Our 9 days safari in Uganda is a rewarding safari to Uganda starting and ending in Kampala/Entebbe. This 9 days Uganda safari in Uganda Africa takes you to Uganda’s premier safari destinations, such as Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to trek mountain gorillas, Kalinzu Forest to trek wild Chimpanzees, Murchison Falls National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park for wildlife game viewing, and Lake Bunyonyi for community tours and scenic views.
The 9-day safari in Uganda also exposes you to chances of experiencing the iconic Big Five of Africa, including the rare tree-climbing lions. You’ll also do four game drives to see numerous wild game and three boat cruises as you enjoy the wonderful scenery that is naturally gifted to God’s country, “The Pearl of Africa.”
The adventure begins with tracking wild rhinos on foot in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary before moving to Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda’s largest national park, blessed with the world’s most powerful waterfalls, the world’s longest river and a collection of classic African wildlife, including 76 mammal species such as Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Buffalos, Giraffes, Hippos and numerous antelopes.
Here, you’ll enjoy a boat cruise along the Nile River to the bottom of the Murchison falls and hike to the top of the falls. You then undertake a scenic flight to Queen Elizabeth National Park. During your stay in Queen, you’ll have the opportunity to search for rare tree-climbing lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo, and much more, as the checklist of mammals reaches 95 species.
Here you’ll enjoy a boat on the famous Kazinga Channel that will take you close-up to the largest concentration of hippos in the world and several of the park’s 610 bird species. We’ll also visit the nearby Kalinzu Forest to track some of the 300 Chimpanzees that live here.
Thereafter, it’s on to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a natural habitat for almost half of the world’s Moutain Gorillas. You’ll take two memorable gorilla trek excursions to spend time near the world’s largest living primates.
Besides gorillas, Bwindi hosts 120 mammal species, 200 butterfly species, and 351 bird species. After our adventurous gorilla trek, we embark on a scenic drive to the magical Lake Bunyonyi (one of Africa’s deepest and most beautiful lakes) for a relaxing boat cruise exploring some of its 29 islands and relaxing at the lodge later on. The following morning, we enjoy a village community walk to interact with local homes, schools, and hospitals.
Day 1 & 2: Murchison Falls National Park & Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
Days 3 & 4: Queen Elizabeth National Park & Kalinzu Forest Reserve
Day 6 & 7: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Day 8: Lake Bunyonyi
Day 9: Departure
Day 1: Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park, visit Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary en-route
Day 2: Morning game drive & an afternoon Nile launch cruise with a hike to the top of the falls
Day 3: Flight Transfer from Murchison to Queen Elizabeth NP for evening game drive
Day 4: Morning game drive & an afternoon launch cruise along long the Kazinga Channel
Day 5: Morning Chimpanzee tracking in Kalinzu Forest Reserve & evening game drive.
Day 6: Game drive in the Ishasha sector in search of tree-climbing lions as you transfer to Bwindi.
Day 7: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park & relax at the Lodge
Day 8: Second Gorilla trekking. Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi for evening boat cruise & relaxation
Day 9: Morning lake Bunyonyi community walks. Drive back to Kampala/Entebbe.
We’ll start our day with an early breakfast (at around 6:30 am) in the hotel in Kampala. We’ll then pack our bags, check out, and embark on a 311-kilometer (5-6-hour) panoramic drive northwest to Uganda’s largest national park, Murchison Falls National Park, which covers 3,840 km². This park is blessed with a high diversity of habitats, the world’s most powerful waterfalls, the world’s longest river, and a collection of classic African wildlife, including over 451 bird species and 76 species of mammals.
On the way to Murchison, we’ll drive through the impressive stretches of the Nakasongola district before branching off at Nakitooma for a 7km drive to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, the proud home of the only wild rhinos in Uganda. Here you get the opportunity to undertake a 2-hour rhino tracking expedition on foot.
The sanctuary is endowed with over 22 re-introduced Southern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum simum). The Rhino tracking exercise begins with a briefing from an expert site ranger and thereafter, you proceed to track the Rhinos. This activity normally takes 1½ to 2½ hours, depending on where the Rhinos are located within the sanctuary.
While at the sanctuary, you may also encounter a range of other wildlife species, including Uganda kobs, oribis, bushbucks, and waterbucks among others and several bird species. This is an exceptional opportunity that you shouldn’t pass up! Retreat from the activity, settle for lunch at Kabalega Dinner, and continue to Murchison Falls National Park. Arrive in the evening for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.
Highlight of the day: Tracking the Southern white rhinos on foot at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.
