5 Days Uganda safari: gorilla trekking & wildlife safari overview

This tour takes you to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in south-western Uganda for gorilla tracking then transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park through Ishasha sector for a game drive and an impressive boat cruise on the Kazinga channel.  

Brief Itinerary

• Day 1:  Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
• Day 2: Gorilla Trekking
• Day 3: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park via Ishasha
• Day 4: Game Drive and Boat Cruise 
• Day 5: Transfer to Kampala

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Kampala>Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. After early breakfast, you will be briefed about the safari. Thereafter, you will set off from your hotel and embark on your journey to the Southwestern part of Uganda. An 8-hour drive to Bwindi is quite a long one but worth it because you will be able to enjoy the beauty of the countryside scenery. you will have a brief enroute stopover at the equator crossing in Kayabwe for a photo session and a brief experience. you will then proceed to Mbarara for lunch. After lunch, you will continue with the journey to Bwindi, arriving late in the evening for dinner and overnight.    

Day 2: Bwindi gorilla trekking. After morning breakfast, you will have your packed lunch ready then drive to the park headquarters for a briefing before the gorilla trekking activity. You will then be assigned a group to track a particular gorilla family. You will be led into the jungle by an armed ranger who will keep in touch with the monitoring team on ground in order to easily locate the mountain gorillas. The activity takes between 3-7 hours depending on the movement of the gorillas. Once you locate the gorilla family, you will be given one hour to watch them in their natural habitat playing, feeding, resting, and going about their daily life. Depending on the time you return from the forest and your level of fatigue, you can choose to do a community visit to the Batwa or relax at the lodge.

Day 3: Bwindi>Queen Elizabeth via ishasha. After breakfast, transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park through the Ishasha sector. You will have lunch on arrival and a game drive expecting to see tree-climbing lions, elephants, topis, defassa waterbucks, Uganda kobs, savannah baboons and different species of birds. Later proceed to the lodge arriving in the evening for check-in, dinner and overnight. 

Day 4: Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will have breakfast and head out for a game drive in the Kasenyi plains exposing you to species like African elephants, African Cape buffaloes, Uganda Kobs, leopards, lions and the park boasts a record of over 600 bird species. After, you will drive back to the lodge for hot lunch and later take a boat cruise on the Kazinga channel. The Kazinga channel is a 42km stretch, connecting Lake George and Lake Edward with rewarding big herds of buffaloes, schools of hippos, Nile crocodiles, and different bird species like the rare African skimmers and lesser flamingos. After the cruise, you can opt for a sundowner at one of the crater lakes or transfer back to the lodge for relaxation, dinner and overnight

Day 5: Queen>Kampala/Entebbe. Have breakfast and depart for Kampala. Option 1 is to drive directly to Kampala/Entebbe with a possible visit to Lake Katwe en route.  Here one can see how the local women and youth extract the salt from the Lake.  Lunch would be served enroute as well, at a local Ugandan restaurant. 

Option 2 is to drive back to Kampala/Entebbe via Fort Portal. This is considered to be the most likable urban center in Uganda.  Here you could get a brief city tour and local lunch.

After lunch, proceed to Kampala/Entebbe. Optional drop off at your hotel or airport for your flight.

Accommodation is booked in accordance with your preference and depending on your budget and availability

Package includes

• Gorilla trekking permits
• Pick-up and drop-off in Kampala
•  Transport in a 4×4 safari vehicle
• Services of an English speaking driver guide
• All park entrance fees
• Bottled water (2 bottles per day)
• Meals included till dinner

Package excludes

• Activities not listed in the itinerary
• Laundry services
• Tips
• Travel insurance
• Visa fees