Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport, you will be received by a Gorilla Pathfinder driver/guide who will welcome you to Uganda—the Pearl of Africa. Thereafter, you will be transferred to the booked accommodation in Kampala. In case you have had an early landing in Uganda, you may opt for a late afternoon ride around the city of Kampala. Otherwise, you can check in and have enough rest awaiting dinner and an overnight stay.

Your driver/guide will pick you up from the accommodation and you will head out for Murchison Falls National Park. The highlights of this park include the roaring rapids of the Murchison Falls and the rolling plains of Uganda’s largest national park. Here you will have the chance to view lions, giraffes, hartebeest, buffalo, and elephants. Then surely you will be fascinated by the concentration of hippos and Nile crocodiles here. En route, you will make a visit to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. You will have at least one hour of rhino tracking while here. Another stop will be in Masindi in order to enjoy your lunch. You will continue to the park for an evening game drive and check into your accommodation to relax for the evening.

You will have your breakfast and depart for an early morning game drive across the rolling plains of Uganda’s largest national park where you will have the opportunity to view lions, giraffes, hartebeest, buffalo and elephants among others. For any birder, this area supports the secretary bird and black-chested snake eagle to name a few. You will return to your accommodation for some rest time and lunch. After lunch, you will head out for the boat trip to the base of Murchison Falls where you will also be able to catch sight of more animals including hippos and crocodiles and several water birds. You will continue with a hike (if you like) to the top of the falls. The hike may be a strenuous one but the thrill of reaching the top is unforgettable. Miss it only if you must. On your way back, your guide will take you for an evening drive. You'll return to your accommodation and have a relaxed sundowner evening.

After breakfast at your accommodation, you will depart right away for Kibale Forest National Park. The drive is incredibly scenic, passing through villages, lush green countryside and hills dotted with tea plantations which characterize this part of Uganda. Kibale National Park is popular for its primates like the chimpanzees, Colobus monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys and red-tailed monkeys. On your chimpanzee trails, these are regularly seen swinging in the forest trees and others feeding on the wild fruits. You will reach and do little but check into your accommodation where you will have dinner and the overnight rest.

You will have breakfast at the accommodation and proceed out for a lifetime experience of chimp habituation in Kibale Forest. The activity allows you to accompany Kibale’s research and habituation team on their daily activities. You will spend a greater part of the day in the presence of these amazing humans closest relation with the wild and witness them nesting, de-nesting, feeding and playing while getting first-hand explanations from the experts on the ground. Later, you will return to the accommodation for relaxation with a spectacular view of Kibale features right in front of you.

You will have a relaxed breakfast at the accommodation and drive off to Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will reach early enough to relax and have lunch. In the afternoon, you will proceed out for game viewing. During the game drive, look out for wild animals like reedbuck, bushbuck, kob, warthogs, elephants, lions and buffaloes to mention but a few. Alternatively, you could choose to go for the Queen’s breathtaking explosion crater drive (instead). The drive is basically sightseeing with a spectacular view of the breathtaking scenery in and around Queen. There is also plenty of wildlife to see along the drive although the commonest are sights of cape buffaloes plus elephants. You will return to the accommodation for relaxation, dinner and an overnight stay.

You'll have breakfast and proceed out for the early morning lion tracking experience. The lions that are tracked have radio collars on them and it’s breathtaking for wildlife enthusiasts who take part in this rare opportunity. However, the groups (to go tracking) are limited in order to reduce stress on these members of the Big Five and increase the quality of the experience for visitors. You will also have the opportunity to encounter other wildlife while on the lion tracking experience. You will return to your accommodation for some rest time and lunch. The afternoon adventure entails a launch (boat) trip on the Kazinga Channel—a water stream joining Lake Edward and Lake George. The channel attracts a large school of hippos and Nile crocodiles besides the variety of birds that flock to the reed shores like the pelicans, kingfishers, saddle-billed stork and sometimes the crowned cranes. You'll return to your accommodation in time to relax, enjoy dinner and an overnight rest.

You will have breakfast then set off for a breathtaking game-viewing experience in the Ishasha area of Queen Elizabeth National Park—famously known for its resident tree-climbing lions. The chance of spotting these lions is about 70% though sometimes they are really hard to spot (most especially when they’re down in the grassland looking for prey). Hoping you get the chance to spot them, the sight will be spectacular! You will also be able to see other wildlife such as the Uganda kob, Cape buffalos, elephants, and warthogs in addition to the tree-climbing lions. Thereafter, you will head to the accommodation for relaxation, dinner and an overnight stay.

You will wake up and have your breakfast served. You will go for more tree-climbing lion sightings and thereafter, transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Bwindi is a big habitat for mountain gorillas in Uganda (harbouring an estimated 400 mountain gorillas—roughly half of the world’s population), including several habituated groups, that can be tracked. With a strenuous day ahead, you will do less on arrival but just check in your accommodation and relax as you prepare for the Bwindi gorilla trekking experience the following day.

After an early breakfast and a briefing by a ranger guide, you will enter the gorilla sanctuary for your adventure. The beauty of this rainforest is spectacular! The area offers a dramatic steeply forested landscape and is incredibly dense, but crisscrossed by numerous animal trails allowing access to tourists. The time taken and the terrain vary with the movements of these great primates. Once you locate a gorilla group, you will be allowed an hour in their presence. The thrill of spending time observing these gentle and endangered giants is an awesome, exciting experience to be long-savoured. You will return to your lodge for some rest time and lunch. Thereafter, you will embark on a visit to Lake Mutanda. The lake has a perched peninsula in the shadow of the Virunga Mountains and offers spectacular views of the Earth.

You will have your breakfast and proceed out to discover Lake Mutanda’s many islands in a traditional dug-out canoe (like a local fisherman). The canoe trek on Lake Mutanda is planned for at most 3 hours. Thereafter, you will return to the accommodation for some rest time and lunch. You will spend the afternoon hours relaxing at the Mutanda Lake Resort while enjoying some spectacular views of the scenery in and around Mutanda. NOTE: Canoe trek going beyond 3 hours may lead to an additional cost being charged on the ground.

You will have breakfast and set off to Lake Mburo National Park. You will drive past the intensely terraced Kigezi hill slopes into Mbarara town and finally Lake Mburo National Park. Arrive in the park in the early afternoon and take some rest before proceeding out for the late afternoon/evening game viewing. On the game drive, you can expect to see the gigantic eland antelopes, zebras in big numbers, topis, impalas, warthogs, Uganda kob and Cape buffalos among others. Later, you will relax at the accommodation where you will spend the night.

You'll enjoy your early breakfast and proceed for the Mburo morning park/nature walk in the presence of an armed Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger/guide. On this early morning guided walk, you often encounter hyenas that are returning to their dens after a night of being on the prowl. Also, you will have the opportunity to encounter (at close range): zebras, giraffes, elands, topi, antelopes, and Cape buffaloes among others. You will take the trail to the top of the hills and see Lake Mburo and beyond. From this vantage point, you will have a great view of 9 of the twelve lakes surrounding Lake Mburo National Park. Thereafter, you will return to the accommodation for checkout and then hit the road to Entebbe Airport. We hope to see you (or any referral) when next, you visit and thanks for choosing Gorilla Pathfinders!