Meandering Uganda safari with Kidepo, Chimps & Gorillas

On arrival at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda and after finalizing the formalities, you shall be welcomed by your guide, who will then drive you to your hotel.

Upgrade Option: Lake Victoria Serena Hotel

Today, you will fly to Kidepo Valley National Park. The park lies in the rugged, semi arid valleys between Uganda’s borders with Sudan and Kenya, some 700km from Kampala. Gazetted as a national park in 1962, it has a profusion of big game and hosts over 77 mammal species as well as around 475 bird species. Kidepo is Uganda’s most isolated national park is also the most magnificent, for Kidepo ranks among Africa’s finest wilderness areas. You will arrive at your accommodation in the National Park in time for lunch, enjoy your lunch and relax a little bit at your accommodation. Later on you’ll enjoy an evening game drive.

Upgrade Option: Apoka Safari Lodge

On Day 3, after your breakfast, start your drive through the Narus Valley. You will have a nature walk in the park. In the afternoon you will enjoy a game drive. Kidepo National Park is a savannah landscape that extends in all directions, It is home to elephant, zebra, giraffe, huge herds of buffalo, warthog, duiker, Jackson’s hartebeest, lion, leopard, cheetah and hundreds of bird species, Buffalos, and Elephants. Other animals that may be seen roaming around include: jackal, roan, waterbuck, eland, oribi, klipspringer and lions.

The park also boasts of being the highest concentration of birds endemic to Uganda like: Ostrich, Kori bustard, vultures, pygmy falcon, hornbills, eagles and more.

On Day 4 you will enjoy a morning game drive. Kidepo National Park is a savanna landscape that extends in all directions. Later in the afternoon, you will visit a Karamojong community. Here you will spend a wonderful evening with Karamojong people and have an insight of their way of life and beliefs. At the end of the tour, you will be able to understand why their pride makes them slow to adapt to globalization.

After breakfast proceed to the next highlight of your memorable tour in Uganda, going on to the beautiful north-western Uganda Murchison Falls National Park. Murchison Falls National Park sits on the shore of Lake Albert, in northwest Uganda. It’s known for the Murchison Falls, where the Victoria Nile River surges through a narrow gap over a massive drop. The Park wildlife includes elephants and hippos, and there are chimpanzees in the Kaniyo Pabidi mahogany forest. The Lake Albert Delta is also home to rare shoebill storks.

On Day 6, after an early breakfast, you head off on a game drive. This is a beautiful drive across savannah, Borassus Palm Forest and grassland down to Lake Albert where the Albert Nile heads north. Drive in the open African savanna in search for lions, leopard, hyena, buffalo, elephant, Jackson hartebeest, oribi, waterbucks, Uganda kobs, and enjoy spotting various bird species such as the Secretary Bird, black-chested snake eagle, tawny and marshal eagles,  carmine and swallow-tailed bee-eaters and many more.

In the afternoon, go for a boat ride up the Nile, to Murchison falls, whence the park derives its name. Enjoy these spectacular falls. After you will hike to the top of the falls where the Nile squeezes through a 7-meter gap and at the bottom you will see huge Nile crocodiles basking.

Upgrade Option: Nile Safari Lodge

Today you will choose to fly to Kasese and then drive to Kibale National Park. Or, if you prefer, you can drive to Kibale National Park. Along the way you will pass many tea plantations. On the way you stop in Fort Portal. In the afternoon you will arrive at your a safari camp. You may from choose alternative activities available at the Lodge. Like visiting one of the local communities and getting to learn about their different lifestyles, take a crater lakes walk or visit one of the Tea farms.

Upgrade Option: Ndali Lodge

Today you will track the most famous inhabitants of Kibale National Park, the chimpanzees. With over 1,450 individuals protected within the park, Kibale forest is home to the largest number of the endangered chimpanzees in Uganda, as well as the threatened red colobus monkey and the rare L’Hoest’s monkey. The forest has one of the highest diversity and density of primates in Africa totalling 13 species including the black and white colobus, blue monkey and grey-cheeked mangabey, red tailed monkey, bush babies and pottos.

In the afternoon after tracking, you have the opportunity for a guided walk through the swamps of Bigodi. After the fascinating walk you have the choice of relaxing in the accommodation or community walk in a village nearby.

After an early morning breakfast, you will drive to Ishasha which is in the southern part of Queen Elisabeth National Park. Queen Elizabeth National Park is estimated as one of the national parks in the world, which has the highest Biodiversity of plants and animals. The landscape consists of open savannah, rainforest, dense papyrus swamps, crater lakes and the incredibly wide Lake Edward. You will
have a game drive in search of tree climbing lions that are commonly found in this part of the park.

Upgrade Option: Ishasha Wilderness Camp

Depart for Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in the Morning. You will have another game drive in search of the tree climbing Lions. Then continue to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The park is home to the endangered mountain gorillas. This fascinating mountain forest hosts chimpanzees and spectacular birds. There are 23 of the 24 Albertine Rift endemic bird species including the blue-throated broadbill, bar-tailed trogon and other beautiful forest species.

Upgrade Option: Bwindi Safari Lodge

This morning you will get up very early to prepare for the highlight of your safari, Gorilla Trekking. You will drive to the Trekking station depending on where your Gorilla permits will be. Trekking the Mountain Gorilla is one of the most exciting wildlife experiences on earth. The trek will take between 2 and 6 hours, but is well worth the effort. You will be led by an experienced ranger who will tell you interesting facts about flora and fauna and the lifestyle of the Gorillas.

You will fly back to Entebbe enjoying the beautiful aerial view of south western Uganda, the hills and thick vegetation as well as the farming practiced by the locals. Later arrive at the airport and catch your flight back home.