This 15-day Best of Uganda Safari is Uganda’s most popular safari. It is the most popular Uganda tour for clients with limited time in Uganda to explore the untapped rawness of Uganda’s wildlife national parks. It combines local cultural experiences, wildlife discoveries, and the most thrilling gorilla encounter on the planet. Allow us to take you to the pinnacle of Uganda’s best safari memories, whether you are an individual, couple, group, or family.
This Uganda wildlife safari will take you to Kidepo National Park for game drives, Murchison Falls National Park for wildlife viewing via game drives and boat launches, and Kibale Forest National Park, the world’s primate capital, for chimp trekking and various monkey and bird species. You will also walk through the Bigodi swamp, which is known for its rare bird species, and finish the safari with a visit to Queen Elizabeth National Park for more wildlife viewing. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and trekking golden monkeys in Mgahinga National Park. Before returning to Kampala, you will relax at Lake Bunyonyi and go on yet another wildlife adventure in Lake Mburo National Park.
Safari Highlights
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival
When you arrive at Entebbe airport, you will be met by a representative from our company and transferred to your hotel. Dinner and overnight stay at your hotel as you look forward to your 15 days best of Uganda safari at Papyrus Guest House. Meals: Dinner
Day 2: Transfer to Kidepo Valley National Park
Following an early breakfast by 5am, you will travel to Kidepo Valley National Park amidst villages and farm fields. Have en-route lunch in Kitgum and proceed. When you arrive at the park, you will check-in, refresh, have dinner and retire for the night. Kidepo is one of Africa’s most beautiful wilderness areas. A savanna landscape extends in all directions from Apoka, in the heart of the national park, far beyond the gazetted horizons outlined by distant mountain ranges. Dinner and overnight at Kidepo Savannah Lodge. Meals: Full board
Day 3: Explore Kidepo Valley National Park
After an early breakfast, go on a game drive through Kidepo Valley’s trails. The park has one of the most diverse faunas of any Ugandan park, with over 80 species of mammals. Many of these are endemic to the park, such as the cheetah, striped hyena, and caracal, and over 475 bird species, including ostriches. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge at Kidepo Savannah Lodge. Meals: Full board
Day 4: Karamojong Cultural Encounter and Transfer to Kitgum
Following a late breakfast, you will be driven to a Karamojong village to learn more about their culture, music, and dance. Karamoja is known for its cattle culture, and the Karamojong are well-known cattle raiders. Unlike most Ugandans, many Karamojong prefers to dress in a “traditional” blanket-like shawl, often in red and black. The women are adorned with intricate beadwork. After exploring their unique culture and tradition, drive to your hotel in Kitgum. Check in, have lunch, and relax.
Day 5: Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park
After breakfast, you will depart for Murchison Falls National Park via the northern sector, with en-route lunch. The park is divided in half by the Victoria Nile, which plunges 45 meters over the remnant rift valley wall, forming the dramatic Murchison Falls, the park’s centerpiece. The mighty cascade drains the river’s last energy, transforming it into a broad, calm stream that flows quietly across the rift valley floor into Lake Albert. On your way to the hotel, you can see elephants, giraffes, and buffaloes, as well as hippos, Nile crocodiles, and aquatic birds. Dinner and overnight stay at Pakuba Safari Lodge. Meals: Full board
Day 6: Early Morning Game drive and Boat cruise on the Nile
You’ll get up early and leave at 6.30 a.m. for the early morning game drive. You will get to sight Cape buffaloes, Rothschild’s giraffes, Uganda kobs, hartebeest, waterbucks, Oribi, bushbuck, Bohor reedbuck, shy sitatunga, bush duiker, warthog, and bush pig are also possible sightings, as are large carnivores such as lions, leopards, and spotted hyenas. The park’s primates also include chimps and olive baboons. Crocodiles and hippos will be spotted along the Nile’s banks. The goliath heron, Egyptian geese, pelican, bee-eaters, kingfishers, hornbill, cormorant, saddle-bill stork, and the rare shoebill stork are among the more common birds that can be seen.
