves and caws that rule the park. We’ll cruise through the Kasenyi Sector, then return to the lodge for dinner.

Flight time: 2 hours
Drive time: 30 minutes

Accommodation: 5-Star Luxury Lodge 2 minutes outside Queen Elizabeth National Park. Shared 2 per Cottage. Includes Alcohol.
Meals: B-L-D

Eat up, hydrate, and pinch those nips because we’re tackling an all-day mountain hike! This trek meanders alongside the Munyambuli River through one of the most pristine forests in the world. Goliath trees tower above dense undergrowth that’s home to a kingdom of mammals and birds.

Our Uganda Wildlife Authority guides will explain everything you see and hear as we begin our hike at Trekkers Hostel, which is located in a small village near Queen Elizabeth National Park. We’ll walk a little over 2 km before reaching the park gates, followed by an 8.1 km trek from the park, into the mountains, and back again.

Though the Rwenzori Mountains are home to six of Africa’s 10 Tallest Peaks, the range is a hidden gem of Uganda, tucked away in a remote and sparsely populated Western stretch of the country. You’ll hike below the jungle canopy while only hearing calls of the local monkeys or the breaths of your fellow Explorer Chicks.

Once we scramble back down, we’ll transfer back to the lodge, rest up and get ready for dinner.

Hiking: 6-7 hours, 7.8 miles, 3,028′ elevation gain. 7,785′ Altitude. Strenuous
Drive time: 30 minutes

Accommodation: 5-Star Luxury Lodge 2 minutes outside Queen Elizabeth National Park. Shared 2 per Cottage. Includes Alcohol.
Meals: B-L-D

Your breakfast will likely just taste like shapes BECAUSE YOU GOT CHIMPS ON THE BRAIN. Get ready to see your ugly cousins in their natural habitat – without the penny-stretching machine at the zoo. After meeting our guide, we’ll hike down to the Kyambura Gorge floor. What’s up with all that roaring and flopping? Oh those are just the resident hippos doing their thang in the river. And yes it’s just as freaky as it sounds.

But we’re here for a different kind of beast. Listen closely for the calls (aka frantic screams) of the chimpanzees. Our guide will lead us through the forest looking to the trees with nests. The chimps’ daily routines are much like ours: wake, eat brekkie, find a spot to nap or bone. We’ll know breakfast is over when we feel the seismic THUMP of chimps hitting the forest floor and thundering across logs, over the river and up trees.

Your job is to ignore every instinct in your body and FOLLOW them. Could this throng of chimps bitch-slap us across the gorge? Well yeah, but isn’t that kind of the point of this trip? Scary AF. Exciting AF. Together AF.

After this out-of-body experience, we’ll wolf down lunch then cruise down the Kazinga Channel by early afternoon. The boat ride is a round trip beginning at the Mweya Peninsula and lasting around 3 hours. The Channel itself has one of the world’s largest concentrations of hippos, Nile crocodiles, buffalo, elephants and all kinds of birds. So if you’re not into cruises, you WILL be into the creatures.

Once we anchor ashore, our guides will take us back to our lodge for a well-earned rest before dinner.

Hiking: Varied distance. Steep climb in and out of Gorge. Easy to Moderate.
Accommodation: 5-Star Luxury Lodge 2 minutes outside Queen Elizabeth National Park. Shared 2 per Cottage. Includes Alcohol.

Meals: B-L-D

Are you just laughing when you read this itinerary now? Yes, every day is ridiculous and perfect. Just remember, you deserve this. You deserve this glorious day of *say it with us* PREDATOR TRACKING. We’re partnering with Uganda Carnivore Program and using radio-telemetry to monitor the movements of large cats to ensure they don’t cross into “hot zones” that could endanger people or livestock.

It’s like an episode of COPS but with lions, leopards and hyenas. And you get a front-row seat. We’ll be ridin’ dirty with one of the scientists who is on a first-name basis with these felines. Learn why this conservation program matters and how it is critical in quieting the conflict between locals and lions.

After our tracking experience, we’ll head towards Bwindi for tomorrow’s gorilla encounter. As we drive south on an African Massage Road through the Ishsasha Sector, keep your eyes peeled for fig-tree climbing lions. Yes, those are real things.

Tonight we’ll stay in a truly special homestead called Ride 4 a Woman, a collection of guesthouses that support women and families of Buhoma and Bwindi. Your stay will help create jobs, teach local women new skills, provide safe drinking water AND allow access to microcredit for small business development.

You’ll surely enjoy your warm welcome.

Drive Time: 4 hours

Accommodation: Guest House. Shared 2 per Standard Room
Meals: B-L-D

“Literally the coolest thing I have ever done in my life. Nothing prepares you for when your Trekker takes the machete to the grasses taller than you. You see nothing. NOTHING. And then he touches your shoulder and points, Holy shit, they’re right there.” -Our She-E-O.

This experience is guaranteed to make you cry more than your wedding day. Sorry hubs/wife, gorillas are on another level. After we hike up our leggings and gulp down some breakfast, we’ll board an early morning transfer to the park headquarters for a briefing with the Uganda Wildlife Authority guides. These guides will have already cased the forest, and will know exactly where the gorillas slept the previous night. These guides will communicate with your team via walkie-talkie as we track the gorillas’ morning movements.

This can take time, sometimes hours or the entire day, depending on how ambitious the gorillas are feeling. For conservation purposes, we are allocated 1 hour of time with the gorillas. While we creep through the forest, keep your eyes peeled for antelopes and monkeys.

After we have our Jane Goodall moment, hold each other and ugly cry, we’ll return to the lodge where the ladies of Ride 4 a Woman wait to teach us how to pedal sew. For the next couple of hours, you’ll work side-by-side to create your very own souvenir sewn from African fabrics to take home. Afterwards the party moves to the kitchen where we’ll help prepare our farewell BBQ. Then all of us join together at the dinner table for a lively conversation.

Hiking: Varies based on Gorilla location. Park Rangers will assign guests to a group based on fitness level. Can be steep with overgrown trail. Example: 4 miles. 1,300′ gain. Moderate.

Accommodation: Guest House. Shared 2 per Standard Room
Meals: B-L-Celebratory Dinner

After an early final breakfast, you’ll board a transfer to Kihihi for your charter flight back to Entebbe airport. On our flight back from Bwindi, you’ll be gifted the best goodbye hug from Uganda. A gorgeous view of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. You’ll wonder how you managed to find ANYTHING in all that dense greenery – snap some photos or just enjoy the view.

We’ll then return to the hotel where it all started. You’ll have access to all of the hotel’s amenities and the use of a day room.

There will be time for a farewell dinner before your final transfer to your evening flight out.

*Sniff
We hope…
*Tear…to see you soon…
*Snot Bubble…for more boundless adventures!

Drive Time: 2 hours
Flight Time: 1:40 hours
Meals: B-L-D

Explorer Chick reserves the option to modify trip itineraries at the discretion of your tour director as necessary due to weather, conditions, illness, injury, group dynamics, or other unforeseen incidents.