10 Days Rwanda Uganda Safari

Welcome to Rwanda — Kigali Arrival

Your journey begins at Kigali International Airport — one of Africa's most modern gateways. Your Pick & Transfer driver-guide meets you in arrivals for a warm welcome and transfers you to your hotel. Rwanda's capital is a city of rolling hills, striking cleanliness, and vibrant café culture — your first evening is free to explore it at your own pace.

Your guide delivers a detailed briefing covering all ten days: parks, permits, border crossings, and what to expect from each wildlife encounter. Review the Kigali Transfers Travel Guide for helpful preparation tips.

Drive North & Golden Monkey Trekking

Depart Kigali early for the 2-hour drive north to Volcanoes National Park — Rwanda's most celebrated protected area, draped across the Virunga volcano chain. This is the park where Dian Fossey conducted her landmark mountain gorilla research, and its mist-covered peaks carry a mythological presence.

This morning is dedicated to golden monkey trekking — these brilliantly coloured primates move through bamboo forest in large, raucous troops. After lunch, explore the base of the volcanoes or visit the Dian Fossey Tomb and Research Centre for a moving insight into gorilla conservation history.

Transfer South & Canopy Walk

After breakfast, drive south across Rwanda to Nyungwe Forest National Park — one of Africa's oldest montane rainforests, estimated at over 70,000 years old. The route winds through Rwanda's famous terraced hills, tea plantations, and highland scenery that changes character every hour.

Arrive in time for the afternoon Igishigishigi Canopy Walk — a suspended walkway above the ancient treetops where colobus monkeys, Rwenzori turacos, and forest birds drift beneath you. As mist settles over the canopy at dusk, the forest becomes genuinely otherworldly.

Chimpanzee Trekking in Nyungwe Forest

Rise before dawn for your chimpanzee trekking experience in Nyungwe — one of the best places in Africa to observe chimpanzees in the wild. The park is home to over 500 chimps, and its habituated groups are tracked by expert guides and rangers each morning. The forest at this hour is alive with sound — birds, insects, and the distant calls of the chimps building in the canopy above.

Once located, you spend one extraordinary hour with the group — watching them feed, groom, and move through the forest. The afternoon is free to rest or join a guided forest walk. Tomorrow you cross into Uganda — check the border crossing travel guide to

Cross into Uganda & First Game Drive

After breakfast, your driver-guide handles all logistics for the border crossing into Uganda at Cyanika / Kisoro — a process our team manages with complete professionalism on both sides. As you cross, the volcanic landscape of the Virunga range and the distant silhouette of the Rwenzori Mountains welcome you into Uganda's dramatic south-west.

Continue to Queen Elizabeth National Park for a late afternoon game drive across the Kasenyi Plains. Elephants, buffalo, Uganda kob, topi, warthog, and lions roam freely across vast savannah dropping into the Great Rift Valley.

Kazinga Channel Cruise & Tree-Climbing Lions

A full day in one of Uganda's finest parks. A dawn game drive opens the morning — the prime time for predator encounters in the Kasenyi sector. After breakfast, board the Kazinga Channel boat cruise — a 2-hour journey along the waterway flanked by the continent's largest hippopotamus concentration, thousands of Nile crocodiles, buffalo at the water's edge, and an extraordinary parade of birds.

In the afternoon, drive south to the remote Ishasha sector to search for lions draped lazily across ancient fig branches — one of Africa's most iconic and unforgettable wildlife sights.

Crater Lakes Drive & Kibale Arrival

Depart heading north through the spectacular crater lake district — a volcanic landscape of perfectly circular lakes in vivid greens and cobalt blues. Stop at one of the best viewpoints for photographs that defy description. Continue to Fort Portal, a charming highland town framed by the snow-capped Rwenzori Mountains.

Arrive at Kibale Forest National Park in the afternoon. The forest edge is alive with birdcall, and colobus monkeys are often visible from the lodge verandah. Your guide briefs you on tomorrow's chimpanzee trekking — Uganda's answer to gorilla trekking, and for many travellers, equally unforgettable.

Chimpanzee Trekking & Bigodi Wetland Walk

An early start for your chimpanzee trekking experience in Kibale — the finest chimp trekking destination in the world, with 13 primate species recorded in the park. Habituated chimp communities are tracked each morning, and the hour you spend in their presence — watching them feed, communicate, and navigate the canopy — is a profound insight into our closest evolutionary relatives.

After lunch, visit the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary — a community-managed wetland adjacent to Kibale, home to rare birds, sitatunga antelope, and grey-cheeked mangabeys. The walk directly supports local communities and is one of the most rewarding conservation tourism experiences in East Africa.

Transfer to Gorilla Country

After breakfast, depart Kibale and travel south through the highlands towards Bwindi Impenetrable National Park — home to nearly half of the world's remaining 1,100 mountain gorillas, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The drive passes through dramatic highland scenery, with the Virunga Volcanoes coming into view as you approach the park.

Arrive in Bwindi in the afternoon and check in to your forest lodge — many dramatically perched above the canopy. The evening briefing covers the gorilla family you will visit, the terrain, photography guidelines, and the remarkable conservation story behind habituation. Sleep to the sounds of the ancient forest tonight.

Mountain Gorilla Trekking & Farewell

The summit of your entire journey. After an early breakfast, collect your gorilla trekking permit and enter the Impenetrable Forest with armed rangers and expert trackers. The trek through dense undergrowth and steep forest slopes builds anticipation with every step.

You are granted one hour with a fully habituated mountain gorilla family — observing silverbacks at close range, mothers nursing infants, and juveniles tumbling through the undergrowth in play. Fewer than 1,100 mountain gorillas remain on Earth. This is the moment a holiday becomes a turning point.

After a celebratory lunch, begin the return drive to Kigali via the Cyanika border, with our full assistance on both sides. Your Pick & Transfer driver-guide drops you at your hotel or the airport. Book now — permits sell out months ahead.