This Uganda wildlife holiday safari takes you on a gratifying journey to see gorillas, chimps, and the abundant wildlife in Uganda’s wild savannahs.
Get up close with chimpanzees in Kibale Forest National Park, spot elephants, lions, and hippos on classic game drives in Queen Elizabeth National Park, and trek through the dense rainforest to witness the majestic mountain gorillas in their natural habitat in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
With cultural experiences, breathtaking scenery, and special wildlife experiences, this safari is the adventure of a lifetime.
Take a closer look at the detailed itinerary and get a better idea of how this safari would work for you. Keep in mind that our trips are fully customized and can be personalized to meet your specific needs.
Transport will be in a 4WD vehicle with a pop-up roof
All fuel for the tour
English-speaking Uganda driver/guide
Accommodation and Meals on full board (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Park-entrance fees for all National parks
All activities described in the itinerary
1 Gorilla tracking permit per person
1 Chimpanzee tracking permit per person
Drinking water throughout the safari
All expenses of personal nature. (e.g. drinks, laundry, optional activities and meals that are not part of your accommodation)
A porter helps to carry your backpack & push/pull you on the slippery slopes.
Personal insurance (medical/travel)
Tips and gratuities to rangers, driver/guide, porter, hotel staff, etc.
Our driver/guide will be waiting at Entebbe International Airport to pick you up and then transfer you to your accommodation for the night.
Accommodation: Papyrus Guest House
Meal plan: Dinner
After your breakfast, you will leave Kampala for Kibale National Park in western Uganda. The drive takes around 8 hours including a stopover for lunch in Fort Portal town.
Along the way, you will pass many small towns, villages, tea farms, and roadside markets all of which make the Ugandan countryside full of beauty. You will reach Kibale with enough time to relax and unwind after a day of travel.
Accommodation: Kibale Forest Camp
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After early morning breakfast, your driver/guide will drive you to the Kibale National Park office where you will be briefed about the activity of tracking chimpanzees in the wild.
You will then go on a guided primate walk in search of chimpanzees and 12 other primates including l’ Hoestes, Red colobus monkeys, blue, red-tailed monkeys, brown monkeys, and grey-cheeked mangabeys.
The park rangers will provide detailed explanations, not only on primates but on all the forest fauna and flora, and will ensure that your walk is informative and enjoyable.
After finding the chimps, you will spend 1 hour with them before heading back to the park offices. You will go back to the lodge for lunch & refreshments.
After lunch, you will visit the community and take a walk in Bigodi Swamp, which is the home of the great blue Turaco bird. The swamp is home to around 200 bird species and 8 primate species. Later, return to your accommodation for dinner & overnight stay.
Accommodation: Kibale Forest Camp
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After breakfast, you will start the day with a cultural tour of the ‘Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru’ caves – a great historic site located 10km out of Fort Portal town.
You will be accompanied by an informed guide who knows more about this place. Remember to carry along a flashlight, hiking boots, long trousers, etc since you are going to enter the caves. Thereafter, you will hike the explosion crater lakes surrounding this area and then return to Fort Portal town for lunch and a visit to the Tooro Kingdom Palace.
In the evening, drive to Uganda’s second-largest park, Queen Elizabeth National Park while enjoying the changing views of the mystical Rwenzori Mountain ranges.
Accommodation: Bush Lodge
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After breakfast, you will go for an early morning wildlife safari game drive in this park. Queen Elizabeth National Park’s diverse ecosystem of grassy plains, tropical forests, rivers, swamps, lakes, and volcanic craters is home to an incredible abundance of wildlife.
With the massive Rwenzori Mountains as a backdrop, you will have excellent opportunities to see lions, leopards, giant forest hogs, cape buffalos, elephants, defassa waterbuck, Uganda Kobs, Topi, and bushbuck.
After lunch, you will go for a 2-3 hour boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel and into Lake Edward. This take will take you through possibly the highest concentration of hippos. Many animals may be seen drinking at the water’s edge.
This launch cruise offers great opportunities for photography, bird watching, and game viewing. The prolific bird life is colorful and stupendous with more than 600 different species.
Accommodation: Bush Lodge
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After your breakfast, you will be driven from Queen Elizabeth to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This is a 6-hour journey passing through the Kigezi Highlands, an area known as the “Switzerland of Africa."
The journey takes you through terraced hills and winding roads to the Bwindi forest. You will have a stopover in Kabale for lunch.
Accommodation: Rushaga Gorilla Lodge
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Today is gorilla trekking day, and you will wake up early to have breakfast and be at the park offices at 7:00 a.m. You will be briefed by the park rangers on all the procedures before you can start your trek.
In groups of 8 with the rangers, you will go into the forest in search of the mountain gorillas that call this dense rainforest home.
The trek can be quite challenging, but meeting the gorillas will make all that sweat more than worth it. You will spend 1 hour with the gorillas, after which you will be led back to the starting point by your ranger guide.
A certificate is awarded by UWA at the end of every gorilla trekking experience. You will spend your afternoon relaxing at the lodge and enjoying the views of the forest.
Accommodation: Rushaga Gorilla Lodge
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After an early breakfast, your driver/guide will drive you from Bwindi to Kampala. This is a long drive of approximately 9 hours that will take you from the cooler mountainous altitude of the Kigezi Highlands to the lower undulating landscape of Ankole and Buganda, with large farms and plantations dotted with villages and small towns.
You will have several stopovers along the way, including the equator crossing in Kayabwe for some pictures. Depending on the schedule of your next flight, a few more stopovers can be added by your guide.
You should reach Kampala in the early evening hours with enough time to freshen up before your flight out of Uganda.
Accommodation: None (Last day)
Meal plan: Breakfast & Lunch
