Luxury/Mid-range Wildlife, cultural, Gorilla tracking and landscape photographic Safari in Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Parks and lake Bunyonyi.

Safari Highlights
Game drives -3, Boat Cruise-1, Gorilla tracking-1, community visit (cultural encounter)

Equipment to bring
Camera, Wide angle lens, 200+ mm lens, Tripod, Water proof protection for your equipment, spare batteries and a charger. Snap Uganda gives one set of complimentary photographic accessories that include a trip/nonopod, gimbal, cotton carrier and beanbag for each trip.

What to bring for Gorilla Tracking
Good walking boots, wet weather clothing and warm layers for the evenings – it gets cold and damp at this altitude. The sun is still fierce during the day – even when overcast – so be sure to still wear sunscreen and a sun hat. You may also want to bring waterproof bags to protect cameras and other equipment when hiking. Water and snacks will be provided.

Trip Summary
Day 1- Arrival and pick up
Day 2 Transfer to Queen Elizabeth and afternoon game drive
Day 3 Crater drive and afternoon boat cruise
Day 4 Ishasha drive and transfer to Bwindi
Day 5 Gorilla tracking
Day 6 Batwa community visit and transfer to Bunyonyi
Day 7 Boat ride to Akampene ( Punishment Island
Day 8 Departure to Kampala.
Day 9: Kampala shopping – Airport Departure

Safari Overview
Uganda is an unexploited photographer’s destination that will give you an exciting trip capturing the magnificent nature and wildlife in their natural homes. This 7 days photo tour will be taking you to only two of Uganda’s the 10 national parks i.e. Queen Elizabeth and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. You will also have an overnight stay at one of the world’s most beautiful and Africa’s second deepest Lake -. Bunyony.

The photographic journey will start from Kampala the capital and end in Kampala. Will take you to the Uganda’s most famous park- Queen Elizabeth named after the visit by the Queen of England in 1952 where you will encounter diverse ecosystems. Animals to see include lions, elephants, hippos, crocodiles and variety of birds. In Bwindi Impenetrable national park, half of the mountain gorillas in the world roam the steep forested slopes of the area and unique birdlife call the dense forests home. You will be thrilled by the Bakiga and Batwa communities that offer cultural tourism activities by performing their cultural songs in addition to showcasing their way of life.

Detailed Programme

Day 1 – Arrival and pick up
You arrive at Entebbe International Airport and a representative from Snap Uganda Tours will meet you and drive you to Sheraton Kampala Hotel (luxury) {1hr} or to Cassia Lodge (mid-range). Please feel free to ask questions about Uganda along the way.

Dinner and overnight at Sheraton Kampala Hotel- Luxury
Dinner and overnight at Kaazi Beach Resort – Mid-range
Meal Plan. D, B

Day 2 Transfer to Queen Elizabeth and afternoon game drive
After breakfast, depart by road for Queen Elizabeth National Park 410km from the capital Kampala. We check in into the lodge for lunch after which you do an evening game drive. The drive takes you to the savanna plains of Kasenyi and the kob mating area. We will be on the lookout for lions and other wildlife which are aprt of 95 mammals that live in the park.

Meal Plan (L, D, B, L, D)
Accommodation Mweya Safari Lodge (Luxury)
Enganzi Game Lodge (Mid-range)

Day 3 Crater drive and afternoon boat cruise
Early wakeup call, have a quick cup of coffee/tea and at 6.00 am and go for a game drive with breakfast in the bush. Some of the animals you can see are: occasional leopard, elephants, lions, Uganda kob, water bucks and a variety of birds. During the game rive, you branch off to the picturesque Katwe Salt Lake for landscape and people pictures. A visit to the lake gives you the experience of meeting the local people as they go about their centuries old trade- salt mining. One nearby Crater Lake called Munyanyange (Cattle egret in the local language) attracts huge flamingo flocks not seen elsewhere in Uganda.

After the game drive, you go back to Mweya Safari Lodge or Engazi Lodge for lunch. Thereafter you go for a Boat Cruise along the Kazinga Channel. The channel joins Lake George to Lake Edward. Wild life and a variety of birds can be viewed while on a boat cruise. The Kazinga Channel is an oasis for many of the fascinating species that inhabit the park. A boat cruise gives you a chance to watch hundreds of enormous hippos, buffalo’s elephants along the shoreline.

With over 600 bird species, the park has the biggest number of birds of any protected area in East Africa Kazinga Channel is a haven for water birds that are easily seen during a boat cruise. Some of them are: Great and Long-tailed Cormorants, Common Squaco Heron, White-faced Whistling and Knob-billed Ducks, African Fish Eagle, Great-white and Pink-backed Pelicans, African open-billed Stork, Water Thick-knee, Malachite and Pied kingfishers, Swamp flycatchers and Yellow backed Weavers, Black Crake, African Jacana, Spur-winged and African Wattled Plovers.

