How many days is the 17 Days Ultimate Rwanda & Uganda Safari?

The 17 Days Ultimate Rwanda & Uganda Safari is 17 days and 16 nights, operating year-round from Rwanda, Uganda.

How much does the 17 Days Ultimate Rwanda & Uganda Safari cost?

The 17 Days Ultimate Rwanda & Uganda Safari is priced on request depending on your group size, dates, and accommodation preferences. Contact Orika Africa Tours for a free tailor-made quote: hi@orikaafrica.com or +256 707 916 185.

What is included in the 17 Days Ultimate Rwanda & Uganda Safari?

The 17 Days Ultimate Rwanda & Uganda Safari in Rwanda, Uganda includes all accommodation, meals, park fees, private safari vehicle with an experienced guide-driver, and 24/7 support from Orika Africa Tours. Uganda's UTB-licensed Tour Operator & DMC. We welcome solo travellers, couples, families, and larger groups.

Is the 17 Days Ultimate Rwanda & Uganda Safari suitable for first-time safari visitors?

Yes. Orika Africa Tours designs every itinerary from scratch around your group's fitness, interests, and budget. The 17 Days Ultimate Rwanda & Uganda Safari is available as a private safari, no shared vehicles, no fixed groups, ever.

What is the best time to go on the 17 Days Ultimate Rwanda & Uganda Safari in Rwanda, Uganda?

The 17 Days Ultimate Rwanda & Uganda Safari in Rwanda, Uganda runs year-round. The dry seasons (June to August and December to February) offer the best conditions for game drives and trekking. Contact Orika Africa Tours for month-by-month advice.

17 Days Ultimate Rwanda & Uganda Safari

17 days is the canvas for the complete East African journey, a grand loop through Rwanda and Uganda that gathers savannah, forest and volcano into one unhurried itinerary. Starting and ending in Kigali, it opens with the Big Five of Akagera and golden monkeys beneath the Virunga volcanoes, then crosses into Uganda for Murchison Falls, the chimpanzees of Kibale, the game-rich plains and channels of Queen Elizabeth, and the mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

Designed for couples and unhurried travellers, it moves by both road and scheduled flight and stays in some of the finest lodges and camps in the region. Time your gorilla trek with our guide to gorilla trekking, and read more in the Rwanda and Uganda destination guides.

Prefer a shorter version? The 16 Days Uganda to Rwanda Gorilla Safari covers comparable ground in the other direction, while the 15 Days Rwanda & Uganda Luxury Gorilla Safari focuses on gorillas alongside Akagera's big game.

Trip Highlights

Mountain gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Big Five game drives and a boat cruise in Akagera National Park
Golden monkey tracking beneath Rwanda's Virunga volcanoes
The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
Chimpanzee tracking in Kibale Forest
Murchison Falls game drives and a sundowner cruise to the foot of the falls
Queen Elizabeth game drives and the Kazinga Channel
The Kigali Genocide Memorial and a Kampala city tour

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Welcome to Rwanda. On arrival at Kigali International Airport you are met and assisted through entry formalities, introduced to your driver-guide and transferred the short distance to your hotel. The evening is yours to rest after the journey.

After breakfast you drive east to Akagera National Park, Rwanda's only savannah park, with an en route game drive bringing you to your camp beside the lakes. The afternoon follows the rhythms of the bush, with activities led from camp.

A full day in Akagera follows lion, elephant, buffalo, zebra and giraffe across rolling acacia country, with an afternoon boat cruise on Lake Ihema among hippo, crocodile and a wealth of waterbirds. Akagera's quiet, lake-strewn landscapes are among the most beautiful in the region.

You travel west to Volcanoes National Park, the Rwandan flank of the Virunga massif, where forested slopes rise to a chain of volcanic peaks. The rest of the day is at leisure to take in the views, with an optional scenic flight to Musanze available in place of the drive.

After a briefing at the park headquarters you track a troop of the endangered golden monkey through the bamboo-covered lower slopes. In the afternoon you visit the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, a window into the conservation story that brought the mountain gorillas back from the brink.

A short road transfer to Kigali connects with your flight to Entebbe, where you are met and assisted through arrival formalities. The afternoon brings a tour of Kampala, Uganda's lively capital set across green hills, before settling into your lodge near the lake.

You head north to Murchison Falls, breaking the drive at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to track white rhino on foot. Entering the park, you pause at the Top of the Falls, where the Nile is forced through a narrow gorge, before an evening game drive as the plains come alive in the cooling light.

A morning game drive across the northern plains seeks lion, elephant, buffalo and Rothschild's giraffe, followed by an afternoon at leisure. As the day softens you board a private launch for a sundowner cruise to the foot of Murchison Falls, with hippo, crocodile and birdlife along the way.

A final morning game drive and an early lunch precede the scheduled flight south to Kasese, where your guide meets you for the short transfer to Kibale, the primate capital of East Africa, and your forest-edge lodge.

After a briefing you venture into Kibale's ancient rainforest to track a habituated chimpanzee community, watching them feed, groom and move through the canopy. The afternoon brings a guided walk through the community-run Bigodi Wetland, rich in birds and monkeys.

You drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park beneath the snow-capped Rwenzori, the fabled Mountains of the Moon. The rest of the day is at leisure, with activities led from your lodge on its private reserve.

A morning game drive across the Kasenyi plains and a visit to the Katwe salt lakes fill the early hours, followed by an afternoon boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, where hippo, buffalo, elephant and prolific birdlife gather along the shore.

An early transfer to Kasese connects with your flight to Kisoro, in the far southwest, where the lodge meets you for the transfer up into the hills. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, shelters a significant share of the world's mountain gorillas.

Today is the heart of the journey. You follow expert trackers into the dense forest in search of a habituated gorilla family, spending a treasured hour in their presence as a silverback holds court and juveniles tumble nearby. The day closes with a sundowner looking out over the forested ridges.

The day is yours to rest and take in the activities of the lodge and its surrounding community, or, for those who cannot get enough of the forest, to set out on an optional second gorilla trek with a different family.

A leisurely breakfast precedes the road transfer back across the border to Kigali. In the city you visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, a dignified reflection on Rwanda's history, with time to take in the energy of one of Africa's cleanest and most welcoming capitals.

After breakfast you are transferred to Kigali International Airport for your onward flight, closing a journey that has spanned two countries, two great forests, the savannahs of Akagera and Queen Elizabeth, and an unforgettable hour with the mountain gorillas.