Murchison Falls National Park

Discover the dramatic waterfalls, enjoy Nile boat cruises, and search for elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, lions, and other savannah wildlife.

Kibale Forest National Park

Trek through tropical rainforest to observe chimpanzees and discover Uganda’s remarkable primate diversity.

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Experience savannah game drives, search for tree-climbing lions in the Ishasha sector, and cruise along the wildlife-rich Kazinga Channel.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Encounter endangered mountain gorillas in their natural rainforest habitat during a guided trekking experience.

Kidepo Valley National Park

Explore a remote wilderness known for dramatic landscapes, large herds of wildlife, and exceptional opportunities for game viewing.

Day 1: Arrival in Entebbe, Uganda

Overnight in Entebbe

Welcome to Uganda, the Pearl of Africa! Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport, meet your professional safari guide and transfer to your hotel.

Depending on your arrival time, spend the afternoon relaxing or exploring Entebbe. You may visit the botanical gardens, enjoy views of Lake Victoria, or take a short walk around the town.

In the evening, your guide will brief you about the adventure ahead, including wildlife-viewing expectations, travel arrangements, and park activities.

Meals: Depending on your arrival time and package.

Day 2: Travel to Kidepo Valley National Park – 16 Days Uganda Wildlife Adventure

Overnight near Kidepo Valley National Park

After breakfast, begin the journey to Kidepo Valley National Park in northeastern Uganda, one of the country’s most remote and spectacular wildlife destinations.

You can travel by road through changing landscapes, rural settlements, and traditional communities. The road journey is long, so an early departure is recommended. Alternatively, arrange a scheduled or charter flight to an appropriate airstrip near the park, subject to availability.

Upon arrival, check in at your safari lodge and enjoy the surrounding wilderness. If time permits, take a short evening game drive to discover the park’s open plains and rugged mountain scenery.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 3: Full-day wildlife safari in Kidepo Valley National Park

Overnight near Kidepo Valley National Park

Start early with breakfast before heading into the park for a game drive. Kidepo is known for its broad savannah plains, rocky hills, seasonal rivers, and relatively remote wilderness.

Explore the Narus Valley, where wildlife often gathers around available water sources. Look for elephants, buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, antelopes, and other wildlife. Lions and other predators also inhabit the park, although sightings cannot be guaranteed.

After lunch, continue exploring different parts of the park, stopping at scenic viewpoints and suitable wildlife-viewing locations.

Depending on the arrangements, you may also enjoy a guided cultural visit to a nearby community to learn about local traditions, livelihoods, and ways of life.

Return to your lodge in the evening for dinner and relaxation beneath the expansive African sky.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 4: Explore Kidepo’s wilderness and scenic landscapes – 16 Days Uganda Wildlife Adventure

Overnight near Kidepo Valley National Park

Dedicate another day to discovering Kidepo’s wildlife and dramatic scenery. After breakfast, head out for a morning game drive to search for animals missed the previous day and observe wildlife during the cooler hours.

Your guide will explain the park’s ecosystems and the adaptations that allow animals to survive in this relatively dry region. You may encounter large buffalo herds, elephants, antelopes, and numerous bird species.

Depending on park conditions and your interests, explore additional wildlife-viewing areas or arrange a guided community experience outside the park.

Enjoy lunch and some time to rest before an optional afternoon game drive. The additional day allows you to experience Kidepo at a relaxed pace rather than rushing through this remote wilderness.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 5: Transfer from Kidepo to Murchison Falls National Park

Overnight near Murchison Falls National Park

After breakfast, depart Kidepo and travel southwest toward Murchison Falls National Park. This is a substantial road-transfer day, taking you through rural northern Uganda and changing landscapes.

Enjoy breaks along the way for refreshments and lunch. Because the journey is long, an early start and careful planning are essential. A flight option may be available depending on the departure airstrip, destination airstrip, and flight schedule.

Arrive at your lodge and settle in. If you reach the park area early enough, spend the evening relaxing or enjoying a short activity arranged by your operator.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 6: Game drive in Murchison Falls National Park – 16 Days Uganda Wildlife Adventure

Overnight near Murchison Falls National Park

Begin the day with an early breakfast before heading out for a game drive across Murchison Falls National Park. The park is famous for its open grasslands, woodland, river habitats, and abundant wildlife.

During the drive, search for Rothschild’s giraffes, elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kob, hartebeests, warthogs, and other savannah species. Lions and leopards are also present, although sightings depend on luck and conditions.

Your guide will help identify wildlife and explain animal behavior, habitat conservation, and the ecological importance of the Nile River.

Return to your lodge for lunch and relaxation. If time permits, enjoy an additional afternoon wildlife drive before dinner.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 7: Nile boat cruise and Murchison Falls

Overnight near Murchison Falls National Park

After breakfast, enjoy a boat cruise along the Nile toward the base of the spectacular Murchison Falls. Along the riverbanks, watch for hippos, crocodiles, elephants, and an impressive variety of waterbirds.

The boat trip offers a different perspective on the park and brings you close to the powerful river as it approaches the narrow gorge.

Depending on the activity booked, you may take a guided hike to a viewpoint near the top of the falls. From there, enjoy dramatic views of the Nile forcing its way through a narrow rocky passage before plunging downstream.

Return to your lodge for lunch and relaxation. The evening can be spent enjoying the scenery, taking photographs, or resting before the next transfer.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 8: Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park – 16 Days Uganda Wildlife Adventure

Overnight near Kibale Forest

Enjoy breakfast before leaving Murchison Falls and travelling southwest toward Kibale Forest National Park. The drive passes through Uganda’s countryside, with views of farms, trading centres, green hills, and rural communities.