Hundreds of African Skimmers may be seen roosting on sandbars near the entry to Lake Edward but are migrants from southern tropics and typically present only from December to May. After the boat experience you go back to the hotel

Meal Plan (B, L, D, B)
Accommodation Mweya safari Lodge (Luxury)
Enganzi Game Lodge (Mid-range)

Day 4 Ishasha drive and Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable national park
After breakfast, check out of the hotel and drive to Ishasha on the way to Bwindi. Ishasha is QENP’s southernmost part and it offers classic game viewing. The chances of seeing tree climbing lions are particularly good in this sector besides, the prides spending their days resting in shady trees there is other wildlife like topis, elephants, bushbucks among others. It not a guarantee that you can always see the tree climbing lions, however, there is plenty of other anaimls you can view and photograph like topis, kobs and sunabathing hippos.

Meal Plan (L, D)
Accommodation Gorilla Forest Camp (Luxury)
Silver back Lodge (Mid-range)

Day 5 Gorilla tracking
Visiting Bwindi Impenetrable National park gives you a magical hour in the company of a family of mountain gorillas. This activity can last a few hours to a whole day depending on the location of the group of mountain gorillas you are tracking. The other hours will not be just nothing of the hikes and slopes butt will also combine birding with other nature related photography. The area offers excellent and unique birding opportunity with its exceptional flora and fauna in the tropical rainforest.

Meal Plan (B, L, D, B)
Accommodation Gorilla Forest Camp (Luxury)
Silver back Lodge (Mid-range)

Day 6 Batwa community visit and transfer to Bunyonyi
Community walks through the forest edge villages provide insights into the lives of local people the Batwa (Pygmy) who are one of the oldest tribes in Uganda and were the inhibitors of the forest for ages before it was gazzetted a national park. The neighboring Batwa community performs songs and dances about their former life in the forest. There is also a traditional healer who treats the sick with medicinal plants. During the tour, you learn how to make to make juice, beer and gin from bananas and taste it too.

Proceeds from the tour support community development projects while the Batwa receive all proceeds from their performances.

After the Batwa experience we drive to Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale. You will also have an overnight stay at one of the world’s most beautiful and Africa’s second deepest Lake -. Bunyony. The evenings at Lake Bunyonyi are a photographer’s dream come true. Lake Bunyonyi (‘place of many little birds’) is undoubtedly the loveliest lake in Uganda. Its contorted shore encircles 29 islands, surrounded by steep terraced hillsides. The sights of the Lake include women rowing dug-out canoes, mist over the numerous islands in the lake and stunning sunsets on clear days.

Unlike many lakes in East Africa – Bunyonyi is bilharzia, croc and hippo free, and so its crystal-clear waters are all yours to swim in. And ther is more. the lake is a source for crayfish, delicacy that will enjoy with relish. Lake Bunyo is also rich with culture and hiostory. The most popular historical and cultural site is Akampene Island ( Punishment Island) in Lake Bunyonyi where girls who became pregenamnt before married were dumped to die. Did they die?

Meal Plan (L, D, B)
Accommodation: Bunyonyi Overland Resort (Mid-range)

Day 7 Boat ride to Akampene ( Punishment Island)
After breakfast, take a boat trip to Akampene Island. Before the 1940s, getting pregnant before marriage was a taboo thing in the local culture. Unfortunately, girls who did fall pregnant before marriage would be canoed to this very small island where they would either starve to death or die while trying to swim ashore. With time, men got know of the island with free women. Find out what the men did with the girls by visiting Akampene. After the Akampene experience, you come back for lunch there after relax, vist the local market and wait for the magical suns set with you camera.

Meal Plan ( B,L, D, B)
Accommodation: Bunyonyi Overland Resort (Mid-range)

Day 8 Departure to Kampala.
In the morning after breakfast, on this day that marks the end of the safari we will drive from Lake Bunyonyi back to Kampala. On Arrival in Kampala, you check in at the Sheraton Hotel (Luxury or at Cassia Lodge (Mid-range).
Dinner and overnight at Sheraton Kampala Hotel- Luxury
Dinner and overnight at Kaazi Beach Resort – Mid-range

Day 9: Kampala shopping – Airport Departure
After breakfast you go for shopping in Kampala City and have Lunch at a restaurant of your choice thereafter you are transferred to Entebbe International Airport for your departure flight.

Tour Prices
This is a private Photographic Safari and can be booked by an individual or a group of a maximum of 4 people per vehicle.

Cost Includes

  • Airport transfers
  • Transport in a 4×4 Safari Van
  • Services of an English speaking driver guide
  • Rescue
  • Boat cruise and game drive fees
  • Gorilla tracking permits
  • Nature walks
  • All park entry fees
  • Meals and accommodation
  • Drinking water in the Vehicle

Cost excludes
Visa fees, Air ticket, personal expenses and tips for guides and porters.

Thank you for choosing Snap Uganda Tours. We will be pleased to hear your comments after the Photographic Safari