Our 9 days Uganda wildlife safari trip is a unique wildlife safari in Uganda with gorilla trekking, chimpanzee tracking, and wildlife game drives. This 9-day Uganda wildlife safari includes a visit to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to track wild White Rhino on foot. Next, we move to Murchison Falls National Park for a wild game drive adventure in search of Lions, Leopards, Rothschild’s giraffes, buffaloes, and Elephants plus much more, as the checklist of mammals reaches 76 species.
After the game drive, embark on a stunning boat cruise along the Nile, the longest river in the world, to the bottom of the powerful Murchison Falls, where the 50m-wide Nile River is funneled through a 7m-wide gap in the rift valley escarpment before dropping down 45 meters and then continuing its epic 6,650km journey through the deserts of Sudan and Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.
We will proceed to Queen Elizabeth National Park, a park of diverse habitats that hosts over 610 bird species and 96 mammal species, including tree-climbing and savannah lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes, chimpanzees, and crocodiles. For chimpanzee tracking in the 100-meter-deep Kyambura gorge, game drives in the rolling savannah plains, and a wonderful boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel, we will have the chance to view some of the highest hippo concentrations in the world.
From Queen, we drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is undoubtedly the most iconic park in Uganda. Here you will undertake a thrilling face-to-face encounter with gentle giants of the forest, the Mountain gorillas. You will witness the spectacular wildlife diversity here, as this forest park is home to 120 mammal species, including nearly 50% of the world’s Mountain gorillas. With the entire wildlife sighting done, go relax at the magical Lake Bunyonyi and then transfer back to Kampala.
Day 1: Transfer to the hotel
Days 2 & 3: Murchison Falls National Park
Day 4: Fort Portal Area
Day 5: Queen Elizabeth National Park
Day 6: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Day 7: Lake Bunyonyi
Day 8: Kampala
Day 9: Departure
Day 1: Arrive in Uganda at Entebbe International Airport and transfer to the hotel
Day 2: Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park. Visit the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary en-route & hike to the top of the Murchison Falls on arrival
Day 3: Do morning game drive and an afternoon boat cruise along the River Nile
Day 4: Transfer to Fort Portal in the shadows of the legendary Rwenzori Mountains
Day 5: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park, do a game drive & an afternoon boat cruise along the long Kazinga Channel
Day 6: Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura gorge & transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Park
Day 7: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
Day 8: Do a sunrise boat cruise and transfer to Kampala
Day 9: Departure
This 9 Days Uganda wildlife tour kicks off the moment you touch down at the Entebbe International Airport, which is located on the shores of Lake Victoria, the world’s largest tropical freshwater lake. Our company representative will be at the airport to welcome you and brief you about Uganda and the safari in particular before transferring you to a hotel in Kampala, the capital of Uganda for a relaxation dinner and overnight stay.
Highlight of the day: touching down on the Pearl of Africa at Entebbe International Airport with the breathtaking waters of Lake Victoria.
Accommodation:
Upmarket/Luxury: Speke Resort Munyonyo/Kampala Serena Hotel/Sheraton Kampala Hotel
Midrange/Standard: Cassia Lodge
Budget/Basic: Biyem Hotel/Nexus Resorts Nansana
Meal Plan: Dinner
Drive distance & time: – Approx. 40km or 1-1.5 hours
Optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:
We will have an early quick breakfast (at around 6.00 am) at our hotel in Kampala and embark on a 311km (5 hours) drive to Murchison Falls National Park in the northwest of Uganda. On the way, we will visit Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, where we will track the Southern white rhinos on foot. Ziwa is the only place in Uganda to see wild rhinos, and 22 rhinos roam its savannah and wetland.
You may have your lunch in Masindi town and then Proceed to Murchison Falls National Park for relaxation, dinner and overnight. Covering an area of 3,840 km2, Murchison Falls National Park is the largest national park in Uganda. The park harbors almost all major African animals, including lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes, hippos, and Nile crocodiles, plus much more, as the mammal checklist reaches 76 species. There are also over 451 bird species, including the shoebills, the most sought-after of all African birds.
But it is the Nile (the longest river in the world)—dividing the park into northern and southern halves—that gives rise to the park’s greatest drawcard, Murchison Falls. Here at Murchison Falls, you can hear, see, and feel the power of Nature as the historic River Nile (about 50 meters wide) is squeezed into a 7-meter-wide cleft in the rift valley escarpment before dropping down 45 meters and then continuing its epic 6,650km journey through the deserts of Sudan and Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.
