FLY-IN AND ROAD SAFARI

Day 1- Arrival

Wajolo wu! Welcome to Uganda. On arrival at Entebbe International Airport, your personal driver/guide will be waiting for you outside arrivals. So just look out for DustTrack safaris. He will drive you to your Hotel in Kampala for the night.

Day 2- Transfer to Rushaga

Today, you will take a flight to Kisoro where your personal driver will be waiting to pick you up and drive you to your hotel. The rest of the Safari will be by road so you can experience your stay in Uganda up close and personal, driving through towns, villages, hills, valleys and making short stops at viewpoints, restaurants while you enjoy the sight and sounds as well as the tastes of Uganda.

Day 3- Gorilla Tracking

This morning is an exciting one as you prepare to go tracking the gentle giants of the world; Gorillas. Normally they move in families of between 5 to 12 members more or less, each family with its own territory in the forest jealously protected by the lead male; the Silverback. So, after breakfast done by 6:30am, put on your comfortable walking shoes, long sleeved shirt, trousers, a light rain jacket. Carry enough drinking water, thick hand gloves to protect your hands in case you encounter thorny branches while making your way through the thick forest. Also have your lunch packed because you can never know how long the tracking will take. When ready, drive out to the park headquarters for the briefing arriving at about 7:45am. Enjoy your tracking. When you return, rest at the hotel.

Day 4- Boating on the Lake of Many birds and Islands

Enjoy your breakfast then your driver will drive you to Muko where a boat will be waiting to pick you up. As your driver drives on to Lake Bunyonyi, you will do a boat cruise, visiting the islands and birding all the way to the landing site where you will meet your driver to take you to the hotel. Lake Bunyonyi is the perfect place for you to relax with a breathtaking scenery after tracking. So, enjoy.

Day 5- Quad bike tour

Today is a relaxed day so have a leisurely breakfast and go on a quad bike ride around Lake Bunyonyi.

Day 6- Community and cultural visit

Today is Christmas day so Gad will pick you up and take you on a community tour where you can also visit the Batwa, Uganda’s only pygmy tribe. Take a walk all the way to the top of the world from where you can see all the islands of Lake Bunyonyi.

Day 7- Waterfalls and Healing hot spring visit, transfer to Ishasha

At 8am start the drive towards Queen Elizabeth National Park. Along the way, make a stop at Kisiizi falls, where in times past, girls who got pregnant outside wedlock were thrown to their death. Your guide will narrate the dark tales as you hike up towards the platform to view the water falls. From here, proceed to Kitagata Hot springs, also used as a healing spring by the locals in the area. These healing waters attract several people with various ailments. You might even find some soaking themselves in the hope of getting cured of whatever ailment is plaguing them. Finally, arrive at your accommodation for the night at Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National park. This is the only place in Uganda where you can view the famous tree climbing lions. They normally climb the trees in the afternoon to escape the hot sun but sometimes, you can find them in the trees in the morning. So, rest up for the day.

Day 8- Search for Tree climbing Lions, Game drive

Today, pick your Guide/ranger and go do a morning game drive to the northern circuit all the way to the Edward flats where you will have a lunch picnic before returning to the Southern Circuit in the afternoon in search of the famous Ishasha tree climbing lions and other wild life including the Topi, herds of buffalos, Elephants and birdlife like the crown eagle.

Day 9- Channel boat wildlife ride

As early as 8:00am, set off for the main Queen Elizabeth National Park. Arrive late morning to early afternoon, have lunch while you wait for the boat ride at 2:00pm. The three-hour boat ride will take you closer to view the wildlife that come to drink off the shores of the Kazinga Channel as well as view the water dwellers like the Hippopotamus and Crocodiles plus a variety of birdlife, all while enjoying a boat cruise. Return to your hotel with a short evening game drive.

Day 10 – A visit with the Bats and Python

Start off as early as 6:30am after getting your packed lunch from the hotel and head for a game drive on the way to Maramagambo forest where you will do a forest walk, visit the Shielded Bat caves and the Python cave. While on the walk surrounded by lush nature, you should keep an eye out for the Bate’s Pygmy Antelope, forest elephants and other wild and birdlife as well as primates. In the afternoon, break for a lunch picnic before continuing on a crater drive for a scenic view of part of the Rift Valley.

 DAY 11 – Transfer to Bugoma Forest

Have your breakfast, then ask the hotel to pack your lunch which you will have en-route to Bugoma Forest Reserve. During the drive, look out for the roadside markets, communities, tea plantations.

Day 12 – Escarpment drive, transfer to Murchison Falls National Park

After having your breakfast, drive past Hoima via Buliisa along Lake Albert, to the escarpment area for a great view of the Great Rift Valley. Lookout of the Blue Mountains in Congo across the Lake Albert. Then continue on through Bugungu gate in to Murchison falls National park.

Day 13 – Wildlife game drive, Victoria Nile Boat cruise, Top of falls Hike

Start the morning game drive at 6:30am through the Delta area all the way to the Hippo Pool in search for wildlife that includes Elephants, Buffaloes, Antelopes, Giraffes, Warthogs, Lions, Jackals, Leopards to mention but a few, according to the luck of the day and a variety of savannah and woodland birds can be seen. The drive normally takes 3 – 4 hours according to how much you see and the interest you have in them. Return to the lodge for lunch. After lunch, go for the afternoon boat cruise towards the bottom of the falls. Disembark the boat and take the exhilarating guided walk to the very top of the cascading waterfalls where your driver will be waiting for you. Return to your hotel with an evening game drive.

Day 14 – White Rhino tracking, transfer to Entebbe

This morning, check out of the hotel. Your driver will pick you up and drive you to the ferry point from where you will cross to the southern sector of the park. Drive out through the southern Kachumbanyobo gate and on past Masindi to Kabalega Diners where you will stop for a quick snack. Proceed to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to track the endangered white Rhinos. At this sanctuary is the only place in Uganda where you can track the Rhinos in their natural Habitat. After the 1 and a half to 2 hours tracking, get back into your car and your driver will continue to drive you back to Entebbe.

Day 15 – Shoebill Boating, Departure

Your driver will pick you up at 8:00am and drive you to Mabamba Swamp. Here, you will take a motorized boat through the swamp in search of the pre historic looking Shoebill stork bird. This peculiar bird spends most of its time in swampy areas. Other than the Shoebill, you will also have an array of birdlife to view. Depending on your time of departure, you can return to the hotel or visit the botanical gardens before leaving for the airport.

End of Safari