This unique 5 Days Gorilla and Wildlife Safari in Uganda combines the magic of mountain gorilla trekking with classic game viewing and local community cultural encounters!
First, you will travel to the famous Queen Elizabeth National Park for game viewing on the open savannahs and a boat trip on Kazinga Channel. The channel has one of the highest concentrations of hippos in the whole world. Then, you will go for the ultimate gorilla trekking adventure in the jungles of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Bwindi is home 459 of the world’s last remaining 1063 mountain gorillas.
In addition to the magical gorilla encounters, you also have a variety of opportunities to experience local cultures. This affordable 5 Days Gorilla And Wildlife Safari In Uganda includes comfortable accommodation options, transport in a 4×4 safari vehicle, and the services of an experienced English speaking guide. It starts and ends in Entebbe or Kampala.
Featured Safari Activities
- Gorilla trekking in Bwindi
- Game drives in Queen Elizabeth National Park
- Boat cruise on Kazinga Channel
- Track a pride of tree-climbing lions in Ishasha
- Cultural tour of Batwa Community
- Uganda Equator Crossing Experience
Optional Activities:
- Night game drive in Queen Elizabeth NP
- Chimpanzee tracking in Kalinzu Forest/Kyambura Gorge
- Visiting Lake Bunyonyifor boat cruise & relaxation
- Flight transfer from Bwindi’s Kihihi Airstrip to Entebbe International Airport
Safari Highlights
Day 1: Travel from Kampala/Entebbe to Queen Elizabeth National Park, Afternoon Game Drive & Katwe Salt Lake Tour.
Day 2: Enjoy a Morning Game Drive in Kasenyi Plains, Afternoon Boat Cruise on Kazinga Channel, & Evening Game Drive along the Channel Track.
Day 3: Search for Tree-Climbing Lions in Ishasha Sector & Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Day 4: Do Gorilla Trekking In Bwindi Impenetrable Forest & Have an Evening Batwa Pygmies Cultural Experience.
Day 5: Transfer Back To Kampala/Entebbe.
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Travel to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Your fantastic 5 Days Gorilla and Wildlife Safari in Uganda begins today!
At 8.00 am, you’ll be picked up from your place of stay in Entebbe or Kampala by our company representative who will give you a short briefing about the tour.
After that, you’ll start on long rewarding journey of about 7 hours southwest to Queen Elizabeth National Park. This Uganda’s most famous game park is home to over 95 mammal species, over 600 species of Uganda birds and much more.
En route, you’ll make a stop at the Uganda Equator Crossing, Kayabwe. This is where you can stand with one leg in the Northern hemisphere while the other in the Southern and pose for a photo!
From there, you continue your scenic drive via Masaka-Mbarara road, making another stop for lunch at Igongo Cultural Centre in Mbarara. Igongo is a big commercial enterprise with a 5 star hotel, a top restaurant, craft centers, shops, and one of Uganda’s best museums.
After lunch, continue on your journey through quite Uganda rural villages and impressive countryside landscapes to Queen Elizabeth NP. You will arrive with a game drive at your lodge where you will freshen up and have some time to relax.
In late afternoon, you will go on a game drive to explore the impressive landscapes of “Queen”, as the locals and that in the know call the park.
You will return to the lodge at sunset for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.
Accommodation Options:
Luxury: Kyambura Gorge Lodge/Mweya Safari Lodge
Midrange: Enganzi Game Lodge/Bush Lodge
Budget: Pumba Safari Cottages
Meal Plan: Breakfast & Dinner
Day 2: Game Drive & Boat Cruise
African safari breakfasts are traditionally served before the dawns so that as the sun comes up, you can start your morning game drive.
Sunrise is the best time for wildlife viewing as animals tend to be the most active during the “golden hours”, when the first rays of sun come to rest on African savannah.
Therefore, on day two of 5 Days Gorilla and Wildlife Safari in Uganda, you’ll rise up very early for breakfast before going out into the savanna to watch animals.
You’ll explore Kasenyi Plains, one of the prettiest sections in Queen Elizabeth NP.
You’ll have a chance to tick off some amazing African animals like Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Buffalos, Uganda kobs, Hippos, Bushbucks, Waterbucks, Forest Hogs, Warthogs, Hyenas, and various other impressive creatures.
Apart from the fantastic Uganda mammals and scenery, Queen is also a must-visit destination for birders. The park boasts more than 600 species.
During your game drive, you can look for specials like Rüppell’s Vulture, Bateleur, Brown Snake Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Grey Kestrel, African Skimmer, Black bee-eater, Broad-billed Roller, Western banded Snake Eagle, etc.
After your 3-4 hour game drive, you shall return to the lodge for relaxation and lunch. In the afternoon, you have another fantastic activity planned! You transfer to the Mweya jetty for a boat cruise starting at 2pm.
Taking the boat trip on the Kazinga channel is a real must-do activity when visiting Queen Elizabeth National Park.
It will give you the chance to cruise just metres from hundreds of hippos and Buffalos, while Elephants and Crocodiles linger on the shoreline, along with waterbirds including Skimmers, Pelicans, Storks, Ibises, Lapwings, and Terns.
It is an incredible experience being so close to all these fantastic creatures from the comfort of the boat, with the stunning park all around you adding to the memories you will have of this cruise.
After the boat cruise you will do a short game drive along the channel track as you head back to the lodge for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Accommodation Options:
Luxury: Kyambura Gorge Lodge/Mweya Safari Lodge
Midrange: Enganzi Game Lodge/Bush Lodge
Budget: Pumba Safari Cottages
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 3: Track Tree-Climbing Lions & Transfer to Bwindi
After a good breakfast on day three of your 5 Days Gorilla and Wildlife Safari In Uganda, you will pack your bags and check out. You will depart Queen and head even further south.
Before leaving the park you will undertake a game drive in the Ishasha sector in search of the famous tree climbing Lions, whose males sport black manes that tend to lie on fig tree branches scanning the plains for prey. You then exit Queen and continue towards the world famous Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
You’ll have lunch somewhere along the way and reach your lodge in the mid-afternoon. You’ll check in and relax taking in the incredible views or may be stretch our legs with a birding walk in the lodge grounds.
About Bwindi
Composed of 321km2 of Afro-montane rainforest and accessible only on foot due to the improbable steepness, Bwindi was gazetted as a National Park in 1991 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.
It is an amazing piece of land; it survived the last Ice Age when most other forests in Africa disappeared. In the local language Runyakitara, Bwindi actually means “impenetrable”.
Of course most famously, Bwindi is home to more than half the world’s population of Mountain Gorillas (a subspecies of the Eastern Gorilla), about 459 individuals at last count. It is undoubtedly Uganda’s biggest tourism drawcard, and rightly so.
In addition to the endangered Mountain Gorillas, the incredibly biologically varied park also has over 350 bird species (including 23 of the 24 Albertine Rift endemic species), 120 mammal species, more than 200 butterfly species, 27 species of frogs, over 1,000 flowering plant species and 324 species of trees.
Accommodation Options:
Luxury: Haven Lodge Buhoma/Gorilla Mist Camp
Midrange: Gorilla Mist Camp/Ichumbi Lodge
Budget: Trekkers Tarven
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner
Drive Distance & Time: Around 228 km (4-6) hours
Day 4: Gorilla Trekking & Batwa Cultural Experience.
On day 4 of your 5 Days Gorilla and Wildlife Safari in Uganda, you’ll experience what some people define a life changing event: a meeting with the gentle giants of Bwindi!
You will rise up from bed by 6.00 am for breakfast. You will pick a lunch box and transfer to the park headquarters where you meet the knowledgeable local park ranger guides for briefing and allocation of the gorilla families.
Bwindi has up to 20 habituated gorilla families available for trekking.
You’ll then set into jungle to track your assigned family. Expect a relatively difficult trek of approximately 2-7 hours in steep and muddy conditions, sometimes with rain overhead, before you encounter any gorillas.
But it will definitely be worthy as you’ll observe them closely while they eat, play and rest, a unique and unforgettable experience!
Unfortunately, Mountain gorillas (as opposed to Lowland gorillas) are one of the world’s most endangered species so the entrance and gorilla tracking fees revenue generated from tourism in the park offer them their only chance of survival. Gentle giants and vegetarians, they are normally peaceful unless provoked.
After your one hour encounter with gorillas, you’ll have your packed picnic lunch before returning to the starting point to receive your gorilla trekking certificate.
Then continue to your lodge for relaxation. In the evening you have the opportunity to discover the traditional hunter-gatherer life of the Batwa People.
Accommodation Options:
Luxury: Haven Lodge Buhoma/Gorilla Mist Camp
Midrange: Gorilla Mist Camp/Ichumbi Lodge
Budget: Trekkers Tarven
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner
Drive Distance & Time: Around 228 km (4-6) hours
Day 5: Transfer Back To Kampala/Entebbe.
This morning you’ll wake up to the lush forest surroundings at the lodge and enjoy breakfast in this peaceful setting.
Then you’ll leave the Bwindi Impenetrable Forests behind, driving back to the capital of Uganda, Kampala or Entebbe.
You drive via Mbarara and Masaka, stopping for lunch at Igongo Cultural Centre.
Arriving in Kampala/Entebbe, your tour driver guide will drop you off at your post-tour accommodation or transfer you to the Entebbe International Airport for your onward flight at the end of this fantastic 5 Days Uganda Safari Tour.
Please Note: You also have an option of taking a 2-hour flight transfer back to Entebbe International Airport or Kajjansi Airstrip in Kampala.
Meal Plan: Breakfast & Lunch
End Of The Safari
Safari Inclusion
- Full board accommodation on the safari
- Uganda Gorilla Trekking Safari Permit
- Transportation in a 4×4 safari vehicle
- Bottled drinking water in the safari vehicle
- Service of the English Speaking Guide.
- Park Entrance Fees
- All Activities Mentioned in the itinerary
Safari Exclusion
- Your international flight fare
- Your Uganda Visa fee
- Laundry services
- Tips and gratuities
- Drinks of personal nature like alcohol
