This 12 Days Uganda Wildlife Gorilla Safari uncovers the best you should expect on a Ugandan safari. Begin your trip as you visit Murchison Falls national park, then continue to Kibale Forest National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Lake Bunyonyi for relaxation and Lake Mburo national park.
Day 1: Airport pick up and transfer to the Hotel.
On this day, you will be warmly welcomed at the airport by our professional tour guides, and be transferred to your hotel for check in.
Depending on your arrival time, you may go for a short city tour around Entebbe and also buy some few locally made items like Ugandan branded Jerseys, huts and other items that you may love at the Entebbe craft market. You will later head back to the hotel in the evening to have dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation: 2Friends Beach Hotel
Meals: Dinner and Drinking water
Day 2: Transfer to Murchison falls National Park and 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.
The white Rhinos became extinct in Uganda’s national parks in 1980, but conservationists and the government through Uganda wildlife authority took the few that had remained and transferred them to the sanctuary for better protection. There are about 33+ rhinos in the sanctuary at the moment and there is a plan to reintroduce them in Uganda’s game parks in the future.
Lunch will be at the sanctuary before proceeding to the Murchison falls national park. Later when you reach your lodge, check in and relax at the lodge as you enjoy the wildlife views from the pool side of the lodge, Dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Accommodation: Fort Murchison
Meals: All meals and mineral drinking water
Day 3: 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 then head to Paara cruise point for a 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 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 the 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: Fort Murchison
Meals: All meals and mineral drinking water
Day 4: 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 where 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. Dinner and overnight stay at the lodge.
Accommodation: Isunga Lodge
Meals: All meals and mineral drinking water
Day 5: Chimpanzee tracking and transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
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 90% 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 then transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
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.
Evening Game drive
You will have an evening game drive, upon reaching Queen Elizabath National Park, you enjoy a game drive to animals like lions, leopards, hyenas, elephants, Lots of antelopes, buffaloes etc. Later transfer to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation: Buffalo Safari Lodge
Meals: All meals and mineral drinking water
Day 6: Experiential lion tracking and afternoon boat cruise.
On this day, after your breakfast, you will head to the northern section of the park “Kasenyi planes” where you will interface with the predators under the guidance of a ranger guide and researchers who drive around the park with radiation trackers which will help them to find lions that have radio collars placed around the neck.
Lion tracking experience takes about 3 hours and later on, you will continue with a morning game drive. After lunch you will head to Mweya peninsular at Kazinga channel for a boat cruise. A boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel will offer you one of the greatest wildlife experiences in Africa and Uganda in particular.
Prepare to see countless hippos, crocodiles, buffaloes, elephants, water birds and many of the other park animals drinking from the channel. You will return to the lodge with a short evening game drive as you end your day with a sunset view while resting at your accommodation.
Accommodation: Buffalo Safari Lodge
Meals: All meals and mineral drinking water
Day 7: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park via Ishasha sector for tree climbing lions.
After breakfast, you will head to the southern sector of the park called Ishasha sector and later transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. In the southern sector of the park, you have 70% chances of spotting tree climbing lions and other different wildlife species such Topis, Kobs and others in this special place.
Ishasha is one of only two places in Africa 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: All meals and mineral drinking water
Day 8: Gorilla trekking experience and transfer to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
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 savoured.
This will sum up your dream expectations as you walk back to the vehicle and drive out of the park transferring to Mgahinga Gorilla national park. On arrival at your lodge, you’ll check in for relaxation and leisure as you wait for dinner and overnight stay.
Accommodation: Mutanda Lake Resort
Meals: All meals and mineral drinking water
Day. 9 Golden monkey tracking and Batwa cultural experience
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.
Later, you will have a community visit to the Batwa group that are the first people to
live in this 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: Mutanda Lake Resort
Meals: All meals and mineral drinking water
Day 11: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park and evening game drive.
You will drive through the hills of Kisoro and Kabale, and have lunch on your way as you reach the park. On arrival to Lake Mburo National Park, you will have a short game drive as you head to your accommodation.
Lake Mburo National Park is one of the best birding destinations with a number of bird species and a number of wildlife animals including the Zebras, giraffes, antelopes, hippos, buffaloes, Topis, elands, waterbucks and bushbucks.
You will check in at your lodge and relax for the evening. You may go for an evening game drive depending on the time you reach.
Accommodation: Kigambira Safari Lodge
Meals: All meals and mineral drinking water
Day 11: Morning game drive, boat cruise and transfer back to Kampala
After an early breakfast at the lodge, you will go for a game drive where you will have an opportunity to see a lot of animals like the Zebras, giraffes, antelopes, hippos, buffaloes, Topis, elands, waterbucks and bushbucks among many other animals. You will later continue to the lake where you will have a boat cruise to see a number of water animals like the hippos among others.
You’ll live this beautiful part of the world as you check out of the park and head to Kampala with a stop over at the Equator line that separates the earth into two different parts i.e., the North and Southern hemisphere. You will have your lunch here, take some pictures and buy some souvenirs, then finally drive straight to Kampala.
Accommodation: Millennium Terrace Hotel
Meals: All meals and mineral drinking water
Day 12: City Tour and transfer To Kampala Entebbe International Airport
After your breakfast at your hotel, you’ll check out of the hotel and head for a city tour where you’ll visit a number of sites and also have a cultural experience. You will taste a number of local dishes prepared in local restaurant and get to experience how busy Kampala city is. It will involve some few hours of walking on foot. You’ll also visit the African craft market to do some little shopping of African art pieces and craft, later you’ll proceed to Entebbe International Airport for your flight back home or your next destination.
End of your 12 Days Uganda Wildlife Gorilla Safari