This small group wildlife-watching tour has been specially designed to maximise opportunities to enjoy the astonishing diversity of Uganda’s remarkable fauna, with options to track gorillas in Bwindi and chimpanzees at Kibale.
The landlocked country of Uganda has almost everything you could ever want in a wildlife destination. The habitats vary considerably between the extremes of the misty, undulating montane forest and the wide open plains of the savannah, resulting in an incredible diversity and abundance of wildlife. From the tree-climbing lions at Ishasha and the white rhino of Ziwa to the chimpanzees at Kibale and the mountain gorillas of Bwindi, what more could a wildlife enthusiast want?
Typical Itinerary
Day1: Depart UK
Depart the UK on an overnight flight to Entebbe, normally via Dubai.
Day2: Arrive Entebbe
On arrival in Uganda, we meet our local leader at Entebbe Airport and transfer the short distance to our hotel. The remainder of today is at leisure.
Accommodation: Protea Hotel Entebbe, 1-night
Days3-4: Murchison Falls National Park
Today we depart for one of the most beautiful protected areas in Uganda – Murchison Falls National Park. The drive from Entebbe to the park will take the majority of the day, however there will be stops en-route to break the journey, including a visit to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, home to the only wild southern white rhinos in Uganda.
On our full day in the park we start the day with an early breakfast before setting out on a vehicle safari on the northern bank of the River Nile. During our drive we will be on the lookout for Rothschild giraffe, elephant, lion, Jackson hartebeest, oribi, and waterbuck, alongside a variety of bird species, including such highlights as black scimitarbill, martial eagle and dark chanting goshawk. If we are very lucky we may even see an elusive leopard.
Later this afternoon we enjoy a Nile boat cruise to the base of the waterfalls for further wildlife viewing at close quarters. After the cruise, we disembark the boat at the bottom of the falls and hike to the top where we are rewarded with incredible views of the Nile.
Accommodation: Paraa Safari Lodge, 2-nights
Days5-6: Kibale Forest National Park
We spend much of the day travelling as we drive south towards Fort Portal, continuing onto Kibale Forest National Park, arriving at our lodge in time for dinner.
Our first morning in the park provides an opportunity for a sensational chimpanzee tracking experience. Note: this is an optional activity; if you would like to track the chimps, please let us know at the time of booking and we can organise your permit.
Starting with a pre-tracking briefing, we head to the trailhead for the start of an unforgettable adventure – hiking in the footsteps of a habituated family of chimpanzees. Once we sight the chimpanzees, we have an hour to spend with them observing their daily life – feeding, grooming, nursing their young, howling and screeching, all within their natural habitat.
We return to the lodge for lunch before enjoying a guided nature walk through Bigodi wetland. The ‘Bigodi Swamp Walk’ is an initiative of the local community and is known for its rich diversity of birds and primates.
After an early breakfast, we set of on our drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park, during which we will be rewarded with scenic views of crater lakes and the surrounding rolling hills. We arrive at the park in time to enjoy an afternoon safari drive.
The next day we spend the morning searching both the Mweya and Kasenyi Plains areas for lions and the elusive leopard. In the afternoon, we enjoy a scenic boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel, which links Lake Edward and Lake George. The two hour cruise from Mweya provides us with an excellent opportunity for wildlife sightings including large herds of hippo, Nile crocodile, African buffalo, African elephant and a multitude of birds as well as numerous other plains wildlife that comes to drink at the waters edge during the day. After our cruise, we return to our lodge for dinner.
Accommodation: Elephant Plains Lodge, 2-nights.
Day9: Ishasha
Today we remain in Queen Elizabeth National Park, but to maximise our experience of the national park we drive southwards to the Ishasha area, aiming to arrive in time for an afternoon drive in search of lions, possibly resting in the fig trees.
This morning we have time to enjoy more of the Ishasha area of Queen Elizabeth National Park, starting our day with a morning safari drive. We will exit the park to start our journey to Bwindi by continuing through Ishasha for a final look for the tree climbing lions, before continuing southwards to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Our full day in Bwindi provides an opportunity for an unforgettable gorilla trekking experience. Note: this is an optional activity; if you would like to trek to see the gorilla, please let us know at the time of booking and we can organise your permit.
After breakfast we transfer to the park offices for a briefing with our trekking guide before driving to the trailhead for the start of our thrilling adventure. Depending on the whereabouts of the gorilla family that we have been assigned to visit, the trek can involve walking long distances in steep and sometimes muddy conditions. Upon sighting the gorillas, we spend one hour with them as they go about their daily life; feeding, moving, and generally playing around with the juveniles sometimes wrestling with one another. It is a truly unique and unforgettable experience.
