8-Day Uganda Safari: Kibale Chimpanzees, Queen Elizabeth & Bwindi Gorilla Trekking

On arrival at Entebbe Airport you’re warmly welcomed by your guide, who takes you to your hotel in Kampala for an overnight stay, a journey of about one hour. It is an easy first evening to rest before your first full day of safari.

After breakfast at 8:30am you transfer to Kibale National Park, a journey of around 4 to 5 hours. Lunch is served on arrival at your lodge, after which you can check in and relax, or take an optional evening nature walk in the Bigodi community. Kibale is a large protected block of rainforest with the highest number of primates in Africa, including chimpanzees, grey-cheeked mangabeys, red-tailed monkeys and red colobus. Dinner and overnight at Turaco Tree Tops Luxury Cottages.

After breakfast you attend a briefing at 7:30am and begin chimpanzee tracking at 8:00am, with a chance of seeing a variety of primates and bird species and the forest’s rich vegetation. Kibale contains one of the loveliest and most varied tracts of tropical forest in Uganda, with forest cover interspersed with patches of grassland and swamp on an elevated plateau. The park is home to 70 mammal species, most famously 13 primate species including the chimpanzee, and over 375 bird species. It adjoins Queen Elizabeth National Park to the south to create a 180-km corridor for wildlife between Ishasha and Sebitoli. You return to the lodge for lunch and then transfer to Queen Elizabeth for dinner and overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge.

At 6:00am you take an early game drive with high hopes of seeing lion, hippo, buffalo, leopard, spotted hyena, elephant, antelope and the elusive giant forest hog, returning to your lodge for breakfast and a rest. At 2:30pm you board a launch for a cruise on the Kazinga Channel, which connects Lake Edward to Lake George. It is believed to hold one of Africa’s biggest concentrations of hippos, and animals come to the water’s edge to drink, making it an excellent platform for photography. More than 550 bird species have been recorded here, including great white and pink-backed pelicans, great and long-tailed cormorants, open-billed storks, African jacana and malachite and pied kingfishers. Dinner and overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge.

After breakfast you have a game drive as you travel through the Ishasha sector in the south of Queen Elizabeth National Park, famous for its tree-climbing lions. Lions rarely climb trees, so seeing them resting in the branches is a special sight, though it can’t be guaranteed on any given day. Lunch is at one of the lodges along the way, and you then transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for your overnight. Bwindi is where you have the best chance of seeing a mountain gorilla family going about its day. Once you have your permit, you’re led across rugged terrain through awe-inspiring forest to where the gorillas were last seen, then track and follow them. Aside from the gorilla encounters, there are numerous forest walks and 346 bird species to track down, many of them amazingly colorful. In the evening you relax at the lodge to prepare for tomorrow’s tracking.

After an early breakfast you head to the park headquarters for a briefing from the ranger guides at 7:30am, then begin your gorilla trek at 8:00am through steeply forested landscape along several animal trails. Some of the terrain is steep and strenuous, but the reward of watching gorillas undisturbed in their natural habitat is unmatched. No more than eight people may visit any gorilla family on any given day, so the experience is intimate, and once you reach the gorillas you have an unforgettable hour to spend with them. Waterproof ankle shoes or good athletic shoes are recommended, along with thick long pants, heavy long socks pulled over the pants to guard against stinging nettles and ants, sturdy gardening gloves and a rain cover for your camera, which a plastic bag or shower cap can provide. After the trek you return to the lodge for lunch. In the afternoon you take a village walk to Buhoma, a great chance to meet the people around Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and support the local community, then spend the evening relaxing and trading stories with fellow adventurers.

After breakfast you transfer toward Kampala with a short stop at the Uganda Equator to take photographs and shop for crafts, and lunch en route. You then continue to Entebbe and check in at your hotel. It is a long day on the road, around 8 to 9 hours. If you’d prefer not to drive the whole way, you may opt to fly back to Entebbe on a domestic flight from Kihihi, with two options, one departing at 10:55am and arriving at 11:55am and another departing at 2:05pm and arriving at 3:55pm. On arrival in Entebbe you’re transferred to your overnight accommodation.

After a relaxed breakfast you check out and transfer to Entebbe Airport for your outbound flight, depending on your flight time, a drive of about one hour.