10 Days Uganda Primates and Wildlife

DESTINATION

Rwanda: Kibale National Park

DURATION

3 Days | 2 Nights

TOUR COST

From $3,900 Per Person

DESCRIPTION

Uganda is, without exaggeration, one of the most concentrated safari destinations on earth. Within a single country, and along a single road circuit of roughly 1,500 kilometres, you can track the world’s rarest mega-mammal through ancient montane rainforest, watch wild chimpanzees ricochet through one of Africa’s most biodiverse forest canopies, observe four of the Big Five on open savannah game drives, cruise two of Africa’s most spectacular river and channel systems, witness lions doing something almost no lions anywhere else do, stand at the lip of what may be the most powerful waterfall on the continent, and track the only population of wild white rhinos in Uganda. All in ten days. All starting and ending at the same airport.

This 10-day Uganda Grand Safari is the most complete Uganda itinerary we offer at Pick and Transfer Safaris. It begins with a scenic northward drive from Entebbe to the vast open plains of Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda’s largest protected area, with a stop at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary along the way. From Murchison, the route swings south and west through the highlands to Kibale Forest National Park, the primate capital of the world and Uganda’s premier chimpanzee trekking destination. From Kibale, the circuit continues through the spectacular Fort Portal crater lake field into Queen Elizabeth National Park, where open savannah game drives, a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, and the famously tree-climbing lions of the Ishasha sector fill two full days. The final leg takes you south into the ancient highland forest of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park for mountain gorilla trekking, before the return drive north and east to Kampala and Entebbe.

The route is designed as a logical loop from north to south, visiting each park in a sequence that minimises backtracking, maximises driving efficiency, and gives each destination enough days to feel genuinely explored rather than rushed. Every major Uganda wildlife experience is covered: primates, Big Five game, boat safaris, mountain gorillas, rhinos, and one of the continent’s most dramatic natural landmarks.

If you are short on time, our 5-Day Uganda Gorilla and Chimpanzee Safari covers Kibale and Bwindi in a more compact format. Our 3-Day Chimpanzee Tour in Uganda focuses on Kibale alone, while the 3-Day Uganda Gorilla Safari from Entebbe covers Bwindi in the shortest possible format. For travelers combining Uganda with Rwanda, browse our Uganda Rwanda Safaris. To build a quote for this 10-day circuit, contact our team and we will confirm all permit dates and send a personalised proposal within 24 hours.

SAFARI HIGHLIGHTS

Wildlife & Activities:

Rhino tracking on foot at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary — the only place in Uganda to see wild white rhinos
Morning and evening game drives in Murchison Falls National Park, home to elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards, buffaloes, Ugandan kob, Jackson’s hartebeest, warthogs, and more
A boat cruise on the Victoria Nile from Paraa to the base of Murchison Falls, one of the most powerful waterfalls in the world
Optional hike to the top of Murchison Falls for a bird’s-eye view of the gorge
Optional chimpanzee trekking in Budongo Forest, part of the Murchison conservation area
Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest National Park — Africa’s highest concentration of wild chimpanzees
A guided walk through the community-run Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary
A scenic drive through the Fort Portal Crater Lake Field
Game drives across the Kasenyi plains and the Queen’s Mile in Queen Elizabeth National Park, home to four of the Big Five
A two-hour boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, one of Africa’s great wildlife cruises
A game drive through the Ishasha sector for Uganda’s famous tree-climbing lions
Mountain gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, with one hour observing a habituated gorilla family
An optional Batwa Cultural Trail near Bwindi, with Uganda’s indigenous forest-dwelling community

Landscapes:

The open savannah floodplains and Victoria Nile of Murchison Falls
The highland rainforest and crater lakes of western Uganda around Fort Portal
The volcanic lakes, rift valley escarpment, and Kazinga Channel of Queen Elizabeth NP
The remote fig-tree savannah of the Ishasha sector
The ancient montane rainforest and mist-shrouded hills of Bwindi

