My safari experience to Bwindi impenetrable forest park and queen Elizabeth national park.

My safari to Bwindi and Queen Elizabeth was a great opportunity to travel and experience the nature and beauty of these two respective parks. It took place in July which I would say is a wonderful time to travel because of the sunny weather. This safari came in form of a firm trip to rushaga gorilla havens lodge that is located in the southern part of Bwindi impenetrable national park and elephant hab lodge that is located in the kyambura in queen Elizabeth national park. Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is located in southern Uganda and is a home of over a hundred gorillas. these gorillas are found in groups and families. Bwindi is famous for its gorilla trekking activity as well as other activities that include forest walks and a visit to the neighboring batwa group of people and bird watching. Queen Elizabeth on the other hand is located in western Uganda and is home to enormous numbers of different wild animals that include the African buffalo, Uganda kob African leopard, chimpanzees, Nile crocodile, lions, monkeys, and over 500 bird species, it is great for game drives in the national parks, boat tours along the kazinga channel, chimp tracking, nature walks, and birding watching.

The safari was prepared for in advance at encounter Africa safaris office where booking for the lodges were made and all necessary payments for all the safari activities were made.

Entebbe to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

On the first day of the trip, we were picked by the guide in Entebbe and our journey started at 6am and drove for about two hours to Mpigi and stopped at the equator for breakfast. After breakfast we continued our journey passing through districts masaka and mbarara and headed for kabale. before reaching kabale town, we stopped at the food station which is 10km before kabale town for lunch. After lunch we embarked on our journey to Kisoro which harbors Bwindi national park which took around 2 hours from kabale to our destination. On reaching Kisoro I noticed that the weather had changed drastically from warm to very cold and this could be explained by the mountain ranges in Kisoro. Our lodge for the night’s stay is located in the southern part of Bwindi located close to the rushaga gorilla trail which I think is a reason to its name. on arrival, we were welcomed by the staff with refreshing juice and amazing hospitality. The lodge consists of 12 beautifully built cottages. what amazed me most was the fact that the cottages were named after wild animals each with amazing views of the neighboring nature features. The rooms are spacious, modern, self-contained and designed to make you feel the African nature. Dinner was served at around 7pm in the restaurant area. Dinner was of self-service picking from the provided meals that had been prepared for the day. before going to bed, me and other visitors were asked what we would like to pack for tomorrows trek and everyone gave their orders for their packed lunch of the following day and we went to sleep.

Bwindi impenetrable experience

Woke up at around 6am because we were required to reach the tracking grounds at 7am. on reaching Bwindi, we were assembled with other people and given instructions for tracking. for one to track gorillas, they had to have a permit issued by the Uganda wildlife authority. I was unable to track that day because I had hoped to get a permit on ground but I was unable to and opted to do a forest walk. before heading for the forest walk I noticed that there were different directions that were named with the different names of the groups of the gorillas that are in the forest. Also people that were abit weak were given porters to help carry them or their bags.  I was given a forest guide to lead me through the forest where I saw the red tailed and blue monkeys and other animals and birds. the forest is also endowed with different tree species and plants that have grown there for hundreds of years, the walk led to a water fall which is a great scenery due to the sound the water makes and the streams and birds around the area. This walk took about 2 hours. I was guided back to the main entrance of the park and was driven back to the lodge where I had lunch and retired to my room for the afternoon and later on had dinner in the evening.

Transfer from Bwindi to queen Elizabeth national park

on the third day woke up early and took breakfast then signed out of rushaga gorilla havens lodge and embarked on a journey to western Uganda to queen Elizabeth national park. The drive there took around 4 hours. our accommodation was booked at elephant hab lodge which is in kyambura gorge. On arrival, we were welcomed and showed our rooms and helped to settle in. the lodge is strategically located in a way that one is able to see the park even in their room. it is a total definition of comfort in the wilderness. After a short rest, we headed out for an evening game drive in the park .at the entrance, we had to pay for the game drive. on this game drive we encountered different animals but mostly the elephant species and the Uganda kobs. The animals are seen a lot even on the roads crossing from different parts of the park to the other. After the drive, we went back to the lodge and had dinner and went to sleep. during the night, I noticed that monkeys came to the lodge and could be seen. during, when lucky one can see elephants walking in the park because of their big size.

Drive back to Entebbe

This was the day that marked an end of this great experience. we woke up early in the morning had breakfast and set off for Entebbe. the drive back took around 5 hours.

Recommendations

I would recommend that one prepares beforehand if they are to have a trip to these places mostly when it comes to gorilla trekking because one may miss out on the amazing experience due to lack of a gorilla permit. A gorilla permit can be purchased from Uganda wild life authority and can be gotten by booking for one and paying for it. if there are no permits on the desired day one wants to trek, they can choose another day to trek. one other thing to note is the coldness in Bwindi for people who suffer from allergies and asthma it would be great to move with the necessary medication and warm clothing.

On the side of queen Elizabeth, I would recommend a boat ride on the kazinga channel instead of the game drive because I was told there are more chances of seeing animals because they usually go there to drink water but if one has time, they can definitely do both the game drive and boat ride.

Most importantly one should book their trip with an efficient tour company which is why I would recommend Encounter Africa Safaris because it is well equipped to help one have a successful and enjoyable trip with provision of transportation, permit purchase and accommodation booking.