Amazing 13-Day Uganda Primates, Birding, and Big Five Safari
All-inclusive 13-Day Uganda Primates Safari Adventure
The Ultimate 13-Day Uganda Primates Tour, Birding, and Big Five Safari. All-Inclusive Uganda Primates Safari Package with Visits to Uganda’s Top National Parks. Start your 13-day Uganda primates adventure with a warm welcome in Entebbe before heading into a rich tapestry of wetlands, savanna, and rainforest. Glide through the papyrus of Mabamba in a dugout canoe searching for the legendary shoebill, then meet the conservation success story at Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Follow with the thundering spectacle of Murchison Falls, where game drives and a boat cruise along the Nile bring you face-to-face with herds of elephants, pods of hippos, and a dazzling variety of river and forest birds. The route then leads to Kibale’s prime primate country for an unforgettable chimpanzee habituation experience and a calming walk through Bigodi Wetland to spot more birds and local wildlife.
Continue across dramatic landscapes into Queen Elizabeth National Park, where open savanna, volcanic lakes, and the Ishasha sector’s famous tree-climbing lions create truly cinematic wildlife viewing, and a Kazinga Channel cruise concentrates hippos, crocodiles, and waterbirds in one memorable stretch. Deep in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and nearby Mgahinga, spend focused time with mountain gorillas and golden monkeys and gain cultural insight during a Batwa village visit. Finish with serene moments on Lake Bunyonyi’s islands and wildlife encounters in Lake Mburo, by day and by night, before a relaxed return to Entebbe, having experienced Uganda’s best mix of big mammals, rare birds, great apes, and warm local culture.
Detailed Itinerary: 13-Day Uganda Primates and Wildlife
Day 1: Arrival and transfer to the hotel.
Upon arrival, you will be met and greeted by your driver guide, who will briefly take you through the 13-day Uganda Primates safari plan, then transfer you to the hotel in Entebbe for relaxation and an overnight stay.
Accommodation: Best Western/Papyrus guest house (midrange)/Via Via Via Entebbe (Budget)
Meal plan: Bed & Breakfast
Day 2: Mabamba shoebill search
Very early in the morning, after breakfast, your guide will drive you to Mabamba for your birding tour. On your journey, you will pass through cultivated lands, bushlands, small swamps, and settlements. Hence, by the time you get to Mabamba wetlands, you will have recorded several birds along the way.
On arrival at the Mabamba, you start by birding the fringes of the wetland before getting into a motorized dugout canoe/boat and going out into the dense papyrus to look for the shoebill and other papyrus specialists such as the Papyrus Gonolek, African Jacana, Swamp Flycatcher, and White-winged Swamp Warbler. After the shoebill search, you will be transferred back to your hotel in Entebbe for relaxation, dinner, and an overnight stay.
Accommodation: Best Western/Papyrus guest house (midrange)/Via Via Via Entebbe (Budget)
Meal plan: Bed & Breakfast
Day 3: Rhino tracking and transfer to Murchison Falls with evening game drive
After breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and drive to Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Upon arrival, you will track these black and white rhinos. This sanctuary was established mainly to protect these rhinos from danger and poachers. After rhino tracking, you will have lunch and then proceed to Murchison Falls National Park for an evening game drive.
Accommodation: Pakuba safari lodge (midrange)/Giraffe Camp (Budget)
Meal plan: Full board
Day 4: Morning game drive, top of the falls hike, and afternoon boat cruise
With your packed breakfast, you will go for a morning game drive with your guide, who will help you spot wildlife found in the park. You will be able to spot a lot of African animal wildlife, for example, elephants, giraffes, buffalo, lions, leopards, different species of antelope, and many tropical birds. After the game drive, you will have lunch and then set out for an afternoon boat cruise.
This boat will allow you to get close to the water animals, which include over 4000 hippos as well as the Nile crocodiles. The Nile has got many stunning bird species, which are also enjoyed while taking your boat trip; these include bee-eaters, colored kingfishers, shoebill storks, and grey-throated and yellow-billed birds. After the boat cruise, you will go for a rest at the lodge in the evening as you wait for dinner and an overnight stay.
Accommodation: Pakuba safari lodge (midrange)/Giraffe Camp (Budget)
Meal plan: Full board
Day 5: Transfer to Kibale National Park
After an early breakfast, you will check out of the lodge for the transfer to Kibale Forest National Park with an en-route lunch. Kibale is famously known as the primate capital, and the transfer to Kibale Forest National Park takes approximately 6 hours. Upon arrival at the park, you will check in at the lodge for relaxation and an overnight stay as you contemplate the chimpanzee trekking adventure that lies ahead of you.
Accommodation: Kibale tourist lodge (midrange)/Chimpanzee Capital (Budget)
Meal plan: Full board
Day 6: Chimpanzee habituation and Bigodi wetland walk.
Move out of your lodge after an early breakfast, and the safari guide meets you for the chimpanzee habituation adventure. We shall be briefed by a ranger guide about this activity. You will enter the forest in search of the chimpanzee community undergoing a habituation process; we shall meet the chimpanzees deep in the rainforest, feeding and grooming, each with the young star. On this adventure, you will be allowed to spend 4 hours with the chimpanzee. Regarding the time you begin and how long it will take you to locate the chimpanzees, this activity takes you a half-day or a full day. You will move with the ranger guide and researchers, following these chimpanzees all over the day.
In the evening, you will go for the Bigodi wetland visit and expect to see different bird species.
