15 day Uganda primates' & wildlife safari
Safari Overview
Arrival and departure: Entebbe
Day 1- arrival, rest, city tour & night life
Day 2- travel to Kidepo
Day 3- game drive and hiking
Day 4- game drives
Day 5- Murchison game drive and boat cruise
Day 6- game drive and trek to the top of falls
Day 7- chimpanzee tracking and nature walk
Day 8- hot springs and nature walk
Day 9- game drive and boat cruise
Day 10- game drive to Ishasha
Day 11- gorilla trekking and nature walks
Day 12- golden monkey tracking and crater lakes
Day 13- crater lakes to Mburo
Day 14- walking safaris- Mburo and return
Day 15- l. Victoria shore and departure
Detailed itinerary
Day 1
Destination: Kampala city tour
On your day of arrival, you will be picked up from Entebbe international airport to your booked hotel in Kampala for a brief resting time after which you will embark on a city tour around the hills of Kampala. This tour will get you to various historical administrative, economic and cultural sites and centres in the city have affected the development of Uganda as a country such as the Kasubi tombs where 3 ancient kings are buried, the Rubaga cathedral; headquarters of the Catholics’ faith, namirembe cathedral; headquarters of the protestant faith, Kaddafi mosque; headquarters of the Muslim faith, Baha’i temple of the Baha’i faith, fort Lugard (captain Lugard was the first administrator) of Kampala city, the parliament building of Uganda among others. Food and commodity markets around Kampala are so interesting and have a great reflection of how the county’s population survives; these will get you have some taste on fresh fruits, vegetables grown in the country and street food delicacies like the rolex (an egg omelet rolled in chapatti). Later on in the evening, you will have a nightlife experience in the bars and lounges of Kampala city till resting time as you wait for the next day. This full day activity will entirely depend on your time of arrival.
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Day 2
Destination: Kidepo valley NP
This day you will embark on a 11-hours journey to Kidepo valley national game park in the north eastern part of the country. On the way, you will experience several communities of Ugandans engaging in different economic activities for example in market places, farming among others and several cultural activities ranging from dressing codes, house building styles, food crops grown among others. At your attention, you will realize numerous bird species which part of Uganda’s rich bird empire of over a thousand species. you will make some stop overs to buy and enjoy fresh fruits straight from the gardens sold by the locals on road sides, art and crafts that behold the narrative of different backgrounds of Ugandan people. On reaching the park you will head to your booked accommodation and have a rest from the long journey and prepare for the next day’s activities.
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Day 3-4
Destination: game drive at Kidepo
The national park is one of the most typical of an African wilderness so vast and untampered with having savannah grasslands that tend to dry when it’s hot and all green when rains set in. the park has the second highest number of bird species in Uganda recorded at 475 species in the park such ostriches, secretary bird, raptors and vultures, among others along with 83 mammal species such as elephants, zebras, buffaloes, rothschild’s giraffes, kobs, hartebeests, blue monkey, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, lions, wild dogs, jackals among others. Expect to enjoy views of big buffalo and elephant herds. You will have a nature walk and hike on higher altitudes of the park to have a vast scene of the park and its wild game.
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Day 5
Destination: Murchison game drive and boat cruise
This day, you will wake up very early in the morning and drive to Murchison falls national where you will set off with a game drive till afternoon when you reach your booked lodge for lunch break. The park has the strongest water falls in the world and the highest number of rothschild’s giraffes in the world, more than three- quarter of the total world population and numerous elephant and lion families, waterbucks, impalas, kobs, warthogs, hippos, buffaloes, crocodiles, leopards, hyenas, jackals among other mammals and more than 450 bird species recorded in the park. After lunch you will then head to the banks of the river Nile for a boat cruise towards the face of the Murchison falls. While on the boat cruise, you will have scene of various water birds like the shoebills, raptors, geese among others, hippos and a great number of huge nile crocodiles and many more mammals that approach the river banks to quench their thirst like buffaloes, elephants and the scenes are endless.
