Day 1Arrival
Welcome to Uganda, an Evening at Ndere
On arrival at Entebbe International Airport you are met by our concierge team, assisted through immigration and introduced to your private driver-guide before the short transfer to Kampala. The evening begins your safari in style at the Ndere Cultural Centre, where music, dance and storytelling from across Uganda unfold over a spread of authentic local cuisine, a warm introduction to the spirit of the country.
Day 2Murchison Falls
North to Murchison Falls, via Ziwa Rhino
After an early breakfast you head north to Murchison Falls, Uganda's largest national park, breaking the drive at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for a guided walking safari to track the country's only wild rhinos on foot. Continuing into the park, you pause at the Top of the Falls, where the entire Nile is forced through a narrow gorge in a display of raw power, before an evening game drive as the wildlife stirs and the light turns golden.
Day 3Murchison Falls
Murchison: Game Drive, Bush Breakfast and Falls Cruise
A sunrise game drive across the northern plains brings encounters with lion, elephant, buffalo, Rothschild's giraffe and herds of antelope, followed by a scenic bush breakfast at the hippo pool with the Blue Mountains of the DRC on the horizon. In the afternoon a private launch carries you upstream to the foot of the falls, passing hippo, basking crocodiles and a procession of waterbirds, before a relaxed evening back at the lodge above the Nile.
Day 4Kibale
Community Visit and on to Kibale Forest
After breakfast you visit the nearby Mubaku community to see local development and conservation projects at work, then set out on the scenic drive south to Fort Portal through rolling hills and banana plantations. Arriving near Kibale, you take a guided walk through the community-run Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, rich in birds and monkeys, and a cultural stroll through Bigodi village for a glimpse of everyday rural life.
Day 5Queen Elizabeth
Chimpanzee Tracking, on to Queen Elizabeth
You set off into Kibale Forest, the primate capital of East Africa, to track a habituated chimpanzee community, watching them feed, groom and move through the canopy with expert guides. After lunch you drive south to Queen Elizabeth National Park beneath the snow-capped Rwenzori, the fabled Mountains of the Moon, arriving in time for an evening game drive in the cooling light.
Day 6Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth: Game Drive and Kazinga Channel
An early morning game drive across the Kasenyi plains seeks out lion, elephant and the park's vast kob herds in the fresh light of dawn. In the afternoon you board a boat on the Kazinga Channel, a natural waterway linking Lakes Edward and George that gathers extraordinary numbers of hippo, buffalo and birdlife along its shores.
Day 7Bwindi
Through Ishasha to Bwindi
Travelling south, you game-drive through the remote Ishasha sector in search of its famous tree-climbing lions, often found draped along the boughs of fig trees above the plains. The landscape then rises into the mist-cloaked highlands of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site sheltering a significant share of the world's mountain gorillas, where you settle into your lodge on the forest edge.
Day 8Bwindi
Mountain Gorilla Trekking and the Batwa
Today is the heart of the journey. After a briefing at the park headquarters you follow expert trackers into the dense forest in search of a habituated gorilla family, spending a treasured hour in their presence as a silverback holds court and juveniles tumble nearby. In the afternoon you visit a Batwa community to learn about the traditions of these forest hunter-gatherers, the original people of Bwindi.
Day 9Lake Mburo
South to Lake Mburo and Ankole Country
After breakfast you drive through the terraced Kigezi Highlands to Lake Mburo, a compact and uncrowded park set among the lands of the cattle-keeping Ankole. At your farm lodge the afternoon is given to cultural activities, with the option of an evening game drive among zebra, impala and eland, and the day closes Ugandan style with traditional performances and storytelling around the fire.
Day 10Entebbe
Walking Safari and Return to Entebbe
A guided walking safari or cycling tour at Lake Mburo lets you experience the bush on foot, reading tracks and approaching plains game quietly alongside a ranger. Afterwards you begin the drive back towards Entebbe, pausing at the Equator for photographs and local crafts, with the rest of the day at leisure beside Lake Victoria.
Day 11Departure
Shoebill Search at Mabamba and Departure
An early start brings you to the Mabamba wetlands, where you glide out by local canoe in search of the prehistoric shoebill stork and the many aquatic birds of the papyrus channels. Depending on your flight, a final locally inspired meal in town rounds off the journey before your transfer to Entebbe International Airport, with a late-evening departure recommended.
