Itinerary for Best of Uganda wildlife and gorilla safari - Uganda Tour to gorillas, chimps and BIG-5 Wildlife in Murchison Falls National Park
Day 1: Drive to Murchison Falls National Park Safari & Track the White Rhinos at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
We start the safari from your hotel in Entebbe or Kampala at 07:00 am. If you are arriving on the same day as we start the tour, you need to arrive no later than 10 AM.
(We also help our clients on booking pre- and post-tour nights in Entebbe and Kampala, but this isn't included in your Uganda tour cost. Most hotels in Entebbe provide free Airport transfers from Entebbe. Please let us know when you need our help.)
On the tour start day, your guide will be at your hotel at 7 am or before. You go through the program and have a general briefing about your Uganda safari before embarking on the 3 hours' drive to Ziwa Rhinos Sanctuary. This is a generally beautiful scenic drive through some virgin African rural life.
At Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary you track the Rhinos, not just from a vehicle but up close – great opportunities for these fabulous animals – there is other wildlife to be found here, so keep your eyes open so you do not miss any and your guide will also point any other animals.
You are accompanied by rangers who take you within 10 meters of the Rhinos. You will most likely see other wildlife as you trek the rhinos such as antelopes, warthogs, and more. This sanctuary has now been established to breed black and white rhino and restore Rhino populations in Uganda's protected areas at a later stage. You are allowed 1 hour with the rhinos while the sanctuary keeper gives all the information, they can about them.
We will continue through the park stopping at the top of the falls which is a fantastic sight. Here the Nile, the longest river in the world, is forced through a narrow gap in the rock (only 7 meters wide), before ferociously plunging down 43 meters. From here we will continue onto our accommodation place along the Nile River
Murchison Falls National Park is the largest in Uganda at 3,840 square kilometers. Here is the awe-inspiring Murchison Falls where the River Nile hurls itself in convulsions through a narrow crevice and then plunges 40 meters in one breathtaking leap.
The park has a variety of vegetation ranging from riparian forests and swamplands to broad savannah and provides visitors the opportunity of seeing large concentrations of wildlife including lion, leopard, civet, hyena, elephant, giraffe, buffalo, hippo, crocodile, a host of smaller game, small primates and many bird species, including the rare shoebill stork. The park is especially famous for crocodiles and hippos.
Apart from game viewing, the launch trip to the bottom of the falls is another memorable adventure giving you the experience of the mighty Biblical Nile. On the launch, you may see schools of crocodiles and hippos basking on the riverbanks as well as a variety of birds.
Murchison Falls NP Accommodation options available
Up-market: Thatched cottage at Murchison River Lodge | Deluxe Room at Paraa Safari Lodge
Moderate: Pakuba Lodge or Fort Murchison Lodge
Low Budget: Fort Murchison Lodge (tents) | Murchison River Lodge (tents) | Red Chilli Rest Camp
Meals today: Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner only.
Driving time: ±4 hours
Day 2: Game drive safaris and boat trip in Murchison Falls National Park
It is highly advisable that you plan an early morning departure from the lodge today, somewhere not later than 6:30 am. We want to comb out all the thickets and bushes of Murchison Falls National Park in search of its prized wild game. The plan is to catch most of the big predators - the lions, hyenas, and leopards in hunting and feeding action and the best time for this is before the day gets warmer. Your guide is skilled in locating the best tracks on which they will be. On the game drive, you should also expect other more common hosts - the giraffe, herds of elephants, buffaloes, and many more.
There are really no limits as to how long this game drive will last. Your safari guide will try their best to cover as much as possible before returning to catch the afternoon boat trip to the bottom of Murchison Falls.
This boat trip along the calmer waters of the Nile is often cited as being the highlight of a safari in Murchison since it allows you to get up close and personal with the animals. Along this stretch of the river, there are reported to be around 4,000 hippos in addition to some enormous Nile crocodiles.
The birdlife is stunning with brightly colored kingfishers and bee-eaters darting along the riverbanks. If lucky, you may see the rare and prehistoric-looking shoebill, which is a cross between the dodo and a dinosaur. The boat takes you to the base of the falls which only adds to their impressiveness.
Accommodation options available
Up-market: Thatched cottage at Murchison River Lodge | Deluxe Room at Paraa Safari Lodge
Moderate: Pakuba Lodge | Fort Murchison Lodge | Murchison River Lodge
Low Budget: Fort Murchison Lodge (tents) | Murchison River Lodge (tents) | Red Chilli Rest Camp
Meals today: Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner only.
Day 3: Drive to Africa's Primate Capital - Kibale Forest National Park, (you can make a special request to fly from Murchison to Kibale).
Today we leave Murchison Falls National Park for Kibale Forest National Park via the Lake Albert escarpment, having a good view of the lake. The drive is famous for its views of the Great East African Rift Valley escarpments. We also shall be driving across the interesting river Nkusi (flowing from the southern end of Lake Albert, through the villages of Kagadi, joining Victoria Nile). Both rivers join Lake Kyoga and flow through the Murchison Falls continuing to Lake Albert and north to the Mediterranean Sea.
You arrive at Fort Portal, then, continue toward Kibale Forest, one of the great African rainforest research reserves. Years of study by scientists (who have cut a grid through the forest) have habituated many of its animals to human observers. This forest is famed for the variety of primates found here and it is a te
During the afternoon we have time to visit the scenic crater lakes region, checking out the superbly terraced tea estates. In the south of Fort Portal is the Kasenda Crater Lakes region. It sits on the rim of Lake Nyinambuga—the back of the main building looks down over the lake, while the other side of the lodge looks out over another lake in the distance and, further off, the Rwenzori Mountains, which were perpetually shrouded in the clouds, except early in the morning. There’s plenty to do in this area and we can also take an hour’s walk around Lake Nyinambuga.
