14 days best of Uganda Safari
This 14 Days Uganda Safari takes you to ziwa rhino sanctuary for Rhino tracking, to the magnificent Murchison Falls for a spectacular scenic view full of birds and water animals, takes you to Kibale National Park to see the Chimpanzees and various species of monkeys, and to Queen Elizabeth National Park and Kazinga Channel renowned for their diversity of wildlife, birdlife, and picturesque geographical features.
The Safari offers you an opportunity to have an encounter with the Gorillas in Bwindi’s impenetrable forest and a rare treat at the beautifully created Lake Mutanda where you will enjoy cool boating trips with opportunities for spotting many water birds and wildlife and enjoy native cultural exposures and also a whole hiking adventure of mountain Sabinyo.
You will crown your 14-day Uganda Safari through Uganda with a visit to Lake Mburo National Park for wild nature walks and a visit to the Equator.
Day 1: Arrival at Entebbe International Airport and transfer to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.
This will depend on your arrival time at Entebbe International Airport.
On your arrival at Entebbe airport, you will be picked up by our representative, your driver/guide from KATLAND Safaris, who will brief you about your safari after embarking on a journey to Ziwa Rhino sanctuary you will reach in time early enough for check-in, dinner, relaxation and overnight stay,
Accommodation at Amuka Safari Lodge.
Meal plan Dinner
Day 2 of 14 days Best of Uganda Safari:
Rhino tracking adventure and Transfer to Murchison Falls
You will wake up for an early breakfast, and after embark on a walking safari in search of the only remaining White rhinos in Uganda safely kept at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. After the Rhino tracking adventure, we will then check off the lodge and transfer to Murchison Falls National Game Park with a stopover in Masindi town for Lunch.
Murchison Falls National Park is the largest conservation area in Uganda, covering an area of over 3,840 km². The park’s name derives from its famous waterfall: the mighty Murchison Falls, which are formed where the Victoria Nile powerfully forces its way through a narrow cleft before plunging 43m down with a thunderous roar.
The mighty Nile River divides the park into its north and south sections. At the spectacular Murchison Falls, the world’s longest river explodes violently through a narrow cleft in the Rift Valley escarpment to plunge into a frothing pool 43m below. As the river attracts large numbers of game, a boat safari up the Nile provides the perfect opportunity to see and photograph the animals. You will be carefully watched by crocodiles, hundreds of hippos, buffaloes, water birds, apes, and all the other thirsty wildlife that the Nile attracts; you go to the bottom of the Murchison Falls, which approaches you with a thunderous sound. By car or after a short hike you can reach the “Top of the Falls” from where you have a perfect view of the impressive falls and the river snaking below.
You will transfer to the lodge for relaxation, Dinner, and an overnight stay.
Journey Time: 3hours
Accommodation: Pakuba Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Meals are a combination of Ugandan and French cuisine with excellent Ugandan wines to complete the experience. Special diets are available on request.
Day 3 of 14 days best of Uganda Safari:
Morning game drive – Afternoon boat safari – Top of falls
Today after breakfast, you will depart for an early morning game drive across the rolling plains of Uganda’s largest National Park. The 3,893 sq km park is home to a range of animals, and you will have a chance to view some of the Park’s residents including lions, giraffes, hartebeest, buffalo, and elephants. For the birders amongst you, these areas support the secretary bird and the black-chested snake eagle, to name a few.
In the afternoon, go for a boat trip to the base of Murchison Falls, where the Nile thunders through a small 7-meter gap plunging 43 meters into the Nile on the way to Lake Albert. The banks of the Nile are densely populated with crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and a range of other wildlife that come to the river to drink.
You will return to the Lodge for relaxation, Dinner, and overnight stay.
Accommodation: Pakuba Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and dinner
Day 4 of 14 days Best of Uganda Safari:
Transfer to Kibale National Park from Murchison Falls National Game Park.
The best place for chimpanzee trekking in Uganda is Kibaale forest and that’s why it’s nicknamed the Primates capital of the world. The long drive from Murchison Falls to Kibale Forest National Game Park is incredibly scenic, passing through tea plantations and the lush green countryside that characterizes so much of Uganda.
Kibale Forest National Park is located in west-central Uganda just east of the Rwenzori Mountains, near the town of Fort Portal. The 766 Km² Park predominantly covers evergreen rainforest and ranges between 1100 and 1600m in elevation. Kibale Forest is one of the last remaining expanses to contain both lowland and montane forests and forms a continuous forest with Queen Elizabeth National Park.
You will have packed lunch en route, arriving in the evening for overnight and dinner.
