Seven Beautiful National Parks in 15 memorable Days!
Visit the awesome Murchison falls on Lake Victoria Nile, Queen Elizabeth National Park’s unique location and diversity, the tranquil Lake Mburo National Park with its glorious land scape, Kibale’s enormous primate population, western Uganda’s dense forests and lakes, and much more breath taking sceneries.
Day 1 Arrival
Arrive in the morning at the Entebbe International Airport where you will be welcomed by your Equatorial Wild Safaris guide and transferred by private vehicle to Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel. In the afternoon, you will take a visit to the international acclaimed award wining Uganda Wildlife Educational Centre to see the sorts of animals and birds that you will encounter on your grand tour. There will be a full briefing. Later an optional launch trip will be available to Chimp Island on Lake Victoria, where orphan chimps taken from smuggles have been relocated and now live freely on a 40 acre forested Island. “Island visit ends with Ugandan barbeque.”
Day 2 Lake Mburo
After breakfast, you will live for Lake Mburo National Park and on your way have a stopover to look at the Royal Drum makers, stand at the Equator for a photographic opportunity and also listen to some few interesting facts. We will continue to Lake Mburo National Park. The lovely landscape is complimented by Lake Mburo itself and four smaller lakes, beautiful and tranquil surroundings where you will see the zebra, Impala, buffalo, klipspringer, waterbuck and eland.
Picnic lunch, thereafter a canoe trip in the afternoon to see a variety of water birds. Your guide will keep you a safe distance from the hippos and crocodiles.
Dinner and Overnight (Budget, Medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 3 Lake Mburo- Lake Bunyonyi
After your substantial breakfast, you will live Lake Mburo and make the scenic journey to south western Uganda and the stunning volcanic scenery of the Virunga mountains. En route, will visit Lake Bunyonyi (Nature’s Prime Island), a famous beauty spot.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, Medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 4 Mgahinga National Park
After your breakfast, you will head out for the Mgahinga National Park where you will spend a full day walking through forest and bamboo glades on the slopes of extinct volcanoes.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, Medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 5 Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
After an early and heavy breakfast, you will depart for Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The breakfast will give you the energy needed for gorilla tracking. The guide will then take you through the bush pushing your way through the undergrowth, parting thick creepers, to track the gorillas. (This trek can take from half an hour to 5 hours – a reasonable degree of fitness is required as well as a study pair of walking shoes). Sit in the forest among the gorillas, listening to them grumble to each other, and marvel at the sheer size of the dominant male; the silverback. It is an extraordinary feeling sitting in the dense rainforest knowing you are with a few of the last remaining mountain gorillas. If you have the energy this afternoon, take a guided walk on the Munyaga River trail, which is an ideal short walk. This trail leads to three delightful crystal clear waterfalls, and there is a profusion of tree ferns, epithytic ferns, orchids and Bwindi’s colorful array of butterflies. Here you may also see birds and primates from the forest edge.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, Medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 6 Queen Elizabeth National Park
After breakfast, you will head out to Queen Elizabeth National Park, a host to a large variety and volume of wildlife. It boasts one o the highest bio diversity ratings of any game park in the world, from the open Savannah to Rain forest, dense swamps and beautiful crater lakes to the vastness of Lake Edward. Almost 100 species that include Hippos, Lions, Buffaloes, Leopard, Spotted Hyena and the elusive giant forest hog. The primates include Chimps, Black and white Colobus Monkeys, Blue, Black Faced Red Colobus, and Red Tailed monkeys and Olive Baboons.
After checking in and having some time to relax, we will go for an afternoon game drive to Kasenyi Area of the Park. Here you will be able to see numerous elephants as well as water hogs, lions, hyenas, Uganda kobs, waterbuck and bushbuck as well as the salt lakes. Optional daytime and night time boat trips on the river will be available as pre and post dinner events.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, Medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 7
After breakfast, you will take a morning game drive in the park. Look out for the herds of elephant and the prides of lion. Buffalo, bushbuck and kob are quite common here, but you will feel real triumphant to catch a glimpse of the elusive and yet spectacular giant forest hog which isn’t so common.
Lunch, visit yet another of the diverse local habitats and take a walk in the Maramagambo Forest where you will visit the bat caves and the outstanding blue lake and more interesting lookout for chimpanzee and other monkey species. Optional day time and night time boat trips on the river will be available as pre and post dinner events.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, Medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 8
After breakfast, we will take a tour to Queen Elizabeth’s ordinarily scenic crater lakes area. Mirror-surfaced and tranquil, each has its own individual character providing a home for a myriad of creatures.
Lunch, then travel on to the Fort Portal Tea estate area. Very beautiful sceneries of Tea in the hills and slopes of this rather hilly area of the country.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, Medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 9 Kibale National Park
Today, you are at Kibale National Park to track habituated chimps – these delightful apes, more closely related to humans than to any other living creature, are tremendous fun to watch as they squabble and play in fruiting trees. The incredibly diverse forest is home to over 13 species of primates including red Colobus monkey, the rare L’Hoest, blue monkey, grey mangabey, pottos, black faced vervet monkeys, baboons and also bush babies. A network of shady forest trails provides much to delight botanists and butterfly lovers, while birders are in for a treat with 335 species recorded including the endemic Prirogrine’s ground thrush. The elusive forest elephant, smaller and hairier that its savannah counterpart, moves seasonally into the developed part of the park, while other terrestrial mammals include buffalo, giant forest hog and a half dozen antelope species. You will also visit Bigodi Swamp for its rare and beautiful flora and fauna and encounter a successful community tourism project. What a wonderful experience!
