13 Days Uganda Wildlife Safari Tours
Tour Highlights:
The places you will explore on this safari: Murchison Falls National Park, Kibale Forest National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park/The Virungas and Lake Mburo National Park.
Day One: Drive to Murchison Falls NP
At 08:00a.m, you are picked from the hotel in Kampala and start your journey to Murchison Falls National Park with lunch en route. This park covering 3,840-sq km has 76 mammal species and 450 bird species recorded. The altitude is 619 m at the delta and 1,292 m at Rabongo Hill. The mean temperature is 29 ºC-high and 21 C-low. Arrive at Paraa then drive to theTop of the Falls for an awe-inspiring sight of the raging Nile as it forces its way through a rocky gap barely six meters wide. Transfer to Red Chilli Camp / Sambiya River Lodge / Nile River Camp or alternatively take a ferry to the northern bank of the River Nile and stay at Paraa Safari lodge.
Day Two: Game Drive, Launch Cruise
Early in the morning, start game driving in search of unique African Savannah animals like the giraffe, antelope, lion, elephant, and the Uganda kob. Birds are also in plenty with the eagle being one of the high-quality sightings and the rare shoe bill. While enjoying your game drive, tell your guide to show you the Congo Blue Mountains, on a clear morning. After lunch, go for a launch cruise on the River Nile. This cruise will lead you to the Bottom of the thundering falls where you will spot huge crocodiles, schools of hippos, buffaloes, elephants and a variety of water birds like herons, cormorants, ducks, bee-eaters, kingfishers, skimmers, fish eagles and sometimes the rare shoe bill. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Day Three: Transfer to Fort portal
After early breakfast, drive to Fort portal with lunch enroute. You will drive through traditional homesteads and farms and this will enable you enjoy the beautiful scenery across that part of the country. Dinner and overnight at Ndali Lodge/Primate Lodge/ Mountains of the Moon Hotel / Fort Motel/ Toro Resort.
Day Four: Move to Kibale National Park, have a Nature Walk
After early breakfast, report at Kanyanchu Tourist Centre where tourist activities begin and set out to track chimpanzee in the forest. Chances of viewing the chimps are over 90% but not a guarantee. Kibale National Park is one of the beautiful and stunning forests in the Uganda. This is home of our closest living relatives the endangered Chimpanzee, the threatened Red colobus monkey and the rare L’Hoests monkey.
The forest also boasts of having one of the uppermost variety and density of primates in Africa tallying up to 13 species including the Black and white colobus, Blue monkey, Grey-cheeked mangabey, Red tailed monkey and Bush babies and Pottos. After lunch visit Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, enjoy a guided walk around Magombe Swamp which will present you with a chance to see a wide range of flora and fauna. View a variety of butterflies, birds and other insects. Have a tour of the crater region around Ndali lodge and you may stop over at any tea plantation along the road if you wish. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight. Have an evening tour of the crater region, visit the top of the world’s the natural bridge. On a clear day you will be able view the Rwenzori Mountain snow cap. Dinner and overnight stay at Ndali Lodge/ Toro Resort /Primate Lodge/ Mountains of the Moon Hotel / Fort Motel.
Day Five: Drive to Queen Elizabeth NP, Have launch Cruise
In the morning, have breakfast and drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park viewing the magical Rwenzori Mountain range for much of the journey. Sign in at your lodge facility as you wait for your lunch. Then after, take on an afternoon Launch cruise along Kazinga Channel which joins Lakes Edward and George. The cruise is an astonishing way to see hippo, buffalo, kob and the occasional Nile crocodile plus a spectacular bird watching on the water bank. Many who experience the launch cruise consider it the best part of their entire African safari. Return for dinner and overnight the Simba Safari Camp/ Jacana Safari Lodge / Hippo Hill Camp/ Ecology Institute Hostel/ Mweya Safari Lodge.
Day Six: Game Drive
Wakeup very early with your packed lunch take on a morning game drive to catch-up with the early risers and predators returning to their hideouts and you will most likely meet grazing Hippos, Elephants and Lions, spotted Hyenas, bush buck, water buck, stripped jackal, comical warthogs and the fierce leopard. Continue to Maramagambo forest where a lot of surprises await you there like the pythons often seen in the crevices of the bat cave floor feeding on the bats. The cave is near a chocolate box formerly Blue Lake and Hunters cave. You may also see forest birds such as bat hawks, brown eared woodpecker and other primates. Have dinner and overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge/ the Ecology Institute Hostel/ Simba Safari Camp/ Hippo Hill Camp/ Jacana Safari Lodge.
Day Seven: Brief Game Drive and Transfer to Bwindi
After breakfast, go for a small game drive in search of animals you missed out a day before then proceed to Ishasha with your packed lunch. You will drive along the deep and wide dry craters that are full of savanna acacia and grasses. You go through the unique western rift valley escarpment and the Ishasha sector in south area of Queen Elizabeth NP where you will take on yet another game drive in search of tree climbing lions before going on to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The journey takes about 4 hours taking you through interesting features. Arrive in Bwindi in the evening. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a home to rare mountain gorillas and a variety of primates including the blue and red tailed monkeys. The forest itself is lush and green and there are streams running through it. Overnight and dinner at Buhoma Community Rest Camp (Bandas), Buhoma Homestead (Lodge) and Gorilla Resort.
Day Eight: Gorilla Tracking
Set off early with guides after breakfast to track the Uganda gorillas. The thrill of your encounter will wipe out the difficulties of the potentially laborious trek. Come with jungle boots and rain jackets because the park is often wet. Use time in wonder watching the gorillas go about their activities. Each gorilla encounter is different and has its own rewards, but you are likely to enjoy to the extremes when adults are feeding, grooming and resting as the youngsters play and swing from vines in a pleasantly good-humored show. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a magnificent green swaddle of dense rainforest, so ancient that survived the last ice age. A recently proclaimed World Heritage site, it is one of the most biologically diverse areas on earth and its unique, precious flora sustains roughly half of the world population of mountain gorillas estimated at 600. There is also a substantial chimpanzee population and research shows that Bwindi is the only forest in Africa in which these two apes live together. Dinner and overnight at Ecology Institute Hostel/ Simba Safari Camp/ Hippo Hill Camp/ Mweya Safari Lodge/ Jacana Safari Lodge.
Day Nine: Nature Walk and Transfer to Kisoro
Have an early morning nature walk if you so wish and you visit the waterfalls, view forest water birds and butterflies and the tropical forest flora. Return and proceed to Kisoro for dinner and overnight stay at Kisoro Travelers Rest Hotel /Heritage Guest House.
Day Ten: Virunga Hike
In the morning after breakfast, head to Mgahinga park headquarters for briefing prior to starting the short hike to one of the virunga ranges. But you go with your parked lunch. There are three extinct volcanoes for physically fit hikers i.e. Mt Muhabura-4127m, Mt. Sabinyo-3669m and Gahinga-3474m (Choose either of the three for a short hike. Dinner and overnight at Heritage Guest House / Kisoro Travelers Rest Hotel.
Day Eleven: Transfer to Lake Mburo NP,
After an early breakfast, get your parked lunch and drive to Lake Mburo National Park, arrive in the afternoon and enjoy a boat ride on the lake. Lake Mburo being the park is a gift worth it. The lake is rich with a diversity of animal and plant species which will be viewed clearly as you are on the boat trip. Hippos and birds like African Fin foot, Pelicans, Black crake, Heron, cormorant, fish eagle, and the rare Shoebill Stork and all these will furnish your visit with pride. Dinner and overnight stay at Mihingo Lodge/ Rwonyo Camp / Mantana Tented Camp.
Day Twelve: Game Drive, Return to Kampala.
Take an early breakfast and go for a morning game drive. Lake Mburo National Park is a very special place; every part of it is alive with variety, interest and colour and it has a widespread wetland where you will see elands, impalas, water bucks, warthogs, topis and zebras. After lunch, drive to Kampala, making a stopover at the Equator line crossing and Mpambire Drum makers. Overnight and Dinner at you booked accommodation.
Day Thirteen: Kampala City Tour
Use part of this day enjoying the beauty of Uganda’s Capital City by having a Kampala City Tour. Places like Kasumbi Tombs, Bahai Temple, Uganda Museum and many others will not escape your sight.