Kibale Accommodation options available
Up-market: Ndali Lodge | Crater Safari Lodge| Primate Lodge Kibale
Moderate: Isunga Lodge | Chimpanzee Forest Lodge (in the en-suite cottage) | Kibale Forest Camp (ensuite rooms) | Turaco Treetops Lodge
Low Budget: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge | Kibale Forest Camp (tents)
Meals today: Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner only.
Driving time: ±5 hours
Day 4: Chimpanzee Tracking in Kibale Forest National Park & Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary
Your safari guide will be meeting you at your accommodation for the transfer to Kibale Park offices for the chimpanzee tracking experience. At the park office, you shall be briefed about the chimpanzees and other primates in the forest. You will also be guided on how you need to conduct yourself while tracking the chimpanzees in the forest. After all this, it is time to trek into the jungles in search of the chimps. The walk, in general, requires only moderate physical fitness and most guests can easily manage without much hustle. We shall be trekking for about 2 hours or so before encountering the first signs of the chimpanzee troupes in this forest. You should hear them by their distinctively loud pant-hooting in the canopies of the forest.
When we eventually get very close, you should be able to see the chimpanzees playing in the tree canopies. Some will be on the forest floor feeding on the undergrowth vegetation. You will be allowed 1 hour with them, to take photographs and have all your questions answered by the park rangers.
The ranger guides will then be requesting you to start preparing to leave. As you trek from the chimpanzees, be on the lookout for the other primates in Kibale like the black and white colobus monkeys, L’Hoest monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabey, red-tailed monkeys, bush babies, and pottos. If you are curious about the birds, you might be able to spot the yellow-spotted nicator, rumped tinker bird, little greenbul, green-breasted pitta, the crowned eagle, and black bee-eater among others. Your chimps trek rangers will exercise plenty of caution as you walk to dodge direct encounters with the fierce elephants in Kibale.
In the afternoon we visit a nearby Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary that is excellent for viewing primates and other forest animals. Bigodi is located on the eastern edge of the Kibale forest and is maintained by the local community. You might spot birds like the great blue turaco, blue monkeys, baboons, otters, mongoose, bushbucks, bush pigs, and others.
Kibale Accommodation options available (all on a full board basis)
Up-market: Ndali Lodge | Crater Safari Lodge| Primate Lodge Kibale
Moderate: Isunga Lodge | Chimpanzee Forest Lodge (in the en-suite cottage) | Kibale Forest Camp (ensuite rooms) | Turaco Treetops Lodge
Low Budget: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge | Kibale Forest Camp (tents)
Meals today: Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner only.
Driving time: ±30 minutes
Day 5: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Today we depart from Kibale to the jungles of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park where we shall be having the gorilla tracking experience. The drive is not less than 5 hours but traverses remarkably beautiful tropical savannah plains with herds of wildlife grazing along the way.
We shall be arriving in Bwindi late in the afternoon and you can spend the rest of the day resting and preparing for the next day's adventure to the gorillas.
Bwindi Accommodation options available (all on a full board basis)
Up-market: Buhoma Lodge | Mahogany Lodge| Four Gorillas Lodge | Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge
Moderate: Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge | Lake Mulehe Lodge
Low Budget: Rushaga Gorilla Havens | Gorilla Conservation Camp| Ruhija Gorilla Friends Camp
Meals today: Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner only.
Driving time: ±6 hours
Day 6: Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Tracking the gorillas in Bwindi is a highlight for most tourists on safari in Uganda. There are only 1065 mountain gorillas alive on earth and of these, over 50% live in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorillas National Park. That is one reason why being one of the few humans to come face-to-face with a family of mountain gorillas in their wild home is a truly special event in one's lifetime.
Your driver shall be at your accommodation to pick you up for this special day's adventures. Gorilla trekking starts with a briefing exercise done at the Bwindi Park offices (normally very close to your accommodation). The pre-trek briefing starts at about 8 am and it is mandatory for everyone tracking the gorillas to attend. Here you will be given more information about the mountain gorillas' conservation and ecology, and how to conduct yourself while tracking the gorillas. Afterward, you will be allocated a gorilla group to which you will be visiting.
Most trailheads to the gorillas will be located a few minutes' drive from the park office but some treks just commence right there. Either way, expect to trek for about 2-3 hours in the thick jungles before meeting the gorillas. Once you meet them, the rangers will allow you to up to 6 meters close while guiding you to the best spots to photograph the gorillas. You will be allowed 1 hour with the gorillas and then it will be time to descend back to camp.
Bwindi Accommodation options available (all on a full board basis)
Up-market: Buhoma Lodge | Mahogany Lodge| Four Gorillas Lodge | Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge
Moderate: Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge | Lake Mulehe Lodge
Low Budget: Rushaga Gorilla Havens | Gorilla Conservation Camp| Ruhija Gorilla Friends Camp
Meals today: Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner only.
Driving time: ±30 minutes.
Day 7: Return to Entebbe (daily flights also available to Entebbe).
Today is our last day of the Uganda Wildlife and Gorilla Safari. We shall prepare to leave the mountain gorillas' jungles early in the morning for our ±7 hours' drive back to Entebbe airport.
The drive traverses the grassed and terraced escarpments of southwestern Uganda while taking in the breathtaking sights of the hills of the region dubbed ‘the little Switzerland of Africa’. This area is a highly fertile, mountainous region with steep-sided hills covered from top to bottom in neatly terraced cultivated rows.
Another remarkable highlight of this journey is the Equator line and surely you will cross it as we have a brief stop here.
We will be in Entebbe in the evening before your flight back home.
Meals today: Breakfast & Lunch only.
Driving distance: ±7 hours to Entebbe.
