This wildlife and primate’s safari takes you on a wonderful journey of uncovering Uganda’s most stunning attractions. From walking with rhinos, seeing lots of Savannah wildlife, and spending some face-to-face time with mountain gorillas, your safari will be a fully immersive experience and this is much suitable on your hassle free experience with the private rented 4×4 rooftop tent car and camping gears.
The Savannah parks offer great opportunities to see elephants, lions, leopards, giraffes, hippos, and much more while the forest parks will allow you to get a closer encounter with chimps, gorillas, and several other primate species.
Your trip will begin with a scenic drive to Murchison Falls National Park – northwest of Jinja. The journey will take approximately 8 to 9 hrs with a stopover at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for Rhino Tracking. From Ziwa, you will stop for lunch in Masindi Town.
After your lunch, you will continue to Murchison Falls National Park, and have a chance to stop by the ‘top of the falls’ where you can see the Nile’s beauty perfected. This is where the Nile compresses from a width of 50 meters into a 7-meter canyon that forms the waterfall after which the park is named.
Your guide will take you for a wildlife safari game drive on the northern bank of the River Nile. Here, you will spot Elephants, Lions, Cape buffalo, Rothschild’s giraffe, hartebeest, Water buck, Oribi, Bush buck, Bohor reed buck, hyena, and if you are lucky, the leopard.
You will return to your lodge for breakfast, rest and lunch before heading out for the afternoon boat cruise.
The boat cruise takes you upstream on the calm Victoria Nile to the base of the falls stopping just a few meters from the “Devil’s Cauldron”.
While on the boat cruise, you will have a chance to marvel at the hippos floating in the water, and crocodiles as well as elephants, water buck, Uganda kob, and many other animals over this 19 km stretch of the Nile.
For bird-watching enthusiasts, there are many chances of seeing bird species like the Goliath heron, Egyptian goose, Brown pelican, Red – throated bee-eater, various kingfishers, Fish eagles, cormorant, and the rare shoe bill stork.
Head to Kibale National Park via Hoima and Fort Portal. This drive will take a total of around 6 hours with interesting landscapes, green countryside, traditional homesteads, tea plantations, and much more.
Your driver/guide will drive you to the Kibale National Park office where you will be briefed about the activity of tracking chimpanzees in the wild.
You will then go on a guided primate walk in search of chimpanzees and 12 other primates including l’ Hoestes, Red colobus, blue, red-tailed monkeys, brown monkeys, and grey-cheeked mangabey.
The park rangers will provide detailed explanations, not only on primates but on all the forest fauna and flora, and will ensure that your walk is informative and enjoyable.
After finding the chimps, you will spend 1 hour with them before heading back to the park offices.
Visit the community and take a walk in Bigodi Swamp – which is the home of the great blue Turaco bird. The swamp is home to around 200 bird species and 12 primate species. Proceed to Queen Elizabeth National Park following the mystical Rwenzori Mountain ranges for much of the journey.
You will go for an early morning wildlife safari game drive in this park. Queen Elizabeth National Park’s diverse ecosystem of grassy plains, tropical forests, rivers, swamps, lakes, and volcanic craters is home to an incredible abundance of wildlife.
With the massive Rwenzori Mountains as a backdrop, you will have excellent opportunities to see lions, leopards, giant forest hogs, cape buffaloes, elephants, Defassa water buck, Uganda Kobs, Topi, and bush buck.
After lunch, you will go for a 2–3-hour boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel and into Lake Edward. This take will take you through possibly the highest concentration of hippos. Many animals may be seen drinking at the water’s edge.
This launch cruise offers great opportunities for photography, bird watching, and game viewing. The prolific bird life is colourful and stupendous with more than 600 different species.
Drive from Queen Elizabeth to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This is a 6 hours journey passing through the Kigezi Highlands an area known as the “Switzerland of Africa”. The journey takes you through terraced hills and winding roads to the Bwindi forest. You will have a stop-over in Kabale for lunch.
Prepare yourself for an encounter with the gentle giants; the rare mountain gorillas. For most people, this is the absolute highlight of their tour. You will go into the forest in groups of not more than 8 in search of mountain gorillas. En route, your guide will point out previous signs of gorilla activity such as dung, nests, and chewed bamboo shoots.
Your trek will be an exciting journey along forested slopes, entwined vines, bushes, and bamboo. Upon finding the gorillas, you will spend a maximum of 1 hour with them after which you will be led back to the starting point.
In the evening, you will go for a community visit and cultural experience of the local Bakiga and Batwa tribes that live close to Bwindi. You will learn about their lives, history, and traditions.
Your driver/guide will drive you from Bwindi to Kampala. This is a long drive of approximately 9 hours that will take you from the cooler mountainous altitude of the Kigezi Highlands to the lower undulating landscape of Ankole and Buganda, with large farms and plantations dotted with villages and small towns.
You will have several stopovers along the way including the equator crossing in Kayabwe for some pictures. Depending on the schedule on your next flight, a few more stopovers can be added by your guide.
You should reach Kampala in the early evening hours with enough time to freshen up before your flight out of Uganda or you can decide to stay for one night.
