Uganda Gorilla Trekking Safari Adventure

This 10-day Uganda Safari adventure includes gorilla trekking, game viewing, chimpanzee tracking and boat cruises at some of Uganda’s top National Parks.

This African safari starts with gorilla trekking in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, followed by game watching in the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda’s most popular game park. Next the safari adventures takes you chimpanzee tracking in Kibale National Park, and then to Murchison Falls National Park on a game viewing boat cruise.

Accommodation on the Uganda Safari adventure is in safari lodges, a guesthouse and safari camp. All game viewing activities are lead by trained guides and a driver transfers guests between safari destinations and from the airport and back.

Day 1: Entebbe – Uganda

Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda a safari guide will meet you to assist with your luggage and transfer you to your overnight guesthouse in Entebbe. The guesthouse, located five minutes drive from Entebbe International Airport, is a welcoming homestead set-up in a tastefully restored colonial house. Guests are guaranteed friendly service and warm hospitality unique to this area of Uganda.

The guesthouse has six en suite bedrooms decorated according to African themes. There is a charming residents bar set in the landscaped gardens of the guesthouse, with lake views and a relaxed country-house atmosphere.

Day 2: Entebbe – Bwindi Impenetrable Forest – Uganda (Breakfast)

After an early breakfast on the first day of the 4-day Uganda safari a private driver or guide will transfer you to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southwestern Uganda. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, part of the part of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, is home to some of the few remaining mountain gorillas.  The journey to Bwindi journey takes about 10 hours crossing the equator into the southern hemisphere in East Africa.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is best known for its primate populations, being home to nearly half the world’s mountain gorillas, at over 300 endangered gorillas. The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest ecosystem is exceptionally high in biodiversity, with rich flora and fauna species. This forested area hosts some of the richest tree, small mammal, bird, butterfly, reptilian, and moth populations.

Bwindi is a birding paradise, home to 348 bird species. This area is one of Uganda’s best bird watching destinations supporting nearly all of the Albertine Rift endemic species found in Uganda, along with several Red Data Book species.

We overnight at a safari camp, established in 1993 to ensure that gorilla tourism in Bwindi Forest benefits the local community. Community members run the safari camp and all profits are shared with the Bwindi community by means of funding local schools and clinics. The accommodation is in well-maintained, clean bandas (huts) with solar electric lighting. Ablution facilities are shared, except for one banda which has en suite facilities. The safari camp is next to the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and has a picnic banda, as well as a reception building with a dining room and bar.

Day 3: Bwindi Forest – Uganda (Breakfast & Lunch)

On the third day we head off into the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, for the once in a lifetime experience of gorilla trekking to see the endangered mountain gorillas in the wild. Bwindi is best known for gorilla trekking and this activity is the highlight of visiting Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

The day starts with an energy boosting breakfast early in the morning, before reporting to the ranger station for registration and a talk by one of the game rangers at 8:00am. The guides then lead you into the bush, pushing through the undergrowth to track the Bwindi mountain gorillas. This gorilla walk can take anything from 30 minutes to 5 hours, so a reasonable degree of fitness and a sturdy pair of walking shoes are required.

After a challenging and rewarding trek through the jungle we sit in the forest among the mountain gorillas. We listen to the gorillas communicating with one another and marvel at the sheer size of the dominant adult male gorillas, called Silverbacks. Encountering these giant primates is one of Africa’s most poignant wildlife experiences.  After lunch in the forest we take a well-deserved rest or enjoy some bird watching in the area.

We return to the community run safari camp to relax and recuperate after an unforgettable day gorilla trekking in the Bwindi Forest of Uganda.

Day 4: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to Queen Elizabeth National Park – Uganda (Breakfast)

On day four of your Uganda safari your guide will drive you to the Queen Elizabeth National Park (a 3 hour drive) after breakfast at the Bwindi camp. The Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda's most popular protected area and covers about 1978 km². The park is scenically located on the rift valley floor between Lake Edward and Lake George flanked by towering mountains in the distance.

