This 18 days Uganda tour offers an opportunity to experience the rich biodiversity, cultural and historical heritage of Uganda. From trekking mountain gorillas to spotting elephants and meeting the Batwa hunter gatherers, this tour is a once-in- a lifetime wildlife adventure. Concentrating mainly in the western region, which is Uganda’s main wildlife safari circuit boasting 8 of the 10 national parks including remote Semuliki Valley, an extension of the Great Ituri forest of Congo basin.
This region has spectacular landscapes including snowcapped Rwenzori Mountains, numerous explosion crater-filled lakes, rolling hills, making for a must-visit gem for a keen photographer. In addition to exploring protected areas, this tour also includes city tours in Kampala, Jinja, and Entebbe cities to get a glimpse of Uganda’s economic transformation.
Day 1 – Entebbe to Lake Mburo
Day 2 – Game drive in Lake Mburo National Park
Day 3: Lake Bunyonyi
Day 4: Mgahinga – Golden monkey tracking & visit the batwa
Day 5: Gorilla tracking in Mugahinga National Park
Day 6: Gorilla tracking in Bwindi
Day 7: Transfer to Ishasha Wilderness for tree climbing lions
Day 8: Game drives in Queen Elizabeth
Day 9: Transfer to Semuliki national Park
Day 10: Nature walk in Semuliki National Park and visit Amabere ga Nyina Mwiru in Fort Portal and King’s Palace
Day 11: Chimpanzee tracking in Kibale National Park & Bigodi nature walk
Day 12: Transfer to Murchison Falls national park
Day 13: Game drive & boat cruise
Day 14: Ziwa rhino Sanctuary
Day 15: Kampala City tour
Day 16: Source of the Nile Jinja
Day 17: Entebbe Botanical Gardens and Wildlife Education Centre
Day 18: Relax and transfer to the airport for the international flight
Detailed itinerary – 18 days Uganda tour
Day 1: Entebbe – Lake Mburo National Park
Transfer from Entebbe to Lake Mburo (3-hour drive), Uganda’s smallest savanna protected area in southwest Uganda. On the way, make a stopover at Equator monument for photoshoots and a water experiment. Proceed into the park with rich biodiversity including 69 mammals and over 332 birds. Adjacent to the park are the Ankole long horn cattle farmlands you will catch a glimpse of the majestic cows. Check in at your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Game drive and boat cruise
After breakfast, go for an early morning guided game drive that may reward you with sightings of impalas, plains zebras, elands, Uganda kobs, Nubian giraffes, and buffaloes. Take a short lunch break and proceed for a boat cruise on Lake Mburo to spot water birds including African fish eagles, malachite kingfishers, and hemmerkorps. Among other aquatic wildlife include hippos and the swamp dwelling Sitatunga antelope. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Day 3: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
Check out of Lake Mburo and transfer to Lake Bunyonyi in southwest Uganda via Mbarara city for lunch en-route at Igongo restaurant. Lake Bunyonyi with 19 islands is Uganda’s spectacular lake and offers a tranquil environment to relax at a lakeside lodge. The lava dammed lake is the deepest in Uganda with a maximum depth of 900 meters yet still safe for swimming given that its waters are free from hippos, crocodiles or bilharzia water bone diseases. In addition to swimming, among other activities include canoeing, boat riding, zip lining and island nature walks.
Day 4: Golden Monkey Trekking and Batwa Trail
Early morning transfer to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park visitor center at Ntebeko for golden monkey trekking activity. A briefing on the trekking etiquette conducted by Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) rangers will be followed by a hike deep into the forest in search of golden monkeys. Once located, you will be allowed to spend 1 hour observing them in their natural habitat. Golden monkeys tend to live between 2,500 and 3,500 meters (roughly 8,200 to 11,500 feet) above sea level. Hiking to see them can be challenging due to the nature of terrain.
Have lunch and relaxation before going for an afternoon cultural walk with Batwa people, the original forest hunter gatherers. Along the Batwa Trail, Batwa will demonstrate their ancient forest survival techniques including the pre-historic fire making activity the Batwa style. Having been evicted from the park in 1991, helps strengthen preservation of their traditions. As an interactive and learning experience, you can get your hands on some stuff and join their energetic dance performance at the end of the walk. Transfer to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 5: Gorilla Trekking in Mgahinga
After breakfast at the lodge, you will transfer to Ntebeko and attend a briefing on the gorilla trekking rules and regulations. Mgahinga has only the Nyakagezi gorilla family with 9 individuals including a silverback which you will spend 1 magical hour observing how they feed and interact in their natural habitat. Depending on the movement of primates, the trek may last for 1-6 hours. A gorilla trekking certificate will be awarded to you upon returning from the forest and transfer to Bwindi impenetrable forest national park for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 6: Bwindi Gorilla Habituation Experience
Wake up before dawn for a cup of tea, you will transfer to the gorilla briefing center to begin your activity early in the morning. The habituation offers an opportunity to spend 4 hours with a semi-habituated gorilla group in Bwindi forest. The maximum number of visitors to participate is 4 only making for an intimate experience. You will be accompanied by habituators and researchers into the forest and closely follow the gorillas from the time they leave their nests. Learn how scientific methods of imitating the primates’ behavior such as chewing on vegetation, belching vocalizations and knuckle walking are used to habituate them to human presence. Return to the lodge for lunch and relaxation.
