7 Days Uganda Wildlife & Primate Safari

Day 1: Arrival in Uganda  

Arrival into Uganda and pick up from the Entebbe international airport and transfer to the hotel. Based on the time of arrival of the clients, we shall head out for group dinner where the clients will have a briefing about the trip

Accommodation: Budget l Mid-range l Luxury

Meal Plan: Half Board – Breakfast & dinner

 

Day 2: Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary 

Early morning off your trip with a one day visit to Ngamba Island Chimpanzee sanctuary dedicated to rescued and orphaned Chimpanzees. Its located roughly 23 km south of Entebbe on Lake Victoria the second largest freshwater lake in the world and it takes approximately 45 minutes to reach the island. You will be welcomed at the island by the day’s guide and while you take some coffee, he will brief you about life at the island and the story of the Chimpanzees. After head out for the tour of the sanctuary which involves feeding of the Chimpanzees and this will take roughly 1 hour.

After the tour of the sanctuary, you will head out for the boat cruise back to Entebbe to have your lunch before having off the afternoon to relax or purchase some souvenirs in Entebbe or if you wish to head out for a 2 hours bike cycling around the main attractions in Entebbe City.

Accommodation: Budget l Mid-range l Luxury

Meal Plan: Half Board – Breakfast & dinner

 

Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park

On a blissful morning, start off your day with an early breakfast after which the tour guide will brief you about the day.  After starting your journey at 8:00 am traveling South West of Entebbe. It will take you approximately 7 / 8 hours to reach Queen Elizabeth National Park which is roughly 389 km. Our first stop will be at the Uganda Equator in Kayabwe which is one of the most known landmarks. The Equator is an imaginary line that divides the earth into the North and South Pole. At this point, you stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other in the southern hemisphere. Proceed with the journey through local markets and Lake Mburo National Park before our second lunch stop at Igongo Cultural Centre. After lunch, proceed with the drive to the lodge.

Estimated time of travel: 8 hours including stopovers.

Accommodation:  Budget l Mid-range l Luxury

Meal Plan: Full  board – Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Early lunch: Igongo Cultural Centre

 

Day 4: Game drive & Boat Cruise in Queen Elizabeth National Park

This a true African wilderness of jaw-dropping beauty with large concentrations of both predators and prey still enduring. In the morning at 6:30 am, start off your game drive in the park. Queen Elizabeth boasts of one of the highest biodiversity ratings of any game park or reserve in the world. Located on the floor of the Albertine Rift Valley southwest of Kasese, its vegetation comprises of savannah, acacia, euphorbia trees and large papyrus swamps. A number of over 100 mammal species and 500 bird species make this territory and great tourist destination. The maramagambo forest houses a large selection of monkeys and birds with flamingos on the crater lakes. The morning Game drive provides excellent opportunity to see lions, elephants, Leopards, Topi, and many other animals ( remember these are wild animals and nature can’t be tamed, so we can’t be 100% sure of seeing all the animals), After the Game Drive, head to lodge for lunch at around 12:30 pm before transfer for the boat cruise at 1:30 pm

Kazinga is a 32-kilometer long scenic river connecting two permanent freshwater lakes of Queen Elizabeth; Lake Edward and Lake Gorge. The park’s different mammals come to this river at different times of the day to quench their thirst. This provides an incredible wildlife viewing opportunity that you can do from the comfort of a double-decker boat. You will also watch hippos practically piled on top of each other in the shallows. Brace yourself for pictures of elephants and buffalo as they amble down to the shores of the calm water to cool off while keeping a wary eye on the many crocs camouflaging in the green river.

Note: Nature can’t be tamed, we can’t assure you of the kind of wild animals you will see.

Meal Plan: Full board

 

Optional Activities

• A night Game Drive can also be done at 100 USD per vehicle and 20 USD for each spotlight to be used during the night game drive.
• Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura Gorge at 50 USD per person. It provides an unmatched chimpanzee trekking experience. It is an underground forest where a community of 11 wild chimps swings from tree to tree with abandon. This can be done on the morning before transfer to Kibale National Park  

 

Day 5: Transfer to Kibale National Park.

This tranquil tropical forest provides an ultimate chimp encounter thanks to its status as a fully-fledged primate capital, boasting of 13 species of both old world and new world monkeys.

The drive to Kibale National Park will start at 10:00 am provided clients are don’t take up Chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge. The drives take a scenic route through Kasese giving you an opportunity to see the ranges of Mountain Rwenzori which has the highest peak in Uganda. The drive will take us roughly 4 hours before we reach Kibale, check into the lodge, and later have lunch.

Estimated time of travel: 4 hours including stopovers.

Accommodation:  Budget l Mid-range l Luxury

Meal Plan: Full  board – Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

 Lunch: Garden Inn Fort Portal

 

Day 6: Chimpanzee tracking & afternoon community experience

Clients will have their early morning breakfast before setting off at 7:00 am to the park offices for briefing in preparation for Chimpanzee tracking where the ranger briefs them on the dos and don’ts while in the forest. The Chimpanzee tracking takes roughly 1 – 2 hours or less depending on the location of the Chimps. The walk in the Kibale Forest at times takes the slippery paths and some bit of climbing and therefore clients should have good hiking shoes, enough drinking water, a rain jacket, long pants, and long-sleeved shirts.

Clients will spend 1 hour observing and taking pictures of the Chimps in the forest a moment which is worthwhile. Based on the time clients finish their Chimpanzee tracking, we shall return to the lodge for a hot meal or having it at a nearby lodge in case the chimpanzee tracking took long.

Later in the afternoon, clients will go for a community experience which involves visiting a herd’s man family to be taken through what cattle means to the people in that region, how they milk locally, and how they generally associate with their cattle. Other areas to be visited will involve local coffee processing at home, making banana beer and gin, visit the medicine man who is the most respected individual in the community, and a women’s association making crafts.

Optional Activities

• Chimp habituation- If you wish to experience something more challenging than the trek, you can head out for a chimp habituation experience. The day-long activity is guided by expert rangers.
• Night nature walks in Kibale National Park.

Meal Plan – Full board – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

 

Day 7: Transfer back to Entebbe

After spending time in the beautiful Queen Elizabeth National Park start your journey at 10:00 am via Fort Portal. Clients will have a lunch break the most convenient restaurant along the way as this route doesn’t provide a variety of options for stopovers. 

Estimated time of travel: 7 hours including stopovers.

Accommodation:  Budget l Mid-range l Luxury

Meal Plan – Half board – breakfast & Dinner

 

Day 8:  Transfer to the Airport for international flights

After having an amazing time in the Pearl of Africa, you will be transferred to the Airport which is roughly 10 minutes for the guest house/ hotel for your international flights back home, and hope you will carry along good memories about Uganda.