11-Day Best of Uganda Gorillas and Wildlife Safari
Overview
The tour starts and ends in Uganda and will take you to the most fantastic national parks. The parks include Lake Mburo National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for gorilla trekking, and Queen Elizabeth National Park for game drives and boat safaris. Proceed to Murchison Falls National Park to enjoy the wildlife and the waterfalls, visit Kibale National Park for chimp tracking, and tour the source of the Nile and many more attractions. A gorilla permit worth $800 per person is included.
Day 1: Arrival and Pick up from Entebbe Airport
Upon your arrival at the airport, the guide will meet you and transfer you to your booked lodge in Entebbe town. Relax for the rest of the day as you prepare to start your safari the next day. You can opt for a short city tour depending on the time of arrival.
Day 2: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park
After breakfast, transfer to Lake Mburo National Park (3-hour drive) with a stop at the equator for photographs. Expect en-route game viewing of animals such as zebra, impala, and eland. You will also see other savannah plains species and birds like the African finfoot, papyrus, bushshrike, etc. After lunch, take an afternoon boat trip on Lake Mburo to see hippos, crocodiles, buffaloes, and a variety of bird species, including the rare shoebill.
Day 3: Lake Mburo – Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Wake up early for a morning Safari Walk, very unique and exciting activity, to catch up with the early risers returning to their hideouts. Return to the lodge for a full breakfast and proceed to Bwindi Impenetrable National park with an en-route game drive. The journey takes you through beautiful views of Kigezi Hills, “the Switzerland of Africa”. Have a picnic lunch en-route and relax in the evening as you wait for dinner.
Day 4: Gorilla Trekking Adventure
After breakfast, transfer to the park headquarters (with a packed lunch and water) for a briefing, before setting off to the forest in search of the gorillas. The time taken searching for these humble giant apes is unpredictable. However, it ranges between 2-8 hours depending on their movement. The activity goes through steep rocks, winding up and down, making it tiresome. However, the thrill of encountering these giant primates far outweighs this drawback.
Day 5: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth N/P Thru Ishasha Sector
Have an early breakfast, then depart for Queen Elizabeth National Park. Enjoy lots of game viewing en-route, including the tree-climbing lions in the Ishasha sector. Check in at the lodge, have lunch and later go for an evening game drive to see animals like buffalo, lion, herds of elephant, bushbuck, bush pig, warthog, waterbuck and many more.
Day 6: Morning Game Drive & Afternoon Boat Safari on Kazinga Channel
After a cup of tea or coffee, go on a game drive and catch up with the early risers and predators heading back to their hideouts. Return for a full breakfast at the lodge, then relax as we wait for lunch. In the afternoon, go for a launch cruise on the Kazinga Channel. It is famous for the highest concentration of hippos in Africa, alongside other animals like buffaloes, and huge crocodiles basking on the shores, as well as 611 bird species.
Day 7: Transfer to Kibale national park
Have breakfast and transfer to Kibale National Park through the craters along the way, amidst the great “Mountain of the Moon” (the Rwenzori mountains), offering you beautiful sceneries. Have your lunch en-route, then proceed for a guided nature walk in bigodi swamp wetland where you will spot birds, olive baboons, bush babies, and sitatunga among other wildlife species.
Day 8: Chimpanzee trekking at kibale national park
After breakfast, you will transfer to the park offices in kanyanchu visitors center for briefing and then set out for chimpanzee trekking through the dense forest. 1 hour is given to visitors when they encounter face to face with the chimpanzees. Besides chimpanzees, other primate species can be spotted like the red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, black, L’Hoest’s monkeys, and white colobus monkeys. Also, there are African elephants, antelopes, and Cape buffaloes. From there, you’ll head back to the lodge for lunch and some relaxation. After the chimpanzee trekking, you will go back to your lodge for relaxation in the afternoon and evening.
Day 9: Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park
Have breakfast and then proceed to Murchison Falls National Park. You will arrive in the afternoon, in time for lunch. Drive directly to the top of the falls from where the park derives its name. Here, you will see the calm Nile forcing itself through a narrow gorge of 7 meters wide to fall a distance of about 150 ft down, producing a thunderous roar of whitewater – incredible scenery. Have an evening game drive as your proceed to your lodge.
Day 10: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Safari
Have a cup of tea or coffee, then go on a game drive before dawn to catch up with the predators and early risers. Expect to see animals such as jackals, lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, giraffes, antelopes, elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs and many more. You will return from the game drive for a late breakfast and lunch. In the afternoon, you will go for a boat ride on the Victoria Nile. The boat trip will take you to the bottom of the falls where you will view animals like buffaloes, hippos, crocodiles, elephants and plenty of waterbirds like fish eagles and rare shoebills, etc. Return to the Lodge in the evening with a short game drive.
Day 11: Rhino Tracking and Transfer to Entebbe
Wake up early and enjoy breakfast before proceeding to Entebbe international airport. You will have a stopover at the Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary to view some of the rhinos. The Rhino Tracking experience takes from 1 hour to 2 hours depending on where you will find the Rhinos. You will drive back to Entebbe. Depending on your departure time, the guide will either drop you off at the airport for your departure flight, or at the hotel for your stay.