Accommodation:
Upmarket/Luxury: Paraa Safari Lodge/Bakers Lodge
Moderate/Mid-range: Murchison River Lodge/Pakuba Safari Lodge
Basic/Budget: Hornbill Bush Lodge/Red Chilli Rest Camp
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Drive distance & time: Approx. 375km or 7-8 hours
Activities & Services of the day:
Other optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:
After an early breakfast at the lodge (at around 6.30 am), we’ll set off on our first real game drive of this 9 days safari in Uganda. We will cross the Nile River by ferry and then drive to the northern section of Murchison Falls Park, a beautiful portion of the park with rolling savanna grasslands dotted with impressive stands of Borassus palms, acacia trees, and riverine woodland.
During our game drive (which will take 3-4 hours), we’ll search for Lions, Leopards, African Buffalos, African elephants, Rothschild’s giraffes, Spotted hyenas, Oribi, Common warthogs, Jackson’s hartebeests, Defassa waterbucks, Bushbucks, Hippos, Uganda kobs, the ground-dwelling Patas monkeys, Olive baboons and Crocodiles.
There are also various special birds to look for, including :
We’ll then retreat from the activity and return to the lodge for relaxation and a tasty lunch. After lunch, we’ll gather at Paraa jetty for what will surely be one of the highlights of the entire trip: the afternoon boat cruise along the Nile River to the bottom of the Murchison Falls! The 3-hour boat trip will depart at 2 pm and will open you to the thrilling Nile waters in their relaxed flow as they join the Albert delta. There are abundant hippos, crocodiles and buffaloes; thousands of birds, including many fish eagles and shoebills; and usually elephants along this 17 km stretch of the Nile.
Upon arriving at the bottom of the falls, you’ll embark on a 45-minute hike to the top of the Murchison Falls. These falls are arguably the world’s most powerful! They aren’t massive or wide, like some you may have seen before, but think of the world’s longest river, which is 50 meters wide, squeezing through a narrow cleft of up to 7 meters and falling 45 meters down. After this incredibly exciting activity, we will return to the lodge for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Highlight of the day: The afternoon boat cruise on the Nile to the bottom of Murchison Falls.
Accommodation:
Upmarket/Luxury: Paraa Safari Lodge/Bakers Lodge
Moderate/Mid-range: Murchison River Lodge/Pakuba Safari Lodge
Basic/Budget: Hornbill Bush Lodge/Red Chilli Rest Camp
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activities & Services of the day:
Other optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:
After a relaxed breakfast (at around 9.00 am), we’ll drive through the Honeymoon track in the southern sector before connecting to Paraa Jetty to cross with the 11:00 am ferry to the northern bank for the midday scenic flight south to the renowned Queen Elizabeth National Park. This 45-minute flight departs Pakuba Airstrip and lands at Mweya Airstrip, where another expert driver-guide with the vehicle will be waiting for you. You’ll spend the afternoon at leisure enjoying the comfort of your lodge or you can take an evening game drive.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is the second-largest National Park in Uganda, covering 1,978 km². Spanning the Equator, the park was founded in 1952 as Kazinga National Park and renamed two years later to commemorate a visit by Queen Elizabeth II. Set against the backdrop of the jagged Rwenzori Mountains, or ‘Mountains of the Moon’, Queen Elizabeth Park contains a fabulously diverse landscape: rolling savannah grassland, moist acacia woodland, tropical rainforests, dozens of natural saline volcanic lakes, freshwater lakes and wetlands.
As a result, it has one of the highest biodiversity ratings of any national park in the world, including a total of 610 recorded bird species and more than 95 species of mammals, including the rare and regal tree-climbing Lions, Savannah Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Buffaloes, Giant-forest hogs, Uganda kobs, spotted hyenas and Chimpanzees and 9 other species of primates.
Highlight of the day: The scenic flight transfer from Murchison Falls to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Accommodation:
Luxury/Upmarket: Mweya Safari Lodge/Mazike Valley Lodge/Katara Lodge
Midrange/Standard: Enganzi Game Lodge/Bush Lodge/Kasenyi Safari Camp
Budget/Basic: Pumba Safari Cottages/Park View Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activities & services of the day:
Optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:
After breakfast at around 7 a.m., we’ll embark on a 3–4 hour game drive in the scenic savannah plains of the Kasenyi Area of Queen Elizabeth NP in search of wildlife, including lions, elephants, buffalos, leopards, spotted hyenas, waterbucks, bushbucks, common warthogs, giant forest hogs, Uganda kobs, hippos, side-striped jackals, and various smaller creatures. This area is one of the park’s most beautiful, especially in the morning’s golden light, in addition to its wildlife.
