10 days Ugandan Photography Safari

Upon arrival in Entebbe, Uganda, our representative will meet you at the airport and escort you to your hotel—a transfer of about 30 minutes.

When you arrive at the hotel, you will check in and receive your room assignment. Protea Marriott is located in the shores of Lake Victoria. Typical hotel amenities include a restaurant, bar, an outdoor swimming pool, and a fitness centre; rooms are likely to feature air conditioning, satellite TV, wireless Internet, and private bath with hair dryer.

Optional Afternoon: We depart for Mabamba Swamp Boat cruise. The tour is by boat across the lake to Mabamba Swamps where we proceed by jumping into smaller canoes with guides to the get a view of the Shoebill, and many other birds such as Angola Swallow, Swamp Flycatcher, Olive bellied Sunbird, Grey-rumped Swallow, Blue breasted Bee-eater,  African Jacana, African Fish Eagle, Long tailed Cormorant, Yellow billed Duck, Malachite Kingfisher, Glossy Ibis, White-winged Tern, Hamerkop, White-faced Whistling-Duck, Spur-winged Goose, Knob-billed Duck, Little Stint, Great Cormorant, Grey-headed Gull, Spur-winged Lapwing, Black-winged Stilt, Madagascar Bee-eater, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Sooty Chat, Weyns’s weaver, Grosbeak weaver, Crowned Horn bill, African Pied  , Common Squacco Heron, Red-billed fire finch etc. The boat tour across Lake Victory is magnificent with a great view of Entebbe, the Airport and more. On approaching the swamps you will pass through a fantastic lagoon with variety of attractions.

Depart very early and transfer to Ziwa Rhino sanctuary for Rhino trekking. The trek can take anything from a few minutes to an hour depending on where the Rhinos are located within the sanctuary. You will receive a briefing from the ranger guide and start on your Rhino trek thereafter. After the experience, you will break for lunch.

Lunch: Around 1:30pm in Masindi Town.

In the afternoon, you will proceed to Masindi town, after which you will enter the Park via the Kichumbanyobo gate and visit the Top of the falls, the spot from which the park gets its name.  At the top of the waterfalls, you will observe the River Nile squeezing itself in a 7 meter gorge before tumbling 40 meters down in a thunderous explosion and then flows down into a very peaceful river whose water banks are swarmed with a profusion of water and land animals as well as birds.

Today early morning after your breakfast, the driver guide will pick you from the Lodge and start your game drive exploring Murchison falls national park. The park has different tracks where you are able to drive and enjoy both the vegetation and the variety of animals.

The highlight of this trip is game viewing in our custom-made vehicles where you are able to capture your favourite moments in pictures of Giraffes as they move through the grasslands, buffaloes, Jacksons Hartebeest, Uganda Kobs, Lions, herds of Buffaloes, fishermen on Lake Albert, Waterbucks, etc. You will be looking for the remaining Big 4 having seen the Rhinos the previous day at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.

In the afternoon take the famed boat Safari on River Nile from where you shall watch different animals along the shore and continue to about ten meters from the bottom of Murchison falls – also known as ‘Devils cauldron”. This 2-hour boat journey is a great way to spend the afternoon enjoying the Victoria Nile and the several Hippos and Crocodiles.

We’ll check out of the lodge first thing this morning. Then, around 8:15am, we’ll depart by safari vehicle for 4 hour-long drive to Kibale Forest. Arrive in time in the beautiful town of Fort Portal. Marvel at the stunning palace of Toro Kingdom, the Royal tombs, the numerous shops and the mosque before driving on to Kibale forest, only a couple of kilometres ahead.

On arrival, you will check into your Lodge. Actually, Kibale national park hosts the highest number of primates in the whole of East Africa including chimpanzees, baboons, black & white colobus monkeys and the blue monkey.

Have an optional primate walk in the afternoon to Kanyanchu river camp; this is the most popular of all walks inside the park. It takes you through a diversity of flora zones and unveils a number of wild animals along the way living inside the forest. Head back to the lodge for dinner and Overnight.

Today the forest opens its doors for an exhilarating chimpanzee tracking experience. Kibale Forest is reputable for having the greatest variety and highest concentration of primates in East Africa. Enjoy a guided nature walk in the tropical rainforest in search of the chimpanzee, red-tailed monkey, black and white colobus monkey and many others. Upon sighting the chimpanzees, you will spend an unforgettable hour with them as they go about their daily life – feeding, playing, grooming, taking care of their young, howling and screeching, in their natural habitat.