Accommodation: Kibale tourist lodge (midrange)/Chimpanzee Capital (Budget)
Meal plan: Full board
Day 7: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park & afternoon game drive
After breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park. This national park is famous for a variety of wildlife, including the chimpanzee species. This famous conservation area is bordered by Lake Edward in the southwest, and in the northeast, it’s bordered by Lake George. This park was named after Queen Elizabeth the Second, and it has a variety of animal species, including the impalas, kobs, forest hogs, elephants, buffaloes, tree-climbing lions, and cape buffaloes. This national park is also filled with many volcanic calderas, which harbor many flamingos for several seasons. Upon arrival, you will check in at the lodge and set out for an afternoon game drive where you will see various animals like elephants, elands, antelopes, buffaloes, and lions, among others.
Accommodation: Acacia Wilderness Mweya (midrange)/Bush Lodge (Budget)
Meal plan: Full board
Day 8: Morning game drive and afternoon boat cruise.
Arise early enough, and after breakfast, enjoy a morning game drive where you will see various animals like elephants, elands, antelopes, buffaloes, and lions, among others. After having your lunch at the lodge, you will transfer to Ishasha to see the famous tree-climbing lions, which can only be sighted at Queen Elizabeth in the Ishasha sector. After the game drive, you will return to the lodge for lunch. After lunch, you will do the afternoon set out for a boat cruise on the Kazinga channel, where you will see various animals like crocodiles, hippos, waterbucks, and buffaloes, as well as birds like storks and kingfishers, among others.
Accommodation: Acacia Wilderness Mweya (midrange)/Bush Lodge (Budget)
Meal plan: Full board
Day 9: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park & Batwa cultural tour
After breakfast, you will check out of the lodge and set off for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is a big habitat for mountain gorillas in Uganda, harboring an estimated 400 mountain gorillas, roughly half of the world’s population, including several habituated groups, which you will trek. Upon arrival, you will check in at the lodge for relaxation as you contemplate the gorilla trekking adventure that lies ahead of you. In the evening, you will go for the Batwa cultural tour
Accommodation: Ichumbi gorilla lodge (midrange)/Gorilla Hills eco lodge (Budget)
Meal plan: Full board
Day 10: Gorilla Trekking and transfer to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
On this day, you will proceed with your 13-day Uganda Primates Safari to the briefing point after an early breakfast with a packed lunch. With an experienced park ranger, you will be tracking the whereabouts of one of the nine habituated family groups that live in the park. Your tracking experience will be an exciting, yet challenging, journey along forested (often muddy and slippery) slopes, tangled vines, thick vegetation, and bamboo forests before you reach the territory of these gentle giants.
Depending on the location of the gorillas on any given day, the walk can take anything from 2 to 7 hours. Once the family of gorillas has been located, settle into your surroundings and enjoy the hour you have to quietly observe these fascinating primates whose habits and mannerisms remind us so much of our own. After gorilla trekking, you will be transferred to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.
Accommodation: Ichumbi hotel (midrange) / Kisoro travelers hotel (Budget)
Meal Plan: Full board
Day 11: Golden monkey habituation and transfer to Lake Bunyonyi
Leave for the morning golden monkey habituation experience, which will make you stay longer with the golden monkeys than the normal golden monkey trekking. You enjoy an almost full day with these great apes right from the time when they are still in their nest up to the time they will be breastfeeding their young ones and doing other daily activities. You stay with them for 4-6 hours. After the golden monkey habituation, you will transfer to Lake Bunyonyi, commonly known as the Switzerland of Africa.
Accommodation: Acadia Bunyonyi (midrange)/Hawks Eye Bunyonyi (Budget)
Meal Plan: Full board
Day 12: Boat ride and transfer to Lake Mburo National Park with night game drive.
After breakfast, you will be taken to Lake Bunyonyi, where you will take a relaxed boat ride along the numerous islands. After the boat ride, you will check out of the lodge and transfer to Lake Mburo National Park. Upon arrival at the park, you will check in at the lodge for relaxation and dinner. At night, you will set out for the game drive through the park, where your eyes will be fed with amazing sights and wildlife. Predators like hyenas and leopards are most active at this time, and chances of seeing them are high.
Accommodation: Acadia Mburo/Hyena hill lodge (Midrange)/Eagle’s nest (Budget)
Meal plan: Full board
Day 13: Morning game drive & transfer to Entebbe
With an early breakfast, you will set out to continue with your 13-day Uganda Primates Safari in Lake Mburo for the game drive through the park, where your eyes will be fed with amazing sights and wildlife such as impalas, kobs, antelopes, and also bird species.
Lake Mburo has a variety of antelopes, including topi, duiker, oribi, reedbuck, and klipspringer, and the Rothschild giraffe has recently been reintroduced. However, the heights of the park have to be the Burchell’s zebra and eland, which are only found in two national parks in Uganda. After the game drive, you will be transferred back to Entebbe for your flight back home.
End of your 13-Day Uganda Primates and Wildlife
13-Day Uganda Primates Inclusions
- 1 Chimpanzee Permit
- 1 Gorilla Trekking Permit
- 1 Golden Monkey Permit
- All Park Entrance Fees
- Meals and Accommodation
- English-Speaking Driver Guide
- 4×4 Safari Land Cruiser
- Community Cultural Fees
13-Day Uganda Primates Exclusions
- Tips and Gratuities
- International Flights
- Visas
- Alcoholic Drinks
- Laundry Services
- Anything not mentioned in the itinerary