The game drive will also offer superb views of special bird species, including grey-crowned cranes, red-throated spurfowls, yellow-throated longclaws, white-backed vultures, white-headed vultures, palm-nut vultures, hooded vultures, flappet larks, long-crested eagles, black-bellied bustards, sitting cisticolas, grey-backed eagles, African skimmer, and brown snake eagles, to name just a few. After our game drive, we’ll return to the lodge for relaxation and lunch.
In the afternoon, we drive to Mweya Jetty for another remarkable, unforgettable activity planned: a 2-hour boat trip on the 40 Kazinga channel, which is home to the largest concentration of Hippos in the world.
You’ll also be fascinated by the large numbers of Crocodiles, Elephants, Buffalos on the shore along with numerous waterbirds including African Open-billed, Yellow-billed, Saddle-billed and Marabou Storks, Pink-backed pelicans, African spoonbills, Water Thick-knee, Swamp Flycatcher and Lesser Swamp Warbler as well as several species of Gulls, Terns. Retreat from the activity and do a game drive along the channel track as you head to the lodge for an overnight stay.
Highlight of the day: – An amazing wild boat cruise along the spectacular Kazinga Channel.
Accommodation:
Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activities & Services of the day:
Optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:
Wake up for breakfast at around 6:30, after which you embark on the trek to see our closest living relatives, Chimpanzees in Kalinzu Forest Reserve. This 137km² forest reserve is an extension of Queen Elizabeth Park’s Maramagambo Forest. Kalinzu comprises more than 400 tree species and at least 300 chimpanzees, including a 40-strong community habituated for visitors. Chimpanzee tracking in Kalinzu starts at 8.00 am. The trek typically lasts between 2 and 5 hours, during which you can spend an hour with the chimpanzees after your encounter.
The chimp trek in Kalinzu now has about a 90% success rate, making the site almost as reliable as Kibale National Park, and the quality of sightings is usually very good. During our encounter, we’ll traverse the jungle with sights of magical, lush, mature tropical forests and several other primates, including black and white colobus, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, L’Hoest monkeys, olive baboons, and many of the 378 bird species.
The eventual encounter with the chimpanzees as they munch fruits, make pant-hooting calls, socialize, patrol, copulate, and roll themselves in tree branches evokes an exciting memory that will last a lifetime. Retreat from the encounter and connect back to the lodge for relaxation and lunch. In the afternoon, you take up an evening game drive in the park, exploring the views of the wild game and the savannah at sunset.
Accommodation:
Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Drive distance & time: – Approx. 45km or 50 minutes
Activities & Services of the day:
Optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:
We’ll have breakfast at around 8:30 a.m. and then drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Before departing from Queen, we will embark on a game drive in the southern Ishasha sector of the park, where we hope to spot the rare tree-climbing Lions, who typically perch on giant fig tree branches, observing their prey in the plains. We’ll continue the drive to Bwindi for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Covering 321 km², Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is a wonderful piece of land; it survived the last Ice Age when most other forests in Africa disappeared. In the local language, Bwindi actually means ‘a place of darkness’. The park is world-renowned for its excellent gorilla trekking opportunities, hosting almost half of the world’s Mountain gorillas— about 459 individuals at last count.
The rugged landscape features dense jungle, cascading waterfalls, sparkling mountain streams, deep valleys and steep ridges. This untouched forest has been declared a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site because of its breathtaking natural beauty and unique ecological significance.
Aside from the majestic Mountain Gorillas, there are other drawcards, including over 120 mammal species, 10 species of primates, over 350 species of bird to spot, 1000 species of flowing plants and a variety of colourful butterflies.
Highlight of the day: – Encountering the rare tree-climbing Lions in the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth Park.
Accommodation:
Luxury/Upmarket: Gorilla Forest Camp/Buhoma Lodge/Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge
Mid-range/Moderate: Gorilla Valley Lodge/Bakiga Lodge/Silverback Lodge
Budget/Basic: Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge/Buhoma Community Rest Camp
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Drive Distance & time: Approx. 130-220km or 4-7 hours
Activities & Services:
Today will be an undoubted highlight. And we don’t mean just of this 9 days Uganda safari in Uganda, but of your life. Naturalists from all over the world dream of experiencing gorilla trekking! We’ll rise very early at around 6.00 am. We’ll have a hearty breakfast and embark on a short drive to the Buhoma park headquarters and meet with the excellent local ranger guides.
