10 Day Big 5 of Uganda, Gorillas, Chimps & Wildlife Safari

Our Value-Budget priced 10 Day Big 5 of Uganda, Gorillas-Chimps & Wildlife Safari takes you to top Wildlife Parks in Uganda – Murchison Falls Park, and Queen Elizabeth Park – add to that Chimpanzee Tracking in Kibale Forest Park, Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Lake Mburo Wildlife Park. 10 days visiting 5 of Uganda’s best parks – giving you the best exposure to half of Uganda’s Wildlife and Primate Parks. We customize this trip to fit your budget and time restraints.

10 Days Big 5 of Uganda Wildlife Safari Highlights

1. Depart your Kampala to Murchison Falls Park.
2. Full Day Adventure in Murchison Falls National Park.
3. Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park.
4. Chimpanzee Tracking in Kibale Forest
5. Move to Queen Elizabeth Park.
6. Full Day Adventure in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
7. Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
8. Gorilla tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
9. Move to Lake Mburo National Park.
10. Transfer to Entebbe International Airport.

Detailed 10 Day Big 5 of Uganda, Gorillas-Chimps & Wildlife Safari

Day 1: Depart your Kampala Lodging – Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary – Murchison Falls Park & Sunset Safari Drive

Depart your hotel in Kampala at 6.30am and head northward in the direction of Murchison Falls National Park as we begin. Our first stop is at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Here we track Rhinos on foot – a unique and one of a kind experiences with competent guides who will give you background and insight about the Rhinos and the restoration of Rhinos in Uganda.

After Rhino Tracking we continue our journey to Murchison Falls National Park and will have lunch at the Red Chili Camp then crossing the Nile by Ferry. For our first wildlife game drive on which we look forward to spotting, Lions, Giraffes, Elephants, Leopards, Buffaloes, Birds, various antelopes plus more. Then we check into either better-budget – moderately priced lodge depending on your budget – Full Board.

Main Destination:

• Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary (Rhino Sanctuary)
• Accommodation: Hornbill Bush Lodge
• Budget lodge located in or near Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.
• Meals & Drinks:
• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included).

Day 2: Morning Safaris drive – Nile Boat Safari – Top of the Falls Hike & Excursion

Early morning breakfast and off for the morning game drive where you will see more and new animals and birds as you travel along Lake Albert and through the savannah. You will be simply glad that you came here and hate to return to the lodging facility for rest & lunch.

After lunch, it is one of the highlights of your Murchison Falls National Park Safari, the boat launch trip on the Nile. You will move up toward Murchison Falls viewing crocodiles, an abundance of hippos, elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, lots of birds including the fish eagle, storks and so much more. The Falls are an awesome display of the power of nature.

The river is 50 meters wide above the falls, moves down through a 7-meter gorge and falls down 43 meters, the sound is deafening and the sight makes one realize how powerful nature can be. Murchison Falls is the most powerful waterfall in the world. At the top of the falls you are met by your driver-guide who takes you to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

Accommodation:

• Hornbill Bush Lodge
• Budget lodge located just outside Murchison Falls NP
• Meals & Drinks:
• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Day 3: Transfer to Kibale Forest Chimpanzee Park via Fort Portal

Breakfast early and we transfer to Kibale Forest, driving to some beautiful countryside, which is a bonus along the way. Lunch along the journey and of course we provide drinking Water while in the vehicle as we travel. This will probably be your longest drive (about 8 hours) on your African adventure, best if we leave not later than 8 am in the morning.

Fortunately, this is a scenic drive and we will break it up with lunch along way and our today’s destination is well worth the unfortunate long drive. We reach Fort Portal area where you can stay at the elected Lodge. We check in and have dinner and rest for the night after a long day of travel.

Accommodation:

• Chimpanzee Forest Lodge
• Mid-range lodge located just outside Kibale NP
• Meals & Drinks:
• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included).

