Day 1:  Drive from Kampala to Murchison Falls National Park, and visit Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary en route

Day 2: Do morning game drive, afternoon Nile launch cruise & hike to the top of the falls

Day 3: Transfer from Murchison to Hoima & visit the Kibiro Salt mines

Day 4: Transfer from Hoima to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Enjoy Bigodi Swamp walk en route

Day 5: Morning game drive, afternoon Kazinga Channel boat cruise & evening game drive

Day 6: Enjoy Ishasha game drive in search of the tree-climbing lions & transfer to Lake Bunyonyi

Day 7: Early morning boat cruise & Island walk & transfer to Entebbe.

Day 1
Of the 7 Days Uganda Wildlife Safari: Drive from Kampala to Murchison Falls National Park and Visit Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary Enroute.

At around 6.30 am, after an early breakfast at a hotel in Kampala, we will embark on a 311km (5 hours) drive to Murchison Falls National Park. On your way, we will pay a visit to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to track the precious wild white Rhinos on foot (in the company of an experienced ranger).

Ziwa rhinos are very habituated since they are protected by armed rangers 24/7, so it is often possible to approach them within 30m. The sanctuary has a rhino population of 22 (and growing) and it is the only place in Uganda to see these members of the Big Five in the wild.

Aside from rhinos, there are around 20 other large species of Uganda mammals, most conspicuously warthog, vervet monkey, and bushbuck while an impressive checklist of 200-plus Uganda birds/species includes the shoebill, Giant Kingfisher, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Double-toothed Barbet, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Black-and-white Casqued Hornbill and Great Blue and Ross’s Turaco.

After rhino tracking, we will settle for lunch at Kabalega Dinners and then continue on the drive to Murchison Falls National Park Uganda arriving in the evening for relaxation, dinner, and overnight

The highlight of the day: – Tracking wild rhinos on foot in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.

Accommodation:-

Exclusive/Top-notch:- Bakers Lodge/Nile Safari Lodge

Upmarket/Luxury: – Paara Safari Lodge– Deluxe room

Moderate/Mid-range:- Fort Murchison Safari Lodge/Pakuba Safari Lodge

Basic/Budget: – Hornbill Safari Lodge

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Drive distance & time: – Approx. 375km or 7-8 hours

Activities & Services

• Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park
• Tracking wild rhinos in Ziwa sanctuary

Day 2 of the 7 Days Uganda Wildlife Safari: Do Morning Game Drive, Afternoon Nile Launch Cruise & Hike to the Top of the fall.

After an early morning breakfast at around 6.30 am, we will head to the northern section of Murchison Falls National Park for an exciting game drive. This 3,840 km2 park is the largest national park of Uganda, characterized by an open savannah rolling combretum with patches of Borassus palms.

The park also hosts over 76 mammal species including four of the iconic Big 5 gems (elephants, buffalos, lions, and leopards), large counts of Rothschild’s giraffes, primates, and numerous antelopes plus much more. There are also over 451 bird species including the shoebill, the most eagerly sought of all African birds.

Several tracks have been designed to allow us to explore the park in detail. The game drive will take 3-4 hours after which we will relax at the lodge up to lunchtime then gather at Paraa Jetty for a stunning boat cruise on the World’s longest river – The River Nile.

The 3 hours boat cruise will take us to the bottom of the Murchison Falls (the most powerful waterfall) where animals like Buffaloes, Hippos, Crocodiles, Elephants, and plenty of water birds can be viewed from the peaceful sailing boat.

The base of the fall is an awe-inspiring moment. We will equally take a hike to the captivating top of the fall for an awesome moment; watch and listen to the roar of the 50 meters wide Nile River as it squeezes itself through a 7-meter-wide cleft in the rift valley escarpment before falling 45 meters below to what has been termed as the devil’s Cauldron forming a plume of spray marked by a thunderous roar and trademark rainbow.

Here you will taste the spray on your face and feel the rock shake beneath your feet. Sheer sensory overload! After this exciting encounter, you will link up with the guide and the vehicle at the top of the falls and transfer to the lodge for relaxation, dinner, and overnight

The highlight of the day: – A stunning boat cruise on the Nile River to the bottom of Murchison Falls.

Accommodation:-

Exclusive: – Nile Safari Lodge/Bakers Lodge

Luxury: – Paara Safari Lodge– Deluxe room

Mid-range:- Pakuba Safari Lodge/Fort Murchison Safari Lodge

Budget: – Hornbill Safari Lodge

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner  

Activities & Services of the day:-

• Morning game drive
• Afternoon boat cruise along the Nile River
• Hike to the top of Murchison Falls

Optional activities you can choose to do on this day:-

• Bush Breakfast
• Sport fishing along the Nile Delta
• Hot air balloon safari
• Night game drive
• Birding
• Chimpanzee tracking in the nearby Budongo forest
• Cultural visits

Day 3
Of the 7 Days Uganda Wildlife Safari: Transfer From Murchison Falls National Park to Hoima & Visit the Kibiro Salt Gardens.

