7 Days Primates and Big Game Safari in Western Uganda

Your driver-guide picks you up early at your hotel or residence in Kampala or Entebbe and gives you a briefing before you head west. You pass rural settlements, banana plantations, tea estates and rolling hills, with a lunch stop on the way.

You continue towards Fort Portal and the Kibale Forest area, with views of the Rwenzori Mountains on clear days. You reach your lodge near Kibale in the afternoon, check in and relax. If time allows, you can take a short guided walk around the lodge or a nearby community. Dinner at the lodge ahead of tomorrow’s chimpanzee tracking.

After an early breakfast you go to the visitor centre for a briefing on responsible primate viewing and forest safety, then enter Kibale Forest with experienced guides. The forest is home to chimpanzees as well as other primates, birds and butterflies, and your guide helps you read the signs of wildlife as you walk.

When the chimpanzees are found, you have a regulated period to watch them, following the park rules. You may see them feeding, grooming, playing or moving through the trees, and their behaviour is different every time.

You return to the lodge for lunch and a rest. In the afternoon you can add an optional guided visit to Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, a community conservation area known for its wetland habitats, birdlife and monkeys, with a local guide who introduces the area’s culture. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

After breakfast you check out and drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park through cultivated land, small trading centres and crater-lake scenery. You reach your lodge around lunchtime, depending on the road and where you stay.

After lunch and a short rest, you take an afternoon game drive, mainly around the Kasenyi plains. Look for elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kob, waterbucks and warthogs, and perhaps lions resting in the grass. Your guide explains animal behaviour and how the savannah works, and the softer afternoon light is good for photography. Dinner at the lodge.

After an early breakfast you head out on a morning game drive, when animals move through their feeding areas in the cooler hours. You explore the savannah and woodland for elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kob, waterbucks, warthogs and predators such as lions, though sightings depend on the season, weather and animal movements.

After lunch and a short rest you take the afternoon boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, which links Lake George and Lake Edward. From the boat you watch hippos in the water, Nile crocodiles on the banks, and buffaloes and elephants coming to drink, along with fish eagles, kingfishers, pelicans and other waterbirds. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

After breakfast you check out and travel to the Ishasha sector in the south of Queen Elizabeth National Park, known for lions that sometimes rest in large fig trees. You explore the tracks and scan the trees and grassland, and you may also see elephants, buffaloes, antelopes and many birds. Tree-climbing lion sightings are not guaranteed, so this is a real wildlife search.

You then continue through the green highlands of southwestern Uganda, where the landscape changes from open savannah to cultivated hills and dense vegetation. You reach your lodge in the Bwindi trekking sector in the afternoon or evening, depending on the route and road conditions, and have dinner and an early night before the trek.

Your gorilla permit decides the trekking sector and date, so the lodge is chosen to match it rather than assuming every lodge is close to every briefing point.

After an early breakfast you go to the park briefing centre, show your permit and identification, and attend the briefing on forest safety, gorilla behaviour and responsible viewing. You then set out with guides and trackers to find a habituated mountain gorilla family.

The trek goes through Bwindi’s ancient rainforest, with dense vegetation, steep slopes and narrow trails. It can be demanding, and the length depends on where the gorillas are. Once you find them, you normally have one hour to watch a silverback resting or feeding, mothers with infants and young gorillas playing. Follow your guide’s instructions, keep the required distance and take photographs responsibly.

After the trek you return to your lodge for lunch or a packed meal. The afternoon is free for rest or photography, or an optional community experience if you have the energy. Final dinner in the Bwindi region.

After breakfast you check out and drive back to Kampala or Entebbe through rolling hills, rural settlements and roadside markets, with a lunch stop on the way. You are expected to arrive in the late afternoon or evening, depending on traffic and road conditions.

Because the drive from Bwindi is long, allow plenty of time if you have an international flight, or consider adding a night near Entebbe. A domestic flight from a nearby airstrip may be possible, subject to schedule, baggage limits and extra cost.