PRIMATE WATCH SAFARIS

Day 1: Arrival at Entebbe International Airport – Transfer to the hotel

Arrive in Entebbe, and transfer to your accommodation to rest and freshen up. If time permits visit the famous Entebbe Botanical Gardens or the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre.

Accommodation: 2 Friends Beach Hotel / Papyrus Guest House

Day 2: Ngamba Island – Lake Victoria

Drive to Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe where you are briefed about your day’s adventure to Ngamba Island. Take a boat for a half-day trip to see chimpanzees at close range Ngamba Island is a sanctuary for confiscated and orphaned chimpanzees awaiting re-introduction to the wilderness. Return to your accommodation.

Accommodation: 2 Friends Beach Hotel / Papyrus Guest House

Included: Ngamba Island

Day 3: Drive to Murchison Falls National Park – Rhino Tracking

You will check out and drive to Murchison Falls National Park via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for Rhino Tracking. After the tracking, you will embark on your journey to Masindi for lunch after which you will proceed to the top of the falls to see how the Nile is forced through a narrow gorge falling 43 meters high. This scenery is said to be the largest natural force of water in the world creating what appears to be a boiling caldron of water. From the top of the falls, you will drive to your accommodation.

Dinner and overnight: Sambiya River Lodge / Paraa Safari Lodge / Nile Safari Lodge / Red Chilli Camp.

Included: Rhino tracking, Visit top of the falls

Day 4: Murchison Falls National Park

After breakfast, drive to the northern sector of the park for game drives. Most of the game is found in the area north of Victoria Nile and East of the Albert Nile and Lake Albert (where the movie “The African Queen” was filmed). The likely game to be encountered during our drive are Elephants, Buffalos, Rothschild giraffe, Oribi, waterbuck, hartebeest, bushbuck, leopard, lion, bush pigs, mongoose, warthog, jackal, genet, hyenas, bat-eared fox, sitatunga and Uganda Kob. In the afternoon, take a launch boat to the base of the falls viewing game and birds en route. We enjoy the 3-hour ride past several hippo schools and Nile crocodiles plus aquatic birds.

Dinner and overnight: Sambiya River Lodge / Paraa Safari Lodge / Nile Safari Lodge / Red Chilli Camp.

Included: Game drive, Boat trip

Day 5: Murchison Falls National Park – Kibale National Park

After breakfast, drive to the Kibale Forest area via Biso, Hoima, and Kyenjojo to Fort Portal with a lunch stopover en route. The journey will take approximately 8 hours along the western arm of The Great African Rift Valley passing through beautiful agricultural countryside, tropical rain forests, and tea plantations. Check-in your accommodation for dinner and overnight.

Accommodation: Ndali Lodge / Primate Lodge / Turaco Treetops

Day 6: Chimpanzee tracking in Kibale National Park

After breakfast, proceed for Chimpanzee tracking. The exciting activity begins in the morning and may take a whole day or a few hours. Briefing is done by the UWA park rangers at the park headquarters. Besides being human’s close cousins, the chimpanzees, Kibale National Park hosts other primates such as red colobus, L’hoest, black-and-white colobus, red-tailed monkeys, and grey-cheeked mangabey among others. The swamp walk at Bigodi wetland is an optional activity in the afternoon.

Accommodation: Ndali Lodge / Primate Lodge / Turaco Treetops

Included: Chimpanzee tracking

Optional: Bigodi Swamp Walk

Day 7: Kibale National Park – Queen Elizabeth National Park

After breakfast, check out and drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park. The drive passes through Fort Portal southwards along the Eastern length of the Rwenzori Mountains. On a clear day, you may see the glaciated peaks as you gently descend into the Great Rift Valley to the park. The Rwenzori Peaks provide a magnificent backdrop to antelope-filled plains. Queen Elizabeth National Park covers about 2,000 square kilometres and spreads along the eastern shores of the Rift Valley’s Lake Edward.