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Day 6
Destination: top of falls and game drives
Today you will drive towards the Murchison falls and embark on a walking trek up to view the magnificent Murchison falls from above and watch the strongest falls on the planet, gashing 3,000 cubic litres of water per second through an eight-meter corridor cascading down a 43-meter height into the “the devil’s caldron” forming a white mist and a signature rainbow producing a loud sound from the powerful force of the water of the river Nile. Later on you head out to other sections of the park to continue exploring this vast grassland and its remarkable wild game. You will be amazed with many elephant families and their playful young ones, lion families, rothschild’s giraffes, waterbucks, buffaloes, numerous bird species among others while heading out for Kampala.
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Day 7
Destination: Kibale NP
On this day, you will head to Kibale national park known for chimpanzee tracking and for having the highest population & concentration of chimpanzees in world numbering above 1,500 individuals in the park. The afternoon tracking session starts at 14:00 and takes 2-5 hours with a more than 90% chance of meeting the chimpanzees; a forest walk that will come along with numerous sceneries of more than 370 bird species of grassland, forest, swamp and Albertine rift region endemics, 350 tree species and 71 mammal species. other primates in the park include the L’hoest monkeys, colobus monkeys, blue monkey, olive baboon, red tailed monkey, vervet monkeys. Mammal species include leopards, lions, elephants, water bucks, warthogs, giant forest hog, sitatungas, hippos, buffaloes, hyenas, jackals, and other nocturnal species. after the evening tracking you will head out of the park.
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Day 8
Destination: Semuliki NP
On this day you will head to one of the most gorgeous places in this East African region for its remarkable features and as a landmark position between East and Central Africa thus having vegetation and forests of characteristics of both regions. Semuliki national park has hot springs that were a result of geological actions dating thousands of years back; these produce water of over 100°C producing white mist and smoke in the forests. It’s a common for visitors to buy raw eggs and boil them at the hot water point. Locals in the area also believe that the hot springs are a blessing and of supernatural healing as this hot water comes up from the ground among different rock layers filled with various minerals such as sulphate, zinc among that heal fungal and many other skin diseases. The park is also an intersection of the east African grasslands and the central African tropical forests thus harboring numerous tree species of the west and central African forests and bird species. the park has 435 bird species, 11 primate species and 53 mammal species. some of these include Albertine Rift Endemics such as the dwarf honey guide and purple-breasted sunbirds; 35 Congo-Guinea biome species found nowhere else in East Africa, including black dwarf hornbill, Nkulengu rail, Congo serpent eagle, Gabon, woodpecker; and other species with very limited ranges such as white-tailed hornbill, capuchin babbler, blue-headed crested flycatcher and the orange weaver. Mammal and primate species include; chimpanzee, blue monkey, black and white colobus, red colobus, olive baboons, vervet monkey, de brazza’s monkey, Mangabeys, stripped jackal, leopards, elephants, hippos, cape buffaloes, Uganda kobs, sitatungas, warthogs, nile crocodiles.
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Day 9
Destination: Kazinga channel & boat cruise
Early in the morning after breakfast, you will head out to the Kazinga channel (a river connecting lakes Edward and George) for a morning boat cruise through queen Elizabeth national park. At this experience you will have a glance at the world’s largest concentration of hippos which are numbered above 5,000 at the Kazinga channel, Nile crocodiles, buffaloes, water birds and other land birds coming in to quench their thirst, elephants, lions and other land wild game like water bucks, giraffes, kobs, kudus among others also coming in onto the banks of the Kazinga channel to quench their thirst. After the boat cruise, you will embark on a game drive around this channel and beyond into the vast savannah grassland to enjoy more game viewing at more lion and elephant families, ostriches, cheetahs, leopards, raptors and vultures, reptiles, monkeys, wild dogs among other creatures, scenery views of the ice capped mountain Rwenzori and its slopes. On this day, you will also once again come across the equator landmark as it crosses through queen Elizabeth national game park.