Permits & Park Fees Included:

1 gorilla trekking permit, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park (Uganda Wildlife Authority, $800)
1 chimpanzee trekking permit, Kibale Forest National Park (Uganda Wildlife Authority, $250)
All national park entry fees across Murchison Falls, Kibale, Queen Elizabeth, and Bwindi
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary entry and guided rhino tracking fee

TRAVEL PLAN

Day 1: Entebbe to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to Murchison Falls National Park

Your safari begins with an early morning pickup from your hotel in Entebbe or Kampala. The route heads north out of the city through Kampala’s outskirts and onto the Gulu highway, climbing into the agricultural heartland of central Uganda. Approximately two to three hours from Entebbe, you will reach Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary near Nakasongola, the only place in Uganda where you can track wild white rhinos on foot.

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary was established in 2005 as a breeding and conservation facility to restore rhinos to Uganda after the species was wiped out during the civil war and poaching crisis of the 1970s and 80s. The sanctuary now holds Uganda’s only free-ranging white rhino population, with an expanding herd that can be followed on a guided walk of one to two hours through open savannah. Your ranger guide tracks the rhinos to their current location and brings the group to within a few metres of these enormous, unhurried animals. Ziwa is also an excellent birding stop, with shoebills occasionally seen in the wetland areas surrounding the sanctuary.

After rhino tracking, continue north through Masindi town for lunch before the final hour-long drive into Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda’s largest national park at over 3,840 square kilometres of open savannah, riverine forest, and the mighty Victoria Nile. Arrive at your lodge near the Paraa ferry crossing in the late afternoon for check-in, dinner, and an early night ahead of the first game drive tomorrow.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 2: Murchison Falls — Game Drive, Nile Boat Cruise & Top of the Falls

After an early breakfast, cross the Nile by ferry at Paraa and head into the northern bank of the park for your first game drive. The northern savannah of Murchison Falls is the main game-viewing area, a vast rolling plain that supports one of Uganda’s largest concentrations of elephants, alongside Rothschild’s giraffes, lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, cape buffaloes, Ugandan kob, Jackson’s hartebeest, oribi, and warthog. The landscape of the northern bank is also dramatic, with open views over the Albert Nile delta toward Lake Albert and the Congo escarpment beyond. Allow two to three hours for the morning drive and return to the lodge by mid-morning.

After lunch and a brief rest, embark on the afternoon’s centrepiece: a two-hour boat cruise from Paraa up the Victoria Nile to the base of Murchison Falls. The Nile between Paraa and the falls is extraordinarily rich in wildlife: enormous hippo pods line the banks, Nile crocodiles bask on every flat rock and sandbar, African fish eagles call from the trees, and elephants frequently drink or bathe directly at the water’s edge. As the boat approaches the falls, the river narrows dramatically into a single red-rock gorge just seven metres wide, through which the entire volume of the Nile plunges 43 metres in one of the most powerful single-drop waterfalls in the world. The spray from the falls creates a permanent rainbow visible from the boat.

After the cruise, the afternoon allows time for an optional hike to the top of the falls: a 45-minute uphill walk from the boat jetty to the lip of the gorge, where you can stand at the edge and look straight down into the churning white water below. The view from the top is completely different from the boat-level perspective, and the combination of the two is one of the most complete waterfall experiences in Africa. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 3: Optional Budongo Forest & Drive South to Kibale Forest National Park

After breakfast, the morning offers an optional chimpanzee trekking session in Budongo Forest, a large natural forest adjacent to the southern boundary of Murchison Falls National Park and the only place in Uganda to track chimps in a forest this far north. Budongo holds around 700 chimpanzees and has two habituated communities used for trekking, making it a productive and far less visited alternative to Kibale. For travelers who want to experience chimpanzees in two completely different forest environments on a single trip, combining Budongo and Kibale is a genuinely rewarding decision. Budongo chimps are booked through a separate permit; let us know at booking time if you want this included.

