Uganda 🇺🇬

Day 2 — Drive to Murchison Falls National Park After your breakfast, we drive through the famous Luwero triangle. You visit and track White Rhinos at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. This sanctuary has been established to breed black and white rhino, and restore rhino populations in Uganda’s protected areas at a later stage. On arrival at the sanctuary, you will be given a briefing from your ranger guide on how to behave while on this rhino trek. It is very important that you heed the ranger’s instructions, as rhinos can be aggressive if they sense a need to defend themselves. Depending on the location of the rhinos, you may need to drive closer before starting the trek. Your ranger guide will share information on the behaviour of rhinos throughout. From here we continue along the Nile river to our accommodation. We pass through the park, stopping at the top of the falls — a fantastic sight where the Nile is forced through a narrow gap (only 7 metres wide), before plunging down 43 metres.

Day 3 — Murchison Falls National Park After breakfast, head to the Delta in search of birdlife and enjoy a game drive to look for lions, giraffes, herds of elephants, buffaloes and many more. Our Safari Jeeps have a full pop-up roof, wide-opening windows, and several other amenities, so you are assured of a great wildlife experience. Your tour guide will try to uncover as much as possible. Expect to view lots of animals in the wilderness — keep looking out for lions, giraffes, elephants, buffaloes, and many more. In the afternoon we take a boat cruise to the foot of Murchison Falls. This trip along the Nile is often cited as the highlight of a Murchison visit — around 4,000 hippos inhabit this stretch of river, alongside enormous Nile crocodiles. The birdlife is stunning with kingfishers and bee-eaters darting along the banks. If lucky, you may see the rare shoebill stork. The boat takes you to the base of the falls which only adds to their impressiveness.

Day 4 — Drive to Kibale National Park, Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary Walk Early morning after breakfast we drive through the undulating highlands of southwestern Uganda toward the Fort Portal area. The lush rolling hills provide good photo opportunities. As you approach Fort Portal in the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains, you enter Uganda’s famous tea plantation region — a carpet of green stretching as far as the eye can see. In the afternoon we visit Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary at the eastern edge of Kibale Forest, maintained by the local community. Look out for the Great Blue Turaco, blue monkeys, baboons, otters, mongoose, bushbuck and bush pigs. Driving time: approximately 5.5 hours.

Day 5 — Fort Portal, Crater Lakes, Amabeere Caves & Queen Elizabeth NP Leave the national park after breakfast and drive to Fort Portal. You will visit the Amabere Caves in the Nyakasura area — the traditional home of the Bachwezi, who were believed to be demi-gods. This area has historical regalia that helps one understand the life they lived before they disappeared. You will then take a nature walk to the crater lakes whose history is associated with the mysterious Bachwezi. We incorporate crater lake hikes into this program. You will simply be amazed by the beauty of these ancient crater lakes found in the Fort Portal area.

Day 6 — Game Drives: Lions, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo & Kazinga Channel Boat Cruise We set out early for a game drive on the Kasenyi Track in search of lions, elephants and solitary buffaloes. This is the best time for viewing the cats in action, owing to the vast Uganda Kob population. We have an excellent chance to view just about every animal at very close range. Return to the lodge for breakfast, then head out for a launch trip along the Kazinga Channel. Hippos huff and spray at mere feet from the boat, buffalo linger in the shallows. The shores are home to pink-backed pelicans, pied and malachite kingfishers, saddle-billed storks and many others.

Day 7 — Tree-Climbing Lions (Ishasha), Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi After breakfast we drive south through savannah grasslands to Ishasha — a remote extension of Queen Elizabeth NP famous for its tree-climbing lions. Nowhere in Africa do you stand a better chance of seeing lions draped from the large, low-limbed fig trees of Ishasha. Later in the afternoon we drive to Lake Bunyonyi, traversing rolling hills with terraced landscapes. At Lake Bunyonyi, you can relax and enjoy the peace, or safely swim in the bilharzia-free waters.

Day 8 — Lake Bunyonyi: Canoe Trek & Cultural Experience After meeting our local guide, we are led out for a canoe trek and birdwatching on Lake Bunyonyi, traversing to the Kyabahinga peninsula. Here you will be welcomed with songs and dances by the resident school children. You will enjoy at least a cup of ‘Obushera’ — a traditional local brew.

Day 9 — Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park We take a 4-hour drive to Lake Mburo National Park, a small but picturesque park renowned for its herds of antelope and one of only two Ugandan parks home to Burchell’s zebra. The park is also especially good for acacia-associated birdlife.