This 15-day Murchison Falls safari and across Uganda takes you to the most hidden treasures of Uganda’s top attractions. This wild and mild safari also gives you a wild extra gorilla trekking experience in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and also allows you discover the great hidden treasures of the jungle in Uganda.
You will track the famous rhinos, hike to the top of the falls, visit the Albert Nile, do chimpanzee habituation in Kibale National Park, and lion tracking experience in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Enjoy two days of gorilla trekking with a full day visit to the Batwa community and a wildlife experience in Lake Mburo National Park, which is an extension of the Tanzanian plains.
15-Day Murchison Falls Safari & Across Uganda Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival Entebbe Airport (Travel time +10mins)
You’ll be picked from the airport and transferred to a hotel in Entebbe for dinner and overnight stay at The Boma Hotel in Entebbe. This is just in a 10 minutes’ drive from the airport. Meal plan: dinner.
Day 2: Kampala – Murchison Falls National Park (Travel time +5hrs)
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. After lunch, you will drive to Murchison Falls National Park with ferry crossing to the northern side.
Overnight stay and dinner at Paraa Safari Lodge. Meal plan: breakfast, lunch & dinner.
Day 3: Murchison Falls National Park – Part of 15-Day Murchison Falls Safari
After your cup of coffee, your guide will help you spot elephants, lions, cape buffaloes, Rothschild’s giraffes, hartebeests, waterbucks, oribi, bushbucks, Bohor reedbucks, and hyenas. If you are lucky, you will also see 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.
At 06:00 pm in the evening, you will go for a night game drive to search for nocturnal animals up to 10:00 pm in the night, before returning to your lodge.
Overnight stay and dinner at Paraa Safari Lodge. Meal plan: breakfast, lunch & dinner.
Day 4: Murchison Falls – Lake Albert (Travel time +3hrs)
Leave Murchison Falls for Hoima while driving at your convenience through the great escapements of Biso and a great winding scenery of Lake Albert. The afternoon is spent on sightseeing and relaxation.
Overnight stay and dinner at Lake Albert Safari Lodge. Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 5: Kibale Forest National Park (Travel time +5hrs)
After breakfast drive to a place that rests in the shadow of the fabled “Mountains of the Moon” with enroute lunch at your preferred local hotel or restaurant.
Dinner and overnight stay at Primate Lodge in a sky tree House. Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 6: Kibale Chimpanzee Habituation Experience
Today is dedicated for chimpanzee habituation experience, so you will start your day with an early morning breakfast and packed lunch and then set off into the forest before dawn breaks. You will meet your guide and then get to where the chimpanzees built their nests the night before.
Dawn is just breaking and the chimpanzee community you are going to be with for the rest of the day is rising from their sleep in the nests.
Your day will be full, so your camera might fill up with quality pictures of the chimpanzees as you get to learn to identify them as individuals by their markings, sometimes scars and other unique features that make them stand apart from rest. Besides everything described, there are the most colorful butterflies, plants and trees that will amaze you because the forest setting is simply awesome.
Dinner and overnight stay at Primate Lodge. Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 7: Kibale – Queen Elizabeth NP (Travel time +3hrs)
After breakfast, a visit to Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary for a guided nature walk around the Swamp. This will provide you with an opportunity to see a wide range of flora and fauna, view a variety of butterflies, birds and other insects. Thereafter, you will drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park while viewing the mystical Rwenzori Mountain ranges on much of your journey. Check in at your accommodation facility as you wait for your lunch.
After lunch, you will take on an afternoon launch cruise along Kazinga Channel – one that joins Lakes Edward and George. The cruise is a wonderful way to see hippos, buffaloes, kobs, the occasional Nile crocodile, and a spectacular bird watching experience on the water banks. Many who experience this launch cruise consider it the highlight of their entire African safari.
Dinner and overnight stay at Enganzi Safari Lodge. Meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 8: Queen Elizabeth – Ishasha (Travel time +2hrs)
Begin your day with a cup of coffee, before an early morning game drive for lion tracking experiential research tour along Kasenyi and Queens’ Mile. Other wildlife species to encounter includes elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, warthogs, lions, spotted hyenas, bushbucks, stripped jackals, comical warthogs, elusive leopard, Uganda Kobs, lakes and a variety of birds. You will later proceed to Ishasha sector where you will take on yet another evening game drive in search of tree-climbing lions.
