Meet our local representative on arrival at Entebbe International Airport
Transfer to Emin Pasha Hotel
Emin Pasha Hotel is located right near the centre of town, set in two acres of peaceful park-like tropical gardens. Big mature trees, flowering shrubs and scented vines abound, yet this is within walking distance to the Commercial Business District and many Embassies and Foreign Missions. With only twenty rooms and one self-contained flat, the hotel is able to give guests personal attention and a high level of service, while offering privacy and calm in an otherwise hectic world. Each room is different in terms of layout, size and decor, but all are decorated with the ever-changing African landscape in mind. Each room features hardwood furniture, Egyptian cotton sheets, summer-weight duvets, giant soft towels, long deep cast iron bathtubs (salvaged from derelict colonial buildings and re-enameled) or giant tropical 'monsoon' showers with African slate floors. Floors in the rooms are made of reconstituted stone and are cool underfoot (very welcome in Equatorial Africa), and each room has at least one oversized armchair or sofa...perfect for curling into with a good book or magazine. Molton Brown toiletries and oversized bathrobes are a nod to the 'spa culture', and to calm your frazzled nerves, each room looks out through french doors over lush gardens or courtyards. All the rooms have air-conditioning, tea and coffee making facilities, direct dial telephones, internet and satellite television.
Pick up from Emin Pasha Hotel at 6:45am and transfer to Kajjisi Airstrip
Private charter flight Kajjisi – Kayonza 7:45am – 9:30am
Transfer from Kayonza Airstrip to Gorilla Forest Camp
Day 3 – Gorilla Trekking
Day 4 – optional community visit (cost ranges from $10 - $50 payable direct to the community)
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is an enduring pocket of a huge primeval forest that once stretched from the Virunga Volcanoes in the South to the Rwenzori Mountains in the North. The fertile 331 square kilometers of the park contain 113 species of mammals (including a herd of the rare forest elephant), 200 species of butterfly, over 360 species of birds and a prodigious 324 tree varieties (10 of which are endemic to the park). In addition to this incredible diversity, Bwindi is home to seven species of primates, attracting the attention of international conservation efforts, of which the most endangered is the Mountain Gorilla. Only 600 of these magnificent animals remain worldwide, and Bwindi is home to just over half of them. Fittingly, Bwindi is one of the most biologically diverse areas on Earth, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Gorilla Forest Camp is a permanent luxury tented camp nestled in the mist-swathed rainforests of a mountainside in the heart of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It has been designed to blend seamlessly into this most atmospheric of environments, carefully-appointed towards the misty valleys and looming, forest-clad mountains that protect this fragile eco-system. Accommodation is in 8 double tents, raised on wooden platforms, each with en-suite facilities and hot and cold running water, WC, basin and unusually – a bathtub looking out onto the forest. Each tent has a spacious wooden verandah where guests can relax, enjoy a private meal and absorb the exotic mystery of the surrounding rainforest that provided the inspiration for the animation of Disney's The Jungle Book. Electricity is provided for lighting and recharging of video camera batteries. This small oasis of luxury provides complete comfort - duvets and hot water bottles at night. The camp is an eco-sensitive camp, constructed to have as little impact as possible on the surrounding forest and its diverse ecosystem. The camp offers a bar and dining cottage overlooking the rain forest, as well as a raised natural platform for open air dining. At night, a traditional African campfire is lit from where a lecture might be given by a visiting primatologist, the gorilla briefings are undertaken or guests simply admire the myriad brilliance of Bwindi's crystal clear mountain sky. Note: Children of all ages are welcome at The Gorilla Forest Camp, but only children aged 15 or above can track the gorillas.The next day’s activities may be amongst the most exciting and challenging of your trip. The Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi are part of a worldwide population of just 600 individuals. The gorillas you are allowed to track belong to either one of two habituated family groups. For up to five years each, these groups have undergone an extremely delicate process that has gradually brought them to tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period every day and allowed a few privileged visitors to interact with them in the wild. The gorillas are by no means tame, and are completely wild animals. However, experienced guides will accompany you on our tracking, many of who have been involved in the habituation process themselves. The guides will use their knowledge of the gorillas’ habits and information from the previous day to locate the group’s whereabouts. Because of this, the time taken to track the gorillas varies enormously, from as little as half an hour to as much as 9 hours before one returns to camp. Once the gorillas are located, our group will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them. This is one of the world’s truly memorable experiences – a look into the eyes of one of these magnificent creatures brings home the bond that exists between them and us. It also brings home the poignant fact that they are on the edge of extinction, and that your presence here contributes to ensuring their continued survival. The hour is often over all too quickly, and you slowly make your way back to camp to recount the day’s adventures.
Transfer from Gorilla Forest Camp to Kayonza Airstrip
Private charter flight from Kayonza – Kajjisi 10:30am – 12:15pm
Transfer from Kajjisi Airstrip to Boma Guest House
Day Room at Boma Guest House Inclusive of meals
Transfer from Boma Guest House to Enetebbe International Airport
The huge vistas that open up on your one-and-a-half-hour flight belie Uganda’s small size. You see in the distance the hills and plains of Rwanda and Tanzania and the Rift Valley dropping away from you towards Lake Edward and the Congo. Below you rolling ranchland soon gives way to dry scrub and gigantic wetlands just before your final approach over Lake Victoria.