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Day 10
Destination: game drive through Ishasha sector
Early in the morning, you will set out to the Ishasha sector of the Queen Elizabeth national park best known for its tree climbing lions and one of the only 2 destinations in Africa with lions have having this behavior. These along with many other wild game like; elephants, buffaloes, leopards, kobs, antelopes, wild dogs, hyenas, ostriches, waterbucks and glamour at some of the world’s most unique bird species as the park is the second best birding haven having more than 660 recorded bird species as their home. The vast grassland and its plains will keep you amazed at the wonderful wild game and set up along with beautiful scenes of the Rwenzori mountains.
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Day 11
Destination: gorilla trekking and Batwa experience
Very early in the morning you will embark on a four-hour journey to Bwindi impenetrable forest in Uganda for a morning gorilla trekking. On arrival you will have a briefing on the gorilla behaviors, livelihoods and how to handle their reactions to the human presence. The trek into the tropical montane forests will last between 30 to 1 hour before meeting the gorilla family you are assigned to and you will be allowed to follow and spend an hour with that gorilla family. Getting to find the mountain gorillas on a trek in Uganda is a 99% chance backed up by the gorilla population in this region. After the trek, you will have an experience with the Batwa people who have for all their life time co-existed with the forest and its species. During this nature walk you will experience numerous bird species with particularly 23 albertine endemics that are habitats to only the albertine region.
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Day 12
Destination: golden monkeys tracking
Early in the morning after breakfast and a briefing, you will hike the volcanic mountains of the Mgahinga to a height of 2,500 meters above sea level in the bamboo forests of the montane region where these unique primates reside. These have orange-yellow like hair color that give them that distinguished golden look. When you reach their residence, you will be allowed to stay around them for one hour. These live in families of hundreds and have a very playful character, they will keep you so entertained. Looking at them critically, you will notice their facial appearance that the golden monkeys have a nose so different from that of many other primate species. along the hike, you will also observe other primates like the red tailed monkeys, white and black colobus monkeys, reptiles, Albertine rift endemics and many more bird species. this will be accompanied by nature walks on a given route in the forest of the park and later lead out to lake Bunyonyi crater lake.
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Day 13
Destination: lake Bunyonyi experience
On this morning, you will wake up at the shores of the misty waters of the deepest crater lake in African which also has 29 islands in its midst which are all accessible and some being inhabited and occupied by people. Bird watching of special beautiful species such as the gray crowned crane, storks, sun birds among others, canoeing on the waters of the crater as you also take of spot of wildlife like zebras and kobs. These waters don’t harbor hippos or crocodiles thus making the waters safe for the locals and visitors.
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Day 14
Destination: lake Mburo
On this day you will head to lake Mburo national park commonly known for its high zebra population. The park offers a wide range of touring options from board rides, horseback riding safaris, walking safaris, game drives, biking/cycling safaris and community walks. The park has 70 mammals and 332 recorded bird species and is richly gifted with various acacia and papyrus endemics such as the papyrus gonelek, papyrus yellow warbler, white-winged warbler and shoebill; as the acacia species are wide spread elsewhere in the park. Mammals include burchell’s zebras, Nubian giraffes, hippos, leopards, buffaloes, topi, elands, antelopes, warthogs, bushbucks, stripped jackals, reedbucks, olive baboons, sitatungas, bush pigs, hyenas, impalas, crocodiles, reptiles among others. Towards the evening hours, you will embark on 4-hour journey to Kampala.
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Day 15
Destination: botanical garden tour and departure
This day will find you at the shores of Lake Victoria in Entebbe and early in the morning after your breakfast you have a tour around Entebbe town and there after a walking tour at the cool 40.7 hectare botanical gardens along the shore of Lake Victoria. The gardens are also common for biking/ cycling safari, monkey feeding, birding safari and 500 plant species including both exotic and indigenous. These plants are categorized into indigenous and exotic fruits, medicinal, beverage, spices, ornamentals, timber, oils and important crop wild relatives, several of these threatened in the wild and agro-ecosystems. After this tour, you will head to the airport for departure.
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