You will return to your lodge for a late breakfast and some relaxation before departing in the afternoon for an upstream boat cruise on the Victoria Nile. Along the way, you’ll see hippos, crocodiles, waterbuck, and a variety of birds, including the unusual shoebill stork. The boat stops just a few meters from the base of the falls to allow for photographs of the photogenic and majestic Murchison Falls. Dinner and overnight stay at Pakuba Safari Lodge. Meals: Full board
Day 7: Visit the top of the Falls & Travel to Kibale Forest National Park
After breakfast, you will visit the “top of the thunderous Murchison falls,” where you will see the River Nile squeeze itself into a 7-meter gorge before tumbling 40 meters down in a thunderous explosion. It then flows down into a very peaceful river whose water banks are swarmed with a profusion of water and land animals, as well as birds.
You will then embark on a 6-hour journey to Kibale Forest National Park. The route takes you through lush countryside, past traditional homesteads, and farms. You will also pass through the towns of Hoima and Fort Portal, which sit in the shadow of the legendary Rwenzori Mountains. En-route lunch in Fort Portal town before proceeding to Kibale. When you arrive in Kibale, you will have the opportunity to go on a swamp walk in Bigodi. Dinner and overnight stay at Turaco Treetop Lodge. Meals: Full board
Day 8: Chimpanzee Habituation Experience
Today, we’ll join Kibale’s researchers in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in a chimp habituation experience. Here, you’ll learn how to safely observe the chimps during their daily activities so that they become accustomed to human presence without altering their natural behavior. You will be able to observe chimp families as they awaken, hunt, patrol, play, fight, copulate and breastfeed. We will have unprecedented intimate access to these wild chimps for the entire day, guided by biologists and researchers, until they build their nests at night. The experience is a 4-hour activity that often starts at 08:00 am with a briefing at the Headquarters.
Kibale Forest is home to at least 1,500 chimps, making it the largest chimp concentration in Africa. The park also has ten other primates, including diurnal species such as the Red Colobus Monkey, Blue Monkey, Red-tailed Monkey, Gray Checked Mangabeys, and Vervet Monkey, among others. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge at Turaco Treetop Lodge. Meals: Full board
Day 9: Travel to Queen Elizabeth National Park – Afternoon Boat Cruise
After breakfast, we start our drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park at around 9:00 a.m., taking in the breathtaking views of the snow-capped 16,000-foot Rwenzori Mountains and crater lakes. The Park has large concentrations of wildlife in Queen Elizabeth National Park, including predators such as the famous tree-climbing Lions, Leopards, Serval cats, Spotted hyenas, Elephants, Cape buffaloes, Hippos, various Antelopes, Warthogs, Giant Forest hogs, and 10 species of primates. These include vervet monkeys, black and white colobus, and olive baboons, among the other mammals. The park has over 600 bird species, which is among the highest in Africa. There are also several soda lakes that fill ancient volcanic calderas and attract flamingos seasonally.
After a leisurely lunch in the Mweya Peninsular, we’ll take a two-hour boat safari along the Kazinga Channel. This allows you to see wildlife up close: hippos huff and spray, and buffalo linger in the shallows. The channel’s shores are also home to a variety of birds, including pink-backed pelicans, pied and malachite kingfishers, saddle-billed storks, and many others. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge at Enganzi Safari Lodge. Meals: Full board
Day 10: Tree-climbing lions in Ishasha & Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
After breakfast, we continue south through beautiful savannah grasslands to the park’s southern sector, Ishasha. This is the best location to see the famous tree-climbing lions draped from low-hanging fig tree limbs. The sector is also a mating ground for the Uganda kobs which are often prey to these lions. Finally, as we approach the breathtaking Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, we’ll pass through beautiful savannah grasslands. On arrival, check into your lodge and have lunch.
