16 Days Best of Uganda Wildlife Safari takes you to some of Uganda’s best safari destinations for wildlife viewing. These include: Murchison Falls National Park, Kibale national park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Lake Bunyonyi, Lake Mburo National Park.
Day 1: Airport pick up and optional tour to Entebbe Botanical Gardens.
On this day, you will be warmly welcomed at the airport by one of our professional tour guides. From the airport, you will be transferred to your hotel for check in, have lunch and relax. You may go for a short evening tour to Entebbe Botanical Gardens depending on your time of arrival. You may also proceed to the Entebbe craft market to buy some few locally made items like Ugandan branded Jerseys, huts and other items that you may love at the craft market. You will later head back to the hotel in the evening to have dinner and overnight stay. You may opt to have a night out in one of the clubs to explore the night life in Entebbe town.
Accommodation: 2 Friends Beach Hotel Entebbe
Meals: Lunch and Dinner
Day 2: Day trip to Ngamba Island
After breakfast at your hotel, you will be transferred to docking point where you will be picked up by a boat to Ngamba Island. You will have a 30 minutes briefing from the offices in Entebbe. The boat takes about 45 minutes across to Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary. You will have a half-day excursion to see the orphaned Chimpanzees as part of your 16 days Uganda safari.
The sanctuary is home to 53 orphaned chimpanzees and on arrival, you will be given a brief introduction to the sanctuary after which you will go watch the chimpanzees as they feed on the Visitors’ platform. While there, you will get to see how chimpanzees behave and live at the island. After returning to the pier with a boat and be transferred back to your Hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.
Accommodation: 2 Friends Beach Hotel Entebbe
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 3: Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
You will be picked up from the hotel early in the morning after your breakfast and set off for Murchison Falls National Park. On your way to the park, you will branch off to Ziwa rhino sanctuary. In Nakasongola District, near Nakitoma Village is where you will get a moment to track these beautiful animals.
Lunch will be at the sanctuary before proceeding to Murchison falls national park. Later when you reach your lodge, freshen up and relax at the lodge .
Accommodation: Pakuba safari lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 4: Morning Game Drive and Boat Cruise, plus evening game drive.
After an early morning breakfast, you will leave for an early morning game drive looking for the early morning riser. As you head out for the game drive, you will be in position to spot animals like the buffaloes, elephants, lions, leopards, hyenas, Rothschild giraffes, Oribi, Kobs and waterbucks together with some bird species along the way with some feeding together with the big animals. Later you will head to Paara cruise point for a 11:00am boat cruise along the Victoria Nile.
You will have a private boat to cruise to the bottom of the falls. This Boat ride on Victoria Nile goes for approximately 3 hours and you will be able to see some Nile crocodiles, numerous hippos, as well as various bird species. After you will return to the lodge for lunch and relax at the pool as you wait for the evening game drive.
The evening game drive will take you to see the animals as they walk back to their resting habitats and caves. You will have more opportunity to see them resting under trees and others hiding out. You will also have beautiful picture moments of the sunset and later after your evening adventure drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation: Pakuba safari lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 5: Top of the falls and transfer to Kibale national park
On this day, you have breakfast and head to the top of the falls where you will view it from above. At the top of Murchison Falls “also known as Kabalega Falls”, the Nile forces its way through a gap in the rocks that is only 8 meters wide, and tumbles 43 meters before flowing westward into Lake Albert.
Later you will drive out of the park through the southern gate heading to Kibale national park via Hoima and Fort Portal were you will have lunch before heading to the park.
On arrival at your lodge in the park, you will head out into the rainforest with a ranger guide for an evening nature walk. The nature walk will give you a closer encounter with the natural diversity of the park, from the big trees, flowers and vegetation, to the butterflies and several monkey species such as the red Colobus, Olive baboons and L’Hoest monkeys plus several birds. After you will head back to your lodge for an overnight relaxation and reflecting on the day’s adventures as we await the more thrilling chimpanzee tracking expedition the following day.
