Best of Uganda
Rhino on foot at Ziwa, the Nile through a seven metre gap, chimpanzees in Kibale, lion in the Ishasha fig trees and gorillas in Bwindi. Uganda is the only country where one road does all of that.
A starting point, not a packageevery stop can be lengthened, shortened or dropped
fromUSD 3,950per personfrom, per person, two sharing, both permits included
The parks are four to eight hours apart.
Ten days is where it stops being a series of drives.
Most people come for the gorillas and go home. It works, and we build that trip often. But Uganda is the only country in the world where you can walk up on rhino in the morning, watch the entire Victoria Nile forced through a gap seven metres wide in the afternoon, and be sitting under chimpanzees two days later.
The distances are real and the roads take the time they take. Ten days is where the country stops feeling like a series of drives and starts feeling like one trip. Fourteen adds Kidepo in the far north-east, which is the emptiest place in East Africa and the only park in Uganda with cheetah.
What we will not do is compress it. A twelve-day route run in eight is eight days of looking at the back of a seat. If your time is shorter, we would rather cut a park than cut the hours in it.
Highlights
The journey
Entebbe, then north to the rhino
We collect you at Entebbe and drive north out of the lake basin. By early afternoon you are at Ziwa, which holds every rhino in Uganda. You track them on foot with a ranger, which means walking quietly through thorn scrub until you are standing twenty metres from an animal that weighs two tonnes.
It is a sanctuary, not a wild population, and we say so. It is also the only way to see a rhino in this country, and doing it on foot rather than from a vehicle changes it completely.
176 km, about 3 hours
LuxuryLodge inside the sanctuary
PremiumGuesthouse at the sanctuary gate
Murchison: the Nile through a gap seven metres wide
Into Murchison in the morning and across to the northern bank. The Buligi circuit runs between the Victoria and Albert Niles, and it is the most reliable game viewing in Uganda outside Kidepo: Rothschild's giraffe in numbers, elephant, buffalo, Jackson's hartebeest, and lion on perhaps half of mornings.
In the afternoon the launch runs three hours upriver to the foot of the falls. You hear it well before you see it. From the landing you can climb the staircase beside the water to the top, which takes about forty five minutes and soaks you.
Game drive 70 km, launch 3 hours
LuxuryRiverside lodge inside the park
PremiumLodge on the northern bank
South to the crater lakes and Kibale
A long drive south along the edge of the rift, with the Rwenzori coming up on your right in the afternoon if the cloud lifts. The road ends in the crater lake country around Fort Portal, which is tea estates and sixty volcanic lakes and almost nobody.
This is the day people do not expect to like and usually do. There is time in the late afternoon for a walk between two craters before dark.
350 km, about 5 hours 30
LuxuryLodge on a crater rim
PremiumLodge in the tea country
Chimpanzees in Kibale
Briefing at eight, then into the forest. Kibale holds thirteen primate species and the most reliable chimpanzee tracking in East Africa, with a habituated community of about 120. You hear them first, from a long way off, and the noise is nothing like what you expect.
An hour with them once they are found. The afternoon is yours: the Bigodi wetland walk next door is the best birding on this route, or you can do nothing, which after four days of driving is a reasonable choice.
Trek 2 to 4 hours, on foot
LuxuryLodge on a crater rim
PremiumLodge in the tea country
Queen Elizabeth: the channel and the tree-climbing lion
Down into Queen Elizabeth, which sits between two lakes with the Kazinga Channel joining them. The afternoon boat along the channel is the densest concentration of hippo and water birds in the country, close enough that you stop using the binoculars.
The next morning runs south through the Ishasha sector, where the lion lie in the fig trees. They are there perhaps half the days. Nobody can promise them and we will not.
Channel cruise 2 hours, Ishasha 2h 30m
LuxuryLodge above the rift escarpment
PremiumSafari lodge inside the park
Bwindi, and the hour you came for
Briefing at seven. You are put into a group of eight and assigned a family, and the trackers who slept near them radio their position. Then you walk into forest that has stood since the last ice age.
Forty minutes or six hours, depending where they moved overnight. When you reach them, the hour starts. Most people are quiet on the way back down.
Trek 2 to 6 hours, on foot
LuxuryForest-edge lodge with a fireplace in each room
PremiumComfortable lodge near the trailhead
Lake Bunyonyi, and the road home
Two nights on Bunyonyi, which is the only lake on this route with no bilharzia and no crocodiles, which means you can actually swim in it. It is terraced to the waterline and full of islands, and it is where people finally sit still.
Then either the long drive back to Entebbe, or the light aircraft from the airstrip at Kisoro, which turns eight hours into ninety minutes. We will price both and let you choose.
8h by road, or 1h 30m flying
LuxuryIsland or lakeshore lodge
PremiumLakeshore lodge with a terrace
Permits are released per day, and the best months go first.
Give us an approximate date and we check availability against it. No payment, no obligation.
What your trip includes
Gorilla permit, USD 800 per person
Chimpanzee permit, USD 250 per person
Rhino tracking on foot at Ziwa
Full board throughout
Private 4x4 and driver-guide, the same one all trip
All park fees and government taxes
Launch trip at Murchison and the Kazinga Channel cruise
Airport collection and return, Entebbe
What it does not cover
International flights
Uganda visa, USD 50
Porters on the treks
Tips for your guide
Alcohol and personal items
Single room supplement, USD 45 per night
Not quite the trip you had in mind? Every departure is private, so the length and the lodges are yours to change. Tell us what you want.
Uganda
Half of the world’s mountain gorillas live in Bwindi, and the permit to sit with them costs less than anywhere else they exist. Beyond the forest the country runs from the snow on the Rwenzori to the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha and the point where the Nile leaves Lake Victoria.
What we tell everyone before they book
What to bring
- Binoculars, one pair per person
- Waterproof jacket and thick gloves for the treks
- Ankle boots with real grip
- A dust-proof bag for camera bodies
- Light long sleeves for the evenings
- Sun hat and high factor sunscreen
- Insect repellent
- Cash for porters and tips
Before you ask
Is ten days too long for Uganda?
No. The parks are far apart and the roads take the time they take. Ten days is where the country stops feeling like a series of drives and starts feeling like one trip. If you have less, we would rather cut a park than cut the hours inside it.
Can we fly between the parks instead of driving?
Yes, on the longest legs. Light aircraft connect Entebbe, Murchison, Kasese for Queen Elizabeth, and Kisoro for Bwindi. The Bunyonyi to Entebbe leg is the one most people fly: it turns eight hours into ninety minutes. We price both so you can see what the time costs.
What happens if I need to cancel?
Nothing is paid when you enquire. Both permits are bought in your name once you confirm, and neither the Uganda Wildlife Authority nor the chimpanzee permit is refundable once issued. Your deposit amount and balance date are put in writing before you pay anything.
Will we definitely see the tree-climbing lion at Ishasha?
No. They are there on roughly half of days, and anyone who guarantees them is selling something that is not theirs to sell. Ishasha is on the road to Bwindi, so looking costs you nothing but the hours.
Is this suitable for children?
Partly. Gorilla and chimpanzee trekking both have a minimum age of 15 with no exceptions. Everything else on this route works for younger children, and we build a version around the rhino, the boats and the game drives instead.
How soon will you reply?
Within one working day, with a route, a price that has nothing hidden in it, and an honest view on whether the days you have suit the route you want.
Tell us roughly when
hello@wildroutetours.com
A trip designer replies within one working day.