After the morning activity (or after an early breakfast if skipping Budongo), begin the long southward drive toward Kibale Forest National Park, covering approximately 345 to 390 kilometres through the western arm of Uganda’s landscape. The route drops south from Masindi through the Hoima oil-country plains, climbs into the Tooro highland around Kamwenge, and eventually reaches the Fort Portal Basin as the Rwenzori Mountains come into view to the west, their glaciated peaks rising above the clouds on clear days. Allow six to eight hours total for this driving day, with a lunch stop in or around Fort Portal.

From Fort Portal, it is a further 26 kilometres south along the road through tea plantations to Kibale’s Kanyanchu Visitor Centre. Arrive at your forest-edge lodge near Kibale in the late afternoon, check in, and rest ahead of the next morning’s chimpanzee trekking. Dinner and overnight near Kibale Forest.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 4: Chimpanzee Trekking in Kibale & Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary

After an early breakfast, head to Kanyanchu Visitor Centre for your 8:00 am briefing with Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers. Kibale Forest National Park is home to around 1,500 wild chimpanzees — the highest concentration of chimpanzees of any park in the world — alongside 12 other primate species and over 370 bird species. Several communities are fully habituated for daily trekking, meaning the encounter is among the most consistently rewarding chimpanzee experiences in Africa.

Your group of up to eight visitors follows ranger guides and advance trackers into the forest, moving through Kibale’s ancient, multilayered canopy in search of the chimpanzee community. Once located, you will spend a full hour with the group as they feed, travel, play, and interact, an hour that typically combines the exhilaration of animal movement with moments of unsettling stillness when a chimpanzee turns and looks directly at you with an intelligence that leaves most visitors unable to look away. Along the walk, encounters with red colobus monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, and black-and-white colobus are common and add richly to the morning.

After a late lunch at the lodge, the afternoon takes you to the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, just outside Kibale’s southern boundary. This community-run conservation area, managed by the Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development (KAFRED), has channelled entrance fees directly into local schools, a health clinic, and community development since the 1990s. The 4.5-kilometre guided trail winds through papyrus swamp, forest edge, and open woodland, with outstanding birdwatching throughout — over 200 species recorded — and frequent sightings of colobus monkeys and other primates venturing out from the park. Allow two to three hours for the full circuit. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5: Fort Portal Crater Lakes & Drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park

After breakfast, check out of your Kibale lodge and begin the southward drive toward Queen Elizabeth National Park. The route passes back through the Fort Portal area, and the morning’s first stop is a scenic exploration of the Fort Portal Crater Lake Field, a cluster of around 50 volcanic crater lakes scattered through the tea plantations and community farmland north and west of Kibale. These perfectly circular lakes, formed in ancient volcanic vents, sit at varying altitudes and depths, each with its own character: some shallow and green, others deeply blue, some surrounded by forest, others by banana groves and tea bushes. Lake Nkuruba, one of the most accessible, can be walked around in under an hour and is home to colobus monkeys in the surrounding trees. The drive between the lakes on the red-murram roads of the Fort Portal crater circuit is one of the loveliest short road experiences in western Uganda.

From Fort Portal, continue south through Kamwenge into the broad flat plains approaching Queen Elizabeth National Park. The landscape shifts as you descend from the highlands into the rift valley: the forest gives way to scrub and savannah, the air warms, and the scale of the view expands. Passing through Katunguru on the Kazinga Channel, you can often see hippos and buffaloes from the bridge. Continue to the Mweya Peninsula sector of the park, where your lodge sits on a narrow peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Kazinga Channel and Lake Edward. Arrival in time for an evening sundowner overlooking the channel and dinner at the lodge.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 6: Queen Elizabeth — Game Drive & Kazinga Channel Boat Cruise

Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda’s most visited national park and one of the most biologically diverse protected areas in Africa, with over 95 mammal species and 610 bird species recorded within its boundaries. It encompasses open savannah, crater lakes, the rift valley escarpment, lakeshore flats, the Kyambura Gorge, and two large lakes (Edward and George) connected by the Kazinga Channel.

