14 Days Uganda Wildlife Safari Experience

Things to do!

There are many activities to experience in Uganda, one of the highlights is tracking into the highland montane forests to see Mountain Gorillas. This is done in Bwindi Impenetrable NP or Mgahinga NP in the southwest of the country on the border of Rwanda and the DRC. These gentle giant primates are endemic to this highland forest refugium of the Albertine Rift Vally.

Chimpanzee tracking is another very exciting experience and this can be done in several other national parks in the west of the country.

Rwenzori Mountains National Park was established to protect the highland forests of the Rwenzori massif. The highest peak of these equatorial mountains is the Margherita peak on Mount Stanley at 5109m and is the 3rd highest glacial peak in Africa after Mt Kilamanjaro and Mt Kenya. Expeditions to climb the Rwenzoris are regularly undertaken with experienced guides.

Murchison Falls National Park is the largest of the parks and where the Victoria Nile plunges 100m through an 8 metre gap, producing one of the most spectacular water falls in the world.

Just below this incredible feature, you can fish for the mighty Nile Perch which reach over 100kg and in the most spectacular settings. Some 70 kilometres from Kampala is the town of Jinja, where the Nile leaves Lake Victoria to start its long journey to the Mediterranean sea. Here there are many spectacular lodges set on small islands in the River and which offer world class white water rafting up to class 5 category rafting.

In Queen Elizabeth National Park, it is possible to go up in a hot air balloon to see plains game and experience the spectacular scenery.

My experience of Uganda has only ever been positive and living as a resident ornithological researcher in Queen Elizabeth National Park from 1995 to 2000 was an experience I will never forget. To give you an idea of Uganda’s richness in biodiversity, it has recorded 1040 bird species, over 50% of the continents total species list.

The following itinerary is one which takes in the most of what the country has to offer, it is 14 days and there is the option to extend to take in White Water Rafting or visit the North of the country, another adventure! After arriving in Entebbe and settling in to the Boma Hotel, an ideal place in which to explore the town and acclimatize.

Day 1: Travel to Mabamba Island for Shoebill Watching

Set off to the Nakiwogo Landing to get a ‘Sesse’ Canoe across the bay on Lake Victoria to Mabamba Swamp and explore the winding channels and wetlands in this beautiful papyrus wetland.

The main quarry here is the enigmatic Shoebill, a huge prehistoric looking bird which spends most of its time in search of the large lungfish it catches. They have historically been known to catch and eat young crocodile and swamp dwelling antelope calves! Spend the afternoon relaxing in and around Entebbe. There is the botanical gardens, which have some impressive first tree species and t species of monkey along with a plethora of birds. Some of the original colonial buildings still stand in parts of old Entebbe where British civil servants lived in the early 20th century.

Day 2: Transfer to Jinja, the Source of River Nile

Today we head east to the source of the Nile and see the beautiful river and all its glory. There are some world class rapids for those who are keen to participate in this white water rafting mecca. Overnight at Lemala Wildwaters Lodge

Day 3: River Nile white Water Rafting, Bungee Jumping

Spend the day on the river rafting and kayaking and exploring this region before heading back to Kampala via Maria Forest, a large tract of relict rain forest which links East Africa to the Congo Basin Biome through many species of birds and other indicator species. Overnight Munyonyo.

Day 4: Travel to Lake Mburo National Park

Today we set off for Lake Mburo National Park. This park is a representative of the greater Serengeti System along with Kidepo Valley in the North, and as such are the only parks in Uganda to have Zebra, Eland, Impala and a few other species indicatives of this savannah system.

We will drive the tracks looking for wildlife and maybe see a Leopard! We can take a boat ride on the Lake to get good views of hippopotamus and other game. We have an overnight here in the very impressive Rwakobo Rock Lodge which overlooks a vast wetland.

Day 5: Morning Game and Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Have a morning game drive in the park then set off to the south west and Bwindi Impenetrable National park. This park is famous for its Mountain Gorillas with some 450 individuals (as per the 2019 gorilla census) which is almost half the global population of this isolated and vulnerable species.

Bwindi is a medium to high altitude mist-belt rainforest between 1200-2600 m asl and is situated in the Albertine Rift Valley, aa region of high bio-diversity and endemism. For example, the bird list counted for the park is 360 species, of which 29 are Albertine Rift Endemics (ARE’s).

With a very high range of diverse flora and fauna, this park is a special place indeed. We stay the night in one of the very many nice lodges here which cater for gorilla tracking.

Day 6: Gorilla trekking Experience

The big morning! Today, we head to the park HQ for the briefing on the mornings trek to see the gorillas. Once this is done, you will form a group of 6-8 others and set off into the forest to locate the gorilla group you have been assigned to. The trek is not particularly hard as the gorilla groups have already been located by trackers at first light and coordinated with the guides by GPS waypoints which are sent to your guides.

