8 Days Uganda Adventure Safari

Tour details

Duration: 8 days

Best for: Travellers who want chimps, gorillas and savannah in a single week without cutting the pace to a crawl

Group size: Private tour, your group and your guide

Travel style: Safari, Chimpanzee tracking, Gorilla trekking, Walking safaris, Community

Introduction

You want chimps, gorillas, and the open plains of Queen Elizabeth in one trip. This itinerary gives you all three, plus a stop in Lake Mburo that most tour companies skip.

You start in Entebbe and finish in Entebbe. In between, you hit four national parks: Kibale Forest, for chimp tracking; Queen Elizabeth National Park, for game drives and a boat cruise; Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, for gorilla trekking; and Lake Mburo, for zebras and a lake cruise. That's four ecosystems and ten-plus primate species in eight days. You won't find that combination on a shorter trip.

On this journey, you will explore the following highlights:

Chimpanzee Tracking

Kibale Forest National Park – The Primate Capital

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Ishasha (Queen Elizabeth National Park)

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – Home of the Mountain Gorillas

Gorilla Tracking - The Ultimate Wildlife Encounter

Lake Mburo National Park

Walking Safaris – Step Into the Wild

Cultural Encounters – Meet Uganda’s Communities

Day to day programme

Day 1: Entebbe

You land, and someone is waiting for you at the airport. This is the same person who drives you for the rest of the trip, not a rotating cast of strangers. You'll spend the night in Entebbe on bed and breakfast.

Pick your level: Papyrus Guest House on a budget, Boma Guest House or Best Western if you want more comfort, or Lake Victoria Serena Resort if you want to start the trip in style.

Day 2: Entebbe to Kibale Forest

The drive takes six to seven hours through the Western Rift Valley's Albertine Escarpment. On a clear day, you'll catch a glimpse of the Rwenzori Mountains, the range locals call the "Mountains of the Moon."

Kibale holds 13 primate species and over 325 bird species, including the rare Green Breasted Pitta. You arrive in the afternoon, check in, and head straight into the Bigodi Swamp for a nature and bird walk. The wetland project is run by the local community and employs local youth as guides. Your visit funds that directly.

Day 3: Chimp tracking, then Queen Elizabeth National Park

Chimp tracking in Kibale started in 1993. Two sessions run each day, at 8am and 2pm, in groups of six. The minimum age is 12. Compared to gorilla trekking, this trek is easier, and it takes about three hours on average.

You get a 30 to 40 minute briefing at Kanyanchu headquarters before you go in. Once you find the chimps, you get one hour with them. Along the way you'll likely spot L'Hoest's monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, blue vervet monkeys, and black and white colobus monkeys, plus forest elephants and buffalo.

After lunch, you transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park. This is Uganda's most visited park, and for good reason: 1,978 square kilometers, 95 mammal species, 600 bird species, and 10 primate species.

Day 4: Kasenyi game drive and the Kazinga Channel

Morning game drive in Kasenyi, hunting for lions, leopards, buffalo, elephants, and antelope. After lunch, you board a boat for a three-hour cruise on the Kazinga Channel, the waterway connecting Lake Edward and Lake George.

This channel holds one of Africa's largest hippo populations. You'll also see crocodiles, elephants, buffalo, and a long list of bird species from the water.

Day 5: Ishasha, then Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

You head south to Ishasha for a mid-morning game drive. This is the only place in Uganda where you can reliably spot tree-climbing lions.

In the afternoon, you drive roughly five hours to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, home to Uganda's mountain gorillas.

Day 6: Gorilla trekking

This is the day you booked the trip for. After an early breakfast, you head to park headquarters for briefing, the exact location depending on which sector your lodge sits in: Buhoma or Ruhija in the north, Rushaga or Nkuringo in the south. Bwindi has 18 habituated gorilla families spread across these four sectors, and trekking happens every day of the year.

Finding the gorillas can take two to five hours depending on where they were last seen. Once you find them, you get one hour. The full day, start to finish, runs five to nine hours. Bring a packed lunch, and hire a porter. It's worth it.

If you have time left in the day, visit the Ride 4 A Woman project in Buhoma. You'll meet local women and see basket weaving and knitting done with local materials.

Day 7: Bwindi to Lake Mburo

A five-hour drive through Ankole cattle country brings you to Lake Mburo, Uganda's smallest national park. You'll arrive in time for lunch, then head straight onto a boat cruise. Look for hippos and buffalo on the water.

Lake Mburo holds Uganda's largest zebra population. You'll also see impala, oribi, and giraffe, recently relocated here from Murchison Falls.

Day 8: Lake Mburo to Entebbe

One last game drive as you exit the park. Lake Mburo is one of the few parks in Uganda where you can do a walking safari and still see most of the same animals you'd spot on a drive: impala, zebra, oribi, topi, eland. The park also draws serious birders, with over 300 recorded species.

You'll have lunch on the road back to Entebbe, with a stop at the Equator for photos, then a drop-off at the airport for your evening flight out.

What's the difference between chimp tracking and gorilla trekking?

Chimp tracking takes about three hours and works in groups of six. Gorilla trekking can take anywhere from two to eight hours and works in groups of eight. Both give you one hour with the animals once you find them. If your legs or lungs aren't up for a long, steep hike, chimp tracking is the gentler of the two.

Can I add Kyambura Gorge chimp tracking?

Yes. Queen Elizabeth National Park has its own chimp population in Kyambura Gorge. Adding this permit costs an extra $50 per person on top of the base itinerary.

Where does the money go?

The Bigodi Swamp walk on Day 2 funds a community-run wetland project that trains and employs local youth as guides. The Ride 4 A Woman visit on Day 6 puts money directly into a women's craft cooperative in Buhoma. You're not just watching wildlife on this trip. You're putting money into the two communities that live alongside it.

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What's included

Includes

• Accommodation, full board
• One gorilla permit per person
• Park entrance fees
• Internal domestic flights
• A private guide for the full itinerary
• All transfers listed above

Excludes

• Drinks
• Gratuities
• International flights
• Travel insurance
• Visa

Accommodations

During the trip, you will stay at:

Entebbe: Papyrus Guest House, Boma Guest House, Best Western Hotel or Lake Victoria Serena Resort, bed and breakfast.

Kibale Forest: Kibale Guest Cottages, Turaco Tree Tops, Crater Safari Lodge, Chimpundu Safari Lodge or Primates Lodge, full board.

Queen Elizabeth National Park and Ishasha: Enjojo Lodge tents and cottages, Ishasha Wilderness Camp, full board.

Bwindi: Ride 4 A Woman, Bakiga Lodge, Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge, Buhoma Haven Lodge, Gorilla Safari Lodge, Engagi Lodge, Mahogany Springs Lodge, Bwindi Lodge or Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge, full board.

Lake Mburo: Rwakobo Rock, Kigambira Safari Lodge or Mihingo Lodge, full board.

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