Day: June 25, 2023

Top Destinations for Game and Wildlife Safaris in Uganda. Wildlife safaris In Uganda – game drives in Uganda

Top Destinations for Game and Wildlife Safaris in Uganda. Uganda offers some of the greatest opportunities for Game and wildlife Safaris in the whole of Africa. Game and wildlife safaris in Uganda and any other destination in Africa are defined by driving through a savannah park in a four-by-four safari vehicle, guided by an expert local guide, viewing wild animals.

A game and wildlife safari takes you deep into the natural wilderness getting you closer to the big and small animals within the protected confines of a particular destination of choice.

The most thrilling Game and wildlife safaris in Uganda occur in four of the ten national parks: Queen Elizabeth National Park, Lake Mburo National, Murchison Falls National Park, and Kidepo National Park.

Top Destinations for Game and Wildlife Safaris in Uganda.

Murchison Falls National Game Park

Murchison Falls National Park Is Uganda’s largest savannah park and one of Uganda’s most Visited parks providing excellent guided safari game drives in Uganda.

A game and wildlife to Murchison falls national game park will lead you to four of Africa’s Big Five animals with only rhinos absent but can be accessed a few Kilometers at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Buffalo and elephants are particularly a common sight on game drives through Murchison fall national game park. The park has a rich population of lions that prey on the abundant Uganda kob. You’ll also catch sight of various antelope species like the oribi, Jackson’s hartebeest, waterbuck, grey duiker, and bushbuck.

While on a game and wildlife safari through Murchison Falls, You won’t miss sighting the large herds of the localized Rothschild’s giraffes on any safari game drive in the park. Though far from numerous, introverted leopards are most likely to be spotted around Pakuba.

Murchison Falls National Park is a bit isolated from the popular western circuit at least 200 kilometers from Kibale National Park, the nearest park. So, it’s usually the first or last stop on the best of Uganda safari holidays. Nonetheless, the Murchison Falls route, via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, is the only one that will assure you an encounter with Africa’s BIG FIVE game.

We recommend you spend at least two or more nights in Murchison and extend your love for the African savannah to the vast wilderness of Kidepo Valley or to the west to Queen Elizabeth, or Bwindi Impenetrable national game Park.

Queen Elizabeth National Park

If your dream has always been encountering lions on your safari holiday in Uganda, then wildlife and game safaris in Queen Elizabeth National Park must feature on your itinerary. The park protects the highest number of lions in the country. However, finding lions on a safari game drive is always challenging anywhere in the wild and requires a good spotting local guide, luck, and perseverance.

Other animals tourists commonly encounter driving through the Queen Elizabeth savannah plains include enormous herds of elephants and buffalo. You’ll also spot out many interesting antelope species such as Uganda kob, topi, and bushbuck. The giant forest hog is unusually easy to spot.

Top Destinations for Game and Wildlife Safaris in Uganda.

Kidepo Valley National Park

If you’re planning to stay longer in a single savannah park destination in Uganda, Kidepo National Park is your best choice. The park is a predator haven, protecting many predators found nowhere else in Uganda’s parks like the cheetah and black-backed jackal.

Common sightings on a safari game drive in Kidepo include the hunting dog, bat-eared fox, cheetah, striped hyena, caracal, aardwolf, Beisa Oryx, Lesser Kudu plus Grant’s gazelle, elephant, Orbis, Burchell’s zebras, Jackson’s hartebeests, bush pigs, cape buffaloes, bohor reedbuck, warthog, waterbuck, Rothschild giraffes, bush duskier and elands, bushbucks and zebra.

In addition to lions, leopards, and several small cats, a good local safari guide will spot out the side-striped jackal, Kongoni, black-backed jackal, and spotted hyena.

We recommend three or four nights in Kidepo National Park at Apoka Safari Camp, Nga’Moru Wilderness Camp, or Kidepo Safari Lodge to get a Mara-like experience with the ultimate privacy that exceptionally few safari parks can provide.

Top Destinations for Game and Wildlife Safaris in Uganda.

Lake Mburo National Park

If you have very little time yet want to spend some time in the wild, then Lake Mburo national game park is the perfect destination. A safari drive will spot substantial concentrations of impala, zebra, waterbuck, topi, and buffalo.

Because it is in the middle of Kampala the Capital and other destinations like Bwindi, lake Mburo is usually a resting point for long drives to the southwestern Uganda safari circuit, where tourists expect to find more wildlife action drama.

A typical wildlife safari through Lake Mburo will include a night or two in the park and then head deeper into the western safari circuit to track gorillas in Bwindi or explore the Rwenzori Mountains shadowed savannah plains of Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Lake Mburo national game park is recently known for being a perfect digestion for giraffe encounters in the whole Country.

Contact us with any inquiries and questions about conducting a game and wildlife safari in Uganda.

Budget Camping Safaris in Uganda – Uganda camping adventures – Camping in Uganda

Budget Camping Safaris in Uganda: Uganda is one of the most exciting destinations for a truly rewarding African safari. Uganda allows you to choose the kind of adventure you wish to have. whether you are a luxury or budget traveler camping is always the best experience as it gets you close to nature and wilderness.  

