Chimpanzees and gorillas - uganda

16-24 January 2025

An amazing 9-day jungle trekking ADVENTURE

WITH CHRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO  

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA & dallas, texas BASED TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHER/ARTIST

THIS IS A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE the magnificent apes in their natural habitat THROUGH THE LENS OF PROFESSIONAL TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHER CHRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO, WHOSE UNIQUE EYE AND SPECIAL TALENT FOR FINDING THE PERFECT PHOTO MEANs YOU WILL TAKE HOME AMAZING PHOTOS OF YOUR VACATION, EXPERIENCE A NEW CULTURE, AND OF COURSE, THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN PHOTOGRAPHY FROM CHRISTIAN HIMSELF! Not interested in learning photography? not a problem, You'll come home with super amazing photos of YOU on your vacation taken by christian during this trip! please read the daily itinerary below. We will take care of everything from the moment you arrive at Entebbe airport, with impressive accommodations, meals, and daily activities personally curated by Christian! ALL PHOTOS YOU SEE ON THIS PAGE WERE TAKEN BY CHRISTIAN ON THE ACTUAL LOCATIONS YOU WILL SEE DURING THIS TRIP. 

THIS TOUR IS OPEN TO 6 PARTICIPANTS ONLY PER GROUP. SO RESERVE QUICKLY.

CURRENT ITINERARY

( MAY SUBJECT TO MINOR CHANGES )

DAY 1 - arrivals

Your trip begins at Entebbe International Airport, in Uganda. Upon arrival, you will be welcomed by Christian and your tour guide and transferred to your hotel which is approximately a 15-minute drive from the airport for an overnight rest. 

You will be staying at Karibu Hotel ( 1 night ).

Photography by Christian Del Rosario 2019

DAY 2 - drive from entebbe to kibale national park

After an early healthy breakfast, you will be transferred to Kibale Forest National Park, the capital world of Primates such as chimpanzees, baboons and monkeys. Lunch will be served in the tourist town of Fort Portal.

After lunch, you will continue to your lodge, where you will have a relaxed late afternoon. Dinner and peaceful rest at your lodge as you get prepared for the next day’s wildlife adventure in the tranquil forest. Total drive time is around 6-7 hours. 

Photography by Christian Del Rosario 2023

DAY 3- Kibale national park chimpanzee trek and bigodi community walk

After breakfast, you will go for Chimpanzee Trekking in Kibale Forest National Park, where the greatest variety and highest concentration of primates in East Africa is exceptionally represented. The most famous of its 13 species is the Chimpanzee known to be a delightful ape. Chimpanzee trekking is a fulfilling adventure that takes you deep into tropical forests with streams of water and abundant wildlife. You will start with a briefing from the ranger guide about your Chimp trek. On your trek, you might have sightings of red-tailed monkeys, black-and-white Columbus monkeys, butterflies, and birds calling from the canopies. With the help of your ranger guide, you will locate the chimps. Enjoy picture moments and watch them as they play, groom, and feed. This Habituation experience will give you 4 hours with chimps and a chance to see both habituated and wild chimps. Lunch follows right after. 

After lunch, you will visit the Bigodi swamp – a community project known for its rich diversity of birds and primates depending on the availability of time. This community project is involved in providing employment for youth through tour guiding, some of the proceeds go into the establishment of schools and teachers’ pay. 

Photography by Christian Del Rosario 2023

DAY 4 - queen elizabeth national park and kazinga channel

After a relaxed breakfast, you will be transferred to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Then lunch will be served at your lodge before you are transferred to Kazinga channel for a boat cruise.

The Kazinga Channel is a 42 km channel that joins Lake Edward and Lake George. This trip passes through possibly the highest concentration of hippos. It offers an excellent opportunity for photography, bird watching and game viewing. The prolific bird life is colourful with well over 550 resident species!

After 2-3 hours boat cruise, you will be transferred back to your lodge for dinner and overnight. 

DAY 5 - ishasha sector of queen elizabeth national park

Today, you have an optional VERY early game viewing drive in the Kasenyi Plains of Queen Elizabeth National Park before you go back to your lodge for breakfast. Then another two-hour game-viewing drive to Ishasha sector will follow.

Ishasha is famous for its tree-climbing lions. Arrive in time for lunch and later depart for an afternoon game-viewing drive culminating to your camp for dinner and overnight. 

DAY 6 - Buhoma sector of bwindi impenetrable forest national park

Today we start our journey to the home of the gentle giants of Bwindi – the Mountain Gorillas via Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. We will try our luck with more of the tree-climbing lions, before continuing to Bwindi Forest. The journey takes about five hours and will take us through the terraced hills of Kigezi Highlands. Lunch will be at the lodge. After lunch, you will take your well-deserved rest at your lodge. 