The morning begins with an early game drive across the Kasenyi plains and the Mweya sector, the park’s most productive open-game area. Lions, leopards, elephants, cape buffaloes, hippos on land, Ugandan kob, warthogs, spotted hyenas, mongooses, and a remarkable range of birds including the distinctive African skimmer, African fish eagle, and numerous kingfisher species are all regularly encountered. The Kasenyi track is particularly productive for cat sightings in the early morning, and the open, rolling grassland with the Rwenzori Mountains visible to the north makes for extraordinary photography conditions.

After lunch at the lodge, the afternoon’s highlight is a two-hour boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, the 40-kilometre natural canal linking Lakes George and Edward. The channel cruise is arguably the best pure wildlife boat safari in East Africa: the banks are dense with hippo pods, some of the largest in Africa, Nile crocodiles in remarkable numbers, enormous herds of cape buffalo, elephants drinking at the water’s edge, and an extraordinary density of waterbirds. The channel cruise typically departs from the Mweya jetty and moves east toward Lake George and back, with your guide identifying wildlife on both banks throughout. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 7: Ishasha Tree-Climbing Lions & Drive to Bwindi

After breakfast, check out and begin the drive south through Queen Elizabeth National Park toward the remote Ishasha sector, approximately two hours from Mweya. The route passes through the park’s interior, often producing additional game sightings en route, before the landscape opens into the distinctive acacia and fig-tree savannah of the Ishasha plain.

Ishasha is famous throughout Uganda and beyond for a single, remarkable behaviour: its resident lion prides habitually rest in the branches of large fig and acacia trees. Tree-climbing lions are extraordinarily rare in Africa, found in only two places on earth: Ishasha, and Lake Manyara in Tanzania. No one has fully explained why Ishasha’s lions climb, though the most widely accepted theory is that the elevated position provides both a breeze to escape biting insects and a cleaner viewpoint over the surrounding grassland for spotting prey. Whatever the reason, the sight of a large pride of lions spread languidly across the branches of a fig tree, looking like the world’s most improbable fruit, is one of the most unexpected and genuinely funny wildlife encounters Uganda offers. Allow two hours for the Ishasha game drive, noting that lion sightings are never guaranteed but are consistently more likely here than almost anywhere else in Uganda.

After the Ishasha game drive, continue south from Queen Elizabeth National Park toward Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. The drive from Ishasha to Bwindi covers approximately 70 kilometres and takes two to two and a half hours on mountain roads through the Kigezi highlands, a dramatically beautiful section of the journey that drops into gorges and climbs over ridges as the forest thickens and the temperature drops. Arrive at your Bwindi lodge in the afternoon for check-in, a briefing from your guide, and dinner. Your driver-guide will confirm your 7:00 am start time for the gorilla trekking briefing tomorrow.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 8: Mountain Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

The day that most travelers have planned this entire trip around. After an early breakfast, head to the sector headquarters for the 7:00 am briefing with Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers. Your group of up to eight visitors receives its gorilla family assignment, and trekking etiquette and safety guidelines are explained by your ranger guide. From the briefing point, you set off into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site covering 331 square kilometres of one of Africa’s most ancient and biodiverse forests.

Bwindi is home to nearly half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, spread across 19 habituated families in four sectors. The trek varies enormously in duration and terrain depending on your assigned family and the gorillas’ movements overnight, from a short walk through bamboo to a steep, several-hour climb through dense, dripping highland forest. Your porter — strongly recommended and available at the trailhead — carries your bag and helps on steep descents.

When you find the gorilla family, the world changes scale. The silverback is enormous in a way that photographs do not prepare you for: a mature male can weigh over 200 kilograms, and the depth and stillness of his gaze has something in it that is difficult to describe without sounding hyperbolic until you are standing three metres away from it yourself. The infants climb everything in reach, including on occasion each other’s mothers. The females groom, the juveniles play-fight, and the whole family moves with an unhurried confidence that belongs entirely to something that has no serious predators in this forest except one, and that one is you, and everyone here seems to know it. Your hour passes in about twelve minutes of subjective time.

