As many countries get ready moderately to reopen their boundaries to international travelers, Uganda is also making preparations to see that every traveler must take mandatory PCR testing upon arrival at any entry point of Uganda. The various Standard Operating Procedures have been put in place to ensure the well being, safety and healthy for our clients as well as safari guides.
Therefore, measures that have been put in place by the World Health Organization and World Tourism Organization are emphasized by the ministry of health together with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, Uganda Tourism Board and Association of Uganda Tour Operators, as way of making tourism industry revive.
Uganda, the Pearl of Africa is one of the leading best tourist destinations in East Africa. Uganda manages 10 national parks which display the best in East Africa. The ten National Parks include Queen Elizabeth, Lake Mburo, Murchison Falls, Kidepo Valley, Kibale, Mount Elgon, Rwenzori Mountains, Semliki, Mgahinga Gorilla and Bwindi Impenetrable National Parks and all our safaris are offered in partnership with best eco safari lodges in Uganda.
The most thought epic Uganda safari itinerary to travelers with less time in the country, it is the 07 Day Uganda Safari with the breath-taking gorilla trekking or habituation adventure in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, a thrilling chimpanzee trekking or habituation in Kibale Forest National Park and a unique wildlife safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park or Murchison Falls National Park offering the magical River Nile flows into the Lake Albert with the en-route visit to the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary offering the Rhino tracking among other activities.
This epic Ugandan tour experience can start from Murchison Falls National Park with a stopover at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, the only place in Uganda where you will be able to see the Rhinos. Uganda before had Rhinos but with the illegal hunting that was in place had to cause killings of the Rhinos in the safari game parks.
Apart from the Rhino trekking experience at this sanctuary there are other experiences to take if you have more time and among them include the Shoe bill trek, Canoe Ride, Bird Watching, Night Walk, Nature Walk among others.
After the experience you continue to Murchison Falls National Park, the world’s most powerful waterfall and the river Nile, plus a collection of classic wildlife Activities to do in this park include: Birding, Chimpanzee Tracking, Cultural Encounters, Game Drives, Hiking, Launch Trips, and sport fishing, so the opinion is yours. After Murchison Falls, Kibale Forest National Park is the next visit, possibly the best place in the world to track chimpanzees. Activities in this park includes the Chimpanzee tracking and Habituation, Birding, Hiking, nature walks, and cultural encounters.
You can also visit Queen Elizabeth National Park for the rare opportunity to see the tree climbing lions and other wildlife. Activities in this park includes the Launch trips, Birding, Cultural encounters, Chimp tracking, Game drives, wildlife research tours, Caves, Hiking, nature walks in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
In the end you travel to Bwindi Forest National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with breath-taking beauty, unique ecological, significance and magnificent biodiversity. The gorilla trekking safaris ranks among the absolute highlights of anyone traveling to Bwindi Forest National Park and hosts almost half of the gorillas on earth including the 18 and more fully habituated gorilla families.
Among other activities in this park includes the gorilla trekking, hiking, nature walks, birding, mountain biking, and Cultural encounters.
This primate safari park is all year primate destination and highly visited on gorilla journeys in Africa in months of June to October and December – January to March. More so for travelers willing to experience the gorilla expeditions with low participants can visit in the month of November – April and May which tend to be low seasons.
While on a Uganda Safari, don’t miss out the ultimate 10 Day Gorilla and Wildlife Safari offering you the breath-taking gorilla trekking adventures with combined trips to Uganda’s top Parks, including Murchison Falls National Park, Kibale Forest National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Lake Mburo National Park and Lake Bunyonyi a place for nature and bird lovers.
Murchison Falls National Park is a Big Four game park in western Uganda, which is known for its large herds of elephant, giraffe and buffalo, as well as for lucky sightings of the rare ground-dwelling patas monkey.
For birders it’s the best place to try and track down the rare shoe bill stork. Just south of Murchison Falls, Budongo Forest Reserve conserves Uganda’s largest population of chimpanzees, as well as other primate species including black-and-white colobus, blue monkey and red-tailed monkey. Lunch trips stand out as the most common exciting activities available within the park, Birding, Cultural Encounters, Hiking the top of the falls, and sport fishing.
Each activity is paid separately. The Park provides a range of accommodation ranging from budget, mid-range and luxury lodges. For those that prefer luxury lodges think about the Nile Safari Lodge and Bakers Lodge and up-market the Paraa Safari Lodge, Chobe Safari Lodge among others and for those opting for mid-range lodges the Murchison River Lodge, Fort Murchison Safari Lodge, Pakuba Safari Lodge among others offers the best that you are looking for your safari holiday. Lately we have for budget lodges; Yebo Safari Camp, Boomu Women’s Group Banda’s, Park side Safari Lodge, to mention but a few, there still more.