Accommodation: Isunga Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 6: Chimpanzee tracking and Bigodi swamp walk
We shall have early morning breakfast and head straight the headquarters for the briefing from the guides as you start on the chimpanzee tracking expedition by 7:30 am. You will head into the forest and look for these intelligent creatures that share over 98.8% DNA with humans, which makes them very intelligent and behave almost like humans. Meeting these animals will depend on the last nesting location of the previous night, and when you reach them you will be limited to one hour with them and continue with the adventure as you discover more of the secrets of the park. You will also view other primates especially monkeys floating in the trees and several bird species.
You may have packed lunch or transfer back to the lodge to have lunch and relax a bit as you wait for the evening activity. Later in the evening you will head to the southern part of Kibale national park for an amazing birding experience. Bigodi swamp is located just 6km from Kanyanchu visitors center and it is such a fascinating area where you can find over 200 bird species including the famous shoebill which may be seen during guided walks along the boardwalk trail and viewing other various primates. Bigodi Swamp Walk is a 5-km, three-hour tour through this protected forest on the outskirts of Bigodi Trading Center. Later you’ll head back to the lodge for relaxation and overnight stay.
Accommodation: Isunga Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 7: Transfer to Semuliki National Park
You will wake up early in the morning transfer to Semuliki National Park. Reach the Park headquarters where you will register and visit the Hot springs of Sempaya and the Pygmies at their new settlement at Ntandi. In the afternoon, drive to the wildlife reserve for a game drive and look out for animals like Leopards, Forest Elephants and so on.
Later, you will drive back to Fort portal where you will spend the night before proceeding to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Accommodation: Nyaika Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 8: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park and Afternoon Boat cruise
Today you will wake up on early breakfast and depart Fort Portal heading to Queen Elizabeth National Park. It is located at the base of the majestic Rwenzori Mountain range, adjacent to Lake Edward and Lake George. The park’s diverse ecosystem which include sprawling Savannah makes it the ideal habitat for classic big game, ten primate species including chimpanzees and over 600 species of birds.
Here you will reach earlier enough to relax, have lunch and in the afternoon you will go for boat safari along Kazinga channel where you expect to view water loving animals such as the water buffaloes, Elephants, hippos, crocodiles and bird species on the shores of the channel such as fish Eagle among others. Then after come back for dinner and an overnight stay.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is the most visited national park in Uganda with thousands of hippos that populate shorelines of Kazinga Channel. The open savannah dotted with Acacia and Euphorbia trees provide a habitat for elephants, lions, leopards, Uganda kobs and big herds of buffaloes.
Accommodation: Buffalo Safari Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 9: Morning game drive and explosion crater drive
After an early morning breakfast, you will head for a morning game drive in search for wildlife along the Kasenyi plains. Be on the look for Cape buffalos, herds of elephants, Bush bucks, warthogs, lions, and leopards (though hard to spot) among others. The kasenyi plains are well known for game drives in Queen Elizabeth National Park and are perfect grounds for spotting the predators (Lions and Leopards). These are big breeding grounds for the antelopes, which attracts predators to hunt down prey in these areas.
Return to your lodge for lunch and relaxation and in the afternoon you will go for the explosion crater drive. This afternoon drive is basically sightseeing with very spectacular views of the breathtaking scenery in and around Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will also see more animals like the Buffaloes among others, then return back for dinner and an overnight at the lodge.
Accommodation: Buffalo Safari Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 10: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable N.P via Ishasha sector for tree-climbing lions
After your breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and head for a morning game drive to see the tree-climbing lions. The chance of spotting these lions is about 70% though sometimes they are hard to spot (most especially when they are down in the grassland looking for prey). Should you get to spot them, the sight is picturesque and memorable.
Ishasha is one of only two places in the world where you can see tree-climbing lions together with Lake Manyara in Tanzania and they spend almost the whole day in tree branches resting from a day hunt and also escaping from the hot ground during the dry season. Upon arrival in Bwindi, you will check in at your lodge for relaxation and overnight stay as you wait for Gorilla tracking the following day.
Accommodation: Buhoma Gorilla Camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 11: Gorilla trekking and Batwa cultural experience
On this adventurous day, you wake up on an early morning breakfast and report to Bwindi Park headquarters for a short briefing with the leader tracker/ ranger guide before you start on your day activity. From here you will head into the montane forest for an encounter with the mountain gorillas.
