The Grand Wildlife Tour of Uganda

Arrive Entebbe. Met on arrival and transfer to your hotel.

Morning pick up by your private safari guide in a specially equipped 4x4 Land Cruiser with pop up roof, charging sockets, WiFi and a fridge stocked with fruit, snacks and soft drinks. Drive (approx. 60 minutes) to the Mabamba Wetland for a boat trip in search of waterbirds and other wildlife. This will be your first opportunity to spot the bizarre-looking shoebill stork, one of Uganda’s most iconic birds and a mega-tick for ornithologists. Return to your vehicle and drive (approx. 5 hours) to the Lake Mburo National Park.

Small and often overlooked, Lake Mburo National Park lacks some of the “wow” factor of the bigger parks, having no lions or elephants. However, the lack of large, potentially dangerous game provides opportunities for walking, riding and cycling within the park. There are a number of species not found elsewhere in Uganda such as zebra, eland and impala. Mburo is also one of the best parks for leopard and hyena, although sightings are often nocturnal. Birding highlights include African fish eagle, African finfoot, white-backed heron and large numbers of malachite kingfishers. Enjoy a late afternoon game drive and a searchlight night drive back to the lodge.

Enjoy an early morning game drive in the Lake Mburo National Park, or upgrade to a walking or horse safari for small additional charge. Afternoon game drive. Dinner at the lodge followed by a night drive.

Early morning game drive (or walking/horse safari). Breakfast at your lodge then drive (approx. 6 hours with picnic lunch) to the Buhoma section of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Rest of day free to relax and acclimatise.

Morning gorilla tracking in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. This is one of the oldest and most biologically diverse forests in Africa, containing over 400 species of plant, 350 species of bird and 120 species of mammal including forest elephant, antelopes and baboons. However, there is one mammal everyone comes here to see: the mountain gorilla. Bwindi holds the world’s largest surviving population of the great apes which are dispersed in several family groups, eleven having been habituated to accept human visits.

There are four main starting points for the Bwindi trekking. You will begin at Buhoma where there are three main groups: Rushegura, Habinyanja and Mubare (the first group to be habituated in Uganda). Arrive at the park by 8am to be registered and shown a video about gorilla conservation and the rules of tracking. You will be assigned to a group and begin your trek. Groups will be allocated according to participants’ fitness and the approximate location of the gorillas.

There is usually a short drive to the trek starting point where you will have a chance to prepare yourself and hire a porter – porters are not essential but we recommend one. Not only do they carry your bags but also lend a hand (literally) on steeper sections of the trip, and the fee of around $20 provides much needed income for them and their families.

Treks typically start with a steep walk up mountain paths into the forest, usually taking one to three hours depending on the route and overall fitness of the party. Then it’s a scramble through the vegetation to your gorilla group, usually across flatter terrain. You will often be hacking through very dense foliage (it’s not called “impenetrable” for nothing) so it’s best to have both hands free and wear thick gardening gloves for the thorns and stinging plants.

When you finally reach your gorilla group (often after another hour or so) you will have a chance to rest, collect your thoughts (and your camera) before walking the final few metres to the great apes. You will then be given an hour to observe and photograph the group. The time will fly by so make sure you have plenty of space on your memory card, a fully charged battery and your flash switched off as no flash photography is allowed. You are expected to keep a respectful distance or around seven metres from the animals. Of course, you should not even begin the trek if suffering from any sort of illness in order to protect the health of the gorillas.

After an unforgettable hour you will retrace your steps to the vehicle and return to the lodge. The total length of the trek can be anything from three to eight hours depending on the group tracked and the fitness of your party. Bring plenty of water, snacks, sun cream, hat and raingear with you.

After lunch there will be a free afternoon to rest and relax or, if you have the energy, visit a nearby Batwa (pygmy) tribe or enjoy a forest walk to spot some of the other wildlife found in Bwindi.

