5 Day Uganda Gorilla & Wildlife Safari

Your safari begins at Entebbe International Airport. Meet your representative after completing arrival formalities and transfer to your hotel in Entebbe.

Travelers arriving early can relax or participate in an optional Entebbe activity. Your guide will provide a safari briefing and confirm the following morning's departure time. Use the evening to organize your camera equipment, clothing and other items required for the journey into western Uganda.

After breakfast, leave Entebbe and begin the drive west toward Queen Elizabeth National Park. The journey takes you through changing landscapes, from urban surroundings to agricultural countryside and the greener highlands of western Uganda. Lunch is taken along the route.

As you approach Queen Elizabeth National Park, the scenery becomes increasingly dramatic. The park lies within the Albertine Rift and encompasses savannah, wetlands, crater areas, forests and lakes. Depending on arrival time, you may enjoy an introductory game-viewing drive before proceeding to your lodge.

Look for elephants, Uganda kobs, buffaloes, warthogs and other wildlife. Predators such as lions and leopards inhabit the ecosystem but sightings can never be guaranteed. Check into your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Wake early for a morning wildlife experience. Early morning is often a productive period for game viewing because temperatures are cooler and many animals are active.

Explore suitable wildlife-viewing areas with your driver-guide while searching for elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, bushbucks, warthogs and other mammals. Queen Elizabeth National Park is also renowned for its birdlife, making the drive rewarding even between mammal sightings.

Depending on the final itinerary and transfer schedule, a boat safari may be incorporated. The Kazinga Channel is particularly famous for concentrations of hippos and water-associated birds, while elephants and buffaloes may sometimes be observed along the banks.

After your wildlife activities, continue south toward Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The landscape changes dramatically as savannah gives way to cultivated hills and dense mountain forest. Arrive at your lodge near Bwindi in the evening. Enjoy dinner and prepare for the next day's gorilla trek.

Today is dedicated to mountain gorilla trekking. After an early breakfast, carry your packed lunch and trekking equipment and transfer to the appropriate park headquarters. Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers conduct a briefing before participants are assigned to trekking groups and habituated gorilla families.

Enter the rainforest accompanied by professional trackers and armed ranger personnel. Bwindi is characterized by dense vegetation, steep valleys and forested ridges. Conditions vary considerably according to weather and the location of your assigned gorilla family.

Your trek may be relatively short or may continue for several hours. Along the way, your ranger can explain aspects of the forest ecosystem and point out interesting plants, birds or signs of wildlife. Eventually, trackers signal that the gorillas are close.

Few safari moments compare with seeing a mountain gorilla emerge from the vegetation. During your permitted viewing period, observe the gorillas quietly while maintaining the distance and behavior specified by your ranger.

A family may include a dominant silverback, adult females, blackbacks, juveniles and infants. Each individual's behavior makes the encounter unique. After the viewing period, leave the gorillas and begin the walk back to the trailhead. Meet your driver and return to the lodge.

The remainder of the day is available for relaxation. Depending on your trekking duration, optional cultural activities may be arranged.

Enjoy breakfast surrounded by the highland scenery before checking out. Begin your drive toward Entebbe, passing through southwestern Uganda's towns and agricultural landscapes.

Stop for lunch during the journey. Where timing allows, an additional stop around the Equator can be made for photographs, refreshments and souvenir shopping. Continue to Entebbe.

Your guide will transfer you to Entebbe International Airport if you are departing Uganda or to your selected hotel if you have arranged an additional night. This marks the end of your 5 Day Uganda Gorilla & Wildlife Safari.

Combining Gorillas and Wildlife in Five Days

Uganda is particularly well suited to combination safaris because several major ecosystems are relatively close to one another. Queen Elizabeth National Park and Bwindi, for example, can be linked within the same southwestern circuit.

This allows a visitor to spend one day watching elephants and antelopes across open landscapes and another walking through dense rainforest in search of mountain gorillas. The contrast makes this itinerary particularly attractive to first-time visitors.