We’ll get back in our safari vehicle around 3pm and will drive to Lake Mburo National Park. It lies between the towns of Masaka and Mbarara in Western Uganda. Lake Mburo Park is a very special place with a medley of habitats ranging from dry hillsides, rocky outcrops, and bushy thickets, open and wooded savannas to forest, lakes and swamps. The drive will offer a chance to view its sculpture landscape, rolling hills and idyllic lake shores, forest galleries, seasonal and permanent swamps and grassy valleys all support a wealth of wildlife in a tropical setting.

Today, Wake up early for a cup of tea and embark on a morning game drive to catch up with early raisers and predators returning to their hideouts. Inside the park, you may spot animals like impala, Zebras, buffalo, hyena, leopards, antelope, vervet monkeys and olive baboon. Different birds can also be spotted like the shoebill, saddle billed stork, chested wattled plover, Carrutter’s cisticola and many more.

At around 3:00pm proceed to Queen Elizabeth National Park (following the mystical Rwenzori Mountain range for most of the journey and we arrive in time for an en-route game drive as we head to our lodge within the park.

Today, we depart early after your breakfast at the lodge be in for the morning game drive around the Park searching for different Wildlife Species including Buffaloes, Elephants, Defassa waterbuck, Uganda Kob, Topi, Bush bucks, spotted hyenas and more. After the exciting game drive return to the lodge for lunch.

At around 3:00pm, we’ll head out for the exciting launch trip cruise along the Kazinga Channel. Launch trip cruise along Kazinga Channel exposes you to different aquatic species including hippopotamus, crocodiles, water birds and more.

After your morning Breakfast, we depart for Bwindi with enroute game drive in Ishasha region of Queen Elizabeth National Park, for your morning game drive in search of the most popular tree climbing lions and chances of seeing them climbing the trees will depend on the luck of the day. Ishasha has also other population of animals such as antelopes, Elephants, Buffalos and many others to see. Break for lunch

Picnic Lunch in the park.

After lunch, we drive to Bwindi impenetrable forest national park through the verdant country side, you will pass traditional homesteads and enjoy panoramic views of the Rwenzori Mountains. Arrival in Bwindi National Park, home of the endangered mountain gorillas, you will be checked in for your dinner and overnight at your lodge.

Activity Note: Today’s Mountain gorilla trek typically involves two to four hours of walking through thick brush over steep, rugged terrain at elevations ranging from 7,000 to 9,000 feet —and can include exposure to stinging nettles and re ants. As overexposure to humans is harmful to mountain gorillas, contact is limited to one hour—and there is the possibility that they may become agitated and retreat back into the bush in less than our allotted time. Any travelers showing signs of obvious illness may be refused entrance by park authorities.

At about 7:30am, we take a drive of about 30 minutes to the National Park headquarters at to meet your guides for the day. After completing our park formalities, we are embark on a once in a life time experience of tracking mountain gorillas. Once you spot them you are allowed to spend an hour watching your closest long lost cousin. This is perhaps one of the most breath-taking experiences on earth!!! You get so close to these awesome giant primates. You stare at each other blankly not knowing who to break the long silence first. Tracking the gorillas through the light mountain forest on the slopes of the Virunga is a magical experience. These massive primates are extremely rare, with less than 1000 living today. You will get within meters of the family, and be privileged to spend an hour amongst them. The trekking may be fairly strenuous; up to 3 hours or longer at a relatively high altitude. It is important to bring good hiking boots, long trousers, gloves for protection against stinging nettles, some snacks & sweets (for you, not the gorillas) as well as sufficient water as the rain forest gets hot and humid during the day. You will spend one hour with the gorillas, but it is an hour you will never forget. Depending on the length of our trek, groups will return to our lodge by about 1pm.

The remainder of the afternoon is free to reflect on our mountain gorilla encounter.

After your morning Breakfast, bid our host goodbye ad travel back to Kampala City. En-route stop over at the Equator for photographs and as well as to perform a simple experiment and experience a tropical balance before proceeding to your hotel.

En-route at a local restaurant.