With good planning and advance booking, it is possible to have a memorable value-for-money safari in Africa that takes in three of the continent best safari destinations.
This 13 Days Uganda, Zambia & Botswana Safari has been tailor-made especially for those with a modest budget in mind.
Your time in Africa starts in Uganda, a beautiful country known for its incredible primate trekking adventures in the lush rainforest jungles and superb bird watching.
Your introduction to safari is in the primate packed Kibale Forest National Park and the game-rich Queen Elizabeth National Park before you move on to the legendary Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park for a life changing gorilla trek.
After eight days seeking out gorillas, Chimpanzees and myriad other species, you fly into Zambia to see the country’s flagship natural spectacle: the incomparable Victoria Falls.
This largest waterfall on the planet is surrounded by an array of exciting activities including an iconic sunset cruise and canoeing on the Zambezi River.
You’ll also visit the nearby Chobe River in Botswana, one of the region’s best dry-season game viewing destinations. Here you’ll go on a boat cruise as well as thrilling game drives in the Chobe National Park, looking out for the park’s huge herds of elephant and buffalo.
Summary
Day 1: Welcome to the Pearl of Africa!
Day 2: Fort Portal Volcanic Crater Lakes & Kibale Forest
Day 3: Chimpanzee Tracking and Swamp or Village Walk
Day 4-6: Cross the Equator into Queen Elizabeth National Park for Game Viewing
Day 7: Track Tree Climbing Lions & Transfer to Bwindi
Day 8: Trek Mountain Gorillas and Meet the Batwa
Days 9: From the Rainforest to Zambia – Victoria Falls
Day 10: Guided Victoria Falls Tour & Zambezi River Boat Cruise
Day 11: Boat Cruise and Game Drive in Chobe National Park -Botswana
Day 12: Upper Zambezi Canoeing Trip & Relaxation -Zambia
Day 13: Return Home with Lots of Memories
Details
Day 1: Welcome To The Pearl Of Africa!
Your fantastic 13 Days Uganda, Zambia & Botswana Safari will start as soon as you touch down at the Entebbe Airport. You’ll be met by our driver guide who will help load the bags into our comfortable safari vehicle before you set off for a hotel or guesthouse situated nearby.
Entebbe is in central Uganda, about 44 km southwest of the capital Kampala, stunningly located on the shores of Africa’s largest lake, Lake Victoria. The fresh air, relaxed pace of life and tropical sun will make you feel instantly at home in the ‘Pearl of Africa’.
Depending on your time of arrival there might be a chance for an optional excursion to one or more of the nearby Entebbe attractions.
Accommodation:
Luxury: Hotel No.5/Protea Hotel Entebbe
Mid-range: The Boma Hotel/2 Friends Beach Hotel
Budget: Airport Guesthouse Entebbe
Meal plan: Dinner
Days 2: Fort Portal Volcanic Crater Lakes & Kibale Forest
After an early breakfast, our guide will pick you up in a 4×4 safari vehicle for your journey to Kibale Forest National Park in western Uganda.
While the drive will take approximately 5 hours, the route traverses rolling hillsides and tea plantations as well as various rural towns, ensuring there is always something interesting on the horizon. You’ll reach the town of Fort Portal at around lunchtime.
The fort that gave the town its name might not stand anymore, but this is a beautiful town in a scenic area of Uganda. It is situated the shadow of the snow-capped Mountains of the Moon or the Rwenzori Mountains. You will enjoy lunch at one of best restaurants in town.
After lunch, you’ll go for a scenic hike to the Fort Portal Crater Lake field where you traverse the challenging slopes of Kyeganywa hill, surrounded by a range of crater lakes and crater hollows presenting one of the beautiful scenic sites in Uganda.
The top of Kyeganywa hill offers spectacular views of the Rwenzori Mountains on a clear day. From this lovely crater filed area, you will continue to your lodge near or inside the primate-packed Kibale National Park for a stay within the tropical forest.
Accommodation:
Luxury: Crater Safari Lodge/ Primate Lodge Kibale
Mid-range/Budget: Kibale Forest Camp/Chimpanzee Forest Lodge
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 3: Chimpanzee Tracking And Swamp Or Village Walk
Day three of the 13 Days Uganda, Zambia & Botswana Safari sees you venturing into two of Uganda’s wonderfully diverse landscapes.
First up is a forest trekking tour in search of man’s closest relative. The 776 km2 Kibale Forest is reputable for having the greatest density and diversity of primates in Africa, with over 1500 chimpanzees and numerous Old World monkeys.
The chimps have been fully habituated and thus offer you a chance to draw quite close to them and take pictures. Viewing them as they enjoy fruits, swinging in trees, socializing, patrolling and making hooting calls is a memorable experience that you’ll treasure forever.
Once your amazing Chimp trek is wrapped up, you’ll return to the lodge for lunch. By the time you’re done with lunch, the doors should be open for your next activity: a community based guided tour of the Bigodi Wetland.