Stop for lunch along the way before continuing to the Kibale region near Fort Portal. On arrival, check in at your lodge and enjoy the forest surroundings.

Depending on your arrival time, you may take a short community walk or enjoy views of the nearby crater lakes. Your guide will brief you about the following day’s chimpanzee trekking experience.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 9: Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest

Overnight near Kibale Forest

After an early breakfast, travel to the park headquarters for a briefing by experienced forest guides. You will then enter Kibale Forest in search of wild chimpanzees.

During the trek, watch for chimpanzees moving through the canopy, feeding, grooming, communicating, and caring for their young. Kibale is also home to other primates, including red-tailed monkeys, black-and-white colobus monkeys, and L’Hoest’s monkeys.

Trekking duration varies according to where the chimpanzees are located and the conditions in the forest. When the chimpanzees are found, visitors generally receive a regulated period to observe them.

In the afternoon, you may take an optional guided walk in the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, known for its birdlife, vegetation, and opportunities to see additional primates.

Return to your lodge for dinner and relaxation.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 10: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park – 16 Days Uganda Wildlife Adventure

Overnight in Queen Elizabeth National Park

After breakfast, leave Kibale Forest and travel toward Queen Elizabeth National Park. The journey takes you through scenic countryside with views of crater lakes, cultivated hills, and the Rwenzori Mountains in clear weather.

Upon arrival, check in at your lodge and enjoy lunch. Depending on the schedule, head out for an afternoon game drive across the park’s savannah and woodland habitats.

Look for elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kob, warthogs, and other antelope species. Your guide will help you identify wildlife and explain the ecological diversity of this remarkable park.

Return to the lodge in the evening for dinner and an overnight stay.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 11: Game drive and Kazinga Channel boat cruise

Overnight in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Begin with an early morning game drive in search of wildlife when many animals are active. Explore suitable areas of the park for opportunities to see elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, and predators.

Return to your lodge for breakfast and relaxation before the afternoon boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, which connects Lake George and Lake Edward.

From the water, observe hippos gathered in large groups, crocodiles along the banks, elephants coming to drink, and numerous waterbirds. The cruise provides excellent photography opportunities and a chance to appreciate the park’s aquatic habitats.

Return to the lodge in the evening for dinner and a relaxing night.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 12: Explore Ishasha and transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – 16 Days Uganda Wildlife Adventure

Overnight near Bwindi

After breakfast, travel through the southern section of Queen Elizabeth National Park toward the Ishasha sector, renowned for its tree-climbing lions.

Enjoy a game drive while your guide searches the fig trees and surrounding grasslands for lions and other wildlife. Tree-climbing lion sightings are possible but never guaranteed.

Continue toward Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, passing through rural communities and spectacular highland landscapes. The drive time depends on the Ishasha route and your allocated gorilla trekking sector.

Arrive at your lodge, enjoy dinner, and rest in preparation for the following day’s mountain gorilla trekking experience.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 13: Mountain gorilla trekking in Bwindi

Overnight near Bwindi

Today brings one of the most memorable experiences of your Uganda wildlife adventure. Enjoy an early breakfast before travelling to the designated park headquarters for a briefing by Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers.

After the briefing, enter the rainforest with trained guides and trackers to search for a habituated mountain gorilla family. The trek may take several hours depending on the location of the gorillas, forest conditions, and terrain.

When the gorillas are found, you will generally have one hour to observe them under standard trekking rules. Watch these endangered primates feed, groom, rest, and interact with their family members.

After the trek, return to your lodge for lunch and relaxation. If time and energy permit, you may arrange an optional community visit or cultural experience.

Gorilla sightings cannot be guaranteed, and trekking can be physically demanding. Permits should be secured well in advance.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 14: Relax at Lake Bunyonyi – 16 Days Uganda Wildlife Adventure

Overnight near Lake Bunyonyi

After breakfast, leave Bwindi and travel toward Lake Bunyonyi, one of Uganda’s most beautiful highland lakes. The drive takes you through rolling hills, terraced farmland, and picturesque villages.

Upon arrival, check in at your lakeside lodge and enjoy lunch while taking in the surrounding scenery.

Spend the afternoon relaxing by the lake or choose an optional canoe excursion to explore some of its islands. You may also arrange a guided community walk to learn about local livelihoods and traditions.

This peaceful stop offers a welcome break after several days of trekking and wildlife activities.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package.

Day 15: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park and wildlife viewing

Overnight near Lake Mburo National Park

Enjoy breakfast before travelling to Lake Mburo National Park in western Uganda. The journey takes you through the scenic countryside toward one of the country’s smaller but wildlife-rich savannah parks.

After arrival and check-in, enjoy an afternoon game drive if time permits. Look for zebras, impalas, elands, buffaloes, warthogs, and other wildlife.

Depending on your lodge location and the schedule, optional activities may include a guided nature walk, a boat trip on Lake Mburo, or a cycling safari with an authorized guide.

Return to your lodge for dinner and enjoy your final evening surrounded by Uganda’s wilderness.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, depending on the package. www.bestsafariholidays.com

Day 16: Return to Entebbe and departure – 16 Days Uganda Wildlife Adventure

End of safari

Enjoy breakfast at your lodge before beginning the return journey to Entebbe. If time permits, you may take a short morning activity in Lake Mburo National Park before departure.

Travel through Uganda’s countryside, with opportunities to appreciate the changing landscapes and local communities along the way. Depending on your schedule, stop for lunch before continuing toward Entebbe International Airport.

Your driver-guide will drop you off for your onward flight, bringing your 16-day Uganda wildlife adventure to an end.

Important: Allow plenty of time for the road transfer to Entebbe. For an early international flight, consider adding an overnight stay near the airport rather than travelling on the same day.

Meals: Breakfast and other meals as specified in your package.