This 14 Days Adventure safari is a pre-planned somewhat long tour taking you through some of the key primate and wildlife destinations in Uganda including Murchison Falls national park, Kibale National park, Bwindi, and Queen Elizabeth national park. The safari will be closed with typical adventure in Jinja. It is arranged to start and end in Entebbe or Kampala.
Tour highlights
- Gorilla trekking
- Chimpanzee tracking
- Whitewater rafting
- Bottom of the falls and Kazinga channel boat cruises
- Batwa community visit
- Lake Bunyonyi exploration
- Lake Mburo national park exploration
Detailed itinerary.
Day 1: Transfer from Entebbe or Kampala to Murchison Falls National Park
Murchison Falls National Park is positioned right in the Northwestern side of Uganda, 5-6 hours’ drive from Kampala. You will meet your safari guide after having your breakfast, get a brief of the trip and set off to Murchison Falls National Park. On arrival, you will drive to the top of the falls, do a short game drive and head to your lodge. Check in, have dinner and rest.
Day 2: Morning game drive and launch trip in the afternoon
Game drive will begin early morning after breakfast, take the Northern game trails for the approximately 4 hours guided game viewing tour. Some of the exciting animal sightings to expect include giraffes, warthogs, antelopes, lions, leopards, buffaloes, and birds.
Return to the lodge for some relaxation, have lunch and then later connect to Paraa for the afternoon launch trip to the bottom of the falls. Likely animal sightings on this Victoria Nile while on the boat cruise range from hippos, the Nile crocodiles to aquatic birds. You will also take a short drive to the top of the falls to observe it as it forces itself in a narrow gorge of 8m.
Day 3: Transfer to Kibale forest National park.
Kibale National Park is a rain-forest set in Kabarole district, Western Uganda, 7-8 hours’ drive from Murchison Falls National Park. After breakfast, check out of the lodge, exit Murchison take the Hoima-Fort Portal route to Kibale. You will arrive in the late afternoon, check in and rest overnight.
En-route, expect mesmerizing views of the landscape and a sumptuous lunch before arriving at your lodge in Kibale.
Day 4: Chimpanzee tracking day
Chimpanzee tracking in Kibale is done in two sessions; the morning and afternoon session. Since you will go for the morning session, expect to wake up to an early morning breakfast, then head to Kanyanchu Visitor’s Centre for briefing on the guidelines to follow while tracking the chimps. By 8:00am, you will be expected to be on the search for the chimps in the forest. The adventure can last for 2-4 hours including one hour for the magical stay with the apes.
While trekking, expect to see more than just chimps, you could spot the L’Hoest’s monkeys, blue monkeys, red tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, and baboons among others and also, forest birds, floral species, butterflies and more.
Exit the Kibale jungles, get back to the lodge for lunch and later in the afternoon, end the day with a guided wetland tour around Bigodi swamp. Here, expect to explore more primates and bird species. Dinner and overnight stay at the lodge after 2-3 hours of touring Bigodi.
Day 5: Kibale to Queen Elizabeth national park.
After a leisurely breakfast, set off for a 2 hours’ drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park passing via Fort Portal. Enjoy great views along the way including the Mountains of the Moon, crater lakes and vast savannah plains.
Have lunch and later, expect to head out for an evening game drive.
Day 6: Queen Elizabeth Park National Park, Game drive and boat cruise.
Take a sunrise game drive in Kasenyi sector at around 6:30 a.m. Animal sightings to expect range from elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, birds, lions, leopards and a number of savannah birds.
Return to the lodge for a little relaxation and lunch, then drive to Mweya for the afternoon boat cruise on Kazinga Channel. The launch trip gives a chance to see numerous schools of hippos, crocodiles, birds and other wildlife. After the 2 hours boat cruise, you will head back to the lodge.
Day 7: Transfer to Ishasha – Game drive & continue to Bwindi impenetrable forest.
Ishasha sector in the Southern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park will be visited and driven through after breakfast. A short game drive for a chance to see the tree climbing lions. There are also numerous birds and other wildlife to see around Ishasha. Then proceed to Bwindi.
Day 8: Gorilla trekking safari in Bwindi & Batwa community encounters.
Early in the morning after breakfast, go to look for mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Briefing on rules for gorilla trekking will be done at your respective trailhead (Ruhija, Buhoma, Nkuringo and Rushaga sectors) and after, actual trekking to view gorillas begins at 8:00am with guide leading you all through.
When you come across a family of the endangered mountain gorillas, you will spend one hour enjoying a face to face encounter, taking pictures and later you exit the forest. Settle at the lodge for some time and later, take a short guided village walk in the Batwa community for cultural experience.
Day 9: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
Have a leisurely breakfast at your lodge, check out and drive to Lake Bunyonyi. On arrival, you will go for a canoe ride or boat cruise, explore the lake with short visits of some Islands, then return to the lodge and enjoy the views, tranquility and fresh breathe around the lake, the whole evening.
Day 10: From Lake Bunyonyi to Lake Mburo national park.
Transfer from L. Bunyonyi to Lake Mburo national park. The scenic journey takes 5-6 hours. On arrival, you will have lunch and go for a launch cruise on Lake Mburo. Incredible sightings of hippos, crocodiles, birds etc.
Lake Mburo National Park is a famed home of Burchell’s zebras, impalas, waterbucks and elands plus 350 bird species including shoebills. Some of these will be spotted.
Day 11: Horseback riding /cycling, game drive in Lake Mburo National Park.
Breakfast at leisure and after, set off for early morning horseback riding or cycling to see more timid animals, and watch them without interrupting noise of the engine.
Retreat from horseback riding to have lunch and later, undertake an afternoon/late evening game drive to see more game and try your luck for occasional sightings of leopards.
Day 12: Drive to Kampala
Lake Mburo back to Kampala- Jinja: After a leisurely breakfast, you will exit Lake Mburo NP for Kampala, about 4 hours’ drive. At Kayabwe, make a stopover at the equator for a photo moment, have lunch and proceed to Kampala thereafter. Relax a little and then transfer to Jinja, an extra 2.5 hours’ journey. Check in to the lodge, enjoy your dinner and relax after the long drive.
Day 13: Nile white water rafting.
Wake up early and report to the briefing area for rafting guidelines/dos and don’ts. Begin your water adventure – white water rafting on the Source of R. Nile taking you on a full day while you conquer the tough rapids of the world’s longest river. At the end of the activity, you will drive back to your lodge and rest.
Day 14: Leave Jinja for Kampala or Entebbe.
Have a leisurely breakfast, and check out of Jinja for Kampala or Entebbe and en-route, you may make a stopover to explore Mabira Forest or Sezibwa falls in Mukono district. Drop off at your place of residence in Kampala or Entebbe or at the airport marking the end of your 14 days safari in Uganda.
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