Overnight stay and meals at Ishasha Jungle Lodge. Meal plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 9: Ishasha – Bwindi (Travel time +1.5hrs)
Early morning guided bush walk for a closer interaction with nature. The mid-morning will be spent on a game drive for the tree-climbing lions. Thereafter, you will head to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, on a journey that takes about 2 hours but driving through interesting features, before arriving at the Park.
This park is home to the rare mountain gorillas. 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 with streams running through it.
Dinner and overnight stay at Silverback Lodge. Meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 10: Bwindi Gorilla Tracking – Part of 15-Day Murchison Falls Safari
Begin the day with breakfast ready for your gorilla trekking safari, which begins at 8:00 am with a briefing from Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) staff. Ensure that you carry along with you rain jacket, drinking water, snacks, and jungle boots among other protective gear.
The guides will lead you inside the jungle to see the shy primates for a group you have been booked for. Do not forget to take your lunch boxes and all the necessary gear to track the rare mountain gorillas, perhaps one of the most exciting wildlife experiences on earth. The tracking may take between 2 and 6 hours but it’s well worth the effort.
With time permitting, you will spend the afternoon on a community foot safari to explore the lifestyle of the people living and surrounding the Park. Return to camp exhilarated to relieve the encounter with friends over a drink.
Dinner and overnight stay at Silverback Lodge. Meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 11: Second Gorilla Trekking
After breakfast, you will go for the second gorilla track but in another group returning in the afternoon for relaxation and sightseeing around the lodge.
Dinner and overnight stay at Silverback Lodge. Meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 12: Batwa Cultural Experience – Part of 15-Day Murchison Falls Safari
Today is dedicated for a Batwa cultural experience where the Batwa demonstrate hunting techniques, honey gathering, point out medicinal plants and demonstrate how to make bamboo cups. Women of the community perform a sorrowful song which echoes and leaves guests with a moving sense of the richness of this fading culture.
Dinner and overnight stay at Silverback Lodge. Meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 13: Bwindi – Lake Mburo National Park (Travel time +5hrs)
After early morning breakfast, you will begin the day with a boat canoe ride along Lake Bunyonyi before driving to Lake Mburo National Park with a visit to Igongo Cultural Village, to explore and learn the culture of the Bahima and Ankole, before continuing to Lake Mburo National Park. Igongo is a place where the future meets the past. An afternoon boat ride amidst hippos is much rewarding and amazing.
Dinner and overnight stay at Mantana Tented Camp. Meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 14: Lake Mburo National Park – Part of 15-Day Murchison Falls Safari
Morning game drive in the Park which is an extension of the Tanzanian plains with big herds of zebras, impalas, elands, warthogs, buffaloes and other savannah species. For birders, this is one of the best places to find the African Fin foot, Papyrus, and Bush Shrike among others. The evening is spent on a bush walk for wildlife viewing.
Dinner and overnight stay at Mantana Tented Camp. Meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 15: Lake Mburo – Entebbe Departure (Travel time +4.5hrs)
After early breakfast, the morning is dedicated for sightseeing and relaxation. Thereafter, you will drive back to Entebbe at your convenience with a stopover at Equator crossing line with your lunch en-route before driving back to Entebbe. Meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner.
15-Day Murchison Falls Safari & Across Uganda Inclusions:
- Airport transfers
- Transportation by a 4wd vehicle
- Accommodation and meals as per the itinerary
- Lion tracking experience
- Boat trips
- Hike top of the falls
- Two Gorilla permit per person to be secured and paid for in advance.
- Park fees
- Batwa Cultural experience
- Bigodi Wetland visit
- Bush walk Ishasha & Mburo
- Chimpanzee Habituation Experience in Kibale
- Community visits
- Ziwa sanctuary Rhino Tour
- Services of English-speaking Driver/guide.
- Enroute lunches
- Day Game drives and Night Game drive
Safari Exclusions
Expenses of personal nature like: Visa, drinks, laundry, tips to local guides, telephone, porter fee while trekking, personal insurance, and tobacco.