Luxury/ Mid-range Wildlife, Cultural and Gorilla tracking Photographic Safari in Queen Elizabeth, Kibale Forest and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Parks.

Safari highlights: Gorilla Tracking-1, Chimp Tracking-1, Game Drives -2, Boat Cruise-1, and Cultural Tours-2

Equipment to bring: Camera, wide angle lens, 200+ mm lens, Tripod, waterproof protection for equipment, spare batteries and charger.

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.

Itinerary summary:
Day 1: Airport- Kampala
Day 2: Drive to Fort Portal
Day 3: Chimp tracking and Cultural tour
Day 4: Drive to Queen Elizabeth and Boat Cruise
Day 5: Game Drive, Cultural tour and drive to Ishasha
Day 6: Game Drive in Ishasha
Day 7: Gorilla tracking and nature/ Cultural tour in Bwindi
Day 8: Drive to Kampala
Day 9. Kampala shopping – Airport Departure

Note on accommodation: Depending on the location gorilla family you track, you will stay at Gorilla Forest Camp (Luxury) or Silverback Lodge (Mid-range) in Buhoma. In the southern sector of Bwindi, you will stay at Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge (Luxury) or at Rushaga Gorilla camp (Mid-range). This itinerary is based on a trip to Buhoma but can be adjusted according to the location of the gorilla family to be tracked.

Detailed Programme

Day 1: Airport- Kampala
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 Cassia Lodge – Mid-range

Day 2: Drive to Fort Portal
After breakfast you drive to Fort Portal via Mubende about 4 hours and arrive at Kyaninga Lodge, check in the Lodge and have lunch (Luxury) or at Primates Lodge in Kibale Forest (Mid-range) In the afternoon at Kyaninga, you can take a walk around with your camera and capture the beautiful landscapes and get up close with neighbouring communities. In the evening, watch out for sunset over the Rwenzori ranges. After dinner, you can relax by the fire and sip a drink as you share your pictures with your loved ones using the wireless internet access in the lodge. At Primates Lodge, you can do a nature walk in the forest and relax by the campfire as you are entertained by local dancers.

Dinner and overnight at Kyaninga Lodge- Luxury
Dinner and overnight at Primates Lodge- Mid-range

Day 3: Chimp tracking and Cultural tour
Wake up early, have breakfast and drive for one hour to from Kyaninga to Kibale Forest National Park visitors’ center at Kanyachu for a pre- chimpanzee tracking briefing. If you stay at Primates Lodge, its just a stone throw away. At 8.00 am you enter the Forest to track the chimpanzees and other primates. You will have a picnic lunch in the forest. The Park is famous for Chimpanzee tracking.

With 13 primate species, Kibale National Park is known is the Primates Capital of the world. The park hosts about 1500 chimpanzees out of the 5000 recorded in the country and has 375 and 250 bird and butterfly species respectively in addition to 70 mammal species.

After tracking, you drive to the nearby Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary for a nature walk and community visit. There is a craft center manned by the local women group.

After the community tour, you return to Kyaninga or to Primates Lodge.
Dinner and overnight at Kyaninga Lodge- Luxury
Dinner and overnight at Primates Lodge- Mid-range

Day 4: Drive to Queen Elizabeth and Boat Cruise
After breakfast, drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park with a stopover at the Equator at Kikorongo where you can take pictures before entering the park via the Equator gate. {1hrs 30min} Once in the park, you do a game drive to the crater area and the Baboon cliff before proceeding to check in at Mweya Safari Lodge (Luxury) and then have Lunch. For Mid-range you will be checked in at Engazi Lodge, about 45 minutes away.

The park’s main attractions are: craters carved into rolling green hills, panoramic views of the Kazinga Channel with its banks lined with hippos, buffalo and elephants, the Ishasha plains home to tree climbing lions. Mweya Safari Lodge is located on a peninsula within the heart of the Queen Elizabeth National Park and is surrounded by the magical Rwenzori Mountains aptly described as the ‘Mountains of the Moon.

At 2.00 pm you go for a Boat Cruise along the Kazinga Channel. The channel joins Lake George to Lake Edward. Kazinga channel is an oasis for many of the fascinating species that inhabit the park. A boat cruise gives you a chance to watch schools of hippos, buffalo’s elephants and a lot of birds along the shoreline.

Dinner and overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge.
Dinner and overnight at Engozi Lodge

Day 5: Game Drive, Cultural tour and drive to Ishasha
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 check out and head to Ishasha, the southern sector of the park, renowned for the tree climbing lions and check in at Ishasha Wilderness Camp. Ishasha Wilderness Camp has large twin bedded tents, in a wooded area facing the Ntungwe River where you might see elephants coming to quench their thirst.

Dinner and overnight at Ishasha Wilderness Camp- Luxury

Day 6: Game Drive in Ishasha
After breakfast, you do a game drive looking for the tree climbing lions and also visit River Ishasha, which marks the boundary between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to look for the sunbathing hippos. Then return to Ishasha Wilderness Camp for lunch, thereafter you proceed to the the Gorilla Forest Camp ( Luxury) or at Silverback Lodge ( Mid-range) in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park to relax.

Dinner and overnight at the Gorilla Forest Camp- Luxury
Dinner and overnight at Silverback Lodge – Mid-range

Day 7: Gorilla tracking and nature/ Cultural tour in Bwindi
Wake up early have breakfast and assemble for a briefing before 8:00am. At 8.30 you enter the forest to track the Mountain Gorillas. Tracking can take from 2 hours to half a day depending on how far the gorillas are and which gorilla family you track.

In the evening after tracking, you can do a community tour and get close to the locals by visiting handcraft shops. The neighboring Batwa community in Buhoma performs songs and dances about their former life in the forest. During the tour, you learn how to make to make juice, beer and gin from bananas and taste it too.

Dinner and overnight at Gorilla Forest Camp- Luxury in Buhoma
Dinner and overnight at Silverback Lodge – Mid-range in Buhoma

Day 8: Drive to Kampala
After breakfast you begin your long journey to Kampala 8-10hrs. If you have tracked from Buhoma you pass through Rukungiri and have lunch at Igongo Museum and Cultural Center. The next stop is at the Equator about one hour before 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 Cassia Lodge – 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
  • Gorilla tracking permits
  • Nature walks
  • All park entry fees Nature walks
  • All locally produced alcoholic and soft drinks at Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge.
  • Meals and accommodation
  • Drinking water in the Vehicle

Cost excludes
Visa fees, Air ticket 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