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10-Day Wildlife Big 5, Murchison Falls and Gorilla Safari

5.0

7 Ratings

Entebbe

Embark on a thrilling 10-day wildlife adventure in Uganda, exploring Murchison Falls, Kibale National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi, and Lake Mburo. Encounter the Big 5, go gorilla trekking, and enjoy game drives and boat trips.

Duration: 10 days

Cancellation: 1 day learn more

Highlights

Arrive Entebbe, pick up and overnight at the booked accommodation

Entebbe - Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport, a Home to Africa assigned driver (guide) will receive and welcome you to Uganda – the Pearl of Africa. Thereafter, you will transfer to the booked accommodation (Entebbe).

In case you have had an early landing in Uganda, you can proceed to visit the Entebbe Botanical Garden. The Garden is one of the places around Entebbe where you can spot many species of birds and a few primates such as: the black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys. It is also a place of tranquility and peace, a feast for the eyes with notable absence of people and you simply immerse in nature, the sounds of birds breaking the stillness of the moment.

Transfer to Murchison Falls NP with rhino tracking in Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary

Murchison Falls National Park - After breakfast, the assigned driver (guide) will pick you from the hotel and hit the road to Murchison Falls National Park. Note: We provide either safari land-cruiser or safari van depending on whichever is available on your date.

The highlights of this park include the roaring rapids of the Murchison, the rolling plains of Uganda’s largest National Park where you will have the chance of viewing lions, giraffes, hartebeest, buffalo, and elephants. Then surely, the concentration of hippos and the Nile crocodiles here will fascinate you.
En route, make a visit to Zziwa Rhino sanctuary for your first Big 5 experience where you will have an hour of rhino tracking.

Another stop will be in Masindi in order to enjoy your lunch. Continue to the park and check in to your accommodation to relax for the Evening.

Murchison game drive and boat trip to the base of the falls plus top of the falls’ walk

Murchison Falls National Park - Have your breakfast, depart for an early morning game drive across the rolling plains of Uganda’s largest National Park and be on the look for wildlife including: lions, leopards (though hard to spot) among others. For any birder, there are quite a number of birds to sight too during the drive. Return to the accommodation for some rest time and lunch. Optional: If interested, you may opt for the hot air balloon safari (instead) at an extra cost (on ground).

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. Continue with a hike (if you like) to the top of the falls. The hike may be a strenuous one but the thrill on reaching the top is unforgettable. Miss it only if you must. Return to your accommodation and have a relaxed evening.

Exit Murchison Falls National Park and transfer to Kibale Forest National Park

Kibale Forest National Park - After breakfast at your accommodation, depart right away for Kibale Forest National Park. The drive is quite long but incredibly scenic – passing through villages, lush green countryside and hills dotted with tea plantations that characterize this part of Uganda. The beautiful scenery will amaze you all the way.

Kibale NP is popular for its primates like the chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkey, Uganda mangabey (Lophocebus ugandae). While on your chimpanzee trails, you will see them 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.

Chimp tracking Kibale and Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park - Have breakfast and head to the rangers’ post where you will receive some briefing on the dos and don’ts during chimp trekking. Thereafter, you will proceed to trek the chimps in the Kibale Forest. An experienced ranger guide will take you chimp tracking (Kibale Forest) and you will be left amazed by the presence of primates here. Once you locate the chimpanzees, you will have a full hour in their presence.

You will return to the lodge for lunch and thereafter you will head out for Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will arrive in the evening and overnight at your booked accommodation.

Undertake morning game drive and go on a boat trip on the Kazinga Channel

Queen Elizabeth National Park - Be up early and have your breakfast. Proceed for a morning game drive to the Kasenyi plains and be on the look for Cape buffalos, herds of elephants plus the big cats: lions, leopard (but very hard to spot) among others. Return to the accommodation for some rest time and lunch.

After lunch, you will go for a 2-hour boat trip on the Kazinga Channel that connects Lakes George and Edward. During the trip, the sight of wildlife including giant hippos, elephants and crocodiles among others will fascinate you. You will also see many varieties of birds at the water shores. You will have dinner and overnight at your accommodation.

Exit Queen, transfer to Bwindi NP with en route game viewing in Ishasha (South)

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest - Have breakfast then set off for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park through the Ishasha sector 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 hard to spot (most especially when they are down in the grassland looking for prey). Hoping you get the chance to spot them, the sight will be spectacular!

Continue to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Bwindi is a big habitat for mountain gorillas in Uganda (harboring an estimated 400 mountain gorillas – roughly half of the world’s population) including several habituated groups, which you will trek. With a strenuous day ahead, you will do less on arrival but just check in your accommodation, relax as you prepare for the Bwindi gorilla trekking experience the following day.

Gorilla trekking Bwindi & Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi for relaxation, sightseeing

Lake Bunyonyi - Have breakfast and move to the rangers’ post. You will receive some briefing (from a ranger guide) on the dos and don’ts during trekking. Thereafter, you will enter the gorilla sanctuary for your adventure. The beauty of this rain forest is spectacular! The area offers 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 have located a gorilla group, you will be allowed an hour in their presence. The thrill of spending time observing these gentle but endangered giants is unforgettable.

Thereafter, you will return for lunch then drive off to Lake Bunyonyi. The lake is framed by lush, green-terraced hills that reach a height of (2,200 – 2,478m) but it’s the 29 islands of various shapes and sizes scattered across the water that make it most magical — you could admire them all day….