At around 8.00 am, the guides will provide an informative talk on the gorilla trekking etiquette and the experience. Ugandan authorities are fiercely protective of this natural treasure and allow only a maximum of 6 visitors per day (currently) to visit a particular gorilla family.
After the briefing, the trekking group will then head into the forest in search of these great apes. Depending on the gorilla family’s location, the trek takes 2–8 hours, and once you meet them, you have an hour to spend with them. Due to the nature of the terrain and the need to explore to find the gorillas, the trek doesn’t follow a path; instead, the guides will cut a route through the undergrowth. Strong footwear is essential, and we recommend hiring a local porter to help you carry your bag or camera equipment and provide a steady, supportive hand. (Porters will be arranged and paid for locally on the day.)
Seeing wild Mountain gorillas in their natural habitat is an experience you will never forget. An adult male can weigh up to 220kg and reach 6 feet in height. Gorillas are gentle creatures and are not known to attack unless very severely provoked. The minimum distance that we must keep when we are with the gorillas is 10 meters—we’re not permitted any closer because gorillas are very susceptible to human disease since they share over 98% of our DNA. Please be aware that you cannot trek with gorillas if you have a contagious illness, including a common cold.
After your one hour with the gorillas, return to the starting point and connect to the lodge for relaxation.
Highlight of the day: A face-to- face encounter with one of the surviving families of mountain gorillas who roam Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
Accommodation:
Luxury/Upmarket: Gorilla Forest Camp/Chameleon Hill Lodge/Buhoma Lodge
Mid-range/Moderate: Gorilla Mist Camp/Gorilla Valley Lodge/Haven Lodge Buhoma
Budget/Basic: Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge/Buhoma Community Rest Camp
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activities & Services:
After breakfast, you embark on the second gorilla trekking encounter, where you have the option of tracking a different gorilla family and gaining a different experience than you had on the previous day. The second Uganda gorilla trek in Bwindi offers the opportunity to explore the Mountain Gorillas in detail, including their behaviors and the foraging patterns, among others.
You retreat from the activity and transfer to Lake Bunyonyi (‘place of many little birds’) the loveliest lake in Uganda. Its contorted shore encircles 29 islands, surrounded by the beautiful Kigezi Highlands, dubbed the Switzerland of Africa.
At Lake Bunyonyi, we’ll undertake a 1-hour sunset boat ride on the serene waters of this magical lake, exploring some of the lake’s legendary islands, such as the Akampane (Punishment) Island, where unmarried girls who became pregnant would be exiled. Here they face one of two possible fates: Any man who did not own sufficient cows to pay for an untainted bride was permitted to fetch the disgraced girl from the island and make her his wife. Failing that, the girl would usually starve to death.
Retire from the activity and return to the lodge for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Highlight of the day: Gorilla trekking and the experiential evening boat ride on the magical lake Bunyonyi.
Accommodation:
Luxury/Upmarket: Birdnest @Bunyonyi Resort
Mid-range/Moderate: Lake Bunyonyi Rock Resort/Lake Bunyonyi Eco Resort
Budget/Basic: Lake Bunyonyi Rock Resort
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Drive distance & time: – Approx. 55-85 km or 1-3 hours
Activities & Services:
We’ll have breakfast at around 7:30 am. We’ll then undertake a community tour as we visit some of the local schools here where you get to meet the local students who are striving for a better future. You will retire from the activity and return and embark on a 477km (about 8 hours) drive to Entebbe.
We’ll have our first stop at Igongo Cultural Centre in Mbarara for lunch (Traditional dishes) and another stop at Uganda Equator crossing at Kayabwe for more photos and passing through the gift shops to secure yourself memorabilia as a commemoration of your gorilla and Uganda wildlife safari tour. We’ll continue to Entebbe.
Highlight of the day: Lake Bunyonyi community tour and the equator experience.
Meal Plan: Breakfast & Lunch
Drive distance & time: 477km or 8 hours
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Situated in the heart of East Africa, Uganda is a land of staggering contrasts. From the snow-capped peaks of the Rwenzori Mountains to the vast, wildlife-rich plains of the Great Rift Valley, the biodiversity here is unmatched.
As you browse our safaris to Uganda and Africa at large, our dedicated team is here to handle every logistical detail—from securing your gorilla tracking permits and arranging comfortable safari lodge accommodations to providing rugged 4x4 transport. Contact our expert planners today to begin designing your 2026 or 2027 East African adventure.