Highlight of the day: tracking wild white rhinos on foot in 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:
We will start with an early morning breakfast at around 6:30 am and then set off on our first real game drive of the safari in the Northern sector of Murchison Falls National Park. We will enjoy game viewing in the open, animal-filled savannah plains of this sector and photography of giraffes, elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, oribis, hartebeests, kobs, and, if you are lucky, lions and leopards, plus various bird species.
Retreat from the activity and return to the lodge for relaxation and lunch, after which you gather at Paraa jetty for a 3-hour afternoon boat cruise to the bottom of the falls. Starting from Paraa, the boat cruises slowly along the Nile River, fringed by borassus palms, acacia woodlands, and mahogany stands before finally docking in a small bay a few hundred meters away from the roaring falls. Game viewing is excellent along the way. Expect to see hippos in their hundreds, along with some of Africa’s largest surviving crocodiles, herds of buffalo, giraffes, waterbucks, kobs, and elephants, playing in the water a few meters from the launch.
Birdlife is reliably stunning: African fish eagles, Goliath herons, saddle-bellied storks, African jacanas, pied and malachite kingfishers, African skimmers, piapiacs, and, of course, the top avian prize, the shoebill. Upon arriving at the bottom of the falls, you will embark on a hike to the top. The hike is a strenuous one but the thrill on reaching at top of this world’s most powerful waterfall is unforgettable. Miss it only if you must! Retreat from the activity and connect with the lodge for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.
Highlight of the day: A stunning boat cruise along the Nile River to the bottom of the 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:
At around 7.00am, after your breakfast, we will embark on the transfer from Murchison Falls National Park via the Albertine Escarpment of the wonderful Western Rift Valley, heading southwest to the Fort Portal Area 441 km, about 9 hours’ drive. We will drive through impressive countryside landscapes with rural settlements and village towns en route.
We stop for lunch in Hoima, a city experiencing rapid growth due to the oil discovery in the Albertine Graben. Then we proceed to arrive in Fort Portal for relaxation, dinner and overnight. Fort Portal, the seat of the ancient Kingdom of Toro, is one of the most attractive towns in Uganda, situated amid lush rolling hillsides swathed in neat tea plantations in the shadow of the legendary “Mountains of the Moon” (the Rwenzoris, Africa’s tallest mountain range).
The Fort Portal area has a strong association with the legendary Bachwezi Empire. It is said that Ndahura, the first Bachwezi King retired from his capital in Mubende after he abdicated in favor of his son Wamala, and many crater lakes in the vicinity were his creation.
Highlight of the day: A very scenic drive through impressive countryside landscapes with rural settlements and village towns en route.
Accommodation:
Upmarket/Luxury: Kyaninga Lodge
Midrange/Standard: Mountains of the Moon Hotel
Budget/Basic: Rwenzori View Guesthouse
Meal Plan: Dinner
Drive distance & time: Approx. 441km or 9 hours
Optional activities you can do in Fort Portal on this day:
This day of our tour of Uganda starts with an early morning breakfast at 7.00am. We then embark on a 135km (2-3 hours) drive to the scenic Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of the most biologically diverse national parks in the world. The park has an incredible checklist of 600 bird species and 96 mammal species, including the uncommon tree-climbing lions, savannah lions, leopards, elephants, buffalos, hippos, crocodiles, chimpanzees, monkeys and much more.
Here we will undertake an exciting game drive in the rolling savanna plains of the Kasenyi sector, an important breeding ground of Uganda kobs, which hosts numerous buffaloes, elephants, and three lion prides. Besides mammals, the sector hosts an interesting selection of grassland bird species, including the elegant Grey-crowned crane (Uganda’s national bird), Red-throated spurfowl, Yellow throated longclaw, Long-crested eagle, Black-bellied bustard, and Sitting cisticola.
After the game drive, we will connect to the lodge for lunch, after which you will enjoy the two-hour launch cruise on the impressively scenic Kazinga Channel. This stunning boat cruise will give us a chance to cruise just meters from hundreds of hippos, buffaloes, elephants, crocodiles, and waterbucks, along with special waterbirds such as saddle-bellied storks, pink-backed pelicans, black-headed gonoleks, plovers, yellow-billed storks, white-billed storks, African spoonbills, African fish eagles, Marabou storks, African jacanas, white-faced whistling ducks, and knob-billed ducks.
The park’s beauty and the boat’s comfort make this cruise a memorable experience with these amazing creatures. From the boat, do another game drive along the channel track in search of more games as you head back to the lodge for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.