Types of Camping Safaris in Uganda

In Uganda, there are three types of camping safaris and these include,

• Self-catered safaris
• scheduled camping safaris
• Luxury camping safaris.

Your Uganda camping safari experience will highly be determined by the type of safari you consider among the above three. Below is a further breakdown of the same.

Self-catered camping safaris.

Self-catered camping safaris are the type of camping safaris where tourists do the entire planning and execute the camping by themselves, this means tourists handle their own accommodations, flights, local transport, meals, and entrance tickets among others.

Almost everything about a self-catered camping safari is taken care of by the tourists themselves. However, it is necessary to delegate a few activities or aspects of the safari such as booking and securing gorilla trekking permits, chimpanzee tracking permits, and boat tickets, which require prior booking.

Scheduled Camping Safaris.

Scheduled camping safaris in Uganda are organized by tour operators together with their agents from different locations, the tour operators target travelers who are willing to visit the same camping destinations at the same time of the year.

Note: There are no entirely camping scheduled safaris, however, there is always a tour operator willing to organize a camping safari on your preferred dates.

With scheduled camping safaris, all you need as a camper is to pay a set fare for your safari, and all the requirements for your camping are covered in your camping package.  In the scheduled safari, items included in the package and items not included are listed.

Luxury Camping in Uganda.

In most of the national parks in Uganda, there are several options for luxury camping, this type of camping is offered through safari ground tents that are well-designed to match the ambiance of a hotel room. Luxury camping is also referred to as glamping.

Planning for a camping safari in Uganda.

As a traveler, planning for your camping safari can be done by a tour operator or yourself. When planning for a budget camping safari in Uganda, here are some of the things to consider.

Choose the type of camping you are interested in and that fits your budget

When planning a Budget camping safari in Uganda, you should identify the type of camping that fits your budget, there are 3 camping options in Uganda including ground camping for budget travelers, rooftop tent camping perfect for midrange travelers, and glamping for luxury and mid-range travelers. Camping in Uganda generally depends on the budget of the client.

Choose the camping season.

The season you choose to go camping in Uganda determines the camping experience. The best time for camping in Uganda is in the dry seasons in the months of December, January, February, July, and August.  However, Uganda’s seasons are very unpredictable, unexpected rain can be experienced even in the dry season.

Budget Camping Safaris in Uganda

Things to do while on a budget Camping safari in Uganda

Gorilla and chimpanzee trekking.

Gorilla and chimpanzee trekking is one of the top Uganda safari activities to do in Uganda. The country is home to various other primate species including Golden Monkeys, and olive baboons among others.

Gorilla Trekking in Uganda on a budget camping safari in Uganda is done in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, for you to be allowed to go for the gorilla trek you will need to have a gorilla permit which costs USD700 for the foreign nonresidents, USD600 for the East African Residents and USD70 for the East African Citizens, this allows you to spend one hour encounter with the mountain gorillas. You can as well opt for a 4-hour encounter experience that is Gorilla Habituation which costs USD1500 per person per trek, this allows spending more time with the Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Forest National Park

Chimpanzee tracking in Uganda is done in Kibale Forest National Park, Kyambura Gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kalinzu Forest, and Budongo Forest close to Murchison Falls National Park. The chimpanzee tracking is done in the morning and afternoon and we can book for you the permits and organize this trek for you depending on the itinerary and timing of the activities. For normal chimpanzee tracking, a Chimpanzee permit costs USD200 for foreign nonresidents, USD150 for the residents, and USD30 for the citizens and this gives you one hour encounter with the chimpanzees. You can as well do the chimpanzee habituation experience which gives you a half-day encounter with the chimpanzees; this is only done in Kibale Forest National Park

 Wildlife and Game viewing safaris.

You will be able to do various game drives in the savannah national parks of Kidepo Valley National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Lake Mburo National Park, and Uganda’s most popular National Park Queen Elizabeth National Park, wildlife to see includes tree climbing lions, Buffaloes, Elephants, warthogs, Giraffes, Zebras, Leopard, among others.

Cultural and community encounters.

Uganda is ranked among countries with the most diverse cultures with more than 50 ethnic tribes and languages, you will be able to enjoy various cultural experiences, and you will be able to visit many communities in various national park part of your itinerary where the local community will share with you the hard experience of living near the park and how they have managed to co-exist peacefully with wildlife you will as well enjoy the cultural encounters and traditional dances.

Mountain Climbing adventures.

Mountain climbing is another amazing adventure activity that you can add to your budget camping safari to Uganda. Uganda is a land of various hills, mountains, and highlands, giving you a great opportunity for hiking activities. Mountains include Elgon, Rwenzori, Moroto, Sabinyo, Muhavura, and Gahinga, which are common for hiking.

Bird-watching safaris.