Day 4: Kibale Forest Chimpanzee Trekking & afternoon Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary Hike

We head to Kanyanchu at 08:30 Am just after your early morning breakfast for a pre–tracking briefing then go for the most popular activity in this park – Chimpanzee Tracking. Chimps are man’s closet cousins though they are one of the most threatened primate’s species. There are several other primate species you will encounter. Best to take a light day pack, one litre of water, your camera equipment and a good set of binoculars, wear some jeans or long trousers, long-sleeved shirt, light hiking boots, a hat.

Tracking is normally about 3½ hours in length and a most memorable time for you. You do have the choice here to either track chimpanzees or to participate in all day chimpanzee habituation experience where you are with researchers and others who are in the process of habituating the chimpanzees. Both chimpanzee habituation and chimpanzee tracking must be well planned ahead of time. Return for lunch at your lodge.

Main Destination:

• Kibale National Park (Chimps)
• Accommodation: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge
• Luxury lodge located inside Bugoma Forest
• Meals & Drinks:
• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Day 5: Move to Queen Elizabeth Park – Late Morning Katwe Explosion Crater Drive and afternoon Game Drive

Transfer Queen Elizabeth Park where we check into the lodge. The Bush lodge location is overlooking the famous Kazinga Channel. The natural channel connecting Lake Edward and Lake George. Lunch at the lodge, rest and late afternoon game drive across the candelabra euphoria tree studded Savannah. Nothing to be hurried, if you see something the driver will stop at your beckon. Look out for teeming herds of impala-like Uganda Kob, as well as topi, elephant and lion, giant forest hog, Cape buffalo.

Options: You may consider add-on a Hot Air Balloon Safari which also comes with Bush Breakfast afterward. Queen Elizabeth National Park is bordered by the snow-capped 16,000ft Rwenzori Mountains in the north – the “Mountains of the moon” The 767-square-mile conservation area is bordered on the North East by Lake George and on the South West by Lake Edward; its western border connects to the DRC Parc Du Virunga. Return to the lodge for dinner and night rest.

Accommodation:

• The Bush Lodge (Banda)
• Mid-range Banda located just outside Queen Elizabeth NP
• Photos
• Meals & Drinks:
• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Day 6: Morning Game Drive and afternoon Kazinga Channel Launch Cruise

There is nothing like a breakfast while on Safari and there is nothing like the smell of it as you awaken. It is off to a morning game drive catching some of the nocturnal animals as they call it a night. As you drive, there is nothing like a herd of Elephants moving across the track ahead of you. Lions in the distant savanna grass. Buffaloes grazing in the early morning hour. Birds flying overhead, maybe a rock python here or there. The game track rides last about 2½ – 3 hours but you won’t even realize the time flies.

Lunch at the Lodge then its off on a boat ride along the Kazinga Channel where there are hippos, hippos and more hippos. Hopefully you find an open-mouthed hippo for a great shot. It has highest concentration of hippos in Africa. At one time there were too many hippos and their grazing denuded the surrounding grasslands. Before independence they would be culled by the wildlife authorities. Hundreds of birds of all kinds, some crocodiles, elephants and buffaloes.

Main Destination:

• Queen Elizabeth National Park
• Accommodation: Ishasha Wilderness Camp.
• Luxury tented bush camp (with rustic facilities) located inside Queen Elizabeth NP.
• Meals & Drinks:
• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included).

Day 7: Move to Ishasha Region of QEP for Tree Climbing Lions – Game drive – Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

We move to the unvisited portion of Queen Elizabeth Park called Ishasha – it is a 2½ hr drive. We take a game drive and our focus is the tree climbing lions of Ishasha. This is best I East Africa to watch the lions sleep the day way up in the fig trees. Ishasha is the best place for tree – climbing lions in East Africa. Not only will we see tree-climbing lions but leopards, elephant herds, buffalo herds, Topi antelopes along with other species and often you will not find many other vehicles in this area of QEP.