Highlight of the day: The afternoon launch cruise along the Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Accommodation:
Upmarket/Luxury: Mazike Valley Lodge/Mweya Safari Lodge/Katara Lodge
Midrange/Standard: Enganzi Game Lodge/Kasenyi Safari Camp/Bush Lodge
Budget/Basic: Park View Safari Lodge/Pumba Safari Cottages
Meal Plan: Dinner
Drive distance & time: – Approx. 135km or 2-3 hours
Optional activities you can do on this day include:
At around 7:30 am, after an early morning cup of tea, we will travel to the 100-meter-deep Kyambura Gorge for a forest walk in search of our closest relatives, the habituated Chimpanzees, who share 98.8% of our DNA. The confined nature of this forested gorge makes it easy to locate chimpanzees by sound once you have encountered them; they can be approached quite closely.
During your chimpanzee tracking tour in Kyambura Gorge, you will also see various monkeys, including Black-and-white colobus monkeys, Red-tailed monkeys, and Olive baboons. Less visible inhabitants of the gorge include Giant forest hogs and bushbucks. The Kyambura River in the gorge hosts pods of hippos, which sometimes respond to chimpanzee panthoot calls with some loud harrumphing of their own. You will also spot a variety of colorful birds, such as the great blue turacos, the noisy black-and-white casqued hornbills, the black bee-eaters, and the blue kingfishers.
After this chimp trek, you will embark on the journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Ishasha sectors of the Park where you can luckily spot tree-climbing lions in the fig trees that are adjacent to the road. You arrive in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in the evening for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Highlight of the day: Chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Accommodation:
Upmarket/Luxury: Gorilla Forest Camp/Mahogany Springs/Chameleon Hill Lodge
Midrange/Standard: Gorilla Valley Lodge/Haven Lodge Buhoma/Silverback Lodge
Budget/Basic: Buhoma Community Rest Camp/Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge
Day 7 of our 9 Days Uganda safari is dedicated to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park—a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. As part of East Africa’s Albertine Rift and with altitudes ranging from 1,160 to 2,607 meters, Bwindi’s ancient rainforests have some of the highest levels of biodiversity in Africa, including 120 mammal species, 200 butterfly species, 27 frog species, 351 bird species, 1,000 flowering plant species, and 324 documented species of trees. Of course, most famously, Bwindi is where almost half of the world’s mountain gorillas live, about 459 individuals at last count, with 20 fully habituated gorilla families available for trekking.
Gorilla trekking in Bwindi starts with a briefing from an expert local at the respective park headquarters. At 8am we will embark on an unforgettable trek through the jungle alongside a park ranger to search for these magnificent mountain apes. The trek can vary in length and difficulty depending on the location of the gorillas.
However, the bit of exercise will be very well rewarded by meeting these rare, gentle, mysterious primates that share more than 97 percent of our DNA. A massive male silverback gorilla reaches out to greet a passing ranger guide he recognizes. Or he stops whatever he is doing—playing with a youngster or munching a celery stalk—to look thoughtfully into a visitor’s eyes as if trying to understand him, and the visitor returns the gaze with feelings described variously as awe, mutual curiosity, and an almost mystical sense of connection between two beings that have traveled long, related, and finally divergent evolutionary paths.
Right After tracking, connect to the starting point and embark on the scenic journey to Lake Bunyonyi through the beautiful terrain of the rolling hills and terraced landscape. You will dine and stay overnight at any of these lodges.
Highlight of the day: – The unforgettable gorilla trekking encounter in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.
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 of the day:
After breakfast, embark on the sunrise boat cruise on Lake Bunyonyi, exploring the impressive scenic views of the lake, which is marked by 29 islands surrounded by magical Kigezi Highlands, dubbed the Switzerland of Africa. You can meet locals fishing and paddling to and from the islands on Lake Bunyonyi’s calm waters.
Retreat from the 2-hour activity and embark on the transfer to Kampala, 437 km, about 7 hours’ drive, driving through impressive countryside landscapes of southwestern Uganda, making a traditional lunch stop at Igongo Cultural Center for a typical African buffet and another stop at Uganda Equator crossing Kayabwe for amazing photo shoots where one leg would be in the southern hemisphere and the other in the northern hemisphere. Continue to arrive in Kampala in the evening for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Highlight of the day: The sunrise on the magical Lake Bunyonyi.
Accommodation:
Upmarket/Luxury: Protea Hotel Entebbe/Serena Lake Victoria Resort
Midrange/Standard: Boma Hotel Entebbe/2 Friends Beach Hotel Entebbe/Lake Heights Hotel Entebbe
Budget/Basic: Airport Guesthouse Entebbe/Acacia Boutique Hotel
We will transfer you to Entebbe International Airport so you can catch your flight back home.
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Cate
Samuel
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.
