Day-by-day itinerary

What the operator has planned, day by day, across 11 days.

1. Day 1

   Arrival and night in Entebbe

   Your guide meets you at Entebbe International Airport and takes you to your hotel in Entebbe. Nothing is scheduled for the rest of the day beyond settling in. You spend the night here before the drive west.

2. Day 2

   Drive west to Kibale

   Breakfast is followed by the road west to Kibale National Park, a forest known for the number of primate species it holds. The drive passes farmland and roadside trading centres and takes most of the day. You check in at your lodge and have the evening free.

3. Day 3

   Chimpanzee tracking in Kibale

   You join a ranger led group for chimpanzee tracking in Kibale National Park, which holds one of the larger chimpanzee populations in Uganda. Trackers follow calls and fresh signs through thick undergrowth until a group is located. The time that follows is spent watching the chimpanzees feed, groom and move through the canopy.

4. Day 4

   Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable

   After breakfast you leave Kibale for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a World Heritage listed forest in the southwest. The road runs through hill country and small villages, and arrival is usually late in the day. The evening at your lodge is short because the gorilla briefing starts early.

5. Day 5

   Gorilla trekking in Bwindi

   The day begins with a briefing before you set out with rangers to find a habituated mountain gorilla family. Bwindi holds roughly half of the remaining mountain gorillas in the world, and the walk through steep, wet forest can take anything from a couple of hours to most of the day. Once the family is reached you have one hour with them, then return to your lodge.

6. Day 6

   Golden monkey trek at Mgahinga

   You drive to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in the Virunga range for the golden monkey trek. The troops feed in the bamboo on the lower slopes, so the walk is shorter than the gorilla trek, and the monkeys move fast and in numbers once found. Afterwards you drive back to your accommodation at Bwindi for the night.

7. Day 7

   East to Lake Mburo

   You leave the southwest after breakfast and drive to Lake Mburo National Park. The route crosses hill and grazing country on the way back east. You check in on arrival and the rest of the day is quiet.

8. Day 8

   Game drive and walk at Mburo

   An early game drive covers the park tracks, where zebra, impala, buffalo and baboon are all regularly seen. The baboons are the reason the day belongs in a primate itinerary, and the drive allows time to watch a troop feeding and grooming. Later a ranger takes you out on foot for a closer look at the plants and smaller wildlife of the park.

9. Day 9

   North to Murchison Falls

   You leave Lake Mburo and drive north to Murchison Falls National Park, the largest protected area in the country. This is the longest transfer of the trip and takes the better part of the day. The itinerary allows for stops at communities along the route.

10. Day 10

    Colobus trek and Nile boat safari

    The morning goes to a guided walk in search of black and white colobus monkeys, which sit high in the trees and are easiest to pick out when they jump between crowns. In the afternoon a boat runs up the Nile. Hippo, crocodile and a long list of water birds are the usual sightings from the water.

11. Day 11

    Transfer to the airport

    After breakfast you are driven to the airport for your outbound flight. Nothing further is scheduled and the arrangement ends with that transfer.