Table of Contents
The 8 days Uganda Wild Safari will start and end in Kampala the Capital City of Uganda. The Safari tour will take you through Kibale forest national park also dubbed the primate Capital of the world because of its highest number of habituated Chimpanzees .From Kibale you will link to Queen Elizabeth national park –the finest wildlife national park in Uganda and the second largest protected park, Bwindi Impenetrable national park which is the only park with almost half of the world endangered species of the mountain gorillas, Lake Bunyonyi -the loviest lake dotted with stunning islands and finally to Lake Mburo National.
Day 1: Transfer from Kampala/Entebbe to Kibale National Park & do the Fort Portal Crater Lake Hike, with tour to Amabere g’ Nnyinamwiru caves
Day 2: Do morning Chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi wetland walk in the afternoon
Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park and does an afternoon boat cruise
Day 4: Do morning game drive & Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Day 5: Do gorilla trekking & an evening Cultural encounter with the Batwa Communities
Day 6: Transfer from Bwindi‘s to Lake Bunyonyi & do afternoon boat cruise and relaxation
Day 7: Transfer from Lake Bunyonyi to Lake Mburo National Park.
Day 8: Do morning Game drive & transfer to Kampala with stopover at the Uganda Equator
Day 1: Transfer from Kampala/Entebbe to Kibale National Park and do the Fort Portal Crater Lake Hike, visit to Amabere g’ Nnyinamwiru caves.
Immediately after an early morning breakfast in your Kampala hotel, you will be picked up by our English speaking driver guide and then depart Kampala driving on the south western direction to Fort Portal 332km about 4-5 hours’ drive. The drive will take you through the scenic beautiful landscapes of western Uganda to Fort Portal. Arrive in Fort Portal town for lunch after which you will advance with the drive to do the Fort Portal Crater Lake Hike to gain magnificent views of the Fort Portal explosion crater. You will also visit the Amabere g’ Nnyinamwiru caves with a magical Nyakasura River falling over them forming beautiful water fall. The caves are decorated with a breast like features which the locals attach a great cultural connotation and are thought to date right back from the Chwezi era. Return from the activity and get to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation: Kyaninga Lodge (Upmarket/Luxury), Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse (Mid-range/Standard) or Rwenzori View Guesthouse (Budget/Basic).
Day 2: Do morning Chimpanzee trekking & Bigodi wetland walk in the afternoon
After taking breakfast, start your day with a memorable Chimpanzee trekking experience in the natural habitat of primate Capital of the world – the Kibale Forest National Park. The Park is proud of 13 primate species including the world endangered species of the Chimpanzees which have been fully habituated increasing the chance of encountering them. The chimp trekking experience in the primates Capital will start at Kanyanchu tourism center at 8:00am local time and the experienced Uganda Wildlife Authority Park rangers are dedicated to lead you throughout the whole rewarding processes of trekking the Chimps in their natural Habitat. The trek will expose you to stunning flora, other primate species including black and white colobus monkey and birds before confronting the chimps. The Chimpanzees will lure you in a state of astonishment as they swing through the branches, make pant hooting calls, play with each other, and imitate your body language along with other features that will make your one full hour with them a life time experience of its own. Retire back from the activity which tends to take 2 – 5 hours to your lodge for lunch and relaxation. Thereafter, embark of an afternoon Bigodi Wetland walk. The Bigodi wetland walk exposes you to typical eco –tourism encounter in Uganda. The impressive flora and fauna existing along with the local community is indeed rewarding to encounter. The sights of great blue turaco and the Sitatunga may not be missed. Retreat from the activity back to lodge for relaxation dinner and overnight.
Accommodation: Kyaninga Lodge (Upmarket/Luxury), Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse (Mid-range/Standard) or Rwenzori View Guesthouse (Budget/Basic).
Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park & do afternoon boat cruise
After a relaxed breakfast, embark on the transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park 157km about 3 hours’ drive excluding stops en route. You will make a stop at Rwenzori Art foundation – the only bronze casting center in Africa in the shadows of Rwenzori Mountains. The process of sculpture making of which you will be free to participate in will be rewarding. The extension to visit the Ruboni community wax and craft center expose you the local traditions and the applicability of indigenous knowledge to contemporary development. Continue to the Queen Elizabeth NP, drive through the crater are with possible views of the olive baboons and elephants not forgetting magical sceneries before connecting to Mweya for an afternoon Kazinga Channel boa cruise which will offer you possibilities of encountering Hippos, Nile crocodiles , wild game drinking on the channel side and counts of water birds. Retire in the evening for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Do morning game drive & Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
After an early morning cup of coffee, you will start your day by transferring to the game driving trucks in the rolling savannah plains of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The drive will take you through Kasenyi with the opportunities of encountering the nocturnal wildlife species when they are retiring back to their hiding grounds and also meet the early morning risers when they are starting their daily activities of looking for food. The ranges of wild game which may be seen during the game drive include the elusive leopard, defassa waterbuck, Uganda kob, Side stripped Jackal; Oribis elephants, lions, buffaloes, Antelopes among others. The tracks are well designed to increase you possibilities of encountering wild game in their natural habitat of Queen Elizabeth National Park. After 3 -4 hour game drive about 200 kilometers, you will retire back to the starting point. Thereafter, embark on the interesting drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The drive will take you through the prominent Ishasha sector where you will have possibilities of encountering tree climbing lions that tend to lie on the branches of fig trees and also have stopover for Lunch. Afterwards continue with the drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park arriving in the evening for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Accommodation: Chameleon Hill Lodge (Upmarket/Luxury), Gorilla Mist Camp (Midrange/Standard) or Broadbill Forest Camp (Budget/Basic).
