13-Day Uganda Primates and Big Five safari

Day 1: Shoebill Tracking at Mabamba Swamp

1. Mabamba Shoebills Watching
   4h · Admission ticket included
   Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport at night, meet your safari guide and transfer to your hotel in Entebbe for an overnight stay.
   
   The next morning, after breakfast at your hotel, transfer to Mabamba Swamp for a shoebill tracking experience. Board a motorized canoe and navigate through the papyrus channels and wetlands while searching for the shoebill and other water birds found around the swamp.
   
   After the experience, drive back to Entebbe. Later in the afternoon, enjoy a walk through the Entebbe Botanical Gardens, exploring the lakeside trails while looking out for different bird species, monkeys, and a variety of tropical trees and plants.

Day 2: Walking Safari to track Rhinos

1. 6h · Admission ticket included
   After breakfast at your hotel, set off at 8:00 AM for Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, arriving around lunchtime. Enjoy lunch before meeting your ranger for a guided walking safari through the sanctuary.
   
   Continue on foot through the savannah and woodland while searching for southern white rhinos and other wildlife found within the sanctuary.
   
   After the experience, return to your lodge located inside the sanctuary. Enjoy dinner and the evening surroundings, with opportunities to spot rhinos, antelopes, and other wildlife around the lodge area.

Day 3: Scenic View of Murchison Falls and Night Game Drive

1. Murchison Falls National Park
   5h · Admission ticket included
   After breakfast, drive for 1–2 hours to Murchison Falls National Park. From the park gate, continue for approximately 2 hours to the Top of Murchison Falls for a scenic view of the Nile as it is forced through a narrow gorge before plunging into the river below.
   Later, drive to your lodge for check-in and a lunch break.
   At 6:00 PM, begin a night game drive to search for nocturnal wildlife, including lions, hyenas, and leopards as they become more active after dark.
   Continue the game drive until approximately 10:00 PM, then return to your lodge for the night.

Day 4: Game Drive to search for Big Five and Boat Safari Experience

1. Murchison Falls National Park
   5h · Admission ticket included
   Start your day with an early breakfast at 6:00 AM, followed by a game drive across the Buliigi, Victoria and lakeside tracks of Murchison Falls National Park. Search for wildlife including lions, elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, antelopes and, with some luck, leopards.
   At 11:00 AM, begin a boat safari along the Victoria Nile, looking out for herds of elephants drinking along the riverbanks, schools of hippos in the water, crocodiles basking in the sun and a variety of water birds.
   The boat continues upstream towards the bottom of Murchison Falls, offering scenic views of the Nile after it plunges approximately 43 metres through the narrow gorge and continues downstream.
   After the boat safari, return to your lodge for lunch and spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the lodge.

Day 5: Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park

1. Kibale Forest National Park
   5h · Admission ticket included
   After breakfast, embark on a 6–7-hour drive to Kibale Forest National Park, passing through towns, rural communities and the countryside of western Uganda.
   Along the way, stop at the tea plantations around the Kibale region for photos and scenic views of the surrounding landscape.
   Arrive in the afternoon, check in at your lodge and enjoy lunch, followed by time to relax for the rest of the day.

Day 6: Chimpanzee Tracking Experience

1. Kibale Forest National Park
   5h · Admission ticket included
   Start the day with an early morning chimpanzee tracking experience in Kibale Forest. Begin with a briefing from the park rangers, then head into the forest for a 2–4 hour walk to track a chimpanzee family. Once you find them, spend up to 1 hour observing and photographing their behavior—watch how they feed, interact, and move through the forest. The experience ends around midday.
   After lunch enjoy a coffee farming experience, where you will learn about the local methods of planting, harvesting, and processing coffee.
   Continue with a visit to a women’s community group to discover traditional handicraft-making techniques, and conclude with an introduction to the local banana brewing process and its cultural significance.
   After the experience, return to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Day 7: Game Drive Safari at Kasenyi Plains

