12-Day Uganda Wildlife, Primates and White Water Rafting

Otter African Safaris offers a spectacular 12-day adventure that showcases the best of Uganda. Track mountain gorillas in Bwindi, meet chimpanzees in Kibale, go on traditional wildlife drives in Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls National Parks, and face the Nile’s rapids with white water rafting in Jinja. An ideal combination of animals, primates, and adrenaline!

12-Day Uganda Wildlife, Primates and White Water Rafting.

Detailed 12-Days Uganda Wildlife, Primates and White Water Rafting

Day 1: Pick up and Transfer to Murchison National Park with an en route to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.

After your early morning breakfast, you will be picked up by an Otter African Safaris guide and driven 4 to 5 hours to Murchison Falls National Park in Masindi, Western Uganda. Your first visit will be at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in Nakasongola, where you will have an hour on-foot rhino tracking experience.

After the rhino tracking tour, you will travel to Masindi for lunch before seeing the top of Murchison Falls, a tremendous waterfall where the Nile squeezes thru an 8m deep valley and plunges with a loud roar into the Devil’s Caldron, creating a signature rainbow. From the falls, you will proceed via the park, where you will do a short twilight wildlife drive before checking into the lodge.

Overnight stay and dinner at the lodge.

Accommodations: The Elephant Oasis at Murchison

Meals: Lunch and Dinner.

Drinks: Drinking Water.

Day 2: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat trip to the Bottom of the Falls.

Have your breakfast early, then go on an early morning game drive thru the park to see elephants, lions, leopards, Rothschild’s giraffes, buffaloes, and antelopes such as Uganda kob, topi, eland, and bushbuck. You’ll have time to unwind for lunch. After lunch, you will join a boat tour to the bottom of Murchison Falls, where you will see aquatic animals such as hippos, Nile crocodiles, and water birds. On your return, enjoy the sunset view before dinner and spending the nite at the resort.

Accommodations: The Elephant Oasis at Murchison

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Drinks: Drinking Water.

Day 3: Transfer to Kibale National Park with an Afternoon Swamp walk in Bigodi wetland.

After breakfast, you will check out of the hotel and begin your journey to Kibale National Park in Fort Portal, Western Uganda, passing thru tea farms and rolling hills before arriving in Fort Portal. While in Fort Portal, you will eat lunch before continuing on to Kibale National Park. After checking into the resort, you will go on a guided nature walk in the Bigodi wetlands to view 138 bird species.

Accommodations: Isunga Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Drinks: Drinking Water.

Day 4: Chimpanzee Tracking and Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

You will wake up early for breakfast and then proceed to the park headquarters in Kanyanchu for a briefing by the guides on what to do and not do while with the chimps. You will then proceed on a trip in search of chimps, and after you have located a group, you will spend one hour with them observing their various behaviours, as well as spotting other primates throughout the forest.

After the chimpanzee tracking adventure, you will be given a chimpanzee tracking certificate and returned to the resort for lunch. After lunch, you will check out of the resort and head to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Accommodations: Tabingi Safari Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Drinks: Drinking Water.

Day 5: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat trip on Kazinga Channel.

After breakfast, go for an early morning game drive to Uganda’s second largest National Park, where you can spot lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes, hippos, waterbucks, warthogs, leopards, Uganda Kobs, hyenas, and hippos. During the drive, any birder will be able to see several birds. Return to the lodge for a rest period and lunch.

After lunch at the resort, you will have a 2-hour boat excursion on the Kazinga Channel, which joins Lakes George and Edward, and you will undoubtedly be intrigued by the concentrations of enormous hippos, buffaloes, elephants, and crocodiles, among other things. At the water’s edge, you’ll also notice a wide variety of birds. You will have dinner and spend the nite at the resort.

Accommodations: Tabingi Safari Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Drinks: Drinking Water.

Day 6: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park with an Evening Visit to the Batwa Community.

After an early breakfast, you will check out of the lodge in Queen Elizabeth National Park and travel to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park via the Ishasha sector. You will go on a wildlife drive thru the Ishasha region, where you will get the opportunity to witness tree climbing lions resting in fig trees. Following that, you will travel to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and eat lunch along the route.

Accommodations: Rushaga Gorilla Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Drinks: Drinking Water.

Day 7: Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

You will eat breakfast early in the morning before reporting to the park headquarters for a training on what to do and not do when among the gorillas. Remember to bring a packed lunch and plenty of drinking water because you may be in the forest till the afternoon looking for these gentle giants in their natural habitat.

The gorilla tracking exercise is a physically tough yet entertaining pastime! You may need to employ a porter to assist you during tracking, which are easily available at the park headquarters.

Once you’ve found the gorillas, you have one hour to ask them any questions you like about their behaviour. After tracking, return to the lodge to clean up. After supper and nighttime, you will be entertained by Batwa pygmies who will perform dances and tell stories. Your lodge will serve dinner and provide overnight accommodations.

Accommodations: Rushaga Gorilla Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Drinks: Drinking Water.

Day 8: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi with an Afternoon canoeing on the lake.

After breakfast, check out of the resort and go to Lake Bunyonyi, a lovely lake with 29 islands and a depth of approximately 900 meters. After lunch, you’ll check into your lake-view accommodation. You will travel on an evening sunset boat ride to explore some of the 29 islands, including Punishment Island. You will return for dinner and overnight.

Accommodations: Bunyonyi Overland Resort

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Drinks: Drinking Water.

Day 9: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park with an Evening Game Drive in the Park.

After breakfast, drive from Lake Bunyonyi Lodge for Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda’s smallest Savanna National Park. You will arrive at the park in the afternoon for lunch, after which you will relax before embarking on an evening game drive. You will next go on an evening game drive where you will see animals like as giraffes, zebras, impalas, elands, buffaloes, and waterbucks, among others.

Accommodations: Arcadia Lodge Lake Mburo

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Drinks: Drinking Water.

Day 10: Transfer to Jinja

After breakfast, the game rangers will take you on a guided walk to the saline cliffs of Rwonyo, where animals can be found licking salt. After that, you’ll go on a morning game drive before leaving the park and heading to Jinja. Along the trip, you will stop at the Equator in Kayabwe for unforgettable images, as well as the famous water experiment that demonstrates how the planet is divided into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, allowing you to enjoy both. You will stop for lunch on route and then continue on to Jinja.

Accommodations: Nile Bridge Cottages

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Drinks: Drinking Water.

Day 12: Transfer to Entebbe International Airport.

After your morning breakfast, you will check out of your hotel in Jinja and you will transfer to Entebbe International Airport for your flight back home. Do not forget to purchase a souvenir for yourself as a remembrance for this wonderful trip.

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch.

Drinks: Drinking Water.

12-Days Uganda Wildlife, Primates and White Water Rafting Experience Inclusions and Exclusions

Safari Inclusions:

  • Gorilla trekking permits.
  • Chimp trekking permits.
  • Park fees.
  • All activities mentioned.
  • Meals (as specified in the day-by-day description).
  • All accommodation mentioned (unless clearly labeled as optional upgrade).
  • Roundtrip airport transfer.
  • A professional driver/guide.
  • All transportation mentioned (unless clearly labeled as optional).

Safari Exclusions:

  • All Taxes/VAT.
  • International flights (from/to the client’s home country).
  • Additional accommodation before and at the end of the tour.
  • Personal items (souvenirs, travel insurance, visa fees and other personal items).
  • Alcoholic beverages and soft drinks not included in meals.
  • Optional activities not listed in the itinerary.