10 Days Uganda wildlife safari – Gorillas, Chimps and Lions
This 10 days Uganda wildlife safari with gorilla and chimp tracking trip will show you the best of what Uganda has to offer. You will experience a perfect combination of nature, culture, animals and fun. The tour will be guided by a local professional safari guide/driver
Highlights of your 10 day safari
- Game drives
- Boat safari
- Gorilla permit included
- Accommodations with a view
Day 1: Airport pick up
Your guide will be at Entebbe Airport to pick you up from your flight and take you directly to your lodge in Kampala. Depending on the time of your arrival, you may be able to explore the sites in and around Kampala.
You will stay in a nice lodge with beautiful views on Lake Victoria. The hotel has cozy safari style furnished rooms, equipped with satellite TV, fridge bar, telephone, fan, balcony with lake-view and a comfortable bathroom.
Journey Time: 1 Hour
Accommodation: Cassia Lodge
Meal Plan: No meals inclusive
Cassia Lodge
Cassia Lodge offers an astonishing view over Lake Victoria and the city. With an excellent international cuisine in a serene environment, you will be able to unwind after – or before your tour in Uganda. In addition, they have wireless Internet connection, a large swimming pool and 20 spacious rooms with satellite television, bar and balcony overlooking the lake.
Day 2: Transfer to Murchison Falls en route Rhino sanctuary
En route Rhino sanctuary
Today’s journey will take you north from Kampala to Murchison falls national park. En route, you will visit Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary where you will go for guided rhino tracking with an experienced ranger, which gives you a unique opportunity to view the rhinos from a close distance.
Kidepo Valley and Murchison Falls National Parks once had both black and white rhinos; however, widespread poaching during the Idi Amin era resulted in the disappearance of these majestic animals from the wild. Founded in 1998, Rhino Fund Uganda works to reintroduce black and white rhinos into Uganda and runs a breeding program.
Transfer to Murchison Falls
Murchison Falls National Park 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 watched by crocodiles, hundreds of hippos, buffaloes, water birds, monkeys 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 extraordinary falls and the river snaking below.
You will be staying at a great mid-range lodge, overlooking the River Nile. Here you can relax during the rest of your day.
Journey Time: 7 Hours
Accommodation: Pakuba Game Lodge
Meal plan: All meals
Pakuba Game lodge
A wonderful safari game lodge found in the Murchison Falls National Park, the lodge has been refurbished with a touch of class. It has 11 Guest rooms which are self-contained. It offers a warm and inviting atmosphere and it’s a home to a wonderful selection of birds, all the general plains game from Giraffe to Impala and innumerable species of reptiles and insects. The area is blessed with a temperate climate all year round. Accommodation is luxurious and all rooms have bathroom en suite and a terrace.
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: Morning game drive, Boat safari & Hike to the top of falls
Today you will wake up very early. In the early morning hours animals are the most active, the sun is not yet so bright and temperatures are cooler. It offers the best time to spot wild animals. After an early breakfast you will go on a game drive to explore the northern part of the park.
You will be eye-to-eye with the African animals like elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, lions, leopards, different species of antelopes and many tropical birds may all be spotted during the game drive. So keep your eyes open.
In the afternoon you will take a boat safari up the Nile River to Murchison Falls. You will be watched by crocodiles, hundreds of hippos, buffaloes, water birds, monkeys and all the other thirsty wildlife that the Nile attracts, you will reach the base of the 43-meter high Falls which approach with a thunderous sound.
After the boat safari you will hike to the top of the falls. However, from here you will have a wonderful view and fantastic photo opportunities.
Accommodation: Pakuba Safari Lodge
Meal plan: All meals
Optional activity: Chimp tracking Budongo forest
Budongo Forest is located in the southern part of Murchison Falls NP and has the highest number of wild chimpanzees of Uganda. The habituated groups are located in Kaniyo Padibi, where you can go for chimpanzee tracking. Budongo Forest has an incredible biodiversity that beside the chimpanzee includes several other species like the Blue monkeys, Red-tailed monkeys, Vervet monkeys and Olive baboons.
Costing: $95 us dollar p.p.
Day 4: Transfer to Kibale National Park
Today you will begin your journey to Kibale Forest N.P. The long drive is incredibly scenic, passing through tea plantations and the lush green countryside which 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 rain forest 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
Meal Plan: All meals
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: Chimpanzee tracking – Bigodi swamp walk
Today you will wake up early to go to the park head offices to be briefed about your chimp 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 chimp in the morning or afternoon; 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.
