Our 19 Day best of Uganda safari highlights is for those who have enough time to spend in Uganda to explore and discover “The Pearl of Africa. This safari covers Northern and North east National Parks of Kidepo Valley National Park and Murchison Falls National Park providing an opportunity for trekking chimps thrice in the different environments of Budogo Forest, Kyambura Gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park and Kibale Forest National Park. It also offers you a chance to visit four savannah National Parks for game drives and boat cruises. Enjoy two boat cruises in Murchison Falls National Park, one boat cruise on Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Canoe ride in Lake Bunyonyi as well as Lake Mburo National Park. These four savannah National parks included here offer the best of game drives with chances of spotting thousands of antelopes, hippos, elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards and so much more while on our 16-day primate, game and cultural tour. The highlight of this tour is definitely gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. To make sure that you also interact with the local communities around these national parks, we have several village and community walks that will take you to the nearby villages to learn more about people and their cultures.
Day 01: Drive from Kampala to Gulu: Overnight at Heritage Courts on FullBoard
Day 02: Drive to Kidepo National Park for an evening game drive: KidepoSavannah Lodge on Full Board
Day 03: Game drives in Kidepo Valley National Park: Overnight at KidepoSavannah Lodge on Full Board
Day 04: Visiting the Karamajongo Villages or/Game Drives to explorecultures of these pastoral people. Day 05: Drive to Murchison Falls National Park for an evening game drive:Overnight at Pakuba Safari Lodge on Full Board basis.
Day 06: Morning Delta Cruise and afternoon water fall boat cruise.Overnight at Pakuba Safari Lodge on Full Board Basis.
Day 07: Morning and afternoon game drive. Overnight at Pakuba SafariLodge on Full Board Basis
Day 08: Drive to Hoima Town via the top of the falls visit and Escapements:Overnight at Kontik Hotel or Hoima Cultural Lodge on Full Board.
Day 09: Drive to Kibale Forest National Park and Bigodi Wetland walk:Overnight at Chimpanzee Forest Guest House on Full Board.
Day 10: Morning chimpanzee trekking and relax for the afternoon.Overnight at Chimpanzee Forest Guest House on Full Board.
Day 11: Drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park for an afternoon boatcruise on Kazinga Channel. Overnight at Elephant Hab Lodge or Buffalo resort on Full Board Basis
Day 12: Morning game drive and afternoon Game Drive. Overnight atElephant Hab Lodge or Buffalo Resort on Full Board basis.
Day 13: Transfer to Ishasha southern part of Queen Elizabeth NP for gamedrives.
Day 14: Drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Overnight at TrekkersTervan Lodge on Full Board
Day 15: Gorilla tracking in Ruhija or Buhoma and village walk. Overnight atTrekkers Tervan Lodge on Full Board Basis.
Day 16: Drive to Lake Bunyonyi for overnight at Crater Bay Cottages orBird Nest Overseas Cottages on Full Board Basis.
Day 17: Canoeing and birding around Lake Bunyonyi: Overnight at CraterBay Cottages or Bird Nest Overseas Cottages on Full Board Basis.
Day 18: Drive to Lake Mburo National Park via Igongo Cultural centerarriving at the Park for an evening boat cruise on the Lake. Overnight at Lake Mburo Safari Lodge on Full Board.
Day 19: Early morning walk in the park and then transfer to Entebbe Airportvia the equator crossing.
After breakfast, you will be met by your guide for briefing and thereafter drive to Gulu town for overnight. All our tours to Kidepo National Park stop at Gulu town to break the long journey. You will drive via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for Rhino tracking.
Drive time: Approximately 7-9 hours
Meal plan: Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Heritage Courts.
AAfter breakfast, drive to Kidepo valley National Park located in north eastern Uganda. Check in your Accommodation property, relax and prepare for a later afternoon game drive. Kidepo National Park was once voted the best National Park in Africa and is the only place where you can see cheaters. Kidepo Valley National Park boosts of several prides of lions that can be easily spotted compared to other National Park, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, and so much more in large number.
