PHOTOS IN THE MIST

Day 1 – Transfer to Kibale

An early start from Entebbe after breakfast and transfer to Fort Portal Town reaching just in time for lunch. 

Fort Portal is situated amid lush rolling hillsides swathed in near tea plantations and offering excellent views across to the glacial peaks of the Rwenzori Mountains to the west.

After lunch we will head to our accommodation near Kibale Forest.

Kibale is highest at the park’s northern tip, which stands 1,590m above sea level. The lowest point is 1,100m on the floor of the Albertine Rift Valley to the south.

Day 2 – Kibale Chimp tracking and Bigodi Swamp

Kibale Forest is the best place in East Africa for the Chimpanzee Habituation Experience.  It is an all-day experience with the chimpanzees in Kibale Forest.

The Kibale National Park is a wide national park, sheltering a huge chunk of rainforest, and swamps that supports a diversity of flora and animal life. With a flourishing tropical rain-forest, swamp and charming diversity, this is one of the very attractive and striking forests within Uganda. 

After tracking our closest cousins, we will head to Bigodi Swamp to see some more interesting wildlife.

Day 3 – Queen Elizabeth 

 We will leave Fort Portal early in the morning after breakfast to drive to Queen Elizabeth. Reaching just in time for lunch and an afternoon game drive.

Set against the backdrop of the jagged Rwenzori Mountains, the park’s magnificent vistas include dozens of enormous craters carved dramatically into rolling green hills, panoramic views of Kazinga channel with its banks lined with hippos, buffalo and elephants, and the endless Ishasha plains, whose fig trees hide lions ready to pounce on herds of unsuspecting Uganda kob.

Day 4 – Queen Elizabeth game drive and boat cruise

Start your day early with a 6 o’clock coffee or tea wake-up call, ready for your early morning game drive. A popular route for the game drive is the Kasenyi sector, well-known for its lions that prey on Queen Elizabeth’s large population of Uganda Kob (antelope) that mate around this area. Wildlife to look out for includes elephants, antelope, warthogs, baboons and occasionally a hyena. If you are very lucky, you may spot a Giant Forest Hog, Africa’s largest pig. Keep your eyes peeled to spot an elusive leopard!

In the afternoon, you will take a boat for a water safari on the Kazinga Channel at Mweya that connects the two lakes of Edward and George. This is likely to be a big highlight of your trip! The Kazinga Channel lies in central Queen Elizabeth, its banks fertile with large mammals such as hippo, elephant and buffalo.

The expert Uganda Wildlife Authority guides will identify many of the Channel’s 100 bird species and you’re likely to see African Skimmers, Great White Pelicans, Spoonbill and a number of Bee eater species. Hippos wallow at the edge of the water, huge Nile crocodiles bask in the sun and elephants come down to drink.

The Kazinga Channel boat ride is a brilliant opportunity to take some close-up wildlife shots.

After this excursion, we will drive to Ishasha where we will be spending the night.

Day 5 – Ishasha game drive and transfer to Bwindi

 In the early morning we will once again drive off in the adventurous vast savannah of the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth NP to search for interesting sights such as the endemic tree climbing lions.

After the game-drive we head to the lodge for lunch and then start the drive to Bwindi mountains, the home of the mountain gorillas. The journey takes us from the savanna via cultivated hills to the jungle covered mountains of Bwindi.

Day 6 – Gorilla Tracking Bwindi

You will have an early breakfast and be driven to the Park Headquarters for a briefing at 7:30 am about the rules of Gorilla Tracking. After the briefing, you will set off for the Gorilla trekking in the thick jungle.

The jungle is very lively with rich forest sounds. The trek ranges between 2 – 8 hours and you have one hour to stay with the Gorillas once sited.

In the afternoon after gorilla tracking, you can opt for a community walk among the Bwindi indigenous natives, the Batwa people who used to live in the Bwindi forest before it was gazetted as a National Park and learn about their life and culture as a forest people. You will have dinner and overnight at your previous lodge.

Day 7 – Transfer to Lake Mburo

Have breakfast and drive to Lake Mburo National Park, lying in the rain shadow area between Lake Victoria and Rwenzori Mountains.

Lake Mburo is home to over 350 bird species and animals including; the zebras, eland, impalas, oribi, buffalos, water buck, hippos, leopard, reedbuck as well as the hyenas. With over 13 lakes in the area, this lake also forms part of the 50km long wetland system that is linked by the swamp. It’s known that five of these lakes lie in the park’s border. It was once covered with the open savannah and it contains woodland since there are no elephants to tame the unique vegetation. Within the western part of the park, the savannah is also spread with the rocky ridges as well as the forested gorges as the patches of papyrus and narrow bands of the lush riparian woodland line in many lakes.

Depending on road conditions, we should reach just in time for an afternoon game drive. We will then check into our lodge to refresh and watch the sunset before dinner.

For those keen ones, we recommend an optional night game drive in pursuit of the elusive African Leopard.

Day 8 – Walking Safari

We will  leave our vehicle behind and embark on a guided walking safari through the park. Usually taking 2 hours. Lake Mburo is one of the few parks where a walking safari is safe and highly recommended.

There are different trails that you can follow during these game walks in Lake Mburo national park. At Rwonyo, this guided walk will lead you to a salt lick where a variety of animals is attracted to the salty rocks. The trail to the western side of the lake begins at 7am and usually takes approximately 2 hours. This early morning of the day, you may encounter hyenas returning to their dens and hippos heading to the lake. Walks through the woodland allow one to sight forest birds and mammals, and the hike to the top of the hill rewards visitors with an eye catching view of 9 of the region’s 14 lakes. It is such a rare experience to be able to walk in a park amidst the wildlife with a breath of fresh air from the lake.

After your walk, we will proceed to Kampala/Entebbe stopping for lunch and photos at the equator.