Safari Overview
Highlights for this tour is the African BIG 5 namely Rhino, Elephant, Cape Buffaloe, Lion and Leopard among others as well as the boat ride along the Nile river to the source of the Nile, to the bottom of the falls as well as along the Kazinga channel. Destinations to be visited is Jinja town (source of Nile and sunset cruise), the Ziwa rhino sanctuary for a nature walk to visit the rhinos, Murchison falls, Queen Elizabeth and Lake Mburo National Park primarily to experience wild Uganda. In between the destinations, you experience some of Uganda’s rich cultural heritage, enjoy the scenic environments (explosion craters – foothills of Mt Rwenzori), do some nature walks – chimpanzee tracking and numerous game drives among others.
Day by Day Safari Program
Day 1: DD MM YY – Head to Murchison Falls game park
You will be met by our safari representative who will be your companion throughout the safari. The safari starts with a scenic drive northward to Murchison falls game park. Enroute, you will stop over at the Ziwa Rhino sanctuary for a guided nature walk to visit some of the only remaining White rhinos surviving in Uganda. Thereafter, proceed to Murchison falls game park where you will do a short evening game drive before checking into the lodge. Dinner and overnight at your preferred Lodge.
Day 2: DD MM YY – AM game drive, PM boat cruise
This will be quite a busy day as the entire day is spent exploring the game park for amazing sightings. It sets off with an early morning game drive and afternoon boat adventure along the Nile river which breathes life into the wild. This is the long-awaited day. Expected sightings include lion, leopard, giraffe, kob, buffaloe, elephant, waterbuck, bushbuck, jackson’s hartebeest, oribi, baboon, monkey, crocodile, monitor lizards, warthog, etc the list is almost inconclusive as this game park is so rich with wild game for the most part of the morning hours before the sunshine intensifies.
Later that afternoon, you go for a boat ride along the Nile river where you get to see life birthed into the living wild. During the 3 hours boat tour, you get to see large schools of hippo, buffalos and elephants cooling off the unforgiving sun, crocodile, monitor lizards, and various species of birds basking and lavishing in praise. On completing the boat ride, take the drive back to your hotel. Dinner and overnight at your preferred Lodge.
Day 3: DD MM YY–Transfer to kibale forest
This will be quite a long but enjoyable scenic drive as you move through the country side to fortportal town for the night. Along the way, you get to appreciate the significantly rich beauty of Uganda with lots of agricultural activities being carried out by the indigenous people. Lots of large field farms, tea and sugarcane plantations etc. On arrival in fort portal, visit the fascinating Amabere caves that forms part of the rich cultural heritage of some of the Ugandan people. Dinner and overnight at your preferred Lodge.
Day 4: DD MM YY – Chimpanzee tracking and bigodi swamp walk
A good part of this day is spent in the Kibale forest, famous for the highest concentration and variety of primates in Africa. With 13 primate species, viewing here is fantastic. Look out for L’Hoest’s monkeys, red colobus, black-and-white colobus, red-tailed monkeys and grey-cheeked mangabeys. Our main activity however is chimpanzee habituation experience which will take you up close into the secret life of wild chimpanzees for up to at least 4 hours in their presence. Later that afternoon, you embark on an interesting swamp / cultural walk primarily to experience nature within the community. During this activity, you get to enjoy some of the beautiful birds and other primates living in the swamps. You also get to enjoy the feel of nature. When done with the swamp walk, you proceed for experience the community life of the native people. Dinner and overnight at your preferred Lodge.
Day 5: DD MM YY – Transfer to Queen Elizabeth game park
Right after breakfast, embark on a scenic drive through the craters of the region at the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains. This will take you through the beautiful green villages all the way to the top of the world where you have a magnificent view of the vast section of the region. Proceed to Queen Elizabeth park through the explosion crater rich section. This will be one of your most memorable experiences ever. Thereafter, embark on an evening boat ride along the kazinga channel for a rich experience of aquatic life primarily hippo, crocodile, monitor lizard, water bufaloe, and occasionally elephants plus various species of birds. Dinner and overnight at your preferred Lodge.
Day 6: DD MM YY – AM game drive, PM boat ride
Day starts off with an extremely early morning sumptuous breakfast before heading out to the wild in search of some wild game. During the amazing game drive, some expected sightings include the lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, warthog, giant forest hog, kob, waterbuck, etc. Other sightings will include different bird species such as the vultures, eagles, swallows, jacana, goose, etc. When done with the game drive, visit one of the salt lakes for a great experience of salt mining and how it is done ‘locally’. Thereafter, return to your hotel and relax before proceeding for an interesting evening boat ride along the kazinga channel. Dinner and overnight at your preferred Lodge.
Day 7: DD MM YY –Transfer to Bwindi forest
Today we start the journey to the home of the gentle giants of Bwindi. This fulfilling journey takes us through the Kigezi highlands with great scenery of terraced hills. Lunch will be along the way or at the lodge depending on time of arrival. Your lodge is in or adjusts to the impenetrable forest. It will offer you great resting as you prepare for the next day’s trek. Dinner and overnight at your preferred Lodge.
Day 8: DD MM YY – Gorilla Trekking
The highlight of your safari will be meeting the gentle giants of Bwindi National Park! Enjoy the fullness of the impenetrable forest abounding with life, host to several species of birds, butterflies, primates, mammals. Eventually with help of your guide who is also a park ranger, you will find yourself face to face with the enormous and rare mountain gorillas. The trekking experience takes anything from two hour (rarely) to about 8 hours to accomplish. However, you only have one hour with gorillas to capture your finest moment. When done with the gorilla tracking, proceed to bunyonyi for the night. Dinner and overnight at your preferred Lodge.
Day 9: DD MM YY – Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park
After breakfast, embark on scenic boat safari on Lake Bunyonyi as you enjoy the magnificent beauty of the surrounding environment with its rich cultural heritage kept in secret on some of the multiple islands dotted around the lake. This will be so refreshing as well as educative to a very large extent. After your boat safari, engage on a road trip to check in to the smallest savannah national park that is blessed with quite a lot of natural biodiversity of wilderness. Upon checking in, you will engage in an evening game drive where you will have the possibility of finding some game like the giraffe, zebra, impala, eland, and warthog among others. On a lucky day, you may chance on finding leopard as this game park is well renowned for a high population of leopard sighting. After enjoying your game drive, you retire to your hotel for the night. Dinner and overnight at your preferred Lodge.
Day 10: DD MM YY – Morning nature walk, transfer to Entebbe
This will be another interesting day as you will engage in a wild nature walk with an armed ranger as you explore a given portion of the game park on foot. This will bring you up close to some of your favorite game like the impala, giraffe, zebra and others. You may consider this as an epic moment for selfie lovers with the untamed wild live in the back ground.
After enjoying a good portion of your morning wild walk, you embark on your safari to Entebbe airport to catch your flight. Enroute, you will have a stopover at the equator for some photo shoot moments as well as a chance to buy some souvenirs.