Drive time: Approximately 4 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Packed Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Kidepo Savannah Lodge
Today, you will spend both morning and afternoon doing game drives in the savannah plains of Kidepo valley National Park. This park hosts a great variety of animal species in comparison to any other Ugandan parks. Of the Eighty species recorded in 1971, Twenty-eight weren’t known to exist in any other park within Uganda. Carnivore species distinctive to Kidepo are: Hunting dog, Bat-eared Fox, Cheetah, Striped Hyena, Caracal and the aardWolf. The more uncommon ungulates are: the greater & Lesser Kudu, roan antelope, Chandler’s mountain Reedbuck, beisa oryx, Klipspringer and Bright’s Gazelle, have been greatly decreased by poachers within the past few years. Among the other big ungulates are: elephants, oribi, burchell’s zebras, Jackson’s hartebeests, bush pigs, bohor reed buck, warthogs, rothschild giraffes, defassa water bucks, cape buffaloes, elands, bush duskiers and bush bucks. Five primate species are found within the park of which the most endemic is the Kavirondo bush baby. Carnivores existing include lions, side-striped jackals, leopards, black-backed jackals, various small cats as well as spotted hyenas.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Kidepo Savannah Lodge
After breakfast, you will visit the homes of the Karamajongo, interact with the elders and get to know more about the lifestyle, culture and behaviors of the onetime pastoral group or choose to do more game drives on the day.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Kidepo Savannah Lodge
After breakfast, you will drive to Murchison Falls National Park which is the biggest conservation area in Uganda offering riverine, forest and savannah environments. Depending on where you will be staying, afternoon game drive will be rewarding.
Drive time:
Approximately 5-6 hoursMeal Plan:
Breakfast, Lunch and DinnerLodging:
Pakuba Safari Lodge
Early morning departure from the lodge with picnic Lunch and transfer to catch the morning boat at the Jetty point,you will spot several herds of buffaloes, Uganda Kobs, Jacksons Hartbeast, Giraffis, Elephants, several bird species and other wild animals as they flock River Nile to drink water. In the afternoon you will come back for another boat cruise to continue upstream to the base of the falls to observe how water squeezes in a narrow gorge to later explode in what has been referred to the strongest and powerful falls on planet earth. Return to the Lodge for overnight.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Pakuba Safari Lodge
After an early breakfast will head to the park to experience its beauties with multiple game drives along the Nile Delta stretch to see various animals as they go about their day, among these include Lions, Leopards, Jackal, Elephants, Giraffe and several other species of Albertine Rift birds. You will return for lunch and a swim relax at the lodge then head back later for more game viewing as the animals have the last meal of the day.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Pakuba Safari Lodge
After a lazily breakfast, you will drive to Hoima via the top of Murchison Falls and the Escarpment of the Albertine Rift Valley which is just on your way from Murchison Falls National Park to Hoima, depending on the nature of the road, you will have good views of Lake Albert. Check in at the lodge and go for a cultural walk or relaxation at the lodge.
Drive time: 4-5 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Kontik Hotel/Hoima Cultural Lodge
You will drive to Kibale Forest National Park via Fort Portal town for Lunch before checking in at Chimpanzee Forest Guest House. After you will drive to Bigodi Village for a wetland walk that was designed to benefit the local community living around Kibale Forest National Park.
Drive time: Approximately 4 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Chimpanzee Forest Guest House
After breakfast, you will be transferred to Kibale National Park headquarters at Kanyakyu to join other trekkers for briefing and eventual chimpanzee trekking. You will be led by a well-trained ranger/guide who will take you for a guided primate walk inside Kibale Forest National Park. This forest provides an opportunity to visit one of the habituated communities/part of chimpanzees and spend an hour with them observing and taking photographs. Kibale National Park is home to other 13 primate species coupled with forest birds. Return to the Lodge for overnight.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Packed Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Chimpanzee Forest Guest House
After breakfast, your will drive 3-4 hours from Kibale National Park to Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will have an opportunity of passing through small towns, seeing several foothills of Mountain Rwenzori, small rivers that originate from Rwenzori mountain ranges as well as crossing the equator at Kikorongo. You may head to the lodge for lunch or drive directly to Mweya jetty for an afternoon boat cruise on Kazinga Channel. This two-hour boat cruise is one of the highlights in Queen Elizabeth National Park. It provides you an opportunity to view over 300 out of the 600 water bird species recorded here, antelopes, crocodiles, elephants, buffaloes and hippos.
