Overview
Take part in this 11 Days Uganda Wildlife safari where you will have high chances of spotting the big five animals through participating in different activities like game drives, boat cruises, ballooning safaris among others. Also, you will discover the big primates of the world which - Chimpanzees and Gorillas, take part in cultural tours where you will be able to visit the Batwa community of Bwindi National Park and Bakiga together with the Batooro in Isunga Community near Kibale National Park. Other activities will be top of the falls viewing, Uganda equator viewing, chimpanzee tracking, gorilla trekking, nature walks among others.
Detailed itinerary
Arrive and the driver guide will be at Entebbe International Airport ready to welcome. He takes you through the briefing about this safari and expectations to meet, this will be followed by acquiring some necessities that you will use while on this safari. You will after transfer to the hotel in Kampala where you will spend a night.
Transfer to the largest national park in Uganda, Murchison falls national park with two unique vegetation types - savannah in the North and woodland forests in the south bisected by the mighty Nile River. This park hosts 4 of the big five animals and therefore, the rhinos are not in this national park.
You will have a stopover while on your way to be able to trek the rhinos at Ziwa Rhino sanctuary. This will take about 3 hours including lunch break and after, proceed and find your way to Murchison falls national park.
Take a great adventure of flying around the savannah grassland using a hot air balloon. This will be accompanied by a game drive through the park spotting different animals and having an aerial view of the savannah plains. The different animals will be viewed such as lions, giraffes, elephants, buffalos, antelopes like the Bushbucks, waterbucks among others.
At the end of this experience, you will be rewarded with a bottle of champagne or a cup of coffee for those who don't take alcoholic drinks. In the afternoon, you will take a boat cruise that takes on the Nile River hence being able to spot different animals like Nile crocodiles, hippos among others and have a chance to view the prominent waterfall - Murchison falls.
You have breakfast on this day and then drive to the top of falls where you will witness the rainbow forming when powerful water passes through a small cauldron. Have a wonderful moment and then transfer to Kibale national park where you will be able to spot different primates including chimpanzees.
The park hosts 13 primates such as olive baboons, black and white colobus monkeys, L'Hoest's monkeys, vervet monkeys among others. On arrival, you will visit Isunga Cultural Community Tours take a tea plantation and coffee tour experience that will take about 2 to 3 hours.
Head to Kibale forest in Kanyanchu visitor's center where you will receive a briefing and all the required information about trekking. Join another trekker with a help of the park ranger guide and enter the forest following one trail to search for these primates. On meeting them, you will take photos and record memorable videos about the lifestyle of these primates for an hour, and after the trek back to offices where you will be rewarded with a certificate. The total trekking hours can be 2 to 4 depending on the location where you find these primates.
Head back to the lodge for lunch and after, you will visit Isunga Community a local initiative that offers a great range of activities or experiences. Here, you have different options you can choose traditional dances, visit cultural sites like the healing cold springs, taking a cultural community walking trail among others.
Have a leisurely breakfast and then transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park which is the second biggest national park after Murchison falls national park. This road trip offers a great viewpoint of the crater lakes, mountain Rwenzori ranges, and beautiful scenery.
Arrive and be served with your lunch followed by taking a boat cruise on the Kazinga channel where different wild animals will be spotted like crocodiles, hippos, elephants among others. You will check in a book after a 2 hours experience on the waters of the Kazinga channel.
Find the way to Bwindi national park as you pass through the Ishasha sector during a morning game drive. You will be searching for the tree-climbing lions that are normally resting in the tree branches after feeding. The rare tree-climbing lions can also be found in Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania but these of Queen Elizabeth give a great adventure.
Proceed to Bwindi national park the home of the rare mountain gorillas. This park has 19 habituated gorilla families that offer a great gorilla trekking experience. You will arrive and check in the booked safari lodge and this will be the end of the day.
You will be served breakfast followed by a drive to the park headquarters where you will receive information about the forest, gorillas, and the guidelines that you will follow while trekking. Trekking takes about 3 to 4 hours but an hour will be dedicated to you while in the presence of these endangered mountain gorillas that will create a memorable experience.
While you are not allowed to make noise, feed in their presence, not use the flashlight cameras among others. After the trek, you will head back to the lodge, and immediately after lunch, visit the Batwa community where you will be able to experience the African culture through dances and music.
Have your breakfast and start a journey to the smallest savannah national park in the country and this is none other than Lake Mburo national park. It’s located near the highway that connects to Kampala from Mbarara. It is the nearest national park from Kampala city, which means that you can visit the park for a day while you are staying in Kampala.
The park holds a compact gem with over 300 bird species, 68 mammal species, and dotted with over 12 lakes, Lake Mburo being the biggest stretching for 50km long wetland system offering an opportunity for scenery viewing. You will arrive after a stop at Mbarara for lunch and tour the Igongo Cultural Centre museum.
Have an early morning game drive in the park premises where you will meet the different animals like the impalas, zebras, warthogs, topi, eland, bushbuck, buffalo, warthog, leopard, hyena, and jackal among others. It's not a guarantee that all animals will be spotted due to nature but there are high chances of spotting these animals. The game drive lasts for two hours with the guidance of an expert park ranger guide who will take you to the best spotting points in the park that will create a memorable experience.
Have breakfast and then transfer to Kampala with a stopover at the Uganda equator for photography and souvenir purchase. Be dropped at the airport or hotel and this will mark the end of the 11 days Uganda wildlife safari.