Uganda Mango Organized Group January 24th – February 2nd, 2006 Land Cost $4,000 ; Single Supplement $400 Day 1 - Entebbe On arrival at Entebbe Airport, you are met by your guides and transferred to the Lake Victoria Hotel, one of the oldest regal hotels in Uganda. You will have an orientation and go over all the details of the coming adventure. Lake Victoria Hotel – B Days 2 & 3 – Ngamba Island After breakfast we head to the docks and board motorboats to head across Lake Victoria to Ngamba Island. Upon arrival, you will meet the staff and learn about the incredible population of orphaned chimpanzees who have been rescued and live on the island-sanctuary. Your camp is comprised of mobile tents set on the beach, equipped with cots, bedding, hot bucket-showers and cedar composting toilets. After breakfast, you will participate in feeding time for close encounters with baby chimps. A new optional activity allows guests to join a group of infant chimpanzees on a one to two hour walk through their forest habitat. During the day, the lake is dotted with men using nets and line to catch Nile perch and tilapia. Ngamba Island Tented Camp - B, L & D Day 4 – Kibale Your morning boat ride delivers you back to the docks of Entebbe where you will begin your drive north. This eight-hour drive weaves you through a beautiful variety of terrain from broad savannah to marshland over mountains and into wooded valleys. We will stop for impressive roadside samosas and chipatis. We pass numerous tea, cotton and coffee plantations on our drive, which account for much of Uganda's economy. You stay at the Ndali lodge, a family run working farm with beautiful views of the Rwenzori Mountains in the distance. Ndali Lodge is perched on the rim of an extinct volcano which, since its demise, has filled with water to become the breathtaking Lake Nyinambuga – 250 acres in size and 130 meters deep. There is a main thatched lodge with spacious sitting room, reception area and dinning room flanked by 8 cottages providing luxurious accommodation for 16 guests. The cottages face west to offer a panoramic view to the spectacular 'Mountains of the Moon'. Each cottage, large enough to accommodate a family, has en-suite facilities with bath, shower, WC and hand basin and a private verandah, perfect for watching the sun setting behind the Rwenzori Mountains, the snow-capped peaks of which are clearly visible on a clear day. At night the dining room is festooned with candles - the lodge has no electricity or generators to destroy the tranquility and atmosphere. The sitting room, reception and dining room open out onto Lake Nyinambuga and are connected by two open passage-ways or breeze-ways: fruit bats, owls and frogs like to use them as a highway to the crater lake. Breakfast is on the verandah overlooking the lake: freshly squeezed passion fruit juice (from Ndali's vines when in season) and homemade bread with wild honey go down well with a full English breakfast. Ndali Lodge – B, L & D Days 5 & 6 - Queen Elizabeth National Park You are up early to take a morning guided forest walk, you will explore the Kibale Forest in search of families of wild chimpanzees and red colobus monkeys chattering and swinging through the ancient forest trees. The sightings of birds in the forest are no less impressive - there are at least 325 species, many of which are found nowhere else. You return to the truck after lunch to continue on to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Upon entering the Park, you will have opportunities to spot elephant, hippo, giant forest hogs and Ugandan Kob. Your lodge is located on a peninsula overlooking Lake Edward and Lake George. You will have two days to enjoy game drives and afternoon boat rides viewing hippos, Nile crocodiles and the incredible diversity of birds. Mweya Lodge – B, L & D Days 7, 8 & 9 - Bwindi Impenetrable Forest A quick breakfast and early departure lead us southbound passing hillside villages where children come running to say hello. We will then continue west towards the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Our camp is set inside the periphery of the park, where every once in a while the gorillas take a stroll. Gorilla Forest Camp has been designed to blend seamlessly into this most atmospheric of environments, harmoniously nestled into the trees with views of the misty valleys and looming, forest-clad mountains. After breakfast, we will set out in two groups of six, accompanied by two guides and four guards and will head out in search of the mountain gorillas. These special animals are rare and gentle, like us yet so different. This can be humbling and thrilling at the same time. Gorilla tracking is an intense experience that can take all day. The guide will lead you through the gorilla’s world, explaining aspects of their ecology and behavior along the way. Only 600 of these magnificent animals remain worldwide, and Bwindi is home to just over half of them. The variety and abundance of birds and butterflies only adds to the magic of this mystical forest. Gorilla Forest Camp – B, L & D Day 10 - Depart After breakfast, we will head to the local airstrip where we will meet our charter flight into Entebbe’s International Airport. Upon arrival, you will transfer to your international connections home. Before You Go Virtual Tour Booking Info