5 Day Safari, Lake Cruise, and Chimpanzee Trek in Uganda's Best National Parks

Guided Safari Uganda

Join in a safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park and Lake Mburo National Park in Uganda. Spot the wildlife by trekking in the game park. You will even ride a horse to observe the animals closely. Enjoy the view during game drives while watching the interaction between the animals and their natural habitat. Let your safari experience be the most memorable moment of your life on this exciting journey!

Key info

Group and private safari possible, rates will vary depending on this.
Group size: Maximum 24 persons for a group safari and minimum 4 persons for a private safari
Children policy: Children from the age of 5 years old are allowed to participate under the supervision of a parent or guardian.
Starting point and ending point: Kampala
English-speaking guide

Meet the guides

Bosco
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Highlights

3 game drives and 2 boat cruises
Chimpanzee tracking and horseback safari
Chance to see lions, leopards, elephants, and chimpanzees
Queen Elizabeth National Park and Lake Mburo National Park visit
Service of an English-speaking guide with use of a safari car
4 breakfasts, 4 lunches, and 3 dinners
4 nights' accommodation
Complimentary airport transfers

Styles

5 activity days

Group size: Maximum of 24 participants

Airport transfer included: Entebbe International Airport

Accommodation

During the safari, you will be accommodated in Queen Elisabeth Bush Lodge and Eagles Nest or Rwakobo Rock.

Queen Elisabeth Bush Lodge

To stay within the low-impact safari concept, Queen Elisabeth Bush Lodge has chosen a large dining tent for their restaurant. The tent is set so as to overlook the Kazinga Channel and have the Rwenzori mountain range as a backdrop while enjoying the excellent food. In the evenings though, when the weather allows, they take your table outside and organize a starlit dinner. Paraffin lights and a campfire create a cozy setting from where your four-course dinner will be served.

Due to logistic reasons (quality products are difficult to get in the area and must come from Kampala), they work with set menus, but if you inform them on time, it will be their pleasure to cater to your request and dietary requirements. Early wake-up calls with coffee or tea, packed breakfasts or lunches can all be organized according to your planning of the day.

Non-self-contained tent

Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge offers budget-friendly accommodation in the form of 10 non-self-contained tents. These are furnished with comfortable beds, a bedside table, and a power outlet for charging your electrical equipment. All tents are placed under a grass thatched roof which creates your private terrace and provides some welcome shade. The tents share a communal ablution block with showers and flushing toilets. No need to worry about linen as all bedding and towels are provided.

Self-contained tent

For those who want to have some privacy and a real in-the-bush experience, Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge now offers two self-contained tents a little distance away from the lodge. It is ideal for families as an extra tent can be placed on the adjacent platform. They recommend this accommodation for the adventurous and those who have their own transportation as walking to and from the main camp is not recommended during the night.

Banda

The lodge consists of 12 self-contained units, spaciously placed between the indigenous bush. The rooms are built on a raised wooden platform and made from a fine combination of canvas and local materials. Huge mosquito-netted windows allow a 180-degree view and ensure a close-to-nature experience. Each room has a private terrace overlooking the seasonal Kamera River. The rooms contain an eco-toilet and an outside shower where two showerheads allow couples to take their starlit shower together.

Rwakobo Rock

The restaurant and bar have been perfectly located overlooking Lake Mburo National Park with the added attraction of a nearby waterhole which attracts many animals on a daily basis, such as zebras, impalas, and bushbuck. The restaurant serves tasty homemade food which has been lovingly cooked by the head chef Plaxeda and her fantastic team.

Rwakobo Rock's food is based on a combination of Ugandan and Western flavors with a selection of choices daily which aims to take advantage of the plentiful fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats from the surrounding area. Rwakobo Rock aims to source as much of its food as possible from local suppliers, further benefiting their surrounding neighbors and also reducing their food miles. Plaxeda and her team are also happy to cater to any dietary requirements you may have.

Rwakobo Rock's well-stocked bar provides a range of cold Ugandan beers and soft drinks as well as wine and spirits. Hot drinks for those rainy afternoons can also be requested from the bar, so please feel free to ask.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served in the main lodge, from set menus to a buffet-style dinner, there is always something for everyone. If you are leaving Rwakobo Rock early in the morning, they will try their best to make sure you don’t leave them on an empty stomach, they can prepare an early breakfast or send you on your way with a packed lunch.

Located in the main lodge, you will also find charging stations to ensure you are never running low on battery to capture that perfect picture. Rwakobo Rock also has a slow Wi-Fi connection.

Program

Day 1: Kampala to Queen Elizabeth National Park

After an early morning breakfast, you will be picked up by your driver guide, who will transfer you to Queen Elizabeth National Park, allowing an en-route stopover at the equator for photographs and to perform a simple experiment and experience a tropical balance before proceeding for lunch. After lunch, proceed to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Upon arrival at your lodge, you will relax for the rest of the day or go swimming at the lodge’s pool or work out in the health club. Have dinner and overnight at the lodge.

Day 2: Morning game drive/lunch cruise

Early in the morning, you will go for a game drive to view the early risers and predators returning to their hideout along Kasenyi tracks and Queens Mile. This dawn drive offers you an opportunity to see lions, leopards, giant forest hogs, Cape buffaloes, elephants, Defassa waterbucks, spotted hyenas, Uganda kobs, topis, bushbuck, and bird species.

After the game drive, return to the lodge for a late breakfast and relax till lunch. After lunch, you will go for a two-hour launch cruise on the Kazinga Channel into Lake Edward. This launch cruise will give you a great opportunity for photography, bird watching, and game viewing at a close range. Return for an easy evening dinner and overnight.