Always watch out for their voices and listen to them grumble and the young as they swing from tree to tree, and marvel at the sheer size of the dominant male; the silverback.
It is an extraordinary feeling sitting in the dense rain forest knowing you are with a few of the last remaining mountain gorillas. The beauty of this rainforest is spectacular and it offers a dramatic steeply forested landscape which is incredibly dense, but crisscrossed by numerous animal trails allowing access to tourists.
You will look for these endangered species and finding them will depending on the last nesting location of the previous night. The time taken to track the gorillas can be range from 4 to 7 hours or beyond. Once you locate a gorilla group, you will be allowed only one hour in their presence. The thrill of spending time observing these gentle and endangered giants is an awesome, exciting and one in a life experience to be long savored.
Later, you will have a community visit to the Batwa group that are the first people to live in these forest and still reside there regardless of the many years of civilization. You will be amazed by their traditional dance, homes, dress-code and way of life. You will then return back to the lodge for dinner and rest till the following day.
Accommodation: Buhoma Gorilla Camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 12: Transfer to Kisoro/Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
After breakfast, you will transfer to Mgahinga National Park in Kisoro on the border of Uganda and Congo. You will have lunch in Kisoro town after which you will go for cave exploration walk within the Park. Return for dinner and overnight at Travellers rest Hotel.
Accommodation: Travellers Rest Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 13: Golden Monkey Tracking and Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
On this day, you will wake up very early in the morning for breakfast and head at the park headquarters for a short briefing. Golden monkey trekking in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park involves travelers hiking through the forest in search of the golden monkeys in their natural habitat. The activity starts at 8 am with a briefing from the ranger guide or lead tracker. You then head out in search of the golden monkeys using the Gahinga trail. Once you locate the Golden monkeys, you’ll be limited to only one hour in their presence and then head back to your starting point. The trekking may take about 2 to 4 hours depending on where they last nested the previous night. After you will return to the vehicle and check out of the park as you head to Lake Bunyonyi for relaxation.
Lake Bunyonyi is framed by lush, green-terraced hills though it’s 29 islands of various shapes and sizes scattered across the water that make it most magical – you could admire them all day.
Accommodation: Lake Bunyonyi Echo Resort
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 14: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park and evening nature walk
Wake up with the whispers of the wild, have breakfast and drive to Lake Mburo National Park. You will drive through the hills of Kisoro and Kabale, stopover in Mbarara for lunch and proceed to the park.
On arrival to Lake Mburo National park, you will check in at your lodge and relax as you wait for an evening game drive to see the gentle mammals of the peaceful park. The nature walk will give an opportunity to see a lot of animals like the Zebras, giraffes, antelopes, hippos, buffaloes, topis, elands, waterbacks and bushbacks among many other animals. You will later return to the lodge for Dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation: Hyena Hill lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 15: Game drive and Boat ride on Lake Mburo
Wake up early morning for brakfast and head for a morning game drive in search for early risers and all other animals that you missed out in the previous game drive.
Lake Mburo national park has a good number of animals that can be seen while on a game drive. Tourists can spot animals such as impalas, zebras, elands, Topi, antelopes, bush rat, slender mongoose, duiker, Oribis, Bogor reedbuck, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles and Klipspringers to mention a few.
Return to the Lodge for Lunch and in the afternoon go for a boat ride on Lake Mburo which will get you quite close to Crocodiles and Hippos. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation: Hyena Hill lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 16: Hyena walk and transfer to Kampala
Early morning, you will have breakfast and after go for the hyena walk within the Park. This is a guided walk and you will be escorted by an official from the Uganda Wildlife Authority for security purposes and to provide you with more information about the Park and the trail.
Later start on your journey to Kampala with Lunch en-route. You will also make a stopover at the Equator at Kayabwe for Tropical Balance experiment and photographs, Royal drum Village at Mpambire for souvenirs. Proceed to Entebbe or Kampala for dinner and overnight stay at your lodge in Kampala or transfer to Entebbe airport for your onward departure marking the end of your 16 days Uganda safari.
End of your 16 Days Best of Uganda Wildlfe Safari