Day 7: Bwindi – Ishasha Wilderness
After breakfast early in the morning you will transfer from Bwindi to Ishasha wilderness, the remote southern part of Queen Elizabeth national park. Famous for harboring the rare Tree Climbing Lions, Ishasha wilderness area consisting of woodlands, riverine forests, wetlands, serves as the wildlife corridor between Queen Elizabeth and Virunga national park in DR Congo. There are unique species such as topi, forest buffaloes, and elephants. Your Ishasha game experience may involve sundowners along Ntungwe River to watch herds of elephants that tend to graze in the valley and bathe in its waters.
Spanning 1,983 sq. km, Queen Elizabeth national park lies in the rift valley in the shadow of the Rwenzori Mountain Ranges and encompasses diverse array of habitats including tropical forests, open plains, Lake George and lake Edward, numerous volcanic crater-filled lakes, making for a must-visit gem for a keen photographer. Dinner and overnight stay.
Day 8: Game drive and Kazinga channel boat safari
With packed lunch from Ishasha, you will transfer to Kazinga channel for a boat safari. Game viewing en-route to Kazinga, you may spot elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, and Uganda kobs and leopards in the channel track. Spanning 32 sq. km, Kazinga channel connects Lake George and Lake Edward and hosts one of East Africa’s largest concentrations of hippos. The channel has its own localized “Big Five” which include hippo, Nile crocodile, African fish eagle, elephant, and buffaloes. The Kazinga channel boat cruise lasts for 3 hours offering great opportunities for game viewing and bird watching with over 600 species recorded including shoebill stork.
Day 9: Queen Elizabeth – Semliki National Park
The route from Queen Elizabeth national park to Semliki is spectacular winding through the Katwe-Kikorongo explosion crater fields, rugged foothills of Rwenzori Mountains into the moist Semliki valley. Semliki national park is an extension of the Great Ituri forest part of the Congo basin and hosts unique wildlife species such as Bongo, forest elephants, and forest buffaloes. The protected area hosts 40% of Uganda’s total birds including those not found anywhere else in East Africa such as the Nkulengu rail, Piping Hornbill and Congo Serpent Eagle. In addition to wildlife, Semliki’s unique attractions are the geo-thermal Sempeya hot springs. Dinner and overnight.
Day 10: Nature Walk and visit to caves
The nature walk to the Sempaya hot springs begins early in the morning after breakfast and it lasts for 1 to 3 hours. After that, you will check out of the Semliki and visit the stalactites and stalagmites known as Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru in Nyakasura area of Fort Portal. Proceed to your lodge on the edge of Kibale forest national park for overnight stay.
Day 11: Chimpanzee Tracking and Bigodi Swamp Walk
After an early breakfast, head to Kanyanchu visitor center to begin your experience with a UWA ranger briefing followed by a guided trek in search of the primates. Participating in the morning chimpanzee trekking session offers an opportunity to encounter chimpanzees feeding either on ground or in tree canopies. In the afternoon, you will go for a guided nature walk in Bigodi wetland sanctuary. Located adjacent to Kibale forest, the swamp is home to over 200 birds, 8 of 12 primate species and medicinal plants.
Day 12: Kibale – Murchison Falls National Park
Today, you will transfer for about a 7-hour drive to Murchison Falls national park, Uganda’s largest conservation area, and home to 77 mammal species and over 400 species of birds including the Shoebill stork. On arrival, you will check in your lodge for dinner and overnight. Murchison Falls is bisected by the Nile River. The Nile tumbles into a narrow gorge and plunges over a 7-meters cliff into the devil’s cauldron with a thunderous roar, making for the world’s strongest waterfall.
Day 13: Game drive and boat cruise
After breakfast, explore the park in search of wildlife. Murchison Falls is home to four of the Big Five mammals found in the park including lions, leopards, buffaloes and elephants. Among other species such as topi, Jackson’s hartebeests, oribi, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, and Nubian giraffes. There are also primate species such as baboons and patas monkeys which may be seen during the game drive. Common savanna birds of Murchison falls include Abyssinian ground hornbill. Return to the lodge for lunch and proceed to Paara for the boat cruise upstream along the Victoria Nile to the bottom of the falls.
