10-Day Uganda Big Five Safari with Gorilla and Chimp Trekking

Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport, a JM Jungle Safaris staff member and your assigned English-speaking professional tour driver-guide will receive and welcome you to Uganda - the Pearl of Africa. Thereafter, you will transfer to your booked accommodation, check in, and take time to rest while recovering from jet lag and adjusting to the time difference.

Optional (extra cost): If you arrive early and are interested in an activity, you may consider: a) an excursion to the Entebbe Botanical Gardens to sight a few primates and birds, or b) an excursion to Mabamba Wetland in search of the prehistoric shoebill stork. Otherwise, check in and simply relax.

Be up early, have breakfast, and drive to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Once there, you will proceed for an hour of on-foot rhino tracking. After the rhino tracking, continue to Masindi for a lunch stop.

After lunch, embark on the transfer to Murchison Falls National Park. The highlights of this park include the roaring rapids of the Murchison and the rolling plains of Uganda's largest national park, where you will have the chance to view lions, giraffes, hartebeest, buffalo, and elephants. The concentration of hippos and Nile crocodiles here will surely fascinate you. If interested and time allows, you can proceed for a late afternoon-evening game drive.

Have breakfast, then depart for an early morning game drive across the rolling plains of Uganda's largest national park. Be on the lookout for wildlife including lions and leopards, though leopards can be hard to spot. Birders will also have quite a number of birds to sight during the drive.

Return to the accommodation for some rest time and lunch. After lunch, head out for the boat trip to the base of Murchison Falls, where you will also be able to catch sight of more animals, including schools of hippos, crocodiles, and several water birds.

Optional (extra cost 15$): If interested, continue with a hike to the top of the falls. The hike may be strenuous, but the thrill of reaching the top is unforgettable. Return to your accommodation and relax.

After breakfast, drive to the top of the falls to truly appreciate the beauty and magnificence of Murchison Falls. From the top, embark on a transfer that will see you overnight at the edge of Kibale Forest National Park.

The drive is quite long but incredibly scenic, passing through villages, lush green countryside, and hills dotted with tea plantations that characterize this part of Uganda. The beautiful scenery will amaze you all the way. Upon arrival at the accommodation, check in and simply relax.

Optional (extra cost 15$): If interested, you can proceed for the crater lakes excursion. You will enjoy the beauty of the numerous small lakes surrounded by gentle hills, and the stunning views all around. Otherwise, just enjoy your rest at the facility.

Have breakfast and proceed for the Bigodi Wetland excursion. Bigodi boasts an extensive array of biodiversity, including several primate species such as black-and-white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, L'Hoest's monkeys, and baboons. Bigodi is also a paradise for bird watchers, and among the major bird species in the area is the Great Blue Turaco.

From Bigodi, embark on a transfer of about 2 hours to Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will reach Queen early enough to have lunch, rest, and then proceed for game viewing. During the game drive, look out for wild animals such as reedbuck, bushbuck, kob, warthogs, elephants, lions, and buffaloes, to mention but a few.

Alternatively, you could choose to go for Queen's breathtaking explosion crater drive instead. Return to the accommodation and take your rest.

Be up early, have breakfast, and drive out to the nearby Kalinzu Forest Reserve. The forest is home to habituated chimpanzees, plus other primates including baboons and monkeys, as well as bird species. Today, you will spend the early part of the day tracking chimpanzees here.

Thereafter, return to the accommodation for some rest time and lunch. After lunch, go for a 2-hour boat trip on the Kazinga Channel, which connects Lakes George and Edward. During the trip, the sight of wildlife including giant hippos, elephants, and crocodiles, among others, will fascinate you. You will also see many varieties of birds along the water shores.

After the boat trip, you can proceed for a brief late afternoon game drive and thereafter return to the lodge.

Be up early and proceed for an early morning game drive in the Kasenyi Plains. Be on the lookout for Cape buffaloes, herds of elephants, lions, leopards, though hard to spot, and others. Return to the lodge, check out, and then head to the Ishasha sector in search of tree-climbing lions.

The chance of spotting these lions is about 70%, though sometimes they are hard to spot, especially when they are down in the grassland looking for prey. Should you get to spot them, the sight is picturesque and memorable.

From Ishasha, continue to the accommodation at the edge of Bwindi National Park in the Ruhija sector, arriving in the evening at about 5 or 6 pm.

Have breakfast and move to the rangers' post. You will receive a briefing from a ranger guide on the dos and don'ts during trekking. Thereafter, enter Bwindi Forest for your adventure. The time taken and the terrain vary with the movements of these great primates.

Once you have located a gorilla group, you will be allowed one hour in their presence. The thrill of spending time observing these gentle but endangered giants is unforgettable.

Return to the accommodation, check out, and transfer to Lake Bunyonyi. Lake Bunyonyi is framed by lush, green-terraced hills that reach a height of 2,200-2,478 m, but it is the 29 islands of various shapes and sizes scattered across the water that make it most magical - you could admire them all day.

Have breakfast and set off to Lake Mburo National Park via Mbarara City. You will arrive at the accommodation in Lake Mburo in good time and rest before moving out for an afternoon-to-evening game drive.

On the game drive, expect to see gigantic eland antelopes, zebras, topi, impalas, Uganda kob, and Cape buffaloes, among others. Later, relax at the accommodation where you will spend the night.

Optional (extra cost 30$): If interested, you may consider the night game drive to encounter nocturnal creatures, which will be a rare sighting compared to the regular daytime sightings.

Enjoy an early breakfast and proceed for the Mburo morning park bush walk in the presence of an armed Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger-guide. On this early morning guided walk, you will have the opportunity to encounter, at close range, zebras, giraffes, eland, topi, other antelope, Cape buffaloes, and more.

Take the trail to the top of the hills and see Lake Mburo and beyond. From this vantage point, you will have a great view of 9 of the 12 lakes surrounding Lake Mburo National Park. Thereafter, return to the accommodation for check-out and then hit the road to Entebbe Airport.