Kibale Forest Reserve is also a primate haven with 13 species; it boasts the largest concentration of primates in the country and the biggest diversity of primates of any East African reserve. The park’s main activities include the chimpanzee tracking and habituation, birding, nature walks, culture encounters.
Also in western Uganda, Queen Elizabeth National Park is the country’s best park for wildlife diversity, home to 95 species of mammals and 20 predators, including the Big Four (elephant, leopard, lion, buffaloes as well as chimpanzees and a whopping 611 species of birds. The park’s standout highlight is the tree-climbing lions.
In Uganda’s south-western corner, the lush, mountainous forest of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park conserves the country’s most attract natural asset with around 459 mountain gorillas, or half of the world’s remaining wild population.
Gorilla trekking is one of the most memorable wildlife experiences you can have in Africa, and so there’s a good reason why it tops the list when it comes to Uganda.
The exhilaration of hiking through a lush tropical forest in search of a gorilla group and then coming face-to-face with them as they play, sleep, eat and groom one another just a few meters away from you is hard to explain.
For people who want more time with gorillas than just one hour, you can pay extra US$ 1500 to do a 04 hours Gorilla Habituation Experience where you spend time with a new gorilla group that is getting used to being around humans.
Lake Mburo National Park is a compact gem, located appropriate close the highway that connects Kampala to the parks of western Uganda. Highlights in this park include the impala (not found in any other Ugandan park), eland, the endangered Rothschild’s giraffe and Burchell’s zebra which is only found here and in Kidepo Valley National Park. Other animals regularly seen are Oribi and warthog. Hundreds of hippos are found in the lake.
In the eastern Uganda on the banks of the Nile River, Jinja is the adrenaline capital of East Africa and one of the best places in the world to go white-water rafting on Grade V rapids. There are plenty of other outdoors activities on offer on the river and in the surrounding area, from stand-up paddle boarding and horse riding to paragliding and bungee jumping, tubing, source of the River Nile tour, boat rides along the Nile, quad biking, kayaking, among others. When it comes to accommodation in Jinja, I recommend, Haven Lodge, Nile Resort Hotel, and Nile River Explorer among others.
Are you looking for an active holiday? Uganda is an excellent destination all about active adventures and thrilling outdoor experiences that you cannot miss. The 14 Day Uganda Tour brings out the best on what the country has to offer. While most people think of Kenya and Tanzania when it comes to East African Safaris the landlocked Uganda has one thing that its neighbours do not have and that is the uniqueness of tourist attractions in each park and start with the Mountain gorillas.
The country conserves half of the world’s remaining wild mountain gorilla population, and tracking these magnificent primates in their wild habitat is one of the most memorable wildlife experiences and a big reason why travelers take tours in Uganda. This is also of the few countries in Africa where you can track chimpanzees in forest reserves: another primate encounter that you will never forget.
In the Karamoja region of northern Uganda near the Kenyan and Sudan border, Kidepo Valley National Park is a remote park that has several times has featured in international magazines like BBC and CNN due to it is uniqueness and it offers rugged wilderness and excellent wildlife, everything from buffalo, lion, elephant, leopard and buffalo to Burchell’s zebra, Rothschild’s giraffe and black-backed jackal and cheetah two of the many species that you don’t find anywhere else in the country.
The Park has mainly two places for game drives, the Narus and the Kidepo Valley. If you want to get off the beaten track and away from the crowds, then Kidepo is your next destination. The night game drives are the highlight for a safari trip and sunset away ending your trip in Kidepo Valley National Park.
Other highlights include birding, hiking walks, and cultural encounters including Lorokul Cultural Group. Discover the unique culture of this remote tribe with the Lorukul Cultural Group, located just outside Kidepo Valley National Park.
The Ik tribe/people is an indigenous community that inhabit the Morungole mountain range as their scared home. The UNECO rates the IK people numbering just thousands of individuals as severely endangered notably after their ancestral lands to pave way for wildlife conservation.