After hiking back to base, we transfer back to the lodge and the rest of the day is left at leisure.
Leaving Bwindi, we drive eastwards to our final national park of the tour – Lake Mburo. Despite it being Uganda’s smallest national park, Lake Mburo offers amazing scenery with five lakes surrounded by forested hills, open savannah, acacia woodland and papyrus swamps.
As we enter the national park, we enjoy a safari drive to our accommodation looking out for impala, zebra, and Africa’s largest antelope species, the eland. Later this afternoon we join a boat cruise along the lake, this provides us with an excellent opportunity to watch for the 300+ species of birds that have been recorded in the national park, whilst also scanning for any wildlife coming to drink at the lake’s edge.
Our final day in Uganda sees us rise early as we embark on a bush walk guided by a local ranger. A safari on foot allows you to notice the smaller, often overlooked details and can bring you much closer to the wildlife than being in a vehicle.
Next, we visit Mabamba Swamp and our best chance of spotting the elusive shoebill stork. This species is named after its uniquely-shaped bill which allows this bird to catch relatively large prey, such as lungfish, young crocodiles and turtles. Shoebill storks can be secretive birds so we will spend time at Mabamba to try and spot these curious avian creatures. We then continue to Entebbe for our overnight flight back to the UK.
Day14: Arrive UK
Please note: Chimpanzee tracking permits and gorilla trekking permits are not included in the cost of the trip. These permits are priced separately as the prices are subject to change. Please contact a member of our team so that we can organise the permits for you as soon as possible.
Key info
Duration and price including flights from/to UK: 14 daysfrom £6,795 pp
Duration and price excluding international flights: 12 daysfrom £6,195 pp
Murchison Falls National Park is renowned for its scenic beauty and abundant flora and fauna including the fascinating, endangered shoebill. Bisected by the meandering Victoria Nile, the river plummets through a narrow cleft in the rocks, resulting in the thundering raw of the powerful Falls.
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Where: Masindi District, Uganda
Ideal for viewing: chimpanzee, Nile crocodile, Rothschild’s giraffe, shoebill, Ugandan kob
Lying east of the Ruwenzori Mountains, this forest habitat is home to an amazing 13 species of primate. Tracking a noisy chimpanzee family is a thrilling experience, and the sheer wealth of wildlife will delight naturalists. The birdlife is also outstanding. We recommend an overnight stay here to maximise viewing.
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Where: Kamwenge District
Ideal for viewing: chimpanzee, grey-cheeked mangabey, L’Hoest’s monkey, red colobus monkey, bushpig
Queen Elizabeth National Park offers Uganda’s best open-country birds (over 600 species) and wildlife (over 100 mammals). Often described as “The Pearl of Africa”, it has rolling grassland, tropical forest, volcanic crater lakes, papyrus swamp and lakeshore, giving it one of the highest biodiversity rates in the world.
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Where: Kasese District
Ideal for viewing: black bee-eater, chimpanzee, giant forest hog, red-tailed colobus, Ugandan kob
Excellent for: Walking safaris, Vehicle safaris, River safaris
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has an exceptional range of altitude and is one of Africa’s most extensive belts of primary montane forest. Although there is a fine array of birdlife, the prime attraction is its mountain gorillas (over 300), and four family groups have been habituated to allow human approach.
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Where: Kanungu District
Ideal for viewing: chimpanzee, golden monkey, grey-cheeked mangabey, L’Hoest’s monkey, mountain gorilla
Lake Mburo is a small, attractive park of rolling hills, grassland and a large papyrus-fringed lake. Effectively an extension of the Tanzanian plains, it has almost 70 species of mammal and good density of plains game. Once covered by open savannah, it contains much woodland and forms part of a 50 kilometre-long wetland.
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This lodge is situated within Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and less than five minutes walk from the start point of the gorilla trekking. It comprises eight comfortable cottages, each with its own private verandah, which affords wonderful views of the surrounding forest canopy.
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In the remote southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park on the Ntungwe River, the luxurious Ishasha Wilderness Camp accommodates guests in ten well-appointed en suite tents. On a clear day you can see the Virunga Volcanoes lying to the south, and the Rwenzori Mountains to the north.
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This exclusive eco-lodge stands in a secluded position in the lush Kibale Forest, home to 13 species of primate including chimpanzees. Nine luxury safari tents on raised wooden platforms are covered by thatch to blend perfectly with the environment, and there is also an opportunity to stay in a tree house.
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