Over view

1. Drive from Entebbe through Uganda’s picturesque countryside to the southwestern region where primates freely roam.
2. Dive into the ancient Kibale Forest jungle looking for habituated chimpanzees and spend one unforgettable hour witnessing their antiques and social dynamics.
3. Go on a game drive on the Savannah plains and ride the Kazinga Channel to watch incredible wildlife game up close.
4. Spend two nights at the Gorilla Heights Lodge, nestled in trees and beautiful gardens on a ridge with incredible mountain and forest views.
5. With the visitor center a five-minute walk away, trek into the impenetrable jungle with local guides and porters to meet a family of mountain gorillas and spend one precious hour observing their basic culture.
6. Mingle with the native Batwa forest people, learn about their cultures, listen to their tales, and dance to their tunes.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1- shoe bill tracking in Entebbe

Africa Safaris Tours’ driver will pick you up from Entebbe International Airport and check you in at your hotel in Entebbe. You’ll meet with your trip specialist for a briefing about the trip and a warm welcome just before dinner.

there are optional activities around Entebbe for those who arrive early and want to stay active. For example, bird-watchers can visit the world-renowned botanical gardens to meet the shoebill. You can take a quiet walk to the local markets with our tour guide.

Accommodation: Protea Hotel Entebbe

Day 2-Transfer from Entebbe to Lake Mburo National Park for a game drive

Enjoy an early morning breakfast, then journey to Western Uganda across the beautiful landscape of central Uganda with vast cultivated plains, banana plantations, and cattle farms. Briefly stopover en route at Mpambire and watch the making of traditional and local crafts. A stop at the equator will be an unforgettable experience with photography to keep the memories fresh. You’ll arrive in time for lunch at Rwakobo Rock Lodge.

Rwakobo Rock Lodge is a wilderness retreat secluded on a rocky outcrop at the edge of Lake Mburo National Park’s northern border. The lodge provides private getaways in the locally styled cottages dotted around a massive granite outcrop, with stunning views over the wilderness plains.

After a hearty lunch at the lodge, take a game drive and meet resident favorites like buffalo, impala, zebra, eland, warthogs, and bush buck. You can also take a one-hour boat safari to find crocodiles, hippos, and plenty of water birds or a horseback safari.

Day 3- Transfer to bwindi Impenetrable national park

Embark on an early morning game drive in the park, then continue to Western Uganda across its rolling hills, tea plantations, tropical rain forest, and towards the Virunga Volcanoes majestic chain. Drive via Mbarara, Kabale, and Kisoro towns before heading onto the 32-km countryside dirt road to  Gorilla Heights Lodge, on the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Keep your eyes out for the rugged Tuscany-like landscapes: the views are to-die-for

On the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, on a magnificent ridge, sits Nkuringo Lodge’s ten luxurious cottages. These cottages have a distinctive elegance and surprising luxury amid forest trees, flowers, and shrubs. Locally styled furnishings grace the spacious rooms, and light fills the space from your private viewing deck over the forest swath and beyond the entire Virunga Mountains. After settling in, take a stroll around the community, encounter local cultures, and visit the Batwa indigenous community who once occupied Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, now a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it’s home to mountain Gorillas.

Day 4- Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Wake up early for breakfast, a guide will drive you to the trailhead for a briefing before hitting the jungles to find the mountain gorilla family. Trekking through the jungle could take 30 minutes to 4 hours, depending on where the trackers last saw the mountain gorillas the previous evening. Make sure you are physically able to withstand the trek through uneven terrain, damp forest floors, and thick forest cover.

The beauty of this rainforest is spectacular. The area offers a dramatic, steeply forested landscape and is incredibly dense but crisscrossed by numerous animal trails, allowing tourists access. The thrill of spending time observing these gentle and endangered giants is an incredible, exciting experience to be long-savored. Many find it to be a rare and moving opportunity. As per your gorilla permit, the tracking can occur at one of the four regions of the park, either Rushaga, Nkuringo, or the other two.

When you meet the gorillas, your guide and rangers will allow you only 60 minutes before they escort you back. You can spend more time with the mountain gorillas only when you purchase the Gorilla Habituation Experience Permit that costs USD 1,500 per person. The experience allows a permit holder at least four hours with a semi-habituated gorilla family. Your experience with the mountain giants, and if you still have the guts to explore the region, you can take an evening guided walk to meet the local community, the Batwa. You can also visit a single-family home, listen to their age-old tales, and listen to the music and cultural presentations of the locals

Back to Gorilla Heights Lodge, as the night cools down, you have a roaring campfire and local songs to look forward to, as well as a deep massage, perfect for soothing any aching muscles after a day of hiking.

Day 5- carry out most of the optional activities

On the 5th day of the safari, travelers are given the chance to carry out their activities of interest, varying from one of them.

Some travelers would opt to stay back at the lodge and relax, read a book, join a cooking class, or take a walk around the property and talk to some locals.

1. Go back into the mysterious jungle to meet with the gorillas for a second time. Maybe for a more extended stay, we like to call the habituation experience. But remember, you must have pre-booked the trekking permit.
2. Drive down to Lake Mutanda for a traditional dug-out canoeing experience with some of the most enchanting views on the volcano lake.
3. Forest walk either on a Batwa Forest Trail or on a Circular Trail through Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, this time not for gorillas but everything else ethereal about the jungle.
4. Go on a sundown picnic on top of the world with 360-degree spellbinding views of the hilly landscapes. It’s a walkable distance from the lodge.

Day 6-Hiking across Bwindi

Most of our travelers and pioneer activity is hiking on the ancient walking trails through the mystic Bwindi jungle, from the Nkuringo south side to the Buhoma visitor center in the north. At the gates of the forest, the surprised travelers will be forced to forget their city estimates of great and small, wise and foolish, and wrap themselves in the majestic beauties of the ancient jungle.

For 4-5 hours, you’ll be guided by a local expert who’ll furnish you with ancient tales, incredible forest knowledge, and bring you close to being one with the forest trails. If you’re lucky, you’ll meet some wild forest inhabitants like chimps, forest elephants, forest buffalo, and more.

At the other end of the walking trail, your driver will be ready to whisk you off through Ishasha Savannah plains, where he’ll lazily drive for you to catch sight of the incredible tree-climbing lions.

Day 7- Queen Elizabeth National Park visit

This part of our safari itinerary will give you a chance to get close to Africa’s big game players on an early morning or evening game drive and a boat safari on Kazinga Channel, famous for hosting the largest population of hippos. Game drives on Kasenyi tracks will encounter animals like herds of elephants and buffalo. You’ll also spot many interesting antelope species such as Uganda kob, topi, and bush buck. The giant forest hog is unusually easy to spot. Search around the Kasenyi tracks for the elusive leopard. On the Kazinga Channel boat safari trip that will set off at 14:00, you’re able to catch sight of elephants, buffalo, waterbuck, Uganda kob, and large hippo pods daily. Keep an eye open for the enormous water monitor lizard, which is common in the riverine scrub, as well as crocodiles. You’ll also see the giant forest hog, leopard, and lion. The odds of seeing predators and other nocturnal creatures coming to drink are highest in the late afternoon.

Day 8: Transfer from queen Elizabeth to kibale forest National park

If you’re up for another explore Uganda game-viewing adventure, you’ll take a morning game drive in the Kasenyi northern tracks to catch sight of what you could have missed before we head to the primate capital in Kibale.

Driving with the Rwenzori ranges backdrop, you’ll drive for 2-3 hours into Kibale Forest and check in at Primate Lodge. In the afternoon, trek to the ‘Top of the World’ to enjoy fantastic views of the Rwenzori Mountains, crater lakes, tea plantations, and local villages.

Turaco Treetops Lodge’s rustic style affords beautiful views of the dense, ethereal rainforest and is quietly secluded, offering an authentic experience. The main open lounge area features comfortable armchairs and sofas, making it a lovely spot to unwind after a day in the forest while listening to the red-tailed monkeys in the surrounding trees. Fires are lit on cool evenings, creating a cozy atmosphere, while colorful traditional dance performances give you a real insight into the local culture. However, the lodge’s highlight is the jungle hikes to track and spot chimpanzees in their natural setting.

Day 9-chimpanzee trekking excursion

Wake early and be at the visitors’ center by 8:00 to embark on another primate viewing adventure in Kibale Forest. Kibale is commonly known for the diversity and density of primates in Africa. It stands out as the best place to watch chimpanzees up close in their natural setting, with over 1500 chimpanzees under the park’s rainforest canopy and a dozen other primate species.

On your morning trek to find the chimps, it’s prevalent for other primates to cross your path, like the rare L’Hoest’s monkey and red colobus monkey. Other primates you may encounter include the black & white colobus, red-tailed monkey, blue monkey, olive baboon, and grey-cheeked mangabey. However, your primary goal will be to find a troop of human-habituated chimpanzees.

Guided by an expert tracker, you’ll head into the jungle in small groups, looking out for tell-tale signs of the chimp’s direction and listening for loud calls. The experience usually lasts 2 to 6 hours, depending on the location of the habituated chimpanzee troop. Visitors are allowed from 1 hr to almost the whole day with the chimpanzees, and the quality and intimacy of each sighting can vary greatly.

Day 10-Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park

Wake up early in the morning, have your tasty breakfast, you’ll drive 400 km north to Murchison Falls National Park for about 7 – 8 hours. Murchison Falls National Park sits in the remote northwestern part of Uganda, bisected by the Victoria Nile River. The “mythical” river plunges here 45m from the rift valley wall, creating the dramatic Murchison Falls, the centerpiece of the park and final “event” in an 80km stretch of rapids. The mighty cascade drains the last energies from the river and transforms it into a broad, placid stream flowing quietly across the rift valley floor into Lake Albert. You’ll check in at Murchison River Camp in time for dinner.

Located in one of Uganda’s remotest regions, the concept and design of Murchison River Lodge encourage gentle engagement with nature without compromising safari comfort. The rooms are spread out within 30 acres of natural bush with views from the main bar and restaurant across the Nile River and over the expansive Murchison Falls National Park’s Savannah plains. From the vantage point of the lodge bar and restaurant, guests can relish the spectacular panoramic views of the park and the early journey of the famous River Nile as it flows downstream between papyrus islands and hippo pods.

Day 11- Rhino tracking at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and departure

After an early breakfast, your driver guide will drive to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, just outside Murchison Falls Conservation Area, to track Uganda’s only rhinos in the wild. More than 20 southern white rhinos are roaming the sanctuary’s Savannah and wetland, many of which were born in the wild in Uganda. A guide will lead you on foot to get an up-close encounter.

While tracking rhinos on foot sounds a bit foolhardy, the fact that they’re in the company of armed anti-poaching rangers 24 hours means they are habituated and used to human presence.

The sanctuary is also home to 350 bird species, with highlights including giant kingfishers, Ross’s turacos, and the mystical shoebill. Other animals living inside the 6-foot-tall electric fence include leopards, hippos, crocodiles, bushbucks, and oribis. The time to spot the shoe bill will be early morning on shoe bill canoe trips to an adjoining swamp, where you have an excellent chance of spotting them. You’ll head directly to Entebbe to prepare for your flight back home.