During this walk, you will learn more about this incredible community-run initiative that is committed to conserving the area’s unique biodiversity and has created a safe space to encounter several primate species and over 200 bird species.
Alternatively, you may choose to go for a Village Walk. Accompanied by an English-speaking local guide who can tell you all you need to know about the traditional customs and lifestyle of the local people, you’ll follow the village path and visit a primary school, traditional homesteads, learn about the crops and listen to the story telling of a Mzee (elderly man).
Both activities are an initiative of the local people of Bigodi Village and the revenues are shared by the local community.
Accommodation:
Luxury: Crater Safari Lodge/ Primate Lodge Kibale
Mid-range/Budget: Kibale Forest Camp/Chimpanzee Forest Lodge
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 4-6: Cross The Equator Into Queen Elizabeth Park For Game Viewing
A leisurely drive through Kibale Forest and Kasese Town takes you across the equator to your next stop. Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda’s premier wildlife destination, with 95 mammal species and over 600 bird species calling the region home.
Morning and afternoon game drives through the park are most rewarding, with elephants, buffalo, leopards, spotted hyenas and lions being regular sightings.
Thrilling game drives aren’t the only way you get to explore this famed national park. The Kazinga Channel is the lifeblood of Queen and attracts a varied range of animals to its water, including one of the world’s largest concentrations of hippos year-round. A Kazinga Channel Boat Cruise is included in your itinerary, offering a great game viewing alternative.
A taste of culture is sprinkled into your tour with a visit to the Omwani Women’s Coffee Cooperative- a community-based initiative that offers vocational training and an alternative, but sustainable, source of income to local women and their families.
A highlight of this cultural encounter is sure to be sampling the best cup of Uganda coffee, the beans of which are grown, harvested and processed by these amazing women.
Accommodation:
Luxury: Kyambura Gorge Lodge/Elephant Plains
Mid-range: Enganzi Game Lodge/Bush Lodge
Budget: Bush Lodge/Pumba Safari Lodge
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 7: Track Tree Climbing Lions & Transfer To Bwindi
After breakfast you are driven towards the south, passing the southern sector of the park (if road conditions allow). This part is called Ishasha and is known for its lions that climb trees. After a short game drive of one and half hour in this area proceed to Bwindi.
While driving through a verdant countryside, you’ll pass traditional homesteads and enjoy panoramic views. In the afternoon you’ll arrive in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park the home of rare and endangered mountain gorillas.
Accommodation:
Luxury: Gorilla Forest Camp/Buhoma Lodge
Mid-range: Gorilla Mist Camp/Haven Lodge Buhoma
Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 8: Trek Mountain Gorillas And Meet The Batwa
Your eight day is the one you have been waiting for: today you make the acquaintance of rare mountain gorillas, one of the most memorable wildlife encounters in the world.
Led by experienced trackers and guides who are intimately familiar with each individual mountain gorilla and who understand their overnight movements, you will hike through the impenetrable forest until you find these gentle giants.
For mutual safety, you will have to observe them from a distance and no children under 15 are allowed on a trek. It can be relatively going in the rain and mud but it is worth the effort to look into their emotional brown eyes. Once you are back at lodge, you will relax.
In late afternoon, you can choose to set out to meet members of the Batwa pygmy tribe who lived – a hunter-gatherer lifestyle in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for centuries until it was gazetted a national park in 1991 to protect the endangered mountain gorillas.
The Batwa are believed to be the longest-standing inhabitants of the Great Lakes region. Their history can be traced back at least 6000 years and they are renowned as dancers and storytellers. You will learn more about the Batwa’s hunting and gathering techniques, their goddess and their musical performances.
Day 9: From The Rainforest To Zambia – Victoria Falls
It is a day of travel today: after breakfast you are transferred to Kihihi Airstrip for a scheduled flight to Entebbe. You will be met at the airport and assisted onto a scheduled flight to Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport near the town of Livingstone (named after Dr. David Livingstone, the first European to see the Victoria Falls).
If the conditions are right, your pilot might even point out the colossal spray of Mosi-oa-Tunya – the traditional name of the Victoria Falls -as you come into land. After disembarking at the airport, you’ll be transferred to your pre-booked lodge located nearby.
Day 10: Guided Victoria Falls Tour & Zambezi River Boat Cruise
After a delicious breakfast, you’ll make your way to the famous Victoria Falls where you’ll spend the morning enjoying one of the natural wonders of the world and walking in the riverine woodland around the falls.
Where does one begin to describe the awe and thrill of Victoria Falls? The Vic Falls are indeed the main attraction, and there is no doubt why. Two times the height of Niagara Falls; this is the world’s largest uninterrupted sheet of falling water, displacing 500 million liters of water per minute (the equivalent of 200 Olympic-sized swimming pools).
Shared by the 2 countries, Zambia and Zimbabwe, protected within two national parks, Victoria Falls National Park and Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, this is a Natural World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
Victoria Falls is also the adventure of Africa. You could stay for ages and enjoy a different activity every day, from bungee jumping and white-water rafting, to helicopter and microlight flights (a.k.a the flight of angels), horse riding, abseiling, and so much more.
Today, you’ll enjoy an exhilarating walk across the ‘Knife-edge Bridge’, which offers a close-up view of the ‘Boiling Pot’ (a scary whirlpool at the base of the falls) and, for the really adventurous, a dip in the famous ‘Devil’s Pool’.
Don’t forget your cameras. You’ll have lunch somewhere in town close to the Vic falls after an exhilarating morning walk. After lunch, you’ll have some time to rest.
Zambezi River Boat Cruise
In the late afternoon, you’ll set out for another exciting activity that will stay in your memory for a long time. You’ll board one of the many comfortable cruisers that glide up and down Mighty Zambezi River on a daily basis, with staff that know the river intimately.
You’ll be provided with snacks and drinks as you cruise slowly on the river for about two hours, a truly unforgettable experience.
Remember to look not just at the superb sunset, but also the wildlife on the water and at the water’s edge. You can see buffalos, elephants, and huge crocodiles to name just a few. After your cruise, you’ll return to the lodge to freshen up before enjoying a sundowner drink and your dinner.
Day 11: Chobe National Park – Botswana
On day two, you set out early for your full-day safari in one of Botswana’s best game parks.
The 12,000km2 Chobe National Park takes its name from the river of the same name. It features an incredible diversity of habitats, ranging from dry channels and arid plains to dense woodland, fertile grasslands, and watery swamps.
These habitats support a great density and rich variety of wildlife.
With your passport, you’ll drive to the border post and once through there you continue to the Botswana entry gate. Upon arrival in Botswana, you’ll transfer to an open safari vehicle for the trip to Chobe and for game viewing. You’ll tour the northern section of the park where the Chobe River forms the border in the north.
Chobe River Cruise
Your tour will begin with a river cruise.
Chobe is home to some of Africa’s highest concentrations of game, with the park boasting the largest continuous African Elephant population, about 80,000 individuals at the last count.
Seeing these gentle giants crossing, playing in and swimming in the Chobe River is a sight you’ll never forget.
Besides large number of elephants, Chobe River attracts various animals and birds, and offers guests some of the best sunset views anywhere in Africa.
You’ll have a welcome lunch break at Chobe Game Lodge, where a buffet awaits you. A complimentary drink and tea or coffee is served with lunch.
Game Drive
After lunch,you’ll have an afternoon game drive. Chobe is home to some of Africa’s highest year-round concentrations of predators.
Lions at Chobe are world famous for having learnt how to prey on African Elephants, occasionally even adults! You’ll also search for Buffalos, Leopards, Wild Dogs, Hippos, Crocodiles, Giraffe, Sable Antelope, Puku, Lechwe, Waterbuck, and huge herds of zebra.
Chobe is also famous for being the base for many world-renowned wildlife photographers. Many award-winning photos, videos and documentaries have been captured here. Be sure to bring your cameras ready if you have it.
After your thrilling Chobe Safari in Botswana, you return to Victoria Falls in Zambia, through the border posts arriving at our hotel approximately 18:00.
Day 12: Upper Zambezi Canoeing Trip & Relaxation – Zambia
In the morning, you’ll set off on a half-day canoeing trip on the Upper Zambezi River, above the spectacular Victoria Falls. Canoeing is the wonderful way to explore the scenic Upper Zambezi River area.
After a safety briefing by the professional river guide and a quick practice session on the water, the paddle will begin. This is not a challenging paddle, navigating only small, easy rapids, and no canoeing experience is required.
You will take a lazy paddle down the Upper Zambezi, looking out for hippos, buffalos, crocodiles, elephants, kudus, impalas, and other untamed creatures along the river banks.
Canoeing along the river is also a perfect way to spot birds, look out for the powerful Martial Eagle, among the over 50 bird species commonly sighted.
You also pass national parks on the Zimbabwean banks and pristine bush on the Zambian side. This gentle paddle is all about soaking up the beautiful scenery and enjoying the local fauna and flora up close.
Afterward, there is time for a picnic lunch on the riverbank. The afternoon is all yours!
Optional Afternoon Activities
- A helicopter or microlight flight over the falls and surrounding area (highly recommended)
- Bungee jumping off the Victoria Falls Bridge
- White water rafting on the Zambezi River
- Guided walking safari in Mosi-Oa-Tunya which is home to White Rhinos
- Abseiling at the Victoria Falls gorge
- Ziplinning and gorge swings
Day 13: Return Home With Lots Of Memories
Today, transfer back to Airport in time for your outbound flight. Please note that this safari can be can also be customized upon request. Our travel consultants are experts at designing tailor-made safaris on a budget and can tailor this tour to better suit your preferences and interests. To customize or book this safari, contact us.
