10-Day Best of Uganda Wildlife and Gorilla Safari

You'll land at Entebbe International Airport on the shores of Lake Victoria, where your guide meets you and helps load up for the drive to Kampala, around an hour depending on traffic through Entebbe town and across the equatorial belt of red earth and matoke plantations. There's time to settle in before evening, with the lake visible from parts of the route as fishing boats head out for the night.

Cassia Lodge sits on a ridge above Lake Victoria with views over the water and Kampala's rooftops below. You'll have dinner on the terrace and a briefing on the days ahead, from chimp tracking in Kibale to the gorilla permits waiting in Bwindi. No activities are scheduled today beyond settling in and resting after the flight.

You'll set off westward after breakfast for the drive to Kibale National Park, roughly six to seven hours covering close to 300 kilometres, with a stop in Fort Portal for lunch and a chance to stretch. The route climbs steadily through the Rift Valley's western arm, past tea estates around Mubende and Kyenjojo where the plantations run in neat green rows up the hillsides, and the air cools noticeably as you approach the forest's edge near Fort Portal.

Kibale itself sits at altitude, its dense forest home to one of Africa's highest primate densities. You'll arrive at Turaco Treetops Lodge by late afternoon, in time to hear the forest wake up around dusk, black and white colobus calling from the canopy and the distant hoot of chimpanzees settling for the night. Dinner is at the lodge, with an early night ahead of tomorrow's tracking.

You'll leave the lodge early for the ranger briefing at Kanyanchu, then head into Kibale's forest on foot, tracking chimpanzee groups through tangled undergrowth and beneath a canopy that blocks most of the morning light. Treks can run from one to several hours depending on where the chimps have moved overnight, and you'll also likely see red colobus, grey-cheeked mangabeys, and a variety of forest birds along the way.

Once you've located a group, you get up to an hour with them, watching feeding, grooming, and the occasional dramatic pant-hoot chorus that echoes through the trees. You'll return to Turaco Treetops Lodge for a late lunch. The afternoon is free, with an optional guided walk to the nearby Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary for birdlife and monkeys if you want to stay active, otherwise it's a chance to rest before dinner.

You'll drive south from Kibale towards Queen Elizabeth National Park, around two to three hours through the Kibale Corridor and past crater lakes scattered across the volcanic landscape near Fort Portal, their still surfaces reflecting the surrounding hills. The terrain opens up as you descend towards the park, forest giving way to open savannah and views across to the Rwenzori Mountains on clear days.

You'll enter Queen Elizabeth through the Kabatoro Gate, with a game drive built into the afternoon's approach as you head towards Buffalo Safari Lodge. Expect elephant, buffalo, and various antelope species, including the park's resident Uganda kob, grazing in the open grassland around the Kasenyi plains. You'll check in by late afternoon with the Kazinga Channel visible from parts of the lodge grounds.

You'll start with a morning game drive across the Kasenyi plains, where lion prides are known to hunt kob herds in the open grassland, before returning to the lodge for a mid-morning boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel. The channel connects Lake Edward and Lake George and holds one of Africa's densest hippo populations, along with buffalo herds wading at the water's edge, Nile crocodiles sunning on the banks, and pelicans, cormorants, and fish eagles working the shoreline.

After lunch you'll drive south towards the Ishasha sector, around two hours on tracks that cross open plains before the terrain thickens into fig woodland. Ishasha is known for its tree-climbing lions, and your guide will scan the sycamore and fig trees along the way. You'll settle in at Ishasha Jungle Lodge for the night, close to the Congo border.

You'll have one more early drive through Ishasha before departure, checking the fig trees for lions resting up in the branches during the heat of the day, a behaviour rarely seen elsewhere in Uganda. Buffalo and topi are common across the open plains here as well.

From Ishasha you'll drive south to Bwindi, roughly three to four hours on winding roads that climb steadily into the Kigezi highlands, terraced hillsides and banana plantations giving way to dense montane forest as you approach. The road narrows and the altitude climbs past 2,000 metres, with Bwindi's forest canopy visible ahead long before you reach it. You'll arrive at Haven Lodge Buhoma in the afternoon, with a briefing on tomorrow's gorilla trek and an early dinner.

You'll report to the park headquarters at Buhoma early for the ranger briefing and group allocation, then set off into Bwindi's forest, one of the last strongholds of the mountain gorilla. The terrain is steep and often muddy, and treks can take anywhere from one to several hours depending on where the tracked family has moved, through thick undergrowth, vines, and dense canopy that blocks most direct light.

Once you reach the gorillas you get an hour in their presence, watching a family group feed, rest, and interact at close range, often within a few metres. It's physically demanding but the encounter is considered one of Africa's most significant wildlife experiences. You'll return to Haven Lodge Buhoma in the afternoon for a hot meal and a chance to rest tired legs.

You have a choice today. Guests who arranged a second gorilla permit will head back into the forest for another trek, often tracking a different family group and experiencing a different route through Bwindi's terrain, whether that means steeper climbs or denser undergrowth than the day before.

Alternatively, you can join a guided community walk around Buhoma, visiting a local Batwa community to learn about their traditional forest life before the park's creation, along with a stop at a local homestead or craft workshop. Either option returns you to Haven Lodge Buhoma by afternoon, with time to relax on the terrace overlooking the forest edge before dinner.

You'll drive north from Bwindi towards Lake Mburo National Park, around four to five hours through the rolling hills of southwestern Uganda, past terraced farmland and small trading centres before the landscape flattens into acacia savannah and rocky outcrops characteristic of the park's ecosystem.

Lake Mburo is Uganda's smallest savannah park and one of its most accessible, known for zebra, eland, and impala, species not found in the western parks you've already visited. You'll check in to Rwakobo Rock Lodge, perched on a granite outcrop with sweeping views over the park, and head out for a late afternoon game drive as the light softens, with a good chance of spotting zebra herds grazing near the lodge.

You'll have one final activity this morning, either a boat trip on Lake Mburo itself, with hippos and a chance of sighting the shy shoebill stork among the papyrus reeds, or an early game drive through the park's acacia woodland for a last look at zebra and impala before departure.

After breakfast you'll begin the drive back to Entebbe, around four to five hours retracing the route north through Mbarara and across the equator crossing near Masaka, with a stop for lunch along the way. You'll arrive at Entebbe International Airport in good time for your onward flight, bringing the ten-day circuit of Uganda's forests, savannahs, and gorilla highlands to a close.