Day-by-day itinerary

What the operator has planned, day by day, across 3 days.

1. Day 1

   Kampala to Murchison Falls National Park

   You leave the hotel at 7:00am for Uganda's largest national park, driving through countryside dotted with traditional homesteads and banana plantations, with vegetables and fruit for sale at the roadside and busy market centres along the way selling roast meat, chicken, sodas and roast banana. Lunch is in Masindi town before you carry on into the park; on Microsoft maps the falls still appear under the name Kabalega, given by former president Idi Amin and changed back to Murchison Falls in 1979. You then reach your chosen lodging, and both Paraa Safari Lodge and Nile Safari Lodge have swimming pools, with Chobe Safari Lodge at the far end of the park as another option. The first game drive follows lunch, with elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, lions, warthogs and antelopes to look for, the vehicle stopping whenever you want it to; coming back you may need to cross the Nile by ferry, which puts you on the river for sunset before dinner at the lodge. Lodging options run from Red Chilli Camp and Global Village Guest House, through Murchison Falls River Lodge and Sambiya River Lodge, to Paraa Safari Lodge, Nile Safari Lodge and Chobe Safari Lodge.

2. Day 2

   Morning Game Drive and Nile Boat Cruise

   Straight after breakfast you set out on a second game drive across the savannah and along the Lake Albert delta, timed for sunrise and the animals that are up first; lions, warthogs, elephants, buffaloes, leopards, hippos, giraffes and birds are all on the list, and large crocodiles bask in the open. You return to the lodge for a late breakfast and some rest. After lunch comes the boat cruise on the Nile, past crocodiles, schools of hippos, buffaloes, antelopes and elephants on the banks, along with water birds, shoebills and fish eagles; the boat moves slowly, which makes it good ground for photographs as animals come down to drink. The cruise also brings the falls themselves into view, where the Nile is forced through a seven-metre gorge and drops 43 metres over a series of rocks, throwing up spray and rainbows. Back at the lodge there are storks, egrets, eagles and other birds around, along with monkeys and baboons, before dinner and the night; accommodation is as on the first night.

3. Day 3

   Top of the Falls and Return to Kampala

   You see the falls early in the morning, take an unhurried breakfast and then pack up for the drive back to Kampala. The route stops at the top of the falls, where the ground shakes under the force of the water and spray throws up a rainbow. Lunch is at the Masindi Hotel, built in 1923, where Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn stayed while filming The African Queen. From there you continue to Kampala, arriving in the late afternoon.