1. Queen Elizabeth National Park
   5h · Admission ticket included
   After breakfast, drive for approximately 2–3 hours from Kibale Forest to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
   Along the way, stop at the Uganda Equator line for photos before continuing to your lodge for check-in and a lunch break.
   At 4:00 PM, begin an afternoon game drive across the Kasenyi Plains, when temperatures are cooler and wildlife becomes more active. Search for elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, warthogs and other wildlife, with opportunities to spot lions and leopards.
   After the game drive, return to your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Day 8: Game Drive at Ishasha Sector

1. Queen Elizabeth National Park
   5h · Admission ticket included
   Start the day with a second morning game drive across the Kasenyi Plains, searching for lions, elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, warthogs and other wildlife until approximately 10:00 AM.
   After the game drive, drive for about 2 hours to the Ishasha Sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park and continue to your next lodge for check-in and a lunch break.
   At 3:00 PM, begin an afternoon game drive through Ishasha, focusing on tracking the tree-climbing lions for which this sector is famous. Also look out for elephants, buffaloes, topis and other wildlife across the open savannah.
   At 6:00 PM, end the day with dinner in the savannah, enjoying the surrounding wilderness and views of wildlife in the area.

Day 9: Track the Tree-Climbing Lions in Ishasha

1. Queen Elizabeth National Park
   5h · Admission ticket included
   After breakfast, begin another morning game drive in the Ishasha Sector, giving you more opportunities to search for the famous tree-climbing lions resting in the branches of fig trees. Also look out for leopards, hyenas, elephants, buffaloes, topis and other wildlife until approximately 11:00 AM.
   After the game drive, exit Queen Elizabeth National Park and stop for about 1 hour for lunch. Continue with a 2-hour drive towards Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, arriving at your lodge near the forest in the afternoon for check-in and relaxation.

Day 10: Gorilla Trekking Experience

1. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
   6h · Admission ticket included
   Gorilla trekking, the highlight of this safari, begins after an early breakfast and a transfer to the park offices for a briefing by park officials about the gorilla conservation efforts. You will then head into the forest with rangers and fellow visitors to track a gorilla family.
   The hike can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours, depending on where the gorillas nested the previous night. Once you find them, spend up to 1 hour observing them at close range—watch mothers feeding their young, juveniles playing, and the dominant silverback keeping watch over the group.
   After the experience, exit the forest and enjoy a short picnic lunch. Then drive about 2 hours to your lodge near Mgahinga national Park

Day 11: Golden Monkey Tracking

1. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
   5h · Admission ticket included
   Have an early breakfast at 6:00 AM, then drive for approximately 30 minutes to Ntebeko Park Gate at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Meet your ranger guide for a briefing about golden monkey conservation and these endangered primates, which are found only in the Virunga Massif spanning Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo.
   Begin a guided forest hike through the Virunga slopes, tracking golden monkeys through their bamboo habitat. Once you find them, spend one hour observing and photographing them as they feed on bamboo shoots, move through the vegetation and jump between the tree canopies.
   After the experience, hike back to the park gate and drive to your hotel for afternoon relaxation.

Day 12: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park

1. Lake Mburo National Park
   5h · Admission ticket included
   After breakfast, begin a 6-hour drive to Lake Mburo National Park, travelling through the scenic countryside of southwestern Uganda.
   Along the way, stop at Igongo Country Hotel and Cultural Centre for a lunch break before continuing towards the national park.
   Arrive at your lodge in the afternoon, check in and spend the rest of the day relaxing at the lodge.

Day 13: Walking Safari at Lake Mburo National Park and Transfer to Entebbe

1. Lake Mburo National Park
   5h · Admission ticket included
   After an early breakfast, check out of your lodge with your luggage and begin a guided walking safari through the acacia woodlands of Lake Mburo National Park. Explore the park on foot while looking out for Rothschild’s giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, elands and other antelope species.
   After the walking safari, exit the park and begin the approximately 4-hour drive to Entebbe, with a lunch stop along the way.
   Arrive at Entebbe International Airport at around 5:00 PM, in time for your night flight departure back home.

• Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
• Not recommended for pregnant travelers
• Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness