11 Days Uganda Wildlife Safari

3 buffalos in water

Overview

The pearl of Africa has a lot to offer to her visitors, among which include quite a number of physical features such as lakes, waterfalls, rivers, etc. in addition to animals such as lions, elephants, buffaloes, mountain gorillas, etc. and birds like grey-crowned crested crane, golden turaco, shoebill stock, Marabou stock, to mention but a few.

11 days Uganda wildlife safari is an outstanding expedition that will take you to five national parks namely; Lake Mburo national park, Bwindi Impenetrable national park, Queen Elizabeth national park, Kibale forest national park and Murchison falls national park.

Detailed itinerary

Day 1: Arrival and transfer to a hotel in Kampala

Upon arrival at Entebbe international airport, you will be picked up by our driver / guide and be led to any hotel of your choice. Hotels around Kampala range from budget, mid-range and luxury.

Day 2: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park

After an early morning breakfast, get in touch with your driver and embark on the four hour drive journey to one of Uganda’s magnificent national park – Lake Mburo national park. Along the way you will stopover Kayabwe in Mpigi for a picture at the Uganda equator and get a chance of grabbing yourself something from the craft shop.

Upon arrival, check in to the lodge of your choice and relax. There is an optional nature walk in the savannah grasslands of the park before returning to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Day 3: Morning Game drive and transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable national park

After an early morning breakfast, check out your lodge and meet your driver / guide for a fascinating game drive that introduces you to wonders of the park. You will follow quite a number of trails from where you will see animals like zebras, giraffes, buffaloes, oribi, reedbucks, bushbucks, topi, etc. Bird species such as grey-crowned crane, rufous-bellied heron, and shoebill stock, to mention but a few.

After the game drive, continue and stop over at Biharwe – Igongo Cultural Center for a lip-smirking lunch before continuing to southwestern Uganda – Bwindi Impenetrable national park.

The journey is a characterized by rolling hills, green vegetation cover, beautiful landscape, human settlements, trading centers and plantations.

In the event of arriving, check in to the lodge of your choice, have dinner, relax and spend a night.

Day 4: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable national park

After an early morning breakfast, carry your packed lunch, meet the driver and go to the park headquarters from where you will meet rangers and be briefed about the dos and don’ts of the trekking activity. You will be assigned a specific gorilla family to trek and given a group of eight members with whom you will do the trekking.

Dive into the forests and start the trekking, the time taken to meet the gorillas depends on how fast you walk and where the gorillas spent the previous night. Upon meeting them, you are given a full hour of spending in their presence as you watch them play, mate, feed as well as taking pictures as long as you are not using a flashlight camera.

During the trek, you will meet quite a number of other animals such as elephants, duikers, bushbucks, several tree species and bird species.

Meet your driver and return to your lodge in the later hours of the day for relaxation, dinner and overnight.

Day 5: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National park

After a delicious morning breakfast, check out of the lodge and get in touch with your driver. Start your journey to the second largest national park in Uganda. The journey takes about three to four hours. You will drive through the plains of the magical Ishasha sector - the home of climbing lions.

Upon arrival, check in to the lodge of your choice for relaxation, dinner and spend a night.

Day 6: Morning game drive and afternoon boat Cruise on Kazinga Channel

After a morning breakfast, meet your driver and embark on a morning game drive. The game drive will take you through Kasenyi plains as well as the Ishasha sector from where you will meet climbing lions, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, waterbucks, leopards and several bird species like spur fowl and grey-crowned crane.

Return to the lodge for relaxation and lunch

In the afternoon, you will drive to Kazinga channel for a boat cruise. The channel is one of the best birding sites in East Africa since it hosts quite a number of bird species such as African skimmers, saddle-billed stork, marabou stork, pied kingfisher, grey white pelicans, etc.

The cruise will also introduce you to quite a number of animals such as crocodiles, lions, leopards, waterbucks, zebras, and many of which come to quench their thirst and those that come to get what to put into their stomachs. The boat cruise also provides scenic views of the neighboring crater lakes as well as the magnificent Rwenzori Mountains.

Return to the lodge for relaxation, dinner and spend a night

Day 7: Morning Game drive and transfer to Kibale Forest National Park

After a delicious morning breakfast, meet your driver and embark on yet another spectacular morning game drive. You will drive into deeper parts of the park and explore what you might have missed on day 6. You will drive to Lake Katwe and see a number of migratory birds and animals in addition to locals mining salt.

Return to your lodge for lunch

After lunch, check out of the lodge and drive to Kibale forest national park – the home of chimpanzees. The journey lasts for about three hours as you drive through plantations, settlements and trading centers characterized by views of the Rwenzoris.

Check in to the lodge of your choice for dinner and overnight upon arrival.

Day 8: Chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi community exploration

Upon finishing your morning breakfast, get in touch with your driver / guide and drive to Kanyacu Visitors Center from where you will be briefed about the dos and don’ts of the trek. You will also be assigned a specific chimpanzee family to trek and equipped with knowledge of the trails. You will enter the jungle and start the trekking. Seeing these human-like creatures depends on where they spent the previous night.

After meeting the chimps, you will be given a full hour to spend in their presence as you take pictures, watch them play, mate and dine.

Along the way, you will see other animal species such as olive baboons, red-tailed monkeys and grey-cheeked mangabeys.

After the trekking, you will go to park headquarters from where you will meet your driver and take you back to the lodge for lunch and relaxation.

In the afternoon, you will walk to the Bigodi swamp for a spectacular bird experience. You will meet a number of bird species some of which are rift valley endemics and others are restricted to the area. Some of the birds at Bigodi swamp include but not limited to the following; purple breasted sunbird, Abyssinia, the African pitta, ground thrush, crowned eagle, black-capped apalis, kingfisher, weavers, cuckoos, papyrus gonolek, flycatchers and hornbills.

Return to the lodge for relaxation, dinner and spend a night

Day 9: Transfer to Murchison falls national park

After a morning breakfast, check out of the lodge and meet your driver who will lead you on the 8 to 9 hour drive to Uganda’s oldest and largest national park – Murchison falls national park. The journey will be characterized by views of Lakes, Edward and George, tea plantations, the rift valley, lunch stopovers, etc.

Check in to the lodge of your choice upon arrival. Have dinner, relax and spend a night.

Day 10: Morning Game drive and afternoon boat cruise

After an early morning breakfast, meet your driver and embark on a morning game drive. The drive will take you into the deeper parts of the park. It is here that you will get a chance of seeing the big five animals in one place. You will also see quite a number of animal and bird species such as giraffes, antelopes, buffaloes, lions, leopards, herons, shoebill stocks, grey crowned cranes, to mention but a few.

Return to your lodge for a delicious lunch before embarking on the afternoon boat cruise at Para landing site on the Nile River. The boat cruise provides amazing experience characterized by scenic views, aquatic animals such as crocodiles and hippopotamuses.

Continue to the bottom of the falls for pictorial moments at the world’s strongest water falls – Murchison falls. You can also hike to the top of the falls for more exciting experience.

Return to the lodge for relaxation, dinner and overnight

Day 11: Return to Kampala city and departure

Check of the lodge after a delicious morning breakfast, get in touch with your drive and drive the 7 hour drive journey to Kampala city. If time becomes your friend, you can choose to stopover Ziwa Rhino sanctuary and have a look at the giant rhinos. Continue to Entebbe international airport and depart. Hence the end of this 11 days Uganda wildlife safari.

Affiliations

UWA AUTO USAGA UTB