DAY 7&8 - gorilla trek days

This is the ultimate highlight of this trip. We will do two consecutive days of Gorilla trekking. Mountain Gorillas are true gentle giants found in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga Gorilla National Parks in Uganda. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest abounds with life-hosting species of birds, butterflies, primates, mammals, and trees. Your ranger guide will guide you in conjunction with early trackers to the enormous and rare mountain gorillas deep in the jungles of Bwindi. The trekking experience takes anything from one hour (rarely) to about 8 hours to accomplish, You will have one hour with gorillas to capture your finest moment. For the gorilla’s continuous protection, the Uganda Gorilla Conservation limits the time the Gorillas spend time with humans. 

DAY 9 - Transfer back to Entebbe

After an early breakfast, you will be driving to Kisoro Airstrip for your scheduled bush flight back to Entebbe. The flight will depart at 08h35 from Kisoro and arrive at 11h25 in Entebbe. On arrival, you will be transferred to Faze 3 for your farewell lunch/dinner depending on your international flight details. 

Photography by Christian Del Rosario 2023

DETAILS

TRIP Price: $8700 per person (based on double occupancy)

w/ optional $1000 Single Supplement ( Single room of your own )

Admin fee (when paying by credit card) $293

Tour Price Includes

• Hotel Accommodation - 8 nights room accommodations are provided at the hotels and lodges indicated on this itinerary. Accommodations are per person, based on two persons sharing a twin-bedded room or king room with a private bath

• Tours and Sightseeing - by private, safari windowed vehicles (4×4 Extended Toyota Land Cruiser).

• Private airport transfers and transfers between hotels and lodges.

• All breakfasts, lunches, and dinners

• Professional photos taken by Christian. A private gallery web page will be available for all guests where all high-resolution digital copies of the photos from the trip will be available for download and use by all guests. Photos will be in digital format. Prints are not included.

• Hands-on photography coaching throughout the tour by Christian and his assistants.

• Shared and limited use of some of Christian’s camera equipment so you can take some super awesome photos!

• Bottled water on hotels/lodges and our vehicles daily.

• Snacks (both healthy and not so healthy but super yummy!) on the vehicle during our safari game drives daily.

• Taxes - all local taxes and hotel taxes are included in the cost of the tour

• All National Park Fees, Concession fees & Reserve Entrance Fees

• All Fuel Costs

• Unlimited Beverages such as bottled water, soft drinks, domestic beer, tea & coffee are provided in the mini-refrigerator installed in the safari vehicle

• Full-time Support from our ground operation team in Uganda. 

• Professional, Certified, Fluent-English Speaking Naturalist Guide

• Internal Airfare / Bush flight from Bwindi to Entebbe 

Tour Price Does Not Include

• Gratuities to local guides are not included. Guide tips of $300 in cash per guest will be added. To be collected by Christian while in Uganda.

• Documentation costs (if any)

• Travel insurance

• Excess baggage charges

• Alcoholic beverages, except water, unless noted 

• Laundry or any other item of a personal nature not specifically mentioned herein.

 • Roundtrip Airfare to Entebbe (Uganda) - EBB Airport Code 

PAYMENTS & Cancellation

• AN INITIAL DEPOSIT OF $2500 IS REQUIRED TO IMMEDIATELY RESERVE AND SECURE A SPOT. THERE ARE ONLY 6 SPOTS AVAILABLE. 

• THIS DEPOSIT IS FULLY REFUNDABLE IF CANCELLED ON OR BEFORE OCT 15, 2024. AFTER OCT 15, 2024, THIS DEPOSIT IS NOT REFUNDABLE. 

• PREFERRED PAYMENT METHOD IS DIRECT BANK TRANSFER TO CHRISTIAN’S BUSINESS BANK ACCOUNT.

• NO REFUND ON OR AFTER OCTOBER 15, 2024 ( EXCEPT IF TRAVEL BANS due to disasters like COVID-19 are put in place. In this case, all monies paid will be 100% refundable. Such was the case in 2020 when all monies were returned to all guests.)

A maximum of 6 participants per group only

TRAVEL DOCUMENTS

All travellers need a passport valid for at least six months AFTER the date of entering the country. Please note that this rule is enforced by UGANDA.

An e-visa ($50 which includes the processing fee) is needed before flying to Tanzania to ensure a quick and smoother immigration process. We will assist with this e-visa process for all participants at no additional charge. 

Got a question?

Please contact Christian via FB Messenger or email at tripswithxtian@gmail.com

Christian’s commitment to giving back to help animals

As many of you know, I am very passionate about animals. This opportunity to bring my friends to Africa and experience the joy that animals can bring to our lives brings so much joy to my heart. As my way of giving back to what Africa has given me, I have committed to give back 10% of any profits made from this tour to my chosen animal conservation causes all over Africa. This will include but not limited to donations to Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Elephant and Rhino protection programs to help stop poaching and killing of these animals. I will also donate to help educational programs around Africa that aid in helping educate African communities to promote a harmonious existence between their communities and the animals. By being a participant in these tours, you are also in turn a participant in helping me protect these beautiful animals and the people that live amongst them. So THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.

I can’t wait to share with you this amazing experience!!! See you in Africa!!!

THIS TOUR IS OPEN TO 6 PARTICIPANTS ONLY PER GROUP. SO RESERVE QUICKLY.