Combined Bwindi tour with Queen Elizabeth park

Combined Bwindi tour with Queen Elizabeth park: This safari is designed for those that would want to encounter the endangered mountain gorillas and wildlife in Uganda. The safari takes you to Bwindi gorilla park in the southwestern part of the country to see mountain gorillas in their natural habitats and also to Queen Elizabeth national park to encounter different wildlife animals on a game drive or boat cruise at Kazinga channel.

The safari to Bwindi and Queen Elizabeth national park starts from Kampala, takes you to Queen Elizabeth national park and later Bwindi impenetrable forest national park where you will and come back to Kampala/ Entebbe for your flight back home. Bwindi gorilla park is home to mountain gorillas, 10 primate species, 350 bird species, and 120 mammals while queen Elizabeth national park harbors 95 mammals, 600 bird species, and tree-climbing lions.

Possible activities on a safari to Bwindi and queen Elizabeth national park

Have an ultimate mountain Gorilla experience

Encountering mountain gorillas

There are 2 gorilla activities that can be done in a combined Bwindi and Queen Elizabeth national park and these are gorilla trekking and gorilla habituation in Bwindi gorilla park. The gorilla trekking can be done in all the four sectors f the park while gorilla habituation is only done in Nkuringo and Rushaga regions. The activities can only be done by those that have valid gorilla trekking permits and are free from transmitted diseases such as flu and cough.

Gorilla trekking and gorilla habituation activities take you into the jungle with the lead of armed ranger guides. These do take you through different trekking trails till you meet the mountain gorillas. During the search for mountain gorillas, trekkers will get an opportunity to meet different park mammals, primates, and birds. The moment the mountain gorilla family is allocated, the trekkers are given 1 hour to be around a fully habituated mountain gorilla family and 4 hours to be around a semi-habituated family. The time around mountain gorillas enables trekkers to learn about the different gorilla habits, take photos, record videos, and watch members do daily activities.

Boat cruise

The boat cruise is one of the activities that can be done on a combined Bwindi tour with Queen Elizabeth national park. The boat cruise is done on Kazinga channel a long water body connecting lake Edward to lake George in Queen Elizabeth national park. The boat cruise can be done in the morning or evening hours depending on your itinerary.

The boat cruise on Kazinga channel is a 3-4 hours activity that is guided by the park rangers. These park guides given you all the information about the channel, the national park, wild animals, and the birds. During the boat cruise at Kazinga channel, you will be able to see different water animals such as crocodiles, hippos, waterbucks, elephants, bushbucks, and birds such as African spoonbill, African fish eagle, kingfishers, shoe bill stork, and much more.

Game drive

On a combined Bwindi tour with Queen Elizabeth national park, you will go for a morning game drive or evening game drive depending on your travel itinerary. The game drives in Queen Elizabeth national park can be done in the Ishasha sector where you encounter tree climbing lions and then the Kasenyi plains where you find big concertation of animals. The game drives are done in good safari vehicles in different game trucks and they give you a chance to encounter different park animals such as lions, elephants, bushbucks, waterbucks, warthogs, baboons, hyenas, topi, and hippos among others.

Birding

Queen Elizabeth national park and Bwindi gorilla park are some of the best birding destinations in the country. On a combined safari to these parks, you should be part of the birding activities where you will encounter more than 600 birds. The birding activities are guided by the rangers that protect you from dangerous wild animals while at the same time taking you to the best birding spots.

Birding activities in Bwindi and Queen Elizabeth national park will enable you to encounter birds such as grey crowned crane, handsome francolin, African morning dove, grey-headed kingfisher, white-winged warbler, black bishop, chestnut wattle eye, African emerald cuckoo, blue shouldered robin chat, yellow bill, African fin foot, black bee-eater, regal sunbird, Kivu ground thrush, black-faced warbler, olive breasted greenbul, and Rwenzori apalis among others.

A group of Batwa entertaining guest who visit the Batwa community

Community tours

On a combined Bwindi tour with Queen Elizabeth national park, community tours can be done in Bwindi gorilla park where you visit the Batwa community. The Batwa were initial habitats of the Bwindi forest that used to live along with the wild animals in the jungle. The Batwa were evicted out of Bwindi gorilla park by the government and decided to settle around the park boundaries.

A visit to the Batwa will be led by the Batwa local guides that will; first take you through the forest telling you about how they used to survive on honey, fruits, and small animals for meat. The journey will proceed to their homes where you will interact with different members, see them do day to day activities, be part of food preparation, taste local food, visit traditional healers that will show you how different plants sure illnesses, visit gift shops, and get entertained by the traditional dancers.

When to have a combined Bwindi tour with Queen Elizabeth national park

A combined tour to Bwindi and Queen Elizabeth national park can be done at any time of the year but there are months that are better than the rest. The dry months are the best to have this tour and it happens from June to September and December to February. These months are characterized by little or no rainfall that keeps the trekking trails dry, the vegetation is short and thin giving clear views of the park animals, and the roads leading to these parks are passable.

Travelers can still have a safari to Bwindi and Queen Elizabeth national park in the rainy season of March to May and October to November because the park is always open. The safari in the rainy season favors budget travelers who will benefit from huge discounts on accommodation facilities. The rainy season is however characterized by too much rainfall that makes the trekking trails muddy and slippery, the vegetation is thick and tall giving unclear views of the park animals and the roads leading to the park are impassable.