On this 8-day Murchison Falls primate trekking safari, you will explore Murchison Falls National Park, Kibale Forest National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It is one of the best safari tours in Uganda that you would pick from our safari menu.
You will enjoy your visit to Murchison Falls, Uganda’s spectacular park that holds the BIG FIVE with an opportunity to do a boat safari along the Nile. Then get into Kibale Forest National Park for a unique chimpanzee trekking safari in Uganda. Queen Elizabeth National Park provides an excellent venue for exciting safari game drives including a chance to encounter the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha. Head to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for an amazing gorilla trekking safari, which is one of the most thrilling Uganda safari activities that attract thousands of tourists.
8-Day Murchison Falls and Primate Trekking Safari Itinerary: –
Day 1: Kampala – Murchison Falls
Begin the panoramic drive north-west through the famous Luwero Triangle and travel to Masindi via Ziwa Rhino Project. A visit to the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for rhino trekking is a must, before proceeding to Murchison Falls National Park after lunch.
Overnight stay and dinner at Paraa Safari Lodge (luxury facility) or Murchison River Lodge (mid-range facility) or Heritage Safari Lodge (budget facility). Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 2: Murchison Falls National Park
Begin the day with a cup of African Coffee ready for an early morning game drive. Your guide will help you spot elephants, lions, cape buffaloes, Rothschild’s giraffes, hartebeests, waterbucks, oribis, bushbucks, Bohor reedbucks, hyenas and if you are lucky, the leopard. You will then return to the hotel for breakfast and lunch.
After lunch, you will go for a boat safari upstream the calm Victoria Nile to the base of Murchison Falls stopping just tens of meters from the “Devil’s Cauldron”. En-route, you will marvel at the toothsome hippos, crocodiles, elephants, waterbucks and kobs, over this 17 km stretch.
This is also a zone of many bird species such as Goliath heron, Egyptian goose, pelican bee-eater, kingfisher, hornbill, cormorants and the rare shoebill stork.
There, you will leave the boat and start your – quite heavy – hike to the top of the falls (for approx. 1 hour), to see where the world’s longest river explodes violently through a narrow cleft in the Rift Valley escarpment, to plunge into a frothing pool of about 43m below. Your driver/guide will be waiting for you to bring you back to the lodge.
Overnight stay and dinner at Paraa Safari Lodge (luxury facility) or Murchison River Lodge (mid-range facility) or Heritage Safari Lodge (budget facility). Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 3: Murchison Falls – Kibale
All day, you will drive southwards via Hoima to Fort Portal, through verdant countryside past traditional homesteads and farms along Albertine Rift escarpments. Fort Portal rests in the shadow of the fabled ‘Mountains of the Moon’.
Meals and overnight stay at Kyaninga Lodge (luxury facility), in a stunning location overlooking a dramatic crater lake and the fabled “Mountains of the Moon” or Primate Lodge-Forest Cottages (mid-range) or Chimpanzee Guest House (budget facility). Meal plan breakfast, lunch & dinner.
Day 4: Kibale Chimpanzee Trekking – Queen Elizabeth National
Early morning trek for chimpanzees. Kibale is the best reserve in Africa to view chimps, a thick jungle with a towering canopy. In the afternoon, drive to the south into Queen Elizabeth National Park, sightseeing and game viewing enroute.
Dinner and overnight stay at Mweya Safari Lodge (luxury facility) or Enganzi Lodge (mid-range) or Ihamba Safari Lodge Bandas (budget facility). Meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 5: Queen Elizabeth National Park
Begin your day with a cup of coffee as you get ready for an early morning game drive along Kasenyi and Queens’ Mile. This drive makes visitors encounter elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, warthogs, lions, Uganda Kobs, and a variety of bird species, before returning to the lodge for breakfast and lunch.
After lunch, you will get on a two-hour boat trip along the famous Kazinga channel, which is a worthwhile opportunity to see hippos, buffaloes, Kobs, elephants, and warthogs among others. This trip also enables visitors to see spectacular birds.
Dinner and overnight stay at Mweya Safari Lodge (luxury facility) or Enganzi Lodge (mid-range) or Ihamba Safari Lodge Bandas (budget facility). Meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 6: Queen Elizabeth National Park – Bwindi
With previous day’s memories, enjoy your breakfast ready for guided chimpanzee/primate walk along Kyambura Gorge to look for habituated chimps through the gorge. After the primate walk, you will proceed to the southern Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park.
You will drive along the deep and wide dry craters that are occupied by savanna grasses and acacia. The drive takes you through the unique western rift valley escarpment and the southern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park – Ishasha sector. Here, you will take on yet another game drive in search of tree-climbing lions, before proceeding to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
The journey takes about 4 hours but driving through interesting features, before arriving at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in the evening. This park is home to the rare mountain gorillas. But apart from gorillas, there are a wide variety of primates to see including the blue and red-tailed monkeys. The forest itself is lush and green and there are streams running through it.
Dinner and overnight stay at either Buhoma Lodge/Mahogany Springs/Gorilla Safari Lodge (high-end facility) or Sliverback Lodge/Chameleon Hill Lodge (mid-range) or Buhoma Community Bandas (budget facility). Meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 7: Bwindi Gorilla Tracking – Part of 8-Day Murchison Falls and primate trekking safari.
After breakfast you will set off early with guides to track the mountain gorillas. The thrill of your encounter will erase the difficulties of the potentially strenuous trek. Bring jungle boots and rain jackets because the park is often wet.
You will spend time in awe watching the gorillas go about their day activities. Each gorilla safari encounter is different and has its own rewards, but you are likely to enjoy the close view of adults feeding, grooming and resting as the youngsters frolic and swing from vines in a delightfully playful display.
Time permitting, you will spend the afternoon on a community foot safari to explore the lifestyle of the people living around the park. You will then return to you camp exhilarated to relieve the encounter with friends over a drink.
Dinner and overnight stay at either Buhoma Lodge/Mahogany Springs/Gorilla Safari Lodge (high-end facility) or Sliverback Lodge/Chameleon Hill Lodge (mid-range) or Buhoma Community Bandas (budget facility). Meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 8: Bwindi – Kampala/Entebbe
After early breakfast, you will drive back to Kampala with a visit to Igongo Cultural Centre to explore and learn about the Bahima and Ankole culture. This is the place where the future meets the past. You will then continue your drive to the Equator crossing line with your lunch enroute, before driving back to Kampala/Entebbe to catch up your evening flight back home. Meal plan breakfast and lunch.
8-Day Murchison Falls and Primate Trekking Safari Inclusions: –
- Transportation by a 4wd vehicle
- Accommodation and meals as per the itinerary
- Igongo cultural village visit
- Boat trips
- One Gorilla permit per person to be secured and paid for in advance
- Park fees
- Kibale Chimpanzee and Kyambura Gorge chimp Permits
- Community visits
- Ziwa sanctuary Rhino Tour
- Services of English speaking Driver/guide.
- Enroute lunches
- Game drives
However, the package excludes expenses of personal nature like: Visa, drinks, laundry, tips to local guides, telephone, porter fee while trekking, personal insurance, and tobacco.