After the trek and your certificate, return to the lodge for a late lunch. The afternoon offers an optional Batwa Cultural Trail, a guided experience with members of the Batwa pygmy community, the indigenous people who lived inside Bwindi for thousands of years before the park was gazetted in 1991. The trail includes demonstrations of traditional fire-lighting, honey gathering, medicinal plant use, and hunting techniques, alongside music and dance. It is a deeply human complement to the morning’s encounter with a different kind of great ape entirely. Dinner and overnight at Bwindi.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 9: Drive to Lake Mburo Bunyonyi

You will wake up in the morning, and take your breakfast, the drive to Lake Bunyonyi to relax, where you will have boat ride, community tour, and evening nature walk ad relaxing near this iconic 900 meters deep lake is an outstanding experience.

Have overnight, Dinner and you get prepared for the next day’s drive to Kampala/Entebbe for your ourbound flight.

Day 10: Return to Kampala & Entebbe

Wake up in the morning, have your breakfast and mark the end of the trip and we transfer to Kampala for your outbound flight.

COST INCLUSIONS AND EXCLUSIONS

- - What Is Included
    - 1 gorilla trekking permit for Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park ($800, Uganda Wildlife Authority)
    - 1 chimpanzee trekking permit for Kibale Forest National Park ($250, Uganda Wildlife Authority)
    - All national park entry fees: Murchison Falls, Kibale, Queen Elizabeth, and Bwindi
    - Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary entry fee and guided rhino tracking walk
    - Kazinga Channel boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth National Park
    - Nile boat cruise to the base of Murchison Falls
    - Guided walk through Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary
    - 9 nights mid-range accommodation: 2 nights Murchison Falls, 1 night Kibale, 1 night Queen Elizabeth (Mweya), 1 night Ishasha or in transit, 2 nights Bwindi, 1 night in transit or Lake Mburo
    - Private 4×4 transport throughout with an experienced English-speaking driver-guide
    - Fuel and all ground transport costs for the full 10-day circuit
    - Full board meals throughout (breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily)
    - Bottled drinking water in the vehicle every day
    - All applicable government taxes
    What Is Not Included
    - International flights to and from Entebbe
    - Uganda entry visa
    - Travel insurance (strongly recommended)
    - Tips and gratuities for your driver-guide, lodge staff, park rangers, and tracking guides
    - Porter fees at Kibale and Bwindi (optional, paid locally — strongly recommended at both parks)
    - Personal expenses, souvenirs, and drinks not specified above
    - Optional upgrades: Budongo Forest chimp trekking permit on day three; Chimpanzee Habituation Experience at Kibale; Gorilla Habituation Experience at Bwindi Rushaga sector ($1,500 — four hours with a semi-habituated family); hike to the top of Murchison Falls; Batwa Cultural Trail at Bwindi; Kyambura Gorge chimp trekking at Queen Elizabeth
    - Lake Mburo overnight stop (available as an add-on — ask us when booking)
    GOOD TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
    Minimum age: Gorilla trekking and chimpanzee trekking are open to travelers aged 15 and above. Rhino tracking at Ziwa and game drives and boat cruises have no minimum age requirement.
    Fitness: This itinerary includes two active trekking days (Kibale chimps and Bwindi gorillas), both of which involve hiking on steep, often muddy forest terrain. All other activities (game drives, boat cruises, crater lake drives) are accessible regardless of fitness level. Porter assistance is available and strongly recommended at both trekking parks.
    Packing for a 10-day circuit: You will move through four distinct climate zones, from the hot, flat savannah of Murchison Falls to the cool, wet highland forest of Bwindi. Pack long-sleeved shirts and trousers for forest activities and cool evenings at altitude; lighter clothing for Murchison Falls and Queen Elizabeth; a warm fleece or light down jacket for Bwindi mornings; a rain jacket year-round; sturdy waterproof boots for trekking days; and lighter shoes for game drives and boat cruises. Gardening gloves are strongly recommended for both forest treks.