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: Chimpanzee habituation tracking
At an additional fee of only $70 US Dollar per person, you can do the chimpanzee habituation tracking instead of the regular chimpanzee tracking. This will take all day and you will be 100% sure to have a very close encounter with our cousins. Book this in time because only 6 persons per day are allowed to go. Your swamp walk can be postponed to the next morning before heading to Queen Elizabeth National park.
Journey Time: 15 minutes each way
Accommodation: Kibale Forest Camp
Meal Plane: All meals
Day 6: 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, wart hogs, Uganda kob, water buck, cape buffalo, hippos, leopards, as well as more than 600 species of birds that include the African spoon bill, 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 game 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 look out 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 the Lake George.
Journey Time: 3 ½
Accommodation: Marafiki Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: All meals
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 breath taking views across the park and the Rwenzori and Virunga mountains.
Day 7: 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 animals for instance Elephant, Buffalo, Lion, Waterbuck, Leopard, Uganda Kob, and many Warthogs.
A well-deserved brunch served back at the lodge in the late morning.
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 possibly imagine!), as well as a variety of other animals which come to the waterhole to drink or bathe. You can expect to see buffalo, crocodile, bathing elephant, and a range of beautiful birds. This will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of your tour.
After the boat-safari you game drive back to the lodge.
Accommodation: Marafiki Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: All meals
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 lions in the park, using locator devices and learn 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 as well gives you a 95% chance to see the lions!
The number of people on each outing is limited in order 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 lasts 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.
Cost: $85 us dollar p.p.
Optional activity: Chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge
Another optional activity in Queen Elisabeth N.P. is to visit the Kyambura Gorge. A hike through the gorge gives you the opportunity to see habituated chimpanzees and other types of primates such as red-tailed monkey, black-and-white colobus, baboons and velvet monkeys. Although the chance of spotting chimpanzees is only 50%, the landscape is among the most impressive in Uganda and is absolutely worth it!
Cost: $50 US Dollar p.p.
Day 8: Transfer to Lake Mutanda Bwindi
Today after breakfast, you transfer to Lake Mutanda in the south-western part of Uganda; close to the borders with Rwanda and Congo. You cross a beautiful part of the country often referred to as ‘the Switzerland of Africa’. You will see a great country-side, bamboo forest and have great views over the Virunga Mountains. For lunch you will stop at a local restaurant on the road
Journey Time: 8 hours
Accommodation: Mutanda Lake resort
Meal plan: All meals
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 organized by the lodge and the lake safe to swim as it is Bilharzia free
Day 9: Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi Forest
Today after early breakfast, you transfer to the park head quarters for 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 of time, 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. Meanwhile, this is a fantastic and privileged opportunity to get up close and personal with Uganda’s very own ‘Gorillas in the Mist’.
Journey Time: 1 hour each way
Accommodation: Mutanda Lake Resort
Meal plan: All meals
Day 10: Back to Kampala or Entebbe
After breakfast at the lodge, you will drive back to Kampala or Entebbe (Airport). As you pass through the equator, there will be a stop for the requisite snapshot and a bit of souvenir shopping.
Accommodation for tonight is not inclusive 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: 9 hours to Kampala, 10 hours to Entebbe
Accommodation: Not included
Meal plan: Breakfast and lunch
Dates
This is a private tour, departure organized for anytime 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 only 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 tracking 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 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.
Tour Package Including:
- Transport in a 4WD minivan with pop-up roof for 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 (a US$ 150 value).
- 1 gorilla permit per person (a US$ 600 value).
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 day pack).
- Personal (medical/travel) insurance.
- Tips and gratuities to rangers, driver/guide, porter, hotel staff, etc.
- All expenses of personal nature (e.g. drinks, laundry, optional activities, souvenirs etc.)
Important:
Please note the gorilla tracking in this itinerary done in Rwanda. As well or in the other sectors on Bwindi or Mgahinga
Gorilla tracking is dependent on the permits availability at the time of your booking. Gorilla permits in all parks are on a very high demand. And we advise that you book them as early as possible.
When you book your trip with Gorilla Link Tours to any of our destinations. Gorilla Link Tours will donate US$ 5 per person to persons with Albinism.