Accommodation: Mweya Safari Lodge / Buffalo Safari Lodge / Irungu Forest Lodge

Included:  Evening game drive

Day 8: Queen Elizabeth National Park

Today you go for an early morning game drive with the hope of seeing lions and other predators as they hunt for their prey. In the afternoon, you take a launch/boat cruise of about two hours on the Kazinga channel for bird viewing (Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the best birding parks in Africa with “560” + recorded bird species and 296 bird species seen in 24 hours). You may also watch wildlife including the hippopotamus and elephants, among others. The Channel is believed to have the largest concentration of hippopotamus in the world.

Accommodation: Mweya Safari Lodge / Buffalo Safari Lodge / Irungu Forest Lodge

Included: Game drive, Boat trip at the Kazinga Channel

Day 9: Full day Game Drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Spend this day exploring Queen Elizabeth National Park at your own pace. Visit several crater lakes, search for wildlife, and visit the communities in and around the park. Visit the Ishasha Sector to search for the tree-climbing lions.

Accommodation: Ishasha Jungle Lodge / Ishasha Wilderness Camp / Enjojo Lodge

Included: Game drive, Community visit, Search for the tree climbing lions

Day 10: Queen Elizabeth National Park – Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

After breakfast drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Here you will choose either to go via Maramagambo Forest for a nature walk and visit the bat caves where you may observe thousands of bats within inches of their roosts and often pythons and monitor lizards poised to strike by the cave entrance or to go to Ishasha for a game drive in search for the unique tree climbing lions. Afternoon, drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Dinner and overnight at Mahogany Springs Lodge / Buhoma Haven / Gorilla Bluff Lodge

Included: Search for Tree Climbing Lions

Day 11: Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

After an early breakfast, and our packed lunch, we then take a short drive to the park headquarters for briefing where we meet the excellent local guides and trackers who give a talk on the etiquette of gorilla trekking. We then trek into the forest to a spot where gorillas were last seen the previous night and track from there. Trekking may take anything between 1 to 6 hours depending on the family and altitudes which is more than 7500 feet. The terrain is rough and muddy calling for physical fitness. Although the hike is physically demanding, the beauty of the forest and surrounding scenery makes the trekking worthwhile. Once the Great Apes (Gorillas are located all fatigue is forgotten as the experience is often described as being the most profound natural history experience in the world). It is recommended that you take plenty of water with you on the trek. Non-flash cameras and plenty of fast-speed films are recommended. Being a tropical rain forest, it may rain at no notice, hence need to bring with you waterproof clothing, including zip-lock bags for cameras and film. Others to come with include sturdy hiking boots, long pants, gloves and a raincoat. Maximum time spent with the gorillas is 1 hour.

Dinner Overnight at Mahogany Springs / Buhoma Haven / Gorilla Bluff Lodge

Included: Gorilla tracking

Day 12: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – Batwa Experience

Get ready for a full-day adventure that starts with a 3-hour hike through the forest to a Batwa settlement. The Batwa pygmies, also known as the “Keepers of the Forest”, are an enchanting hunter-gatherer tribe that has coexisted with the wildlife of the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for thousands of years.

During your visit to the Batwa homestead, you’ll have the opportunity to observe how the women prepare, cook, and serve a meal. You can also engage with the medicine men and learn about the medicinal properties of the lush forest flora.

Accommodation: Mahogany Springs Lodge / Buhoma Haven / Gorilla Bluff Lodge

Included: Batwa Experience

Day 13: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – Lake Mburo National Park

After breakfast, drive to Lake Mburo National Park through the renowned Kigezi hills arguably known as the Switzerland of Uganda. Do an evening game drive in the park.

Overnight Mihingo Lodge / Rwakobo Rock / Mantana Camp.

Included: Game drive

Day 14: Lake Mburo National Park – Mabamba Swamp

We will begin our day with a game drive or game walk in the morning. After that, we will drive to Mabamba Swamp. On the way, we can take a quick break at the Equator to capture some photographs. Mabamba Swamp is a large and easily accessible wetland that is located on the shores of Lake Victoria. It is considered one of the best places for spotting the Shoebill Stork.

Accommodation: Nkima Forest Lodge

Included: Game walk or Game drive

Day 15: Mabamba Swamp – Entebbe Airport

Relax at the lodge or choose an optional canoe trip at Mabamba Swamp to spot the elusive Shoebill Stork. Transfer to the airport for your outbound flight.

Included: Airport transfer