12-Day Wildlife Adventure Exploring Uganda and Tanzania

Hopefully, your flight is scheduled for an early (not past noon) landing in Entebbe. Your safari will start from the Entebbe International Airport where you will be received by the assigned driver/guide and depart for Kibale Forest NP. The park is popular for its primates’ population like the chimpanzees, colobus monkeys and red-tailed monkeys.

You will arrive in the late afternoon (evening) and just check into your accommodation, relax and later enjoy your dinner plus the overnight stay (awaiting the next day’s activity).

Have breakfast and head to the rangers’ point where you will receive some briefing on the dos and don’ts during chimp trekking. Thereafter, you will proceed to trek the chimps in the Kibale Forest. An experienced ranger guide will take you chimp tracking and you will be marveled by the sights of primates here. Once you locate the chimpanzees, you will have a full hour with them. Return to your accommodation for some rest time and lunch.

Later, go out to explore the crater lakes. You will enjoy the beauty of the numerous small lakes, surrounded by gentle hills, and the stunning views. Take a hike to Lake Nkuruba where you will encounter different species of primates and birds. Meet and interact with the local people as you walk through their villages and enjoy the panoramic views of the Kibale area. Return for dinner and the overnight stay.

Have a relaxed breakfast at the accommodation and drive off to Queen Elizabeth NP. You will reach Queen early enough to relax, have lunch and in the afternoon proceed out for game viewing. During the game drive, look out for wild animals like: reedbuck, bushbuck, kob, warthogs, elephants, lions and buffaloes to mention but a few.

Alternatively, you could choose to go for the Queen’s breathtaking explosion crater drive (instead). The drive is basically sightseeing with very spectacular view of the breathtaking scenery in and around Queen. There is also plenty of wildlife to see along the drive although commonest are sights of Cape Buffaloes plus Elephants. Return to the accommodation for relaxation, dinner and the overnight stay.

Be up early and have your breakfast. Proceed for a morning game drive to the Kasenyi plains and look out for Lions, Elephants, Bush bucks, Cape Buffaloes, Defassa Waterbucks, Giant Forest Hogs, Uganda kob among others. Return to the accommodation for some rest time and lunch.

After lunch, you will go for a 2-hour boat trip on the Kazinga Channel which connects Lakes: George and Edward and you will surely be fascinated by the concentrations of giant hippos, elephants and crocodiles among others. You will also see many varieties of birds at the water shores. You will have dinner and overnight at your accommodation.

Have breakfast then set off for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park through the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park – famously known for its resident tree-climbing lions. The chance of spotting these lions is about 70% though sometimes they are really hard to spot (most especially when they’re down in the grassland looking for prey). Hoping you get the chance to spot them, the sight will be spectacular!

Continue to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Bwindi is a big habitat for mountain gorillas in Uganda (harboring an estimated 400 mountain gorillas – roughly half of the world’s population) including several habituated groups, which can be tracked. With a strenuous day ahead, you will do less on arrival but just check in your accommodation, relax as you prepare for the Bwindi gorilla trekking experience the following day.

After an early breakfast and a briefing by a ranger guide, you will enter the gorilla sanctuary for your adventure. The beauty of this rain forest is spectacular! The area offers dramatic steeply forested landscape and is incredibly dense, but crisscrossed by numerous animal trails allowing access to tourists. The time taken and the terrain vary with the movements of these great primates. Once you locate a gorilla group, you will be allowed an hour in their presence. The thrill of spending time observing these gentle and endangered giants is an awesome, exciting experience to be long savored. 

Return for some rest and lunch at the accommodation. If time and energy allow, you may take an (optional) community visit and interact with the local community after the gorilla tracking. Else, take the afternoon just relaxing after a strenuous early part of the day trekking gorillas. Dinner and overnight stay at the booked accommodation.

Have breakfast and set off to Lake Mburo NP. Drive past the intensely terraced Kigezi hill slopes into Mbarara town and finally Lake Mburo NP. Arrive in the park in the early afternoon and take some rest before proceeding out for the late afternoon (evening) game viewing. On the game drive, expect to see the gigantic eland antelopes, zebras in big numbers, topis, impalas, warthogs, Uganda kob and Cape buffalos among others. Later, relax at the accommodation where you will spend the night. 

OPTIONAL: In case you’re interested, you may go out for the breathtaking Mburo night game drive. During the night game drive, expect to sight nocturnal creatures including huge snakes, python, hyena, owls and the elusive leopard (on a lucky day) among others. However, the cost for the night game drive is excluded and payable on the ground (as may be specified). 

Enjoy your early breakfast and proceed for the Mburo morning park/nature walk in the presence of an armed Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger/guide. On this early morning guided walk, you often encounter hyenas that are returning to their dens after a night of being on the prowl. Also, you will have the opportunity to encounter (at close range): Zebras, Giraffes and Eland, Topi and other antelopes, Cape buffaloes among others.

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 twelve lakes surrounding Lake Mburo NP. Thereafter, return to the accommodation for checkout and then hit the road to Entebbe airport for your flight out (to Arusha) recommended for 17:00 onward. 

Have breakfast and drive off to Lake Manyara NP. Located on the way to Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, Lake Manyara National Park is well worth a stop. Known for its elephants and tree-climbing lions, Lake Manyara is also excellent for flamingos and other fascinating birds in and around the soda lake. Arrive in time to enjoy game viewing and later relax, overnight at the accommodation. 

Have breakfast and depart into the Ngorongoro Crater. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) is an extensive highland area along the eastern arm of the Rift Valley with the world-renowned Ngorongoro Crater as its focal point. Ngorongoro was established to conserve wildlife and other natural resources. It’s the 8th world’s natural wonder with walls 2,000ft high and a crater floor that spreads for 102 sq. miles. The crater is literally “Noah's Ark” inhabited by almost every species of wildlife endemic to East Africa including the rare black rhino. In fact, the crater has the greatest concentration of wildlife in the planet. 

Explore the forest areas that are inhabited by monkeys and elephants, the lake area where you may see the flamingos and the open savannah where the lions hunt for food. Thereafter, you will head to the booked accommodation for relaxation, dinner and overnight stay.

Have breakfast and proceed out for game drive in Serengeti National Park (Central Serengeti called Seronera). This park is well known for its healthy stock of resident wildlife, particularly the Big 5: Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo. Serengeti is believed to hold the largest population of lions in Africa due (in part) to the abundance of prey species. African Leopards are also easy to spot while in Serengeti and notably in the Seronera region. Serengeti is a UNESCO world heritage site and home to around 200000 zebras, 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle joining the wildebeest’s trek for fresh grazing. Listen to the heart-pounding sounds of over 6 million hooves pounding the open plains of Serengeti just like how you imagined African wilderness to be. The experience is unforgettable! Thereafter, you will return to the accommodation for relaxation, dinner and overnight stay.

Have breakfast and drive off to Arusha to catch flight out. We hope to see you (or any referral) when next, you visit and thanks for choosing Home to Africa!