    Permits: Uganda gorilla permits ($800) and Kibale chimp permits ($250) are both issued by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and must be paid in full at time of booking to secure your slot. Gorilla permits are particularly limited — eight per habituated family per day across 19 families in four sectors — and book out months ahead in peak season. We secure all permits on your behalf as part of this package. Contact us as early as possible, ideally three to six months ahead of your travel dates, to guarantee availability.
    Low-season discounts: During the officially designated low-season months of April, May, and November, Uganda Wildlife Authority permit prices are reduced — gorilla permits to $600 per person and Kibale chimp permits to $200 per person. These months also offer lush vegetation and fewer visitors in the parks, making them genuinely attractive for experienced safari travelers. Ask us about pricing for low-season travel.
    Best time for this circuit: The dry seasons (June to October and December to February) offer the most comfortable trekking conditions at both Kibale and Bwindi, better road conditions on mountain roads approaching Bwindi, and excellent game viewing at Murchison and Queen Elizabeth. The wet seasons (March to May and November) make the forests more beautiful and productive for birdwatching, and offer better chimp tracking conditions in Kibale. The circuit is genuinely rewarding in all seasons.
    Visas: Uganda visas can be obtained in advance through the official Uganda e-Visa portal. Travelers combining this circuit with a Rwanda extension may consider the East Africa Tourist Visa, covering Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya. Always confirm current requirements before travel.
    ADDING RWANDA TO THE END OF THIS CIRCUIT
    For travelers whose onward journey takes them to Rwanda, this circuit can end in Kigali rather than Entebbe, exiting Uganda through the Katuna or Cyanika border crossing after the Bwindi trekking days. From Bwindi’s southern sectors (Rushaga or Nkuringo), Kigali is just three to four hours away via the Cyanika crossing, far shorter than the return drive to Entebbe. From Kigali, our Rwanda safari pages cover gorilla trekking at Volcanoes National Park, chimpanzee tracking at Nyungwe Forest, and a full Rwanda primate circuit. Browse our Uganda Rwanda Safaris for cross-border itinerary options, or look at our 5 Days Best of Rwanda Primate Safari for a Rwanda extension built around this circuit.
    WHY PICK AND TRANSFER SAFARIS FOR THIS CIRCUIT
    At Pick and Transfer Safaris, this 10-day circuit is the trip we most enjoy putting together, because it genuinely covers everything Uganda has to offer without stretching the itinerary into an exhausting daily march. The driving distances are real, and we are honest about them: days three and nine are the longest on the road, and we structure the activities around them to ensure you arrive at each park rested and ready rather than wiped out. Our driver-guides know every leg of this route: the Masindi lunch stop, the Kamwenge highland road, the Ishasha track conditions, and the best Bwindi sector for your permit date. We do not outsource your vehicle or your guide at any point on the circuit.
    The permits are secured with the Uganda Wildlife Authority directly, the lodges are chosen for proximity to each park’s activity centres, and the pace of each day is built with enough buffer to absorb a slow morning game drive or a longer-than-expected chimpanzee search without creating stress elsewhere in the itinerary. A share of our proceeds supports community projects through the Kigezi Foundation, and we are happy to highlight community-based experiences along the route, from Bigodi Wetland to the Batwa Trail, that put a meaningful share of safari revenue directly into the hands of local communities.
    Browse our full range of Uganda primate and wildlife safaris or all our East African destinations for smaller or larger versions of this circuit.
    READY TO BOOK?
    This is our flagship Uganda itinerary, and securing it requires advance planning: gorilla permits and chimp permits must both be booked and paid for months in advance, particularly for travel between June and October. Contact our team with your preferred travel dates, group size, starting point, and accommodation preference, and we will check permit availability across all parks, confirm the full itinerary, and send you a detailed, no-obligation quote within 24 hours.