Bwindi’s vegetation has been weaving itself into tangles for over 25,000 years, accumulating a long list of species in the process. This includes over 310 butterfly species, 51 reptiles, 200 trees, 88 moths, and an impressive 120 mammal species, including 10 primates. Mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, L’Hoest’s, red-tailed and blue monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, and baboons, are Bwindi’s most famous residents. Bwindi is a popular spot for birdwatchers. Its 350 species include seven IUCN red data listed species and 90% of all Albertine rift endemics – species that are difficult or impossible to see in other parts of East Africa. Dinner and overnight will be at your lodge at Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge. Meals: Full board
Day 11: Enjoy the Gorilla Trekking Experience
Following breakfast at the lodge, you will proceed to the park headquarters for a briefing from Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger guides. After the briefing, the ranger will lead you into the dense, impenetrable forest to begin your search for the endangered, rare Mountain Gorillas. The gorilla search always begins where they were last seen the previous day. When you arrive at the location of these famous species, you will only be allowed to interact with them for one hour, and you should always maintain maximum silence while with these Gorillas. You are permitted to take photographs, for example. Finding the gorillas is a tiring experience because it can take anywhere from 3 to 8 hours. This depends on the location of the creatures in the forest.
However, once you meet these gorillas, you will quickly forget the hatches you had to go through to find them and instead remember the good times you had with them. Following the interaction, you will drive to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park which will take about 4 hours. On arrival, check into your lodge. Dinner and overnight stay at Ichumbi Hotel. Meals: Full board
Day 12: Golden Monkey Trekking
Early in the morning, have breakfast, get some drinking water and snacks, and drive to the park information office for briefings on Golden monkey trekking. Get assigned a golden monkey family to trek, a ranger guide, and then begin the forest walk to search for the golden monkeys. Golden monkeys are one of the most interesting primates to see in Mgahinga gorilla national park. The time taken before meeting the golden monkey is unknown because it is highly dependent on the movements of the monkey family you are trekking.
When you meet them, you will spend a maximum of one hour with them in their natural environment. Learn about their lifestyle, and feeding habits, as well as see them play in the bamboo forest where they normally reside. You will be able to take as many photos as you want and record some videos to remember your time with the golden monkeys.
After an hour with the beautiful golden monkeys, return to the starting point to meet your safari guide for the drive back to your lodge for lunch, freshening up, and relaxing. Dinner and overnight stay at Ichumbi Hotel. Meals: Full board
Day 13: Batwa Cultural Trail
After breakfast at your lodge, pack your lunch and drive to the Batwa community settlement for the Batwa trail experience inside Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. The trail will be guided by a Batwa local guide. The guide will take you through everything about their lifestyle and culture. Before that, he will first say a prayer by the Batwa local guide asking their spirits to keep everyone safe while walking through the forest. As a result, the trail will teach you about the roles of each member of the community, how they survive life without modern technology, and how their lives changed after they were forced to leave the forest.
During the trail, they will demonstrate to you how they use different plant species for medicinal purposes. They will also show you how they used to use bamboo to make cups and spoons. In addition to how to make fire from woods, different hunting, and honey gathering techniques. Enjoy listening to their ancient stories, and also visit the Garama caves, which used to be the King’s Palace. Later, you will be entertained by women groups through their traditional dance, music, and drama, and this will be the end of your Batwa trail experience. Return to your lodge after and rest. Dinner and overnight stay at Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge. Meals: Full board
Day 14: Drive to Lake Mburo National Park
After breakfast, you will depart from Mgahinga and travel to Lake Mburo National Park. Have en-route lunch in Mbarara and proceed to the Park, on arrival, check into your lodge. After relaxing, take an afternoon boat ride to look for water-loving animals like crocodiles and hippos. The lake is also home to numerous bird species, including the endangered shoe bill stork. Return to your lodge after. Dinner and an overnight stay at Rwakobo Rock. Meals: Full board
Day 15: Morning Game drive & Transfer back to Kampala
After an early breakfast, head for the morning game drive. Keep an eye out for zebras, impalas, bush and waterbucks, Kobs buffaloes, warthogs, elephants, and other animals. Return to your lodge after and have an early lunch. Thereafter, check out of your lodge and travel back to Kampala. You will have a brief stopover at the Equator for water experiments as well as the opportunity to stand at the point where the two hemispheres begin. Continue your journey by stopping at Mpambire drum village, also known as drum making village. You will arrive in Kampala late in the afternoon and thus, the end of your 15 Days Best of Uganda Safari.
15 Days Best of Uganda Safari Inclusions;
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