Day 3: Chimpanzee tracking/evening game drive

After having your breakfast, head to Kyambura Gorge for chimpanzee tracking. The gorge is part of the giant Rift Valley, the place where you will meet your chimpanzees in abundance. The chimpanzees are habituated, meaning that they are used to human beings. They move daily, building new nests. You will spot other wildlife like vervet and black/white colobus monkeys, baboons, and many bird species.

Later in the afternoon, drive to the crater region, where you will take a hike to the craters as you enjoy the beautiful scenery. Return to your lodge for the overnight stay.

Day 4: Drive to Lake Mburo National Park

After breakfast, drive to Lake Mburo National Park. The park contains a variety of attractions; it is dominated by extensive wetlands, rolling grassy hills, seasonal and permanent swamps, wooded savannah, and forests, which harbor a variety of plants and animal species. After lunch, take a boat trip inside Lake Mburo and enjoy wildlife viewing see crocodiles, pelicans, hippos, herons, and the rare shoebill storks. Have dinner and overnight at Mihingo Lodge or Rwakobo Rock.

Day 5: Horseback safari / depart for Kampala

Morning game drive. You will feel part of nature and often get the chance to see the more timid animals closely. You are likely to see elands and buffaloes and nearly always warthogs, topis, impalas, duikers, bushbuck, waterbuck, and zebras on the game safari.

After this exhilarating experience, relax, have your lunch, and head for Kampala arriving in the evening. This is the end of the tour.

Location

This safari will take place in Queen Elizabeth National Park and Lake Mburo National Park in Uganda.

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in Western Uganda, spanning the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Bushenyi, and Rukungiri. Its location is approximately 376 kilometers (234 miles), by road, southwest of Kampala.

The area of the park extends from Lake George in the northeast to Lake Edward in the southwest and includes the Kazinga Channel that connects the two lakes. The park is named after Queen Elizabeth II. It is home to 95 species of mammal and over 500 species of birds. The area around Ishasha in Rukungiri District is famous for its tree-climbing lions, whose males sport black manes, a feature unique to the lions in this area.

The park is also famous for its volcanic features, comprising volcanic cones and deep craters, many with crater lakes such as Lake Katwe, from which salt is extracted. Set against the backdrop of the jagged Rwenzori Mountains, the park’s magnificent vistas include dozens of enormous craters carved dramatically into rolling green hills, panoramic views of the Kazinga Channel with its banks lined with hippos, buffaloes and elephants, and the endless Ishasha plains.

Queen Elizabeth National Park has outstanding wildlife attractions as well as a fascinating cultural history. There are many opportunities for visitors to meet the local communities and enjoy storytelling, dance, music, and more.

With an astonishing 5,000 hippos, 2,500 elephants, and over 10,000 buffaloes thriving in its grasslands and shorelines, Queen Elizabeth National Park guarantees sightings of some of Africa’s most iconic species. Hearing the elephants’ calls reverberate around the park's crater-filled valleys is a magical experience. Other common herbivores include warthogs, waterbuck, Uganda kobs and topis, as well as the sitatunga antelopes.

Birding in Queen Elizabeth National Park is an incredible treat as it contains a variety of habitats that range from savanna to wetlands to lowland forests. This diversity is reflected in the list of over 600 bird species, the biggest of any protected area in East Africa. A majority of the birds found in this area are regarded as famous birds of East Africa and are a must-see for birdwatchers in Africa!

Queen Elizabeth National Park’s most elusive inhabitants are its felines: lion, leopard, serval, and some smaller cats. Lions are found throughout the park, but the most renowned live in the southern sector of Ishasha, where they rest on the limbs of fig trees. Solitary leopards are nocturnal and fiendishly well camouflaged, making a glimpse all the more rewarding. The smaller cats are also predominantly nocturnal and best spotted on night game drives.

Access by road is 438 kilometers from Kampala on a good tar road that leads to the main gate turn-off. From there, it is 20 kilometers on a dirt road.

Lake Mburo National Park

Measuring 260 square kilometers, Lake Mburo National Park is the smallest of Uganda’s savanna national parks. It is conveniently located along Kampala - Mbarara highway in Kiruhura District. In spite of its small size, Lake Mburo National Park is an Uganda safari gem. It is Uganda’s prominent safaris destination for great sightings of zebras, gigantic elands, topis, buffaloes, and impalas.

Its landscape of grassy rolling hills and beautiful lake shores contains a combination of mosaic habitats, dry hillsides, rocky outcrops, bushes, thickets, open and wooded savanna forests, swamps, and lakes. These support an impressive diversity of plates, animals, and bird species.

There are 68 species of mammals that include zebras, roan antelopes, leopards, hyenas, jackals, elands, buffalos, crocodiles, and impalas. 350 species of birds have been recorded of which five species are found only in Budongo Forest, and papyrus swamp birds, sessional swamp birds, woodland birds, grassland birds, and forest birds. The park has a massive wetland system that includes five lakes and several swamps, the biggest and most popular of Lake Mburo. It is an iconic feature of the park that gives the park its name.

Lake Mburo is a haven for wildlife adventures especially launch rides. Lots of birds and animals throng the shores of the lake. Crocodiles and hippos are permanent, while antelopes and zebra come to drink and cool off the scorching heat, especially during the dry season. There are a variety of birds including malachite kingfishers, African fish eagles, pied kingfishers, herons, pelicans, blue-headed wavers, cormorants, green-necked doves, and rare shoebills.

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Food

The tour package includes 4 breakfasts, 4 lunches, and 3 dinners.

The following meals are included:

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:

Regular (typically includes meat and fish)

If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation

Check availability and plan your dream trip!

The organizer has discretion over price and availability for each inquiry.

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