With over 1000 recorded bird species in Uganda, Uganda is one of the best destinations for birding in Africa; it is home to various migrant birds and Albertine endemics with the Shoebill as one of the must-see bird specie. The major birding areas in Uganda include Bwindi Forest, Mabamba swamp, Bigodi wetland, and Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park among others many birds as well can be spotted during game drives in various national parks.

Boat Safari excursions

With various lakes and rivers in Uganda boat trips and excursions are one of another top Uganda safari activities to do, Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park, and River Nile Excursions to the top of the falls and the Delta allow you to enjoy wildlife up-close and various water animals in Murchison Falls National Park.

What is the best time to Visit Uganda for a budget camping safari?

The best time for visiting Uganda is during December to February and then June to October which is relatively drier than March to May and November. Uganda is crossed by the equator making her experience a modified equatorial type of climate with two rainy seasons. Because of this, people tend to associate drier seasons as the best time to visit Uganda. This is true because when it is raining, it becomes hard to drive through the park for wildlife viewing because of the heavy rains that make the trails too slippery.

Budget Camping Safaris in Uganda

Contact us with any inquiries and questions on how to organize a budget camping safari in Uganda.

Other must-see big game animals in Uganda. Big Five safaris through Uganda – wildlife Safaris in Uganda.

Other must-see big game animals in Uganda. Since the Africa Big 5 list is no longer determined by the size of the animals and the difficulty of hunting them, we can securely readjust that list to feature more impressive African safari wildlife. Uganda is incredibly blessed with big wild animals that do not feature on the famous Africa Big 5 list. Most notable is the mountain gorilla, arguably the most sought-after animal in Uganda.

Big Five Game Adventures in Uganda. 

Uganda’s Big 5 animals list, the five best to see on Uganda safari

The mountain gorilla is number one on Uganda’s big five lists. This endangered ape lives in only two places in the world and Uganda has the biggest population in two national parks.

Thousands of travelers flock to the impenetrable rainforests of Bwindi National Park to spend that precious moment with this magnificent gentle giant. They’ll tell you that the experience is unmatched in any African safari encounter. So, in our books, the mountain gorilla qualifies for the BIG African wildlife list.

You can see the mountain gorilla on a guided gorilla trekking safari in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga National Park for a fee of a gorilla permit issued by UWA for US$700 per person and spend one hour sitting in their presence.

if you got the heart for it, take a gorilla habituation experience safari and spend more than 4 hours foraging with a family of semi-habituated mountain gorillas for a permit fee of USD$1500 per person.

Rothschild Giraffe in Uganda

The Northern Giraffe should be on the list of African safari “BIG” game animals found in Uganda. Rothschild’s giraffe is rare elsewhere in its former range but very common in the northern part of Murchison Falls National Park, Kidepo Valley, Lake Mburo, and very recently (2019) and newly translocated to Pian Upe Game Reserve.

The world’s tallest animal (up to 5.5m) lives in loosely structured mixed-sex herds, typically numbering between five and 15 animals. As herd members can disperse over an area of up to 1km, they are frequently seen singly or in smaller groups, though large assemblages are typical in Uganda.

Chimpanzees

7 out of 10 tourists visiting Uganda’s rainforest parks will say they have come to see our playful primate cousins. Much work has gone into habituating chimpanzee families for tourism in Kibale Forest, Kyambura Gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Semliki Wildlife Reserve, and the Budongo and Kanyiyo Pabidi forests near Murchison Falls National Park.

The chimpanzee’s celebrity status among travelers earns it a great position among the Africa Big Animals to see on safari in Uganda, and even you cannot dispute that. Chimpanzee-tracking excursions happen in Kibale every day, and it’s one of the most extraordinary safari experiences you can have in Uganda.

Hippopotamus.

This large, lumbering aquatic animal occurs naturally on most African lakes and waterways, where it spends most of the day submerged but emerges from the water to graze at night. Hippos are strongly territorial, with herds of ten or more animals being presided over by a dominant male.

In Uganda, the best places to see the hippopotamus are in Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, and Lake Mburo national parks, where they can be seen in huge impressive herds around waterways. On a boat launch safari on the Nile in Murchison Falls, especially at the foot of the thundering falls, you’ll most definitely encounter a school.

Cheetah

Like the leopard, the cheetah is the most diurnal of Africa’s cat species and hunts using speed instead of stealth. Cheetahs use their high speeds to catch their prey but cannot sustain top speeds for much more than a few hundred meters.

Because the Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is the fastest land mammal found in Uganda and competes with other African Big 5 members for pray, it earns itself a great seat at the African BIG animals’ table located in Uganda without a doubt.

Like leopards, cheetahs are heavily spotted and solitary in their habits, but their greyhound-like build, distinctive black tear marks, and preference for grassland and savanna habitats preclude confusion.

In Uganda, Cheetah occurs almost exclusively in the Karamoja region, in the vicinity of Kidepo National Park, where an estimated 53–310 individuals have been recorded.

Contact us with any details on taking a safari through Uganda to encounter both the Big Five animals and also the must-see animals in Uganda.