Day 5: Do gorilla trekking & an evening Cultural encounter with the Batwa Communities.
After your early morning hefty breakfast, transfer with your packed lunch, bottled water, to the Park head Quarters in your respective gorilla trekking region for an early morning registration and briefing about etiquettes of gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. While at the park headquarters, you will meet other trekkers and you will be divided into groups of eight individuals who are only allowed to trek one habituated Gorilla family. After briefing, UWA experienced ranger guide will lead you into forest trails to begin searching for the unique species of the mountain gorillas inhabited in the famous Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The trek may take you between 2-8 hours to encounter the mountain gorillas and once up close, you will be allowed to spend one magical hour with these stunning apes. During this time you can decide to sit down listen to gorilla crumble, study how these apes go about their daily activities and you can take as many photos as possible. When the one hour is done, you will walk back to the park headquarters and retire back to your lodge for late Lunch and relaxation. After relaxation, you will be transferred to the nearby Batwa community for memorable, refreshing cultural encounter. Here you will be guided by a local guide who will take you to the different communities to see how people have managed to survive through farming. You will see how local brew is processed from fresh Bananas and forest remedies to get beer and Waragi and also enjoy the performances done by the local Batwa women groups. After that interesting cultural encounter, you will drive back to your respective lodge for dinner and overnight. Thereafter the activity, you will retreat back to your lodge for dinner, memory sharing and overnight.
Accommodation: Chameleon Hill Lodge (Upmarket/Luxury), Gorilla Mist Camp (Midrange/Standard) or Broadbill Forest Camp (Budget/Basic).
Day 6: Transfer from Bwindi‘s to Lake Bunyonyi & do afternoon boat cruise & relaxation
Following an early morning breakfast, you will depart Bwindi driving through the fascinating Kigezi Highlands to Lake Bunyonyi. Lake Bunyonyi is another major tourist stopover that is undeniably amazing. It is the second deepest lake in Africa; it contains lots of the tasty crayfish, so get set for a culinary delight. Bunyonyi is a local word that means “many small birds” in direct translation. It’s a perfect stopover for committed birders and travellers who are from hectic gorilla trekking activities. On arrival to Lake Bunyonyi, you will drive to your lodge for check-in and lunch. Thereafter, you will proceed to catch up with the afternoon boat cruise to explore the stunning Islands that decorate Lake Bunyonyi. You may also participate in refreshing activities such as swimming in the bilharzia free waters of Bunyonyi, you can also enjoy the evening nature walks in the Bunyonyi Islands .After exploring the different adventurous activities in lake Bunyonyi, you will retire to your lodge to chill in the fire place while enjoying cool evening of Bunyonyi.
Accommodation: Birdnest @Lake Bunyonyi Resort (Upmarket/Luxury), Lake Bunyonyi Eco-resort (Midrange/Standard) or Byoona Amagara Island Retreat (Budget/Basic
Day 7: Transfer from Lake Bunyonyi to Lake Mburo National Park& Afternoon boat cruise
After an early morning breakfast, you will embark on drive transfer from Lake Bunyonyi to Lake Mburo national park drive distance of 199 kilometers. The drive will take you through the rolling hills, terraced landscapes and the beautiful panoramas of south western Uganda to Lake Mburo. Upon your arrival in Lake Mburo National Park, you will have your lunch and afterwards proceed to catch-up with the afternoon boat cruise which sets of 2:30pm on the magnificent waters of Lake Mburo and it takes you across 2-3 hours of adventure. Not only does the boat trip offer you opportunities of encountering the game drinking on the lake side, it also draws you closer to counts of Hippos, Nile Crocodiles and a range of water birds such as the colorful Kingfishers, magnificent Fish Eagles, Hammerkops and their enormous nests and even the prehistoric-looking Shoebill. Retreat back from the activity to your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Accommodation: Mihingo Safari Lodge (Luxury), Arcadia Cottages Mburo (Mid-Range), Eagle’s Nest (Budget).
Day 8: Do morning Game drive & transfer to Kampala with stopover at the Uganda Equator.
Immediately after taking your early morning breakfast, embark on the interesting game drive through the park in search of wild game. The arrangement of game tracks suited in the eastern part of the park passes through a variety of beautiful vegetation types such as acacia woodland, wetlands vegetation, savannah grassland which supports the survival of different wildlife grazers including gigantic eland antelope, zebras, waterbucks, Klipspringer and the rare Topi, impala, warthog, oribi, buffalo, Defassa reedbuck. The game drive which takes 2-3hours covering a distance of 150kms is very rewarding with the views of different wildlife species and unique bird species. After the activity, you will retire back to the park headquarters and then proceed with the drive to Kampala. On your drive to Kampala, you will by-pass Mpigi village, well-known for the Royal Drums Makers and of course the Ugandan Equator, where you will have your lunch stopover, water experiment, photo shot and visit to different craft shop. Thereafter, will proceed with the drive to Kampala and on arrival to the city, the driver will drive you back to your Kampala hotel or Entebbe international airport for your onward flight back home.