Transfer to Lake Mburo NP and enjoy afternoon (evening) game viewing

Lake Mburo National Park - Have breakfast and set off to Lake Mburo NP via Mbarara town. You will arrive in the early afternoon and take some rest before proceeding out for the late afternoon (evening) game viewing. On the game drive, expect to see the gigantic eland antelopes, zebras, topi, impalas, Uganda kob and Cape buffalos among others.

Later, relax at the accommodation where you will spend the night. Optional: In case you are interested, you may go out for the breathtaking Mburo night game drive (at an extra cost on the ground). During the night game drive, expect to sight nocturnal creatures including snakes, hyena, owls and the elusive leopard (on a lucky day) among others.

Mburo park (bush) walk and transfer to Entebbe Airport for your flight out

Entebbe - Enjoy your early breakfast and proceed for the Mburo morning park (bush) walk in the presence of an armed Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger/guide. On this early morning guided walk; you will have the opportunity to encounter (at close range): Zebras, Giraffes and Eland, Topi and other antelope, Cape buffaloes among others.

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 NP. Thereafter, return to the accommodation for checkout and then hit the road to Entebbe airport for your flight out (recommended for 18:00 onward). We hope to see you (or any referral) when next, you visit and thanks for choosing Home to Africa!

What's Included

Private transportation
On-board WiFi
Lunch
Dinner
In-vehicle air conditioning
Breakfast
On-board restrooms

Additional Information

Your journey begins in Uganda, taking you to Murchison Falls National Park. A side trip to Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary, a safari, and a boat trip to the base of the falls await you. Afterwards, you will move to Kibale National Park for chimp trekking. Leaving Kibale, you will head to Queen Elizabeth National Park where an exciting wildlife safari and a boat trip on the Kazinga Channel are lined up. Your next destination is Bwindi, for an amazing Gorilla encounter. From Bwindi, your journey will take you to Lake Mburo before wrapping up in Entebbe.

Location

Entebbe

they will find us at Entebbe airport

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

5.0

(7 Ratings)

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1 star

Jfurdas

Mar 23, 2024

Once in a lifetime safari with Audence and Simon to see the big 6 (see review), Rhino, Chimpanzee and Gorilla trekking - 8 Day Safari with LuLu safaris, guided by Audence and Simon. Firstly our guides were incredible. I would definitely recommend requesting them in advance if you book with LuLu safaris. They were amazing at spotting wildlife, really easy to get along with and we hope to remain friends (we still message now weeks after we came home), very knowledgeable about the wildlife and local customs, full of facts, happy positive people and extremely flexible changing the plan where a better option was available or if requests or needed for any reason at all. We started out tour with the Ziwa rhino sanctuary and walked on foot to get a close encounter with 3 sets and a total of 12 rhinos. We were blown away that we did this on foot and got so close. On the same day we went up to Murchison falls national park and saw the waterfalls and river at sunset. We got time the next day to take a river safari to see hippos and crocodiles. We then spent time at the national park and saw 4 of the big 5 and even had an evening encounter with hyenas. We didn’t think we could get and more lucky. After this we had time in queen elizabeth national park and saw all the big 5. Our guides going the extra mile with hours of driving to track one down. We also got up close and personal with two male lions and had our own private spot with them for about 10 minutes until another car turned up. After this we went chimpanzee trekking. After two attmepts and 10km of trekking we had only seen one or two chimps in the far distance and that was our time up. However the ranger wasn’t happy and arranged with the national park office and our guides to come back after lunch and try again. This was no problem for our amazing guides who changed the plan without a moments hesitation. And the next 4km trek we had the most amazing encounter with a group of chimpanzees that have been filmed on the BBC planet earth program. Again we felt so incredibly lucky. Off down south we went to the Bwindi impenetrable forest for our gorilla trekking. On the way we had another lake/river safari and had the most amazing time seeing beautiful birds, hippos and over 100 elephants coming and going. We just didn’t expect to see so many. We got to stop and relax watching them all drink, play and trumpet. On the day of the gorilla trek were allocated a group that started with an incredibly challenging hike. They look at the abilities and any requests people have made and assign the groups accordingly. Some had a long drive but short trek. We had no drive but a long trek with a big elevation change. However it was really worth it. We had just over an hour with a group that included a tree felling silver back, two tiny babies and a female that strolled past and brushed against the leg of my partner. We just couldn’t believe what we had experienced. Due to our flight times our guides changed some of itinerary to accommodate more safari experiences and actually get us to the airport on time. Changing accommodation to suit the day before, wanting to give us the best experience possible. They would answer all our questions, stop whenever we wanted to. Help us buy stuff from the locals and stop for all the amazing photos. Honestly they were incredible. On the drive to the airport their binocular vision spotted something in the distance. So they stopped, reversed and got the actual binoculars out to show us a distant bird. A very rare shoebill. It looked like something from the Jurassic period. Our guides told us we can now go home and tell everyone “we saw the big 6 in Uganda”. We did the entire time in a tourist 4WD van. If possible I would request to do it in the Land Cruiser as the roads are very bumpy. I’m not sure how Audence managed to drive along some of the roads it was a sight to be seen and felt…the African massage. Lucky to not have many biting flies at the time of year we were there but still take lots of bug spray as they are around. We are both vegetarian and have the rare bit of fish. We were amazed at how well catered they were for vegetarians. The food was honestly really good everywhere we went. One more recommendation would be to probably have a bit more time there. It was absolutely jam packed with amazing experiences and got better and better a day to relax and enjoy the scenery would have been nice. Visit Uganda and book LuLu with Audence and Simon as guides. You won’t be disappointed.