Journey Time: 8 hours
Accommodation: Kibale Forest Camp or an Equivalent.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
Kibale Forest Camp offers a unique classic canvas experience in the form of African-style safari tents set in a lush forested surrounding. Complemented by excellent food and service it forms your perfect base to explore the area.
The safari tents are comfortably furnished with twin or double beds. Each tent has its own private en suite bathroom with an eco-friendly toilet, a dressing room, and a bush shower.
Day 5 of 14 days Best of Uganda Safari:
Chimpanzee tracking – Bigodi swamp walk or Crater Lakes Hike
Today you will wake up early to go to the park head offices to be briefed about your chimpanzee tracking experience. Kibale Forest National Park boasts the highest number of primate species in the world, including the chimpanzees. Approximately 5,000 chimpanzees live in the wild in Uganda, which makes it a perfect place to see them.
An experienced ranger will take you chimp tracking in the morning. You might also see other monkey species that live here. Once you locate the chimpanzees you will have a full hour of eye-to-eye contact with them. Since they are wild animals, we can never guarantee you to see them and might have to settle with hearing their hoots and hollers.
Bigodi swamp walk or Crater Lakes hiking in the evening
In the afternoon after lunch, you will go for the guided swamp walk. The walk (2-3 hours) will take you through grassland, small communities, and some beautiful scenery, where the locals are likely to greet you with enthusiastic waves. It is usual to spot three to four different primate species during this walk, though the highlight is catching a glimpse of the great blue turaco!
Optional Activities: Crater Lakes Hike:
Formed by ancient volcanic activity, the crater lakes of Uganda are located near Fort Portal and are a great hiking option. Typical hikes take you through local villages and tea plantations, to the base of several of these incredibly serene and beautiful lakes. With the Rwenzori Mountains in the background, this is by far one of Uganda’s most peaceful and extraordinary sights.
Journey Time: 15 minutes each way
Accommodation: Kibale Forest Camp
Meal Plan, Breakfast Lunch, and Dinner
Day 6 of 14 days Best of Uganda Safari:
Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
After breakfast, your guide will drive you to Queen Elizabeth National Park, home to a high concentration of Uganda’s mammals that include tree climbing and savanna lions, elephants, warthogs, Uganda kob, waterbuck, cape buffalo, hippos, leopards, as well as more than 600 species of birds that include the African spoonbill, pied kingfishers, fish eagles, pelicans, vultures.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda’s second largest park, located at the base of the majestic Rwenzori Mountain range, adjacent to Lake Edward and Lake George. The park has games including Uganda kob, warthog, and waterbuck. Lions are often sighted both in and at the entrance to the park. Be ready to see huge numbers of hippos and elephants, and keep your eyes on the lookout for a leopard lazing in the sunshine.
In the late afternoon, you will relax at the lodge. You will stay in a nice lodge, overlooking Lake George.
Journey Time: 3 ½ hours
Accommodation: Marafiki Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast Lunch and Dinner
Marafiki Safari Lodge is in a unique location and has been designed and handcrafted using local materials, fitted by artisans from the local community. Overlooking Lake George in the Queen Elizabeth National Park it offers private luxury safari tents on raised wooden floors and canvas walls that can be rolled up to allow you to sit comfortably watching the Savannah Plains with breathtaking views across the park and the Rwenzori and Virunga mountains.
Day 7: Early Morning Game drive and Kazinga channel boat safari
Today you wake up early. A little before sunrise coffee, tea and donuts will be served in the lounge before we head out for a long game drive in time to see the first rays of light. You will search for all the wildlife in the park and are likely to come across Elephant, Buffalo, Lion, Waterbuck, Leopard, Uganda Kob, and many Warthogs.
In the afternoon you will take a boat safari along the Kazinga Channel which joins Lake George and Lake Edward.
Here, you will see a lot of hippos (more than you can imagine!), as well as a variety of other animals that come to the waterhole to drink or bathe. You can expect to see buffalo, crocodiles, bathing elephants, and a range of beautiful birds. This will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of your tour.
After the boat safari
, you can drive back to the lodge.
Accommodation: Marafiki Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Optional activity: Lion Tracking:
For visitors who yearn to get up close to wild African fauna, a research trip is a rewarding adventure. This new and unique experience allows visitors to actively participate in monitoring some of the lions in the park, using locator devices and learning habituation calls, as well as monitoring weather, surroundings, and behavior. The results are added to researchers’ databases, contributing valuable information to the overall understanding of wildlife ecology – and helping to conserve this wonderful ecosystem. This will also give you a 95% chance to see the lions!
