Nine-Day Uganda Safari: Bwindi Gorillas and Queen Elizabeth

This is the first day of your trip, and what happens depends on whether you fly into the country today or are already here. Either way, our guide meets you and you then transfer to Murchison Falls National Park, a must-see for its variety of wildlife. You have a lunch break at Ziwa rhino sanctuary and afterward go rhino tracking and on a dugout experience in search of the rare shoebill stork. Then visit the top of the falls and take amazing photographs of these landforms.

Dinner and overnight at Baker’s camp. Meal plan: F/B

Begin with a dawn game drive to look for the early-rising nocturnal animals and other wildlife, including the big five, which covers lions, buffaloes, giraffes, elephants and leopards. You will see more animals and birds. Go back to the lodge for your African cuisine, then get ready for a boat cruise on the River Nile, moving closer to the falls. On the cruise, expect to watch animals and birds along the river banks and to take a wonderful variety of photographs of these wildlife species. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Meal plan: F/B

Get up in the morning and have breakfast. After that you board your safari jeep and drive to Kibale forest national park, with its fabled view of the mountain of the moon. Lunch is taken en-route after a drive with scenic views along the way. Dinner and overnight at Kibale primates lodge. Meal plan: F/B

After breakfast, go to Kanyanchu headquarters for a briefing on the dos and don’ts of searching for the great apes. You then enter the jungle to track chimps swinging in the branches of the trees. While looking for the apes, you also have a great chance to spot other primates such as black and white colobus and Vervet monkeys, a variety of birds, and many plants of interest to botanical tourists. You return to the lodge for lunch and a rest, and in the afternoon take a nature walk in Magombe swamp to look for birds such as the shoebill and others, and primates. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Meal plan: F/B

After breakfast today, the local guide takes you to the KFRED association to join in some rural projects, such as preparing local foods. Afterward, board your safari vehicle and drive to Queen National Park, enjoying the scenic green landscape on the way. On entering, take a game drive to spot some wildlife and birds, then visit the Katwe Crater Lake to see salt mining and to watch flamingos as the sun sets. Dinner and overnight at Mweya Safari  Lodge.

Meal plan: F/B

Following breakfast, set out for a dawn game drive in search of nocturnal wildlife. It is particularly rewarding at Kasenyi mating ground, home to a variety of wild animals such as elephants, Kobs, Lions, warthogs, bush backs and waterbucks, topi among others. You then head to the lodge for lunch-relax, and in the afternoon cruise the Kazinga channel by boat, a clear vantage point for wildlife and aquatic animals like buffaloes, elephants, crocodiles, hippos as well as birding. Dinner and overnight back at the lodge.

Meal plan: F/B

After breakfast, take a packed lunch and drive to the southern sector. With luck, you may see the rare African tree-climbing lions resting in the branches, along with other wildlife such as elephants, buffaloes, leopards, and savannah birds. Then drive to Bwindi forest, home to half of the remaining mountain gorillas. Dinner and overnight at Buhoma lodge.

Meal plan: Full board (F/B)

Have breakfast and attend a briefing about the mountain gorillas given by park officials, then set off for the tracking experience in the protected jungle. Bring enough packed lunch and drinking water, a rain jacket, sturdy walking boots, a hat, insect repellent, a camera, and any other gear needed for the activity. The rangers provide a walking stick. Gorilla tracking is among the special activities you will enjoy, photographing and observing the gorillas. After that you board your safari vehicle and drive to Lake Bunyonyi, arriving in the evening and checking in for dinner and overnight at Birds Nest lodge.

Meal plan: Full-Board

After breakfast, board our safari vehicle and drive back toward Kampala-Entebbe, with lunch on the way at Agip Motel in Mbarara. Next comes a stop at the Equator, where you can shop for souvenirs to take home. You reach Entebbe late in the evening, which marks the end of this trip.