After breakfast at around 8: 00 am, we will embark on a drive to Hoima. On your way, we will undertake an adventurous steep short hiking encounter to the Kibiro Salt Gardens which has supplied the local people in Bunyoro with salt for centuries.

Indeed glass beads discovered here by archeologists indicate that salt was bartered here in the 13^th century and possibly earlier.

The salt gardeners of Kibiro employ a clever technique to obtain an unusually pure product. The gardens are actually patches of salty ground from which all grass and topsoil have been removed. These mineral-rich depressions are saturated with water diverted in the earthen channel from a searingly hot stream fed by a spring hidden deep within a cleft in the rift valley escarpment.

This already slightly salty water dissolves additional salts in the soil. Loose dry soil is then scattered across the ‘garden’ into, over a week or so, the salty water is drawn up by capillary action. When the enriched earth changes color, it is scraped into jars to be repeatedly leached by a further quantity of spring water.

The result is a concentrated solution of 14% salt which is boiled off to produce crystals of 97.6% pure sodium chloride. Retreat from the activity and embark on the transfer to Hoima arriving in the evening for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.

The highlight of the day: – Exploring the ancient Kibiro salt gardens.

Accommodation:–

• Hoima Cultural Lodge

Meal Plan:-Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Drive distance & time: – Approx. 120km or 4 hours

Activities & Services:-

• Transfer to Hoima
• Kibiro Salt Gardens visit.

Day 4:
Transfer from Hoima to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Enjoy Bigodi Swamp Walk Enroute.

After an early breakfast at around 7.00 am, we will transfer from Hoima to Queen Elizabeth National Park driving through the impressive rural landscapes of Kyenjojo and Kagadi before approaching Fort Portal town about 5 hours for early lunch and then proceed to Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary which is about 6km from Kibale National Park for an exciting swamp walk.

Bigodi Swamp Walk is an initiative of the local community. It is an admirable example of conservation and tourism having a direct mutual benefit at the grassroots level.

This award-winning program is run by Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development (KAFRED) and all profits are used to support education-related and other projects in the Bigodi trading center.

On this walk, you will see several of the 200 bird species in Bigodi including the Great blue turaco, Hairy-breasted barbet, Yellow-billed barbet, Double-toothed barbet, Yellow-rumped tinkerbird, and hornbills.

You will also have a chance to spot primates such as red colobus, red-tailed, and black-and-white colobus monkeys. The swamp-dwelling sitatunga antelope might also be encountered.

A community walk can also be arranged on this tour which includes a visit to traditional healers and clan elders, as well as to a school, church, and the local trading center. Retreat from the activity and embark on the transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park following the Rwimi road to Kasese.

Arrive at the lodge in the evening for relaxation, dinner, and overnight

The highlight of the day: – An exciting swamp walk in Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: Mweya Safari Lodge/ Mazike Valley Safari Lodge

Mid-range/ Moderate: Marafiki Safari Lodge/Enganzi Game Lodge

Budget/ Basic: Bush Lodge/Pumba Safari Lodge

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Drive distance & time: – Approx. 315km or 7-8 hours

Activities & Services of the day:-

• Morning Bigodi Swamp walk
• Afternoon boat cruise on Kazinga Channel
• Evening game drive

Other optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:-

• Night game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park
• Cultural encounters.

Day 5:
Morning Game Drive, Afternoon Kazinga Channel Boat Cruise & Evening Game Drive.

After early morning Breakfast, we will drive to Kasenyi plains for a morning game drive which will give you the best African safari experience. Queen Elizabeth National Park was founded in 1952 and named Kazinga National Park but was renamed two years later to commemorate a visit by Queen Elizabeth II.

Situated on the Uganda Equator Line, Queen is one of the world’s most biologically diverse parks, protecting a fabulously diverse landscape of tropical habitats: rolling grassland, moist acacia woodland, tropical rainforest, and a variety of wetland habitats including open waters and swampy shores of Lake Edward and George, the 40km-long Kazinga Channel that them and several fresh and saline crater lakes.

This park has an impressive bird list of over 600 species Uganda birds and 96 Mammals of Uganda species including the uncommon Tree-climbing lions, Savannah lions, Leopards, Elephants, Buffalos, Hippos, Crocodiles, Chimpanzees, and plenty of antelopes.