It is possible to have a porter on these treks who can carry extra bags of camera equipment in case there is some steep climbing. The treks can be 3-8 hours in duration and vary from an easy walk to fairly arduous climbing. The trekkers are put into groups based on fitness and age!

Day 7: Gorilla trekking in Ruhija Section-Highest Point in the Park

Another opportunity to trek again if required at a different area in the park, this time at a higher altitude in the Ruhijia section of the park. Here you will see the larg bamboo forests and stunning vistas of forested valleys with views, on a clear day, of the Mgahinga Volcano on the Uganda, DRC and Rwanda border and 5 others in Volcanoes National Park Rwanda.

There are chimpanzee in the park along with Black and white Colobus, Blue, Red-tailed and the endemic L’Hoest’s Monkey. There are forest elephants, elusive beasts, which have been assigned true species status, split from their savannah relatives.

Day 8: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park thru the Ishasha Sector

Set of north for a short drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park, the first and oldest park in Uganda and where I did my bird research in the 90’s. Here we see an different savanna, one which has its affinities with the Guinea-Congolian biome and as such reflect this in the species found here.

One of the highlights in this park are the ‘tree-climbing lions’ of the Ishasha section, where some entire prides climb up into the huge spreading crowns of the Sycamore Fig trees only found here. We overnight at Ishasha Wilderness Camp set on the banks of the Ntungwe River.

Day 9:Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise

Explore more of this park looking for wildlife and birds, after Virunga National Park in the adjacent DRC, QENP has the 2nd highest bird list of any protected area with a list of 615 species!

We have lunch in the famous Mweya Safari Lodge and take a launch trip along the Kazinga Channel, which connects Lakes George and Edward through a 40 km long natural channel. Here we can get very close safely to lash groups of hippos and elephants, coming to bath and drink along the shores. Large herds Cape Buffalo also come and wallow along the shores. Overnight in Mweya Safari Lodge.

Day 10: Transfer to Kibale National Park – Chimpanzee tracking Experience

Today we head north to Kibale National Park to trek Chimpanzees. This park is another unique park with a great diversity of flora and fauna and out of the approximate 5000 Chimpanzees in Uganda, 1500 are found here in Kibale Forest.  Kibale NP is situated in a high region of rural farming community and over the years there has been a lot of initiative to create conservation stewardship schemes to use the natural resources to help develop local communities through the building of hospitals and schools. We can visit some of these great initiatives in the locality where it is possible to enjoy sone great walks through natural habitat with local guides. Overnight at Turaco Treetops Lodge.

Day 11: Travel to the Nothern Part via Rwenzori Highlights to Murchison falls National Park

we head further North, passing the Rwenzori massive and drop down into the Lake Albert basin and Murchison Falls National Park. This is the biggest of Uganda’s Parks at 1200 km sq. It is named after Sir Roderick Murchison, founder and President of The Royal Geographical Society (1825) who never set foot in Uganda!

It is now named Kabalega Falls after Omukama Kabalega, Uganda’s King of Bunyoro from 1870 to 1899 when he was exiled by the British to the Seychelles. Murchison Falls is a vast and lovely savanna, covered with Borassus Palms to the horizon and which is part of the Guinea-Soudanian system with many species of birds and plants that have affinities with that system.

There are a great many plains game in this park, many elephant, buffalo, Rothchild’s Giraffe (a rare subspecies of the Northern Giraffe) Jackson’s Hartebeest, a rare subspecies of the Hartebeest and often referred to as Kongoni. There are large prides of Lions in the park and with the Victoria and Albert Niles flowing through it, many hippopotamus and a plethora of birdlife. We have an overnight at one of the very nice lodges on the banks of the Nile. Have an Overnight at Pakuba Safari Lodge

Day  12: Hike top of the falls, Afternoon Boatcruise

We explore the park, visiting some of its beautiful spots and also visit the top of the falls, where you can stand at the top of the thundering river as it roars through an 8m gap!

A launch trip takes us up to the falls where you can admire them from the boat as well as the many wonderful things seen along the riverbanks. There is a trail that can be done which leads from the base to the top of the falls is so desired.

Day 13: Nile Delta Boat cruise and Game drive

We spend the last day here, exploring the park and searching for wildlife and to take a boat down to the delta of the Victoria Nile where it enters Lake Albert, before flowing north out of the lake and becoming the Albert Nile. Here, vast stands of Papyrus create channels and lagoons where there is another chance to find the Shoebill along with a great array of bird species.

Day 14: Return to Entebbe via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

return to Entebbe via the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. In the 70’s when the Tanzanian army chased out Idi Amin, many animals were killed to feed the armies of both sides. Sadly the Rhino was killed to extinction in Uganda and now Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary are embarking on a long campaign to one day release animals back in to the wild. The Sanctuary has been a success story where White Rhino were introduced here from South Africa and have now reproduced to a point where they will release some into the National Parks.