Drive time: Approximately 3-4 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Elephant Hab Lodge or Buffalo Resort
After an early morning cup of tea, you will drive back to Kasenyi plains for a game viewing. It’s this time of the morning that big cats are out hunting for their prey and as such chances of spotting lions and or leopards are slightly high. Never the less, you will be guaranteed to see buffaloes, hippos, several species of antelopes, and many others.You may return to the lodge for lunch and relaxation and return back out later in the day for an evening game viewing. Return to the lodge for overnight.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Elephant Hab Lodge or Buffalo Resort
AEnjoy lazily morning game viewing en-route to the southern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park otherwise known as Ishasha. Enjoy your lunch and there after drive to the park in search of the popular tree climbing lions and chances of seeing them climbing depends on your luck of the day. Ishasha has other animals like Buffaloes, Elephants, Antelopes and many others.You may also drive to River Ishasha to see the border of Uganda and Democratic republic of Congo. Return to the Lodge for dinner and overnight. Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Lodging: Ishasha Jungle Lodge or Enjojo Jungle Lodge
After breakfast, you will drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park located in south western Uganda and shared between three districts of Kabale, Kanungu. Your journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park will take you through rolling hills with terraced gardens of Irish potatoes and sometimes tea. You will arrive late afternoon for overnight at the Lodge. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to almost half of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas and the only National Park where wild chimpanzees co-exist with mountain gorillas.
Drive time: Approximately 4-5 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Trekkers Tervan Lodge or Buhoma Community Re
After breakfast, you will transfer to the park headquarters to join others for gorilla family allocation and full briefing about the dos and don’ts while with the gorillas. After that, you will be driven to the starting point of your allocated gorilla family to start your trek into the impenetrable Bwindi Forest. This trek may take from 30 minutes to three quarters of the day depending on where mountain gorillas will be. Thus gorilla trekking can be strenuous and as such a certain level of fitness is required. Once you find the gorillas, the experience will be worth it and you will be allowed one hour of observation and photography. You will then return to the park headquarters where you will be awarded a certificate in recognition of your effort of helping to conserve the endangered mountain gorillas. Return to the lodge for relaxation followed by a village walk to learn more about the local people living around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Trekkers Tervan Lodge or Buhoma Community Rest Camp
Drive from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale District. Lake Bunyonyi is one of the three Lava damned Lake which was formed when lava flowing from one of the volcanoes blocked a river channel and water was forced to flow back hence filling the space to create lake Bunyonyi. Bunyonyi locally means small birds due to the abundance of small birds in this area. Lake Bunyonyi is said to be the deepest lake in Uganda and second deepest in East Africa. Visit Lake Bunyonyi for its beauty and is one of the best place to relax after your gorilla trek.
Drive time: Approximately 3-4 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Bird Nest Overseas Cottages or Crater Bay Cottages
After breakfast, you are free to admire the beauty of the lake and its surrounding hills. You will have a choice of either taking a canoe ride on the lake to explore different island with exciting history. You will for example visit the Punishment Island where girls who would produce babies out of legitimate tradition marriage would be dumped and left to die. This is a whole day activity and you will surely enjoy it. Alternatively, you can hike one of the hills around Lake Bunyonyi. Encounter Africa Safaris supports some projects so those who want to do something on their tour can go for volunteer work. Return to the Lodge for overnight.
Drive time: Approximately 3-4 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Bird Nest Overseas Cottages or Crater Bay Cottages
After breakfast, drive to Lake Mburo National Park via Great lakes museum or Igongo Cultural center to learn more about the cultures of ethnic groups in western Uganda. Lunch will be served en route arrive at Lake Mburo National Park for an evening game driveLake Mburo National Park is popular for animals such as impalas, Giraffes, Zebras and so much more. Return to the Lodge for overnight.
Drive time: Approximately 6 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Lodging: Rwakobo Rock
Morning walking Safari and depending on your flight you will start your journey to Entebbe International Airport with a stop at the Equator crossing for photography and stretching.
Drive time: Approximately 5-6 hours
Meal Plan: Breakfast and Lunch
'See Africa's Big 5 with game viewing in Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the famous Serengeti. An affordable option to discover Tanzania's wildlife-rich game parks and beautiful landscapes.See Africa's Big 5 with game viewing in Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the famous Serengeti. An affordable option to discover Tanzania's wildlife-rich game parks and beautiful landscapes. See Africa's Big 5 with game viewing in Ngorongoro Crater.'
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