The number of people on each outing is limited to reduce stress on the animals and to increase the quality of the experience for visitors. The experiential tourism activities currently available are Mongoose Tracking, Lion Tracking, Hippo Census, and Bird Counts.
Experiential tours last between one and three hours. They usually take place in the early morning or evening, or occasionally at night. All activities must be booked through the Visitor Information Centre in Mweya at least 24 hours in advance.
Return to the Lodge for relaxation, Dinner, and overnight stay
Accommodation: Marafiki Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 9 of 14 days Best of Uganda Safari:
Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park through Ishasha.
After breakfast, you will proceed to the southern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park, the famous Ishasha area, for a game drive searching for the tree-climbing lions.
Ishasha is home to the famous tree-climbing lions. While lion cubs around the world frequently climb trees for fun, adults rarely do. The (adult) lions in Ishasha are an exception to this. It is thought that they sit in the branches to get away from the tsetse flies and to enjoy a cool breeze. If you are lucky you might spot a few during your game drive.
Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable National Game Park.
After the Game drive in search of the Tree Climbing Lions, you will embark on a journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Game Park aiming for either Rushaga or Ruhija Gorilla sectors both Located in the Sothern sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Game Park.
You will check into the services of either Rushaga Gorilla Lodge or Ruhija Gorilla Lodge for relaxation Dinner and overnight stay. Our choice of accommodation will depend on which sector we will get gorilla trekking permits from at the time of booking.
Accommodation options
Rushaga Gorilla Lodge or Ruhija Gorilla Lodge
Meal Plan, Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
Day 10 of 14 Days Best of Uganda Safari :
Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi Forest
Today after early breakfast, you will be transferred to the park headquarters for a briefing about gorilla tracking. You will encounter one of Bwindi’s endangered mountain gorillas. For most people, this is the absolute highlight of their tour in Uganda.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park boasts both mountain gorillas and chimpanzees – the only forest in Africa that can make this claim. It also hosts five other species of primates, 113 species of mammals, over 200 species of butterflies, and 360 species of birds. The gorillas you track are habituated and can tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period, every day.
The time taken to track the gorillas can be as few as 2 hours to as many as 7 hours. Once the gorillas have been located, your group will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them. Coming face-to-face with a mountain gorilla is a truly humbling and emotional experience. This is a fantastic and privileged opportunity to get up close and personal with Uganda’s very own ‘Gorillas in the Mist’.
After an encounter with the mountain Gorillas, you will return to the Lodge for relaxation, Dinner, and overnight stay.
Accommodation options
Rushaga Gorilla Lodge or Ruhija Gorilla Lodge
Meal Plan, Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
Optional Activity
Community experience
After Lunch and relaxation, you might choose to go out and explore the Unique culture or the Batwa people living around the forest. You will visit their homesteads and will take you through their daily lives climaxing the experience with unique cultural entertainment. You will return to the lodge for relaxation, Dinner, and an overnight stay.
Day 11 of 14 days best of Uganda Safari:
Transfer to Lake Mutanda
Today after breakfast, you will be transferred to Lake Mutanda in the south-western part of Uganda; close to the borders with Rwanda and Congo. You will see a great country-side, bamboo forest and have great views over the Virunga Mountains.
Accommodation: Mutanda Lake resort
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Mutanda Lake Resort
Mutanda Lake Resort offers most likely the best view in Uganda! Perched on a peninsula in Lake Mutanda (see photo), in the shadow of the Virunga Mountain Range, Mutanda Lake Resort offers comfortable accommodation combined with the most beautiful views on planet Earth. Situated between Kisoro town, Mgahinga, and Bwindi National Parks the Resort makes a perfect base for gorilla trackers, volcano hikers, bird lovers as well as those looking for a secluded place in nature. The cuisine is among the best in Uganda.
Activities on the lake are organized and the lake is safe to swim as it’s Bilharzia free.
Day 12: All-day mountain Sabinyo Hiking adventure.
You will have breakfast by 6.30 am and transfer to the park office to meet the park guides for briefing and set off for the Mount Sabyinyo hike in Mgahinga National Park. The round trip is 6 – 8 hours, depending on one’s fitness. Mount Sabyinyo is an extinct volcano meaning it cannot experience a volcanic eruption. The mount has three peaks and hikers aim to conquer all three; however, some hikers may decide not to trek to all three.
After this amazing hiking, you will return to the lodge for relaxation, Dinner, and an overnight stay.
Accommodation: Mutanda Lake resort
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Mountain Sabinyo.
Mount Sabyinyo is part of a chain of 8 volcanoes making up the Virunga Mountains that are spread along the borders of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mount Sabyinyo is unique because it is located at the center of the volcano chain hence offering incredible views of the
mountains, and it is shared by all three countries i.e. situated at the point where all three borders meet giving hikers a rare chance to step in all the countries at the top. The volcano also has a unique shape, with 3 peaks, and conquering all three peaks is an incredible adventure. In Uganda, Sabyinyo is one of the three Virunga volcanoes that make up the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Mount Sabyinyo has enormous craters and sharp ridges which makes hiking on it very challenging. The only hiking trail on the mountain is on the Ugandan side.
Day 13: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park, have an evening or night game drive in the park
After breakfast, you will travel to Lake Mburo National Park, one of Uganda’s smallest parks, but certainly not to be underestimated. It is the only Ugandan national park (besides Kidepo Valley National Park.) that is home to zebras, elands, and impalas, as well as to an abundance of other wildlife – not to mention the lake itself, which has lots of hippos and crocodiles. Last but not least: The Uganda Wildlife Authority recently brought 15 giraffes from Murchison Falls to Lake Mburo visiting Lake Mburo a perfect one.
You will stay just outside the park boundaries, but it will feel like being in the middle of the park. From your veranda and restaurant, you have a great view of the park and its wildlife.
After checking in, you will go for an evening or night game drive in search of the later grazers, and return to the lodge for relaxation and an overnight stay.
Accommodation: Rwakobo Rock
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Rwakobo Rock (Mid-range)
Set on a massive granite outcrop, just outside Lake Mburo National Park, the accommodation at Rwakobo Rock offers thatched chalets blending into the natural landscape. The rooms are dotted around the hill taking advantage of rocky ledges and private corners. The chalets celebrate the natural lines of the surrounding wilderness. They also provide guests with real comfort and luxury that doesn’t cost the earth.
From the spacey restaurant, you have great views over the national park.
Day 14: Guided bush walk and transfer to Kampala or Entebbe
Today after breakfast, you will go for a guided bush walk. Lake Mburo National Park is one of two parks in Uganda where bush walks with an experienced ranger are permitted. This opportunity should not be missed. From footprints and animal droppings, the ranger will be able to tell you which animal has left it and how long ago. It is exciting to approach wildlife at such close range.
After, you will drive back to Kampala or Entebbe (Airport) stopping at the equator for the requisite snapshot and a bit of souvenir shopping.
Accommodation for tonight is not included in the program. If you wish to depart tonight from Entebbe Airport, make sure your flight is at 10 pm or later. If you want us to book one (or more) nights in Kampala and/or Entebbe, please let us know.
Journey Time: 5 hours to Kampala, 6 hours to Entebbe
Accommodation: Not included
Meal plan: Breakfast and lunch
Important things to note on your 14 days best of Uganda Safari
Dates
This is a private tour; departure can be organized for any time throughout the year subject to the availability of accommodation and transport.
Hotel booking.
The bookings with the hotels mentioned in the program depend on availability. Reservations will only be made after your booking.
In case the mentioned hotels are not available during the requested period, we will do our utmost best to book a hotel in the same class for you (of course we will only do this after consulting you).
Gorilla and chimp permits
It is not possible to ‘reserve’ gorilla and chimpanzee permits. Therefore, we can only buy them after your booking and down payment and also it all depends on availability.
Transport
Our standard offering for mid-range tours is a 4WD minibus with a pop-up roof for easy safari viewing. All passengers will have a dedicated window seat. Your professional and courteous driver/guide will be at your disposal for questions or translations. Land cruisers are available upon the client’s request
Tour Package Including:
- Transport in a 4WD minivan with a pop-up roof for an excellent safari view;
- All fuel for the tour;
- English-speaking Ugandan driver/guide;
- Accommodation as listed in the program;
- All Meals as per itinerary
- Packed lunch for the gorilla tracking;
- Park entrance fees according to the program;
- All activities described in the itinerary;
- 1 chimpanzee permit per person
- 1 gorilla permit per person
Excluding:
- International air fares and entry visa Uganda
- Meals that are not part of your accommodation;
- A porter for during the gorilla tracking (someone who carries your daypack);
- Personal (medical/travel) insurance;
- Tips and gratuities to rangers, drivers/guides, porters, hotel staff, etc;
- All expenses of a personal nature (e.g. drinks, laundry, optional activities, souvenirs, etc.)
- This tour can be tailor-made to suit budget and luxury travelers.
Important:
Gorilla tracking is dependent on the permit’s availability at the time of your booking. Gorilla permits in all parks are in very high demand and we advise that you book them as early as possible.
Social Responsibility
When you book your trip with KatlandSafariss to any of our destinations, KatlandSafariss will donate US$ 10 per person to projects aimed at the transformation of communities.