Lunch at Savannah Resort and then we take 2½ hr drive to Ruhija area of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. This plan is really very situational as it entirely relies on the weather season of the time you are visiting. There is much difficult accessing this part of the park during rain seasons and its advisable not to take chances. It doesn’t matter what kind of 4×4 vehicle you are using. – Therefore, this game drive cannot be guaranteed at the time of costing this safari.

Accommodation:

• Bakiga Lodge
• Midrange lodge located just outside Bwindi NP
• Meals & Drinks:
• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included).

Day 8: Gorilla tracking (trekking) – Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Early morning breakfast, proceed to the briefing point with you packed lunch from Bakiga Lodge. You will need a Daypack, drinking water, jeans, long-sleeved shirt, hat, sunglasses, tough gardening gloves made of cotton to help you in pulling yourself up on branches and vines, a light Rain jacket and hiking boots are best for your Gorilla Trek adventure.

Enjoy the highlight of your trip- Gorilla trekking, which may last from 3 to 8 hours depending on the group you are visiting. We trek through the rainforest and bamboo covered slopes, accompanied by a Uganda Wildlife Authority guide and other trackers, in search of a mountain gorilla family.

After your trek experience return to your accommodation for a well-deserved rest. If there is time you might do an afternoon walkabout in a pigmy village and give you some cultural insights into the local Batwa culture.

Accommodation:

• Bakiga Lodge
• Midrange lodge located just outside Bwindi NP
• Meals & Drinks:
• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Day 9: Move to Lake Mburo Park – Lunch Break at Mbarara town – Afternoon Boat Cruise

Early breakfast and off to Lake Mburo National Park. The perfect place to break a long journey at one of the most delightful places in Uganda. Check out the lovely Kigezi highlands, the scenery is simply soothing to the eye in the evergreen state of Africa. Arrive at the Lake Mburo Park and check in your lodge.

Go for the leisurely cruise around Lake Mburo where you will see several other lakes such as Kazuma, Lake Bwa. You see huge hippos, crocodiles and buffaloes. There are attractive birds to check out like Abyssinian ground hornbill, the crested crane (Uganda’s national emblem), saddle bill storks among others. You can do an optional guided nature walk. Return to the lodge for dinner and a quiet overnight in the midst of the African Savannah.

Main Destination:

• Lake Mburo National Park
• Accommodation: Hyena lodge
• Mid – Budget lodge bordering Lake Mburo NP without fences
• Meals & Drinks:
• All Meals Included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included).

Day 10: Transfer to Entebbe International Airport

Breakfast and a morning Game Drive through the savannah. Check out Uganda’s wildlife such as zebra, warthog, buffalo, klipspringer, eland, oribi and waterbuck. Lake Mburo national Park, a haven for “impalas” small antelopes and herbivorous are most concentrated in Lake Mburo of all the Ugandan national Parks. There is more to impalas, Kampala; Uganda’s capital derives its name from here, its beautiful animal. A horseback safari, ATV quad safari tour is also possible. The choice is yours.

On the way we stop at Masaka for lunch, back toward Kampala stopping at Nabusanke Trading Centre where you can stand on the equator, take pictures and also buy some souvenirs and crafts then on to Mpambire where you can observe the Buganda Royal Drum Makers and even buy a few, back on our homeward journey where we arrive in Entebbe in the late afternoon. Our 10 Days Big 5 Uganda Wildlife Safari encounter in the Wild of Uganda ends here.

Main Destination:

• Entebbe International Airport
• Accommodation:
• No accommodation (End of tour)
• Meals & Drinks:
• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

End of 10 Day Big 75of Uganda, Gorillas-Chimps & Wildlife Safari

Important to Know

• Rates are per person and exclude the international flight from/to your home country.
• This tour accepts children who are 15 years and older.

10 Day Big 5 of Uganda, Gorillas-Chimps & Wildlife Safari Inclusions and Exclusions