THE ULTIMATE PHOTO ADVENTURE

Day 1 – Arrival

Your Guide will pick you up from Entebbe Airport to transfer you to your hotel in Entebbe to check in.

Here you will have a rest day before your trip begins the next day.

Day 2 – Shoebill Stork tracking in Mabamba Swamp

After an early breakfast we will head out on a canoe journey into the Mabamba Swamp in search of the rare and elusive Shoebill Stork. Returning from the swamp in time for lunch we will then be transferred to Jinja, where we will be sleep overnight before an adventurous photo walk the next day.

Day 3 – Jinja Photo Walk  

The source of the world’s 2nd longest river, Jinja is the melting pot of Eastern Uganda. Packed with old colonial architectural buildings, vibrant markets and interesting people. We will tour the city going around markets, landing sites and a boat cruise down the source of the river nile to watch the sunset and an opportunity to spot different bird species like the swallow, African fish eagle, malachite kingfisher and many more.

Day 4 – Drive to Sipi falls

From Jinja, we drive to Sipi Falls, 150km east of Jinja on the foothills of Mount Elgon. Lying on the border between Kenya and Uganda, Mount Elgon is said to have the largest surface area of any extinct volcano in the world and a caldera which covers over 40km2 at the top of the mountain. The highest peak, Wagagai, sits at 4,321m and is the second highest in Uganda and the eighth highest in Africa, though millions of years ago it was the continent’s tallest.

You will check into your hotel and have lunch before doing a coffee tour and relaxing at the sunset spot overlooking rolling hills. This spot is great for landscape photographers and enthusiasts altogether.

Day 5 – Sipi Falls hike and transfer to Moroto

 You will have your breakfast and go for a hike to view the Sipi water falls, a series of 3 water falls and highest is 100 meters high. These are beautiful waterfalls on the foothills of Mt Elgon, and you can go for a walk on the slopes of Mt Elgon as you learn about the culture of the people. This place is known for its beautiful views of the eastern Rift Valley.

After the hike, you will have lunch before proceeding on a 5 hour drive to Moroto reaching just in time for dinner.

Day 6 – Moroto

With an early morning start to the day, we will embark on a 3 hour hike to Mount Moroto where we will visit indigenous Karamajong people living on the foothills of Mount Moroto.

This is an amazing place to learn about their way of life and take amazing photos.

After this, you’ll meet the Karamajong living in a Kraal, better known as Manyatta or Boma in Swahili. A Kraal is basically a village made out of huts surrounded by fences made of wood and thorns. These are put up to keep the cattle in and to protect them against rival tribes and wild animals. Some of the Kraals are permanent and others are temporary for when they tail the fresh grass to feed the cattle. 

The Karamajong are related to the Maasai in Kenya and live a similar lifestyle. The main difference is that the Karamajong is completely unknown and you are therefore sure to experience a very authentic and memorable visit.

After this experience, you have an option to either stay in the kraal with the locals or go back to your hotel.

Spending a night in the Kraal is an unforgettable experience. You will participate with the lifestyle and daily activities of the cattle herding Karamojong rather than sight-seeing. Endless singing and dancing around the campfire at night, preparing local foods together and sip of the local brewed beer (if you are feeling adventurous). Your accommodation might not be as comfortable as in the lodges but the incredible experience definitely makes up for that.

Day 7 – Transfer and game drive in Kidepo 

We will have our breakfast early in the morning in Moroto and head to Kidepo reaching just in time for lunch and and an evening game drive. The park inhabits one of the most exciting faunas of any Ugandan parks, with over 80 species of mammals. Several of which are endemic to Kidepo National Park like the cheetah, the striped hyena, the caracal and over 460 bird species including ostriches. 

Voted the best park in Africa 4 times by CNN, Kidepo Valley National Park covers an area of 1442 sq. km and it has a landscape dominated by rugged savannah and the Morungule Mountains. There are also the Narus and Kidepo rivers valleys which all contribute to form the beauty that is KVNP. There is also the Kanangarok hot spring towards the southern Sudan border.

The park has a variety of wild life species and birds so there are a number of things to do that make it a prime Uganda safari destination. While Uganda is mostly known for gorilla trekking expeditions in Bwindi, Kibale and Mgahinga National parks, Kidepo valley offers an entirely different experience right from its location, climate, vegetation and wildlife population.  It is a very unspoiled wilderness.

Day 8 – Kidepo game park  

We will go out on an early morning game drive returning for breakfast at around 9am. Early morning game drives are amazing for spotting wildlife as the sun hasn’t come out yet and the animals are just waking up. 

After lunch we will do an evening game drive before returning to our hotel for another night.

Day 9 – Drive to Murchison Falls National Park

After your breakfast you will drive to Murchison Falls National Park, have lunch on the way and reach the park just in time to do a waterfall hike. This is a great place for taking amazing photos of the landscape and the sunset if you are lucky.  We will then proceed to check into our hotel to relax for the night and get dinner while getting ready for a full-on day in the park tomorrow.

Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda’s best-known and biggest nature reserve. With the impressive and powerful Murchison waterfall and its remarkable animal populations, this is a must visit in the Pearl of Africa. There are superb activities on offer such as a boat safari or Delta safari on the Nile. The river divides the park between a Northern and Southern section as it makes its way through multiple rapids and waterfalls to Lake Albert.

Day 10 – Game drive

Early morning start to the game drive just in time for sunrise and strategically as the animals are waking up.

You may have a chance to see game like hyenas, giraffes, lions, birds, hartebeests, buffalos, elephants, primates among others as well as different species of birds. 

After the morning game drive, we will return to our accommodation for lunch before heading back out for an afternoon boat cruise and hike to the top of the most powerful waterfall in the world. On your boat cruise, you will see, crocodiles, hippos, elephants and lots of birds. This section of river has the biggest concentration of crocodiles anywhere in the world.

We can also arrange to watch wildlife in a hot air balloon instead of a car. Strategically fly over animals while taking amazing photos of the landscape, sunrise and wildlife.

Day 11 – Transfer to Fort Portal

An early start from Murchison Falls 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 (clouds permitting) offering excellent views across to the glacial peaks of the Rwenzori Mountains to the west.

After lunch, we will have a chance to explore Bigodi Swamp.

The Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary is a fascinating area, located in Magombe Swamp. This area is recognised for an extensive array of biodiversity among which are several primates species like the red colobus monkey, baboon, black & white colobus monkey, blue monkey, grey cheeked mangabey, vervet monkey, red tailed monkey and the L’Hoest monkey. Additional Mammals such as chimpanzees, Sitatunga, mongooses, bush pigs, otters plus bush bucks, also visit this swamp coming from the adjacent Kibale National Park.

Day 12 – Kibale Chimp Habituation Experience.

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 Chimpanzee Habituation Experience begins early in the morning and lasts all-day long – you are with a guide, researchers, trackers and others as you are in the presence of Chimpanzees being habituated.

Not only will you see Chimpanzees, but other primates, birds, butterflies, trees, and mammals.

No Flash photography is allowed but we will teach you how to shoot in lowlight if you don’t already know how.

The Chimpanzee Habituation Experience is different from normal chimpanzee trekking in that you are an active participant in the habituation process itself.

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.

Day 13 – Queen Elizabeth 

We will leave Fort Portal after excursions to the crater lakes to drive to Queen Elizabeth and reaching just in time for lunch. We will check into our lodge and relax awaiting an evening 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 14 – 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 15 – 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 16 – Gorilla Tracking in 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.

Gorilla tracking is a captivating and unforgettable experience which more than repays the effort needed to reach Bwindi and to trek through the forest. Bwindi has thirteen habituated gorilla groups that are tracked by tourists. Three of these are in the vicinity of Buhoma and one at Nkuringo. Uganda gorillas can also be visited in Ruhija and Rushaga regions of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

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 stay overnight at your previous lodge.

Day 17 – Transfer to Lake Mburo

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

Lake Mburo is home to over 350 bird and animal species 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 and forested gorges.

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 embarking on a night game drive in pursuit of the elusive African Leopard.

Day 18 – Walking Safari 

Early morning game drive with a packed breakfast in tow. We will go catch the morning light in all it’s glory with the added bonus of the wildlife.

We will then leave our vehicle and embark on a guided walking safari through the park. Photograph Game at your own pace and with the knowledge of a wildlife expert.

Lake Mburo is one of the few parks where a walking safari is safe and highly recommended.

Day 19 – Transfer to Kampala

Early breakfast and transfer to Kampala stopping by the equator for photos before proceeding to the capital city.

Tomorrow we embark on a Kampala photo tour and cultural experience. 

Day 20 – Kampala city photo tour

A walking tour in and around Kampala is an intimate and interactive safari activity. It is also very exciting and educational. You will get to see different aspects of Kampala, how history blends with todays life, the cultural diversity across the city, the people, how business is done, how people live and work and so much more. You might even learn some basic Luganda that could help you buy a thing or two from the market.

Some of the things you will see on a walking tour around Kampala city include the old taxi park, Owino market, local crafts, vegetable and food markets, the Kabaka’s palace, the Idi Amin torture chambers, the Kasubi tombs, the Kabaka’s lake (it is a man-made lake by the Kabaka himself), the Hindu temple, Bahai temple, the Gadaffi mosque, Uganda Martyrs shine, the Catholic and Anglican churches on different hills, the independence monument and so many other landmarks. 

After your tour, you will go back to your hotel to refresh before we go out to a cultural centre to watch different Ugandan dances exhibited and here you will also get a chance to eat some local food from a well prepared buffet.