14-Day Best of Uganda Safari Tour

Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport, you will be met by a Ngoni Safaris Uganda representative who will welcome you to Uganda—the Pearl of Africa. You’ll then be transferred to your booked accommodations. If you arrive early enough, you may opt to go for a late afternoon ride around Kampala City. Otherwise, you can just relax at your accommodations. Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the lodge.

After breakfast, you’ll embark on a journey to Murchison Falls National Park. The highlights here include the roaring rapids of the falls, rolling plains, and viewing lions, giraffes, hartebeests, buffaloes, and elephants. You’ll surely be fascinated by the high concentration of hippos and Nile crocodiles here. For birders, Murchison Falls boasts 450 bird species, including the elusive shoebill stork, dwarf king fisher, the white-thigh hornbill, and the Goliath heron (among others). En route, you’ll visit the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for your first Big 5 experience—an hour of rhino tracking. You will have lunch in Masindi. Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the lodge.

After breakfast, you’ll depart for an early morning game drive across the rolling plains of Uganda’s largest national park. You’ll return to the lodge in time for lunch and some rest. Later, you'll head out for the boat trip to the base of Murchison Falls, where you will see hippos, crocodiles, and several water birds. If you’re interested, you can continue with a hike to the top of the falls. The hike may be a strenuous one, but the thrill of reaching the top is unforgettable—miss it only if you must! Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the lodge.

After breakfast, you’ll drive to the top of the falls (if you didn’t hike yesterday), where you will take in a spectacular view of the falls before departing for Kibale Forest National Park. Otherwise, you’ll drive straight to Kibale. The drive is incredibly scenic, as you’ll be passing through villages, lush green countryside, and hills dotted with tea plantations (all of which characterize this part of Uganda). Kibale is popular for its chimpanzees, Colobus monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, and red-tailed monkeys. Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the lodge.

After eating breakfast, you’ll participate in a briefing on your upcoming chimpanzee trek in the Kibale Forest. An experienced ranger guide will lead the trek. Once you locate the chimpanzees, you will have a full hour with them. Later, you’ll return to the lodge for lunch and some rest before going on a walk in the Bigodi swamp.

The Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary is a fascinating area recognized for its extensive array of biodiversity. Baboons, black and white Colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys and the L’Hoest monkeys can all be found here. Bigodi is also a paradise for bird watchers. Among the major bird species within the sanctuary is the grand blue turaco.

After breakfast, you will leave Kibale and continue to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Queen Elizabeth is Uganda’s second largest park and is located at the base of the majestic Rwenzori Mountain range, adjacent to Lake Edward and Lake George. The park’s diverse ecosystem includes sprawling savannah, which makes it the ideal habitat for classic big game, ten primate species (including chimpanzees), and over 600 species of birds. You will reach the park early enough to rest, have lunch, and then go on a boat ride along the Kazinga Channel connecting Lakes George and Edward. Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the lodge.

After an early breakfast, you’ll head out on a game drive in the park along the Kasenyi plains. You'll be on the lookout for lions, elephants, leopards (though hard to spot), bushbucks, cape buffaloes, waterbucks, giant forest hogs, Uganda kob, and others. Later, you’ll return to the lodge for lunch and rest before going on a drive to a nearby crater. There is also plenty of wildlife to see along the drive, including Cape buffaloes and elephants. Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the lodge.

Have breakfast and then set off for a breathtaking game-viewing experience in the Ishasha area of Queen Elizabeth National Park which is famous for its tree-climbing lions. You have about a 70% chance of spotting these lions. Hopefully, you will get lucky and see them because they make for a spectacular sight! You may also see Uganda kob, Cape buffalos, elephants, and warthogs. Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the lodge.

After breakfast, you’ll look for some more tree-climbing lions before transferring to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Bwindi is a big habitat for mountain gorillas in Uganda. An estimated 400 mountain gorillas—roughly half of the world’s population—live here, including several habituated groups. You have a strenuous day ahead of you tomorrow, so you’ll spend the rest of today relaxing after check-in.

After an early breakfast and a briefing by a ranger guide, you will enter the gorilla sanctuary for your trekking adventure. The beauty of this rainforest is spectacular! The area offers a dramatic, steeply forested landscape that is incredibly dense but crisscrossed by numerous animal trails (which gives tourists access). The amount of time you’ll take and the terrain you traverse will depend on the movements of these great primates. Once you locate a gorilla group, you will be allowed an hour in their presence. The thrill of spending time observing these gentle and endangered giants is an awesome, exciting experience that is meant to be savoured.

You’ll return to the lodge for lunch and some rest before transferring to Lake Bunyonyi. Dinner and your overnight stay will be at the lodge.

After breakfast, you will take part in a Batwa trail experience. For generations, the dense Mgahinga forest was home to the indigenous Batwa (hunter-gatherers and fierce warriors), who depended on the forest for shelter, food, and medicine. Now they lead visitors through the forest and introduce them to their old home and the techniques they used to survive in it. This remarkable trail speaks to the true cultural background of the Batwa.

Later, you’ll return to Lake Bunyonyi for relaxation and stunning views of the Bunyonyi little islands. Lake Bunyonyi is framed by lush, green-terraced hills that reach a height of 2,200–2,478m, but it’s the 29 islands of various shapes and sizes scattered across the water that make it most magical—you could admire them all day.

After breakfast and a brief visit to Kabale town, you will start your journey to Lake Mburo. This is a small national park that should not be underestimated. It is the only place in southern Uganda to see zebras, and the only park in the country with impalas, slender mongoose, and giant bush rats. You can also look for hyenas, leopards, topis, elands, and the beautiful Rothschild's giraffes, not to mention the lake itself which is teeming with hippos and crocodiles. There are a lot of wonderful activities on offer here, including horseback riding, bush walks, boat safaris, and mountain biking. It is exciting to approach the wildlife at such close range here, especially when you combine it with the fresh air and beautiful scenery.

You will have breakfast early in the morning and then begin your game drive. You’ll encounter hyenas returning to their dens after a night on the prowl or hippos sinking into Lake Mburo to keep cool during the day and protect their sensitive skin from the sun. On a nature walk, you might see zebras, giraffes, elands, topi, buffalos, birds, and butterflies. If you take the trail to the top of the hills, you’ll have a great view of the nine regional lakes in the area. In the afternoon, you can go on a boat ride along the lake to see the flora and fauna.

After a relaxing breakfast at the lodge, you’ll embark on your return journey to Entebbe. You’ll stop at the equator along the way. You'll eat lunch and do some shopping in Kayabwe.

You’ll arrive at the airport in the late afternoon/evening. We'll recommend a late afternoon/late evening flight for this day. Thanks for choosing Ngoni Safaris Uganda.