Breakfast at your lodge then drive (approx. 2 hours) to the Southern border of the Queen Elizabeth National Park. Enjoy a game drive through the Ishasha sector of the park. Ishasha is generally more forested, greener and less-visited than the northern part of the park. There are healthy numbers of elephant, buffalo, hippo and Uganda kob as well as black and white colobus monkey and other primates. It is also excellent for birding with grey crowned crane, nerina trogon and black bee-eater being particular highlights. However, Ishasha’s most famous inhabitants are the tree climbing lions. These are quite often sighted, especially in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon when they climb low-hanging fig trees in search of a cooling breeze. There is no off-road driving in the park, so some sightings can be distant. Lunch at the lodge, then enjoy an afternoon game drive.

Early breakfast, check out and then enjoy a final morning’s game drive in the southern Ishasha section of Queen Elizabeth National Park in the hope of finding tree-climbing lions and other wildlife. Continue north and check in to your next lodge for lunch. In the afternoon, go for a game drive in the northern section of the park. The park is flatter and more open in the north, perfect habitat for buffalo and lion. There are also large numbers of elephants in this part of the park.

Enjoy a morning shared boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel. The channel connects Lake George and Lake Edward and attracts big game to bathe and drink. Expect hippos, crocodiles, elephants and buffalo aplenty. The banks are also home to bee-eaters, kingfishers and other birdlife: there are over 600 species found there. Check out and drive north (with picnic lunch), stopping briefly at the dramatic Kyambura Gorge (or extend time there with chimpanzee tracking). Continue past beautiful volcanic crater lakes and exit the northern border of the park. Drive (approx. 2 hours) to the Semliki Wildlife Reserve. Check in to your new lodge then go for a game drive. Although carnivores are largely absent here, the forests and savannah of Semliki still provide excellent wildlife watching with large numbers of Ugandan kob, two endemic species of flying squirrel, buffalo and elephants of both the savannah and forest species. Bird highlights include the red-necked falcon, black-billed barbet and the Abyssinian ground-hornbill. Finish with a sundowner around a bush campfire before heading back to the lodge for dinner.

Enjoy a morning birding boat cruise on Lake Albert in search of shoebills and other wildlife, then an afternoon game drive for savannah species (which can be substituted for a savannah walking safari if preferred).

Morning walking safari (with armed guided) through the Semliki Forest to try to spot birds, primates and other wildlife. Primate highlights might include red-tailed monkey, vervet monkey, black and white colobus monkeys plus chimpanzees. If lucky, you might glimpse the rare forest elephants and buffalos that make Semliki their home.

Lunch at the lodge then drive (approx. 2 hours) to Kibale.

Depart before dawn for Kibale Forest National Park headquarters and check in for the morning chimpanzee trek. Bordering the Queen Elizabeth National park to the south, the Kibale protects Uganda’s largest expanse of intact forest containing more than 350 species of trees, 375 species of bird and 70 species of mammal including forest elephant, red and blue duikers, bushbuck, sitatunga, bush pig, giant forest hog, common warthog, buffalo, leopard and the occasional lion. The 13 species of primate include Uganda mangabey, Ugandan red colobus, L'Hoest's monkey, black-and-white colobus and blue monkey. It is also offers probably Africa’s best chimpanzee trekking with over 120 individuals within the main habituated community, divided into various sub-groups. After a short briefing, you will be split into parties of eight people and spend the morning tracking one of the chimpanzee groups with an armed ranger, usually starting where the group was seen the previous day. If lucky, the group will be vocalising so you are able to follow their distinctive whoops and calls to find the apes. If not, the ranger will need to use his tracking skills to follow the trail of broken vegetation and dropped fruit which leads to the group. This can sometimes take a little time and may involve plenty of walking through thick forest. Once found, however, you will enjoy an unforgettable hour experiencing chimpanzee behaviour and social interaction before returning to the park HQ and your lodge for lunch.

In the afternoon, have a walk in the Bigodi Wetlands for smaller primates found in the area and rich birdlife. A series of trails and boardwalks pass through farmland, forest and extensive areas of papyrus. Wildlife is dominated by birds including blue turaco, papyrus gonolek, hornbill, waxbill, weaver, cuckoo, flycatcher and a number of kingfisher species. There are also eight species of primate there, including black and white colobus, red colobus, mangabey, red tail, vervet, and L’Hoest monkeys.

Depart early for the long drive to the Murchison Falls National Park (approx. 8 hrs). Check in to the hotel and have the rest of the day at leisure.

Morning game drive in Murchison Falls National Park. At 3,893 square kilometres in size, this is Uganda’s largest national park and dominated by the Nile running roughly east to west and dividing the park in two. Here you can see large numbers of Rothschild's giraffe, elephant and buffalo. Specialities of the park include the Jackson’s hartebeest, the tiny oribi antelope and the Uganda kob – an antelope which forms large herds. Lion are seen quite regularly but leopard and spotted hyena less so. Primates include olive baboon, blue and red-tailed monkeys, black-and-white colobus plus the rare savanna-dwelling patas monkey. As well as waterbirds such as shoebill stork, goliath heron and grey crowned crane, there are many savannah species including the Abyssinian ground hornbill, Senegal thick-knee and Northern carmine bee-eater.

Afternoon boat trip to Murchison Falls following the Victoria Nile as it flows through the national park. As well as a large number of water birds, the river draws a large amount of game which comes to the river to drink and bathe. Expect hippos, elephants, buffalos and crocodiles. You will continue up the river to the spectacular Murchison Falls where the river hurtles down a seven metre chasm. Disembark from the boat for a fairly steep walk to the top of the falls observing the various cascades as you go. Return to your lodge in the evening.

Morning boat trip to the Nile delta to look for shoebills and other wildlife. Return to the lodge for lunch then enjoy a sunset game drive.

Pickup by private safari guide with specially equipped 4WD Land-cruiser with popup roof, charging sockets, WiFi and a fridge stocked with complimentary fruit, snacks and soft drinks. Drive (approx. 4hrs) to the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Setup to re-establish a wild rhino population since poaching in the 1970s decimated the last of the natural population, Ziwa now has a growing population of 22 white rhinos within its 7,000 hectare reserve. Other inhabitants include deer, monkeys and over 300 species of bird. Afternoon walking safari to spot white rhino. Night walk to see some of the nocturnal wildlife of the area.

A morning visit to the Lugogo Wetlands for birdwatching on foot and by boat. The reserve protects over 350 avian species including many raptors, turacos, a range of kingfishers, barbets and woodpeckers and is a prime location for shoebill stork. Return to the lodge for lunch then venture out to track white rhino on foot. Other sightings might include deer, further bird species and the local long-horned Ankole cows.

Check-out from lodge for long drive (approx. 7 hrs) with picnic lunch north to the Kidepo Valley National Park.

Morning and afternoon private game drives in the Kidepo Valley National Park. Located in Uganda’s remote north, Kidepo is bordered by South Sudan to the west and Kenya to the east. The park shares a similarly stunning landscape and wildlife to its Kenyan neighbour with rolling grass plains framed by distant hills and dotted with granite outcrops. Wildlife is dominated by traditional plains animals: huge herds of buffalo, giraffe, zebra, elephant and antelope, all stalked by healthy populations of lion, leopard and cheetah. Bird highlights include kori bustard, white-bellied go-away bird, Abyssinian roller, purple heron, Abyssinian ground hornbill, Clapperton’s francolin, Abyssinian scimitar bill, Jackson’s hornbill, African-pied hornbill and around 460 other species.

Morning and afternoon private game drives in the Kidepo Valley National Park. You can also choose to take a walking safari in place of one of your game drives.

Morning private game drive in the Kidepo Valley National Park. In the afternoon, you can choose another game drive or visit a nearby tribal community.

Final morning game drive in Kidepo. Take scheduled flight (Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays only) to Entebbe Airport. Visit nearby restaurant for dinner (included) then take evening flight home.