In the afternoon you will make the journey to Semuliki Wildlife Reserve.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, Medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 10 Semuliki National Park
An early morning rise, tea in your tent, and then you will go down into the beautiful gallery rainforest to track wild chimpanzees. Chimps are tracked by researchers in Semliki at dawn and dusk, as they tend to disappear in the middle of the day. There are also a number of bird species which are found in this picturesque forest.
Lunch, relax in the afternoon and later on go for a game drive, stopping along the way to watch the African sun dip below the horizon. You will be back at the campsite/ lodge to rest before the dawn of a new day.
An optional excursion may be available to cruise Lake Albert.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, Medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 11 Murchison Falls National Park
After break fast, you will head out for Murchison Falls National Park. We will continue through the park stopping at the top of the falls which is a fantastic sight. Here the Nile, the longest river in the world, is forced through a narrow gap in the rock (only 7 meters wide), before ferociously plunging down 43 meters. From here we will continue on, taking a ferry across the river to Paraa Safari Lodge. Game viewing on the way is very good; look out for hippos, elephants, buffalos and many other animals, seen grazing on the banks of the river.
Relaxing, optional daytime and nighttime boat trips on the river will be available as pre and post dinner events.
Dinner and overnight (Budget, Medium and Luxury accommodation available)
Day 12
After breakfast, you will go for a morning Chimpanzee tracking in Kaniyo Pabidi Forest. This is an undisturbed area of natural forest within Budongo Forest Reserve where you can walk beneath mature mahogany and iron wood trees. Chimpanzee tracking is the most famous activity. You will certainly see many forest birds, including the chocolates-backed Kingfisher, the white-thigh hornbill and puvel's illadopsis found nowhere else in East Africa.
Lunch, then take an afternoon boat trip to the foot of Murchison Falls. This boat trip along the Nile is often cited as being the highlight of a trip to Murchison since it allows you to get up-close and personal with the animals. Along this stretch of the river, there are reported to be around 4,000 hippos in addition to some enormous Nile crocodiles. The bird life is stunning with brightly colored kingfishers and bee-eaters darting along the riverbanks. If lucky, you may see the rare and prehistoric looking shoebill, which is a cross between the dodo and a dinosaur! The boat takes you to the base of the falls which only adds to their impressiveness. You will be back at the campsite/ lodge to rest before the dawn of a new day.
Day 13 Kampala
After breakfast, you will leave your lodge and head out for Kampala. En route, you will view the awesome falls from another angle (the top view). You will have the opportunity to experience this massive rush of water at close range by taking the path way to the base of the falls and back. You will arrive in Kampala in the afternoon hours and check in to your hotel in the city center.
You will have an optional city tour in the evening to see the fascinating night sites and night life of Kampala city.
Dinner in one of the numerous local hospitable city restaurants.
Day 14 Jinja
After breakfast, you will head out to Jinja where you will visit the source of the Nile. Nile River Explorers offer the best value for money “white water rafting” in Africa. The guides give a comprehensive safety briefing, answer all questions and assist rafters in the fitting of lifejackets and helmets. The fun starts with a detailed river skills course which gives clients a taste of what is to come.
Rapids
We have chosen the perfect 18 kilometer stretch of the Nile River. The first few rapids are low grade (1,2) and give clients a growing sense of confidence. As the river meanders through beautiful scenery, we guide the rafts into the mighty challenges of the best “grade5″ rapids on the Nile. Eight major rapids are rafted, plus lots of lower graded runs to maximize the fun. Experience has taught us that this is the safest, highest adrenaline stretch of water, avoiding paddling any long sections giving the most satisfying day.
Pausing in the middle of the day for fruit and refreshments, offers a brief break from the action.
Lunch, then a short rest by the banks of the river as you enjoy the breeze and sun. You will then head back to Kampala.
To round off the Bounty Grand Safari, we will have a farewell Ugandan barbeque in the evening. It will be spiced with local music, drumming and dancing.
Day 15 Departure
You will have your last breakfast in Uganda!
You will depart from Kampala to the Entebbe International Airport where you will be seen off by your Equatorial Wild Safaris guide.
Rates will include:
One Gorilla Permit per person of USD $500, airport transfers, itinerary meals and accommodation, transportation, water, coffee or tea while on safari, park entrance fees, services of an English speaking driver/guide, boat trips, game drives, other itinerary activities and any government taxies/levies.
Rates will exclude:
Air fare, Bar Bills, Phone calls, Personal insurance, Laundry and other services of personal nature and driver’s/guide’s tips.
Note: Safaris / Holidays can be arranged for any number of people above six.
Gorilla tracking is highly dependent on availability of permits from the Uganda Wildlife Authority which are a “hot cake.” Incase of failure to secure a permit at the time of your booking, don’t fret, the same gorilla tracking can also be done in Rwanda.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for rates, tailor made safaris and general inquires.
Yours- EWS Team
