13 Day Magical Uganda Safari Adventure

Day 1: Welcome to Uganda!

Your driver/guide will pick you up from Entebbe airport and transfers you to your hotel for the night, only a 10 minute drive from the airport.  Depending on the time of your arrival, you might be able to explore the area. There are many options in Entebbe that can be easily organized before or after your arrival in Uganda. For example a visit to the Botanical gardens, the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre (Zoo) or a sunset boat cruise on Lake Victoria, the largest fresh water lake in Africa. Please ask our travel specialists if you would like us to book any of these trips for you.

Over night: Protea Skyz Hotel
Meal Plan: Dinner

Day 2: To Murchison Falls national park

Your journey in Uganda will begin with one of the oldest conservation areas in the country; Murchison Falls National Park.  Enroute , you will stop over at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary where you will go for a walking safari to the rhinos together with an experienced ranger. This is a wonderful opportunity to see the endangered rhinos from up close!

After your walk, you will have lunch and then proceed to Murchison Falls National park where you will check in to your hotel in time for dinner and overnight. Your accommodation will add to the safari experience as you will be spending your nights in en-suite furnished safari cottages set by the Nile. There is nothing quite as exciting as your first night falling asleep to the sound of active wildlife around you. If you listen carefully you will hear the hippos serenading you to sleep with their charming laugh-like grunts.

Over night: Nile Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Day 3: Murchison Falls National Park

It is time to explore the park. As this is a private game drive you can ask your guide to tailor your trip towards specific birdlife and/or wildlife if you like.

The park is especially known for its massive elephant population, wide array of bird species and big herds of buffalo. Giraffes, lions, antelope and waterbucks can also be spotted here. While driving through the park you will come eye-to-eye with the African animal kingdom. Hopefully you see them all; elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, lions, leopards, different species of antelope and many tropical birds. They are all there! You will discover some of the parks ecosystems and different scenery with dense woodland, extensive savannahs and rolling grasslands.

Return to the hotel after the game drive to freshen up and have lunch.

After lunch your driver will take you to the starting point of your afternoon boat safari. This boat safari towards the Murchison Falls is a very special activity,  goes along the Victoria Nile to the base of the Falls for breathtaking scenery.

Return to your Lodge for dinner and over night

Over night: Nile Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Day 4 &5 :  Kibale Forest National Park.

For the next two days you will in primate paradise at Kibale Forest. The drive here is incredibly scenic, passing through tea plantations and the lush green countryside which characterizes so much of Uganda. On arrival at the forest, you will enter a completely different world.

Kibale forest national park lies just outside the colonial town of Fort Portal and is made up of dense tropical rainforest. This park is considered one of the big highlights of Uganda due to the vast number of primates living here including the habituated chimpanzee groups which are a very memorable experience.

Go chimpanzee trekking in the heart of the forest, bird watching in bigodi swamp and dance to the rythm of the african drums during your village community walk.

Over night: Crater Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Day 6 & 7: Queen Elizabeth National Park

You’ll explore the prime game viewing area of western Uganda. A network of tracks allows you to find elephant, buffalo and other animals in the grassland thickets that cover the north Kazinga area near the Mweya Peninsula. Lions and other big cats are most reliably sighted on the typical open East Africa savannah Kasenyi Plain, east of the Kasese/Mbarara highway. This area is known as the main breeding ground of the Uganda kob, the main source of food for lion prides in the area. The 32- kilometre Kazinga Channel is a dominant feature of the Queen Elizabeth National Park and links Lake George with Lake Edward.  Continue your game viewing in Queen Elizabeth National Park on a relaxing boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel. 

Over night: Ishasha Wilderness Camp
Meal Plan: Full Board (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Day 8: Ishasha & Bwindi Impenetrable Forest 

Today you will drive to Kisoro in the south-western part of Uganda into Bwindi Impenetrable forest; close to the borders with Rwanda and Congo. You cross a beautiful part of the country often referred to as ‘the Switzerland of Africa’. You will see a great country-side, bamboo forest and have great views over the Virunga Mountains. 

Enroute you will go through Ishasha for a chance to see the famous tree climbing lions. After your game drive continue on to your lodge for the next two nights.

Over night: Mahogany Springs Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 9: Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Today provides the rare opportuity to meet mountain Gorillas in their natural habitat.

Your tracking experience will be an exciting, yet challenging, journey along forested (often muddy and slippery) slopes, tangled vines, thick vegetation and bamboo forests before you reach the territory of these gentle giants. Once the family of gorillas has been located, settle in to your surroundings and enjoy the hour you have to quietly observe these fascinating primates whose habits and mannerisms remind us so much of our own.

Over night: Mahogany Springs Lodge
Meal Plan: Full Board (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Day 10 & 11: Lake Bunyonyi

Bunyonyi means ‘place of many little birds’. This beautiful lake, surrounded by steep terraced hillsides, contains 29 islands, many of which are inhabited. It is a magical place to wake up in, especially with the early morning mist lingering on the lake. At this time you will see school children paddling dugout canoes to school and farmers transporting their goods to the market place. Here you can fill your time swimming, hiking, bird watching, and taking boat rides to any of the islands on the lake. Lake Bunyonyi is bilharzia, crocodile and hippo free so you can relax and enjoy its cool waters.

Enjoy the comfort of your lake view room during your visit to Lake Bunyonyi. The beds are big enough to give you comfortable sleep. The room is self-contained, with a sitting area, private balcony and clear views of the lake and neighbouring communities. Each room contains a fireplace, fan, hot water, and cable/satellite television. 

Overnight: Arcadia Cottages
Meal Plan: Full Board (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Day 12: Lake Mburo National Park

Lake Mburo is a small national Park (on the route from Bwindi National Park back to Entebbe) but should certainly not be underestimated. This is the only place in southern Uganda to see zebras and the only park in the country with impalas, slender mongoose and giant bush rats. You can also look for hyenas, leopards, topis, elands and the beautiful Rothschild’s giraffes, not to mention the lake itself which is teeming with hippos and crocodiles! There are a lot of wonderful activities on offer, such as horse-riding, bush walks, boat safari on the lake and a mountain bike safari. It is exciting to approach the wildlife at such close range, especially combining the fresh air with the beautiful scenery of Lake Mburo National Park.

At night you can sit at the campfire while enjoying the beautiful starlit sky or hang around in the restaurant with an dining area overlooking an expanse of rock that borders the park. It does not get more ‘Africa’ than this.

Overnight: Rwakobo Rock
Meal plan: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Want to explore Lake Mburo NP at night?

A whole new world of nocturnal animal species awaits you on a night game drive. It is the best chance of spotting the elusive and solitary leopards, who come out to hunt at night. Keep your eyes peeled for glowing eyes in the dark as you could be passing one of these rare and beautiful cats.

This activity is optional at an additional cost. Please contact us to find out more about this activity.

Day 13: To Entebbe international airport

You will rise early today to head out on bush walk in the park. The park is a completely different place when you are removed from the constraints of a safari vehicle. Your senses are aware of every sound and movement in the bush and you see things at ground level that you would otherwise miss. With an experienced guide you will also learn a lot about the inhabitants of the park.

After a hearty breakfast back at the lodge it is time to return to Entebbe. Along the way we will stop at the equator for some souvenir shopping. It is possible to connect with an international flight tonight, but the earliest departure must be at 10pm. If you would like an extra night in Entebbe or Kampala this can be arranged for you at an additional cost.

Enriched with a lifetime of memories and experiences, you will say goodbye to the Pearl of Africa. Depending on the time of your flight, you will be transferred to Entebbe international airport in time for your flight back home in the evening.