The Park can be reached by both road and air. Driving is rewarding, as much of Karamoja, like Kidepo itself, is a vast and unspoiled wilderness. However, road conditions are sometimes poor and a 4WD vehicle is essential. Therefore, they are four possible routes by road as listed below. Optimum driving times are given
Kampala – Karuma – Gulu – Kitgum – Kidepo = 571km (10 hours)
Kampala – Karuma – Lira – Kotido – Kaabong – Kidepo = 705km (12 hours)
Routes passing east of Lake Kyoga through Karamoja
Kampala – Mbale – Sironko – Moroto – Kotido – Kaabong – Kidepo = 740km (12 hours)
Kampala – Mbale – Soroti – Moroto – Kotido – Kaabong – Kidepo = 792km (13 hours)
Scheduled flights to Kidepo Valley National Park may be arranged from Kampala (Kajjansi), Kampala Aero club, or Entebbe with Eagle Aviation and Aero Link Uganda. Flights take about two hours.
When you traverse to Murchison Falls National Park one of the largest parks in Uganda, you will get to see the big4 and then pass by the Ziwa sanctuary and spot the fifth one (Rhino). The big four in the park include elephant, lion and buffalo and as well as for lucky sightings of the rare leopard.
Murchison Falls is a fantastic place to witness the world’s longest river, the Nile, in its full and mighty glory. Here this, usually wide and sedate river, is pushed through a tiny cleft in the Rift Valley, creating a powerful surge of leaping water and one of Uganda’s most breath-taking attractions.
You can also take a boat tour on the Nile and at the banks of which support river hippo, Nile crocodile, and elephant. The birdlife within the area is also exciting, including shoe bill stork and numerous raptors. Just south of Murchison Falls is the Budongo Forest Reserve which has the largest population of chimpanzees in Murchison falls and as well as other primate species including black-and-white colobus, blue monkey and red-tailed monkey. The Budongo Eco Lodge/Murchison River Lodge/Twiga Safari Lodge and Nile Safari Lodge are the main accommodation option within the area.
You can visit Kibale Forest National Park which boots the largest concentration of primates in East Africa. Tracking chimpanzees is the main draw to Kibale, so this makes a wonderful addition to any wildlife itinerary, especially if you are visiting the mountain gorillas too. There are a total of 13 species to be found here which, aside from our close relatives the chimpanzees, olive baboons, black-and-white colobus, L’Hoest and blue monkeys are also highlights in themselves. Once you locate the animals you can usually spend only one hour with them before the forest walk continues in search of other primates. We also have another highlight of the park, Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary a community-run reserve that provides a great example of how tourism and local communities can work hand-in-hand to benefit the environment and it is located just outside the park. The sanctuary has over 335 bird species and at least five primate species. Kibale can be easily reached from Kampala either from the north, via Mubende and Fort portal, or from Mbarara and Kamwenge in the south.
Don’t miss out a wildlife safari is in Queen Elizabeth National Park famous for abundant wildlife. Extending from the crater foothills of the Rwenzori Range, down to the remote Ishasha in the south, wildlife changes as you travel within this park. A birder’s paradise, there are hundreds and hundreds (over 600) bird species.
In Kyambura Gorge you will get to see the chimpanzees and in Ishasha if lucky you will spot the famous tree-climbing lions, leopards and migratory elephants which cross over from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Flamingos come around the crater lakes in the north, and you will find what is said to be the largest concentration of hippos lounging in the Kazinga channel during your boat cruise. Other wildlife you may encounter includes warthog, giant forest hog, sitatunga and water buck.
In Queen Elizabeth, accommodation varies, with the option of camps or lodges being budget, mid-range and luxury most of which have spectacular views and amazing access to wildlife. Mweya Safari Lodge, Kyambura Gorge Lodge, Bush Lodge, Ishasha Jungle Lodge, Ishasha Tented Camp among others.
Besides, wildlife in Queen Elizabeth National Park and you can also visit Uganda’s highlight the mountain gorillas located in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Trekking mountain gorillas through the dense forests is a magical experience. Only eight visitors are allowed per gorilla group each day, and to minimize possible transmission of human diseases, visitors are asked to maintain a distance of 7m from the gorillas. Trekking can take anything from 2 to 8 hours and requires some fitness; however, all fitness levels can be accommodated and no one should feel deterred from missing this once in a lifetime experience.
On your way back to Kampala from the western region you can visit Lake Mburo National Park. It is also home to the last Ugandan population of eland, the largest African antelope. Hyenas, leopards, buffalo, hippo, Burchell’s Zebra and warthog are all found in the acacia woods and grasslands that surround the lakes of the park. Their chances that you will see crocodile, hippo, reed buck and water buck here too, as well as some of the 315-strong bird species that have been recorded to date, including the elusive African fin foot.
The wildlife is best enjoyed on a game drive or a guided walk and the guides are experience and knowledgeable at taking you to the best spots. There is also the opportunity here for boat safaris down Lake Mburo, horse-back safaris and night drives, for the chance to see the more nocturnal animals, such as leopard, hyena, civet and porcupine.