Day 14: Ziwa Rhino Trekking
Today, you will visit Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary home to over 49 rhinos and go for a rhino tracking experience. Expert UWA rangers will lead you in search of the rhinos and once they’re located spend 1 hour viewing safely at a distance of 7 meters. Transfer from Ziwa for a 3-hour drive to Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, for dinner and overnight.
Day 15: Kampala city tour
Today, you will explore attractions in Kampala city and afterwards transfer to Jinja at the source of the Nile River. Get immersed into the history of Buganda kingdom and Kampala city as you tour some of the 7 hills each with a unique landmark. At Old Kampala hill, you will visit Gaddafi national mosque with a 50.5-metre (166 ft) tall minaret and climb up stairs for spectacular views of the city. Next to the mosque is Fort Lugard, which commemorates the declaration of Kampala as an administrative capital of British colonial Uganda in 1890.
Proceed to Mengo hill, the heart of Buganda kingdom and tour the Kabaka’s former palace and Bulange parliament building. Learn about the 42 clans of Buganda each with its own totem represented as monuments side by side of the road that links the palace and Bulange. Inside the palace compound, you will visit the torture chambers to learn about the dark history of Uganda’s post-independence political struggle.
The Mengo Crisis of 1996, a violent political conflict between Prime Minister Milton Obote who ordered his army commander to attack Mengo and eventually exiled Kabaka Edward Mutesa II, who was also president. To boost its security, Buganda kingdom built an underground armory store complex consisting of 5 narrow cells and a dark subterranean tunnel without ventilation. The complex tunnel was later misused by Idi Amin turning it into a torture chamber after he captured power through a military coup in 1979. Over the reign of Amin (1971-1979), an estimated 200,000 people are thought to have been tortured in the chambers.
From Mengo, proceed to Kasubi hill, the royal burial grounds for the kings of Buganda kingdom. Kasubi Tombs, a UNESCO world heritage site consists of the main hut with 4 tombs of former kings of Buganda kingdom, the royal drum house and guard’s house. A modest dress code for women visiting Kasubi is required.
Have lunch and continue to the Uganda national museum in Kamwokya. Established in 1908, the museum offers a glimpse into Uganda’s rich cultural and historical heritage with a wide range of collections and galleries encompassing ethnography, traditional music, natural history, archaeology, science and ethnohistory. From there, you will proceed to Nakasero central market to experience a Ugandan vibrant food scene. The market serves as a hub for fresh agricultural produce, including fruits, vegetables, and spices, among other local textiles, electronics, and souvenirs. From the market, go for dinner and overnight stay in Kampala capital city.
Day 16: Kampala – Jinja
Early in the morning after a cup of tea, transfer to Jinja, the adventure capital of East Africa in the eastern part of the country. Make a stopover along the Namawojjolo roadside market famous for selling roasted chicken, goat meat, and beef (muchomo). Continue to Jinja for lunch followed by a boat cruise to the source of the Nile River, the world’s longest river discovered by the British explorer Speke in 1958. During the 2-hour ride, you may spot bird species including malachite kingfishers and cormorants. After the boat ride, you will have a sightseeing tour of Jinja, Uganda’s historical town exploring historical buildings and sites including Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Temple (1926) and Madhvani building (1919). Afterwards transfer back via Kampala to Entebbe city for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 17: Visit Uganda Wildlife Education Center and Botanical Gardens
Start the day with a guided tour of Uganda Wildlife Education Center, a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center home to rhinos, giraffes, lions, and chimpanzees. There are interactive experiences to get up close with some of these animals. The chimpanzee up-close offers an opportunity to engage with rehabilitated chimpanzees for 1 hour. The behind-the-scenes experience allows you to learn about the veterinary work done to keep animals safe and healthy at the center. From there, you will have lunch at a floating restaurant and later proceed to visit the Entebbe Botanical gardens and head directly to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 18: Departure
On the final day, you may go shopping for souvenirs or simply relax at the lodge. You will be dropped off at the airport on time for your departure flight.
Tour Inclusions
- Transportation from the meeting to the departure point
- Expert, English-speaking local driver/guide
- All accommodations while on tour
- Meal as indicated in the itinerary
- Park Entrance fees
- All Activity Fess included in the tour itinerary
- Pre-tour briefing and itinerary document, maps and postcards
Tour excludes
- International flight ( can be arranged if required )
- Visa and personal insurance
- Drinks, tips and gratuities
- Personal expenses (laundry, souvenirs, etc.).
- Any item or activity not mentioned in the tour package.
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