In the afternoon we take a game drive with a private guide in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The park set among hills and lakes consists mostly of euphorbia tree-studded savannah or grassland. The varied habitats within Queen Elizabeth National Park are home to 95 mammal and 612 bird species.

We overnight at a safari camp located on a hill overlooking crater lakes and savannah plains.

Day 5: Queen Elizabeth National Park – Uganda (Breakfast)

We rise early to catch sunrise as we leave the lodge with a morning cup of coffee or tea in hand, setting off on a game viewing drive in the Queen Elizabeth National Park. Sightings of various mammals like buffalo, hippo, lions, antelopes, hyenas and others are common in the park. We return to the lodge for lunch and spend some time relaxing, before taking an afternoon boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel. The game viewing boat cruise allows for close encounters with African wildlife, such as hippos lounging feet away and buffalo lingering in the shallow waters. The banks of the channel are home to a rich variety of birds, including Pink-backed Pelicans, Pied and Malachite Kingfishers and Saddle billed Stork. After a rewarding afternoon of game viewing we take a slow drive back to the comfortable safari camp for the night.

Day 6: Queen Elizabeth National Park to Kibale National Park – Uganda (Breakfast)

This morning after breakfast we depart for Kibale National Park, less than an hours drive away. Kibale National Park, in western Uganda, is one of Africa’s best chimpanzee trekking destinations. Kibale National Park covers 795 km sq and consists mostly of a vast tract of equatorial rainforest. This park is home to numerous forest wildlife species, boasting one of the highest concentrations of primates in the world. The 13 primate species include Black-and-White and Grey Cheeked Colobus, L'Hoest's monkeys and Galagos, with chimpanzees being the main attraction.

Upon your arrival at this tropical forest area your guide will drop you at your overnight accommodation. The overnight Ugandan hotel has 33 rooms with homely touches, 3 conference rooms with modern facilities and a well-equipped health club.

Day 7: Kibale National Park – Uganda  (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Today you will go chimpanzee tracking in Kibale National Park, home to an impressive 500 Chimpanzees. The chimpanzees are commonly found feeding on figtree fruits in the park and have been habituated to humans since 1992.

In the afternoon after chimpanzee trekking we take a forest walk in the evergreen forests of Kibale National Park.

The overnight stay is spent at the same hotel as the previous night, enjoying the excellent service and facilities, even getting a massage in the health club.

Day 8: Kibale National Park to Murchison falls National Park – Uganda (Breakfast & Dinner)

On day eight we leave Kibale National Park, heading for Murchison Falls National Park in north western Uganda. After a drive of about a seven or eight hours we overnight at a lodge near Murchison Falls National Park.

Murchison Falls National Park is one of Uganda’s oldest conservation areas and the largest game park in Uganda, covering 3,893 km sq. The park consists mostly of untamed African Savannah bushveld and lies in the northern Albertine Rift Valley, where the Bunyoro escarpment meets the vast plains of Acholiland. The Murchison Falls National Park is bisected by the mighty River Nile with its impressive Murchison Falls. The falls are located at the point where the Nile crashes through a narrow part of the rift valley escarpment into a turbulent pool 43m below. 

Day 9: Murchison Falls National Park – Uganda (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

The day starts with an early morning game drive in Murchison Falls National Park, in search of wildlife, including giraffe, elephants and buffalo. Murchsion falls is also home to hartebeest, crocodile, antelope and hippos, among other wild animals. After lunch we take a private boat trip on the Nile, enjoying the excellent bird watching that the area offers. Birdlife along the river includes Red-throated Bee Eaters that nest by the hundreds along the river, as well as a rich variety of waterbirds. The boat cruise takes you to the base of the Murchison Falls, from where you can admire the thundering Nile from up-close.

We stay overnight at the same safari lodge as the previous night.

Day 10: Murchison Falls National Park to Kampala and Entebbe – Uganda (Breakfast)

On the final morning of the 10-day Uganda Safari we head for Kampala, a drive of about five or six hours, and from there your guide transfer you to the Entebbe International Airport for your outbound flight.

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