Primate, Tree Climbing Lions and Wildlife Safari

You will be met by our professional driver-guide at Entebbe International Airport and be driven to Kampala in an official Ovacado Adventure van. Depending on your arrival time, it may be possible to take a tour of the city in the afternoon. Later you will check-in at Marie’s Royal Hotel, where you will enjoy dinner and your overnight stay.

You will begin your safari this morning by transferring to Kibale Forest National, stopping at Fort Portal on the way for lunch. We will pass many villages and tea plantations in the countryside along the way, offering many opportunities for stopovers. In the late evening, we will check into a beautiful resort area close to a crater lake that borders the forest.

Kibale Forest National Park is a rainforest that is home to over 1,500 Chimpanzees. During your morning trek you will see chimps up close and capture shots of our closest cousins in the jungle! Besides the chimps, nine other different species of monkeys are found in this forest, including red colobus, red tailed monkey and bush babies. Within the forest canopy you may spot various bird species, like the native great blue turaco, joyful greenbul, olive long-tailed cuckoo and the superb black bee eater.

After the trek, we start the transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park. You may drive past the Rwenzori Mountain Range or drive through the crater lakes in the hills to sample the surprising diversity of savannah trees and wildlife to be found here! Reach the lodge and enjoy the impressive view over Queen Elizabeth as we unwind from our long day.

Today you will discover Queen Elizabeth National Park with an evening game drive that exposes us to diverse animals, including elephants, buffalos, lion, leopards, warthogs and hyenas. There is also rich bird life here. The flamingoes that make their home in the salt lakes are an especially spectacular sight.

After breakfast, we will embark to see the park’s early risers on a game drive. After lunch, it is time for a classic activity: a two-hour boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel. This 36km waterway links Lake George to Lake Edward. On the banks you can see land and water adapted hippopotamuses yawning and slashing canines at each other. You may also get a glimpse of the Nile crocodile!

Today we will journey through the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park on our way to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This area is known for its tree-climbing lions who sit high amongst the fig tree branches.

Continue the transfer to Bwindi. Here you will experience a change in the landscape from flat savanna to cultivated hills to jungle covered mountains. If we arrive early enough you may opt to go on a walk to the local orphanage or visit with the locals.

Have an early breakfast and then get ready for big highlight of this safari — gorilla trekking! Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is home to the famous mountain gorillas, and on this day you get to meet them! You will set off into the forest with a specialised guide and trek through beautiful nature areas before spending one hour in the area where the mountain gorillas are. Besides the gorillas, this forest is full of birds, butterflies and plant species plus forest hogs and elephants.

Today is a free day for you to relax by the beautiful Lake Bunyonyi. Here is a short list of optional activities that you can partake in: canoeing, swimming (safe in this lake), hiking on the Bushara trail along the lake shore, or lounging at your resort!

After breakfast, you will transfer to Lake Mburo, which is known as the “zebra magnet”. You will arrive in the park and have lunch at the lodge before heading out for an afternoon game drive to view zebras, topis, warthogs, cape buffaloes and impalas.

Get up early for a morning safari walk, during which you’ll have the chance to see leopards, zebras, waterbucks and bird buffalos at daybreak! You will also pay a visit to a hyena’s den. Return for breakfast and then make your way back to Kampala, stopping for lunch in Masaka and at the equator.

Your guide will pick you up in the morning for your visit to Mabamba Swamp, which sits a bit south of Entebbe. If you are lucky we might see some interesting birds along the way. When we reach the swamp we will go out in small boats to search for the rare shoebill stork, lesser jacana, marsh harriers, African pygmy-goose, whistling ducks and, if its is the right season, the blue swallow, blue breasted bee eater and many other aquatic birds. You will return to Entebbe after the tour.