The game drive in the Kasenyi sector will take 3-4 hours after which will connect to the lodge for relaxation and lunch. In the afternoon, we will drive to Mweya Jetty for an afternoon boat cruise on the impressively scenic Kazinga Channel which starts at 2 pm.

This wonderful boat cruise along this famous channel offers a chance to cruise just meters from hundred hippos, buffalos, elephants, and crocodiles, along with numerous waterbirds such Great cormorants, pied Kingfisher, African fish eagles, pelicans, Saddle bellied storks, Yellow-billed storks, White-billed storks, African jacanas, and ducks.

Retreat from the 2-hour activity and do a game drive along the channel track as you connect back to the lodge for relaxation, dinner, and overnight

The highlight of the day: – A boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: – Mweya Safari Lodge/Mazike Valley Safari Lodge

Mid-range/Moderate: – Marafiki Safari Lodge/Enganzi Game Lodge

Budget/Basic: – Bush Lodge/Pumba Safari Lodge

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Activities & Services of the day:-

• Morning game drive in the Kasenyi sector
• After a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel
• Evening game drive along the channel track

Other optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:-

• Night game drive
• Lion tracking
• Birding
• Chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge/Kalinzu Forest
• Cultural encounters.

Day 6:
Ishasha Game Drives in Search of the Tree-Climbing Lions & Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi.

We will have breakfast at around 7.00 am, then set off for  Lake Bunyonyi 289km about a 7- 8-hour drive through the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park−famously known for its resident tree-climbing lions.

The chance of spotting these lions is about 70% though sometimes they are hard to spot (most especially when they are down in the grassland looking for prey).

Hoping you get the chance to spot them, the sight will be spectacular! Continue on the drive passing through the fascinating Kigezi Highlands to arrive at Lake Bunyonyi in the evening for relaxation, dinner, and overnight

The highlight of the day: – Encountering the rare tree-climbing lions of the Ishasha sector in Queen Elizabeth Park.

Accommodation:-

Luxury/ Upmarket: – Birds nest @ Bunyonyi

Mid-range/ Moderate: – Lake Bunyonyi Rock Resort

Budget/ Basic: – Lake Bunyonyi Rock Resort

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Drive distance & time: – Approx. 289km or 7- 8 hours

Activities & Services of the day:-

• Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
• Ishasha game drive.

Day 7
Of the 7 Days Uganda Wildlife Safari: Do an Early Morning Lake Tour (Boat Cruise & Island Walk) & Transfer to Entebbe.

After an early morning breakfast, embark on the morning lake tour by taking a boat cruise exploring the impressive waters of Lake Bunyonyi Uganda noted as the second deepest in Africa, dotted with 29 iconic islands.

We will take a walk on one of the main Islands such as:- Bucuranuka (Upside down) Island which is believed to have buried a group of male revelers who refused to share their abundant stock of beer with an old lady who had embarked on a canoe to join them.

Unfortunately for the drinking party, the woman was a sorceress. She returned to her canoe, paddled a safe distance away, and then used her magical powers to overturn the island-drowning everybody in the party and then flip it back the right way up as if nothing had happened.

You can also visit the Akampane (Punishment) Island where unmarried Bakiga girls who became pregnant would be exiled to starve to death.

Retreat from the 2-hour activity and embark on the transfer to Kampala 437km about 7 hours drive driving through the impressive countryside landscapes of southwestern Uganda making a traditional lunch stop at Igongo Cultural Center for a typical African buffet and another stop at Uganda Equator crossing Kayabwe for amazing photo shoots where one leg would be in the southern hemisphere and the other in the northern hemisphere.

Arrive in Kampala City/Entebbe in the afternoon to mark the end of the tour.

The highlight of the day: – Exploring by boat the magical Lake Bunyonyi.

Meal Plan: – Breakfast & Lunch

Drive distance & time: – Approx. 437km or 7 hours

Activities & Services of the day:-

• Early morning boat cruise and island walk in Lake Bunyonyi
• Transfer to Entebbe
• Amazing photo shoots at the Uganda Equator

End of the 7 Days Uganda Wildlife Trip:

7 Days Uganda Wildlife Safari: − INCLUSIONS

• Full-time English professional safari driver guide
• 4×4 safari van/4×4 Safari land cruiser with poop up roof for game viewing with functional A/C
• Full board accommodation
• Boat cruise fees
• Wi-Fi Internet on board the safari vehicle
• Bottled water

7 Days Uganda Wildlife Safari: − EXCLUSIONS

• International &domestic flight fees
• Visa fees
• Laundry services
• Items of personal nature
• Gratuities and tips
• Other beverages/ drinks
• Other extras not mentioned in the itinerary above