Holiday Types - Uganda
All our itineraries are fully tailor made.
The below holiday types are our recommended
BWINDI NATIONAL PARK
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park’s 331 sq. kms of montane and lowland forest jungle lies in southwestern Uganda, 540 kms from Kampala. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and accessible only on foot, it is one of the richest ecosystems in Africa providing habitat for over 90 mammal species (including 11 primates), 346 species of birds (including 23 highly localised Albertine Rift endemics), 202 species of butterflies, 163 species of trees, 100 species of ferns, 27 species of frogs, chameleons, geckos and many other endangered species.
Bwindi is however most notable for her 340 Mountain Gorillas, about half the world's population of this critically endangered primate. Gazetted in 1991, the park rose to her peak after Gorilla tracking became a tourist activity in April of 1993, converting Bwindi into one of the most popular tourist destinations on earth. The seven habituated families include Mubare, Habinyanja, Rushegura near Buhoma and the Nkuringo group at Nkuringo.
Activities in include: Gorilla tracking, Forest walks, Cultural visits with the Batwa people and unbelievable bird watching - Uganda is the richest country for birds in Africa with over 1,000 species recorded including almost half the continent’s known species and over 10% of those recorded around the world.
Start at
$200
per day
Start at
$500
per day
RWENZORI MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK
The Rwenzori Mountains are Africa's 3rd highest mountain range, exceeded only by the free-standing Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Stretching for 120 km over an area of 998 km² on Uganda’s border with the DR Congo, the range consists of six massifs separated by deep gorges (Mt Stanley - 5,109m, Speke - 4,890m, Baker - 4,843m, Emin 4,798m, Gessi - 4,715m and Luigi di Savoia - 4,627m). They are believed to be the legendary snow-capped ‘Mountains of the Moon’ described by Ptolemy in AD 150.
Whilst a variety of large mammals inhabit the lower slopes, the Rwenzoris are far more notable for their majestic scenery. Their distinctive, mist-shrouded glacial peaks, visible for miles around, and varied vegetation provide a stunning backdrop to this magnificent mountain range.
A standard 7 days/6 nights loop taking in all vegetation zones and the glacial peaks is tough but rewarding hike. The high peaks should be attempted only by experienced mountaineers. But the slopes above 1,600m are the preserve of hikers, who rate them the most challenging of all African mountains.
MOUNT ELGON NATIONAL PARK
Mt. Elgon is an extinct volcano straddling the Kenya/Uganda border but her loftiest peak, Wagagai, lies within, and is best ascended from Uganda. Standing at 4,321m and believed to have, in prehistoric times, stood taller than Kilimanjaro does today, it is an important watershed with its slopes supporting a rich variety of altitudinal vegetation from montane forest to high open moorland studded with other-worldly giant lobelia and groundsels.
Often-neglected yet a relatively undemanding climb, Mt. Elgon’s spectacular scenery remains the principal attraction for hikers but there is also a variety of forest monkeys and small antelopes in addition to elephant and buffalo and over 300 birds species. Other attractions include ancient cave paintings close to the trailhead at Budadiri and spectacular caves and hot springs within the crater.
Start at
$150
per day
Start at
$250
per week
QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP), Uganda’s most popular savannah park, is located in western Uganda, approx 438 kms/6 hrs southwest of Kampala. Her 1,978 km² of open savannah, rainforest, dense papyrus swamps and brooding crater lakes extends from Lake George in the northeast to Lake Edward in the southwest and includes Maramagambo Forest and the Kazinga Channel that connects the two lakes.
Established in 1954, it is home to an incredible array of wildlife including almost 100 species of mammals, from hippos, elephants, leopards, lions, the elusive giant forest hog, the handsome Uganda kob to Chimpanzees in her Kyambura Gorge; all these in addition to over 600 bird species.
Much of the best game viewing is in the northern, Mweya Peninsula area which boasts a marvellous waterfront setting in the shadow of the Rwenzoris. The southern area of Ishasha exiting toward Bwindi is famous for its tree-climbing lions, whose males sport black manes, a feature unique to the lions in this area.
The park is also famous for its volcanic features; volcanic cones and deep craters, many with crater lakes such as Lake Katwe, from which salt is extracted. Unique activities include regular game drives, Launch cruises on Kazinga channel, Chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura gorge and Guided walks in Maragambo forest.
GETTING TO QENP
Afterwards, exit Kibale through Fort Portal and drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park with excellent views of the Rwenzori Mountains en-route. Ahead of the British colonial copper mining town of Kasese enter the park and watch out for wildlife like elephant, buffalo, lion, etc. Picnic lunch en-route
LAKE MBURO NATIONAL PARK
Located in southern Uganda near Mbarara (230km/4 hrs from Kampala), the 260 km² Lake Mburo National Park has a markedly different fauna; it is the best, only, place in Uganda where one can see the cape Eland, Zebra, Topi and Impala (for which Kampala is named). Hippos, crocodiles and a variety of water birds are also found in the five lakes within the park while the fringing swamps hide secretive papyrus specialists such as the sitatunga as well as the red, black and yellow papyrus gonalek.
Lake Mburo National Park’s rich biodiversity includes 68 species of mammals including buffalo, the occasional Roan antelope, Leopard, Hyenas and Jackals. The over 350 species of birds includes Pelicans, Black crake, Heron, cormorant, fish eagle; you may also sight the rare Shoebill Stork, marabou stork, the bronze-tailed starling and even the more exotic Blue Naped Coucal, Bare-faced Go-Away Bird, Nubian Woodpecker and Swamp Flycatchers, etc. Activities include regular game drives, boat rides, forest walks and now Quad bike game drives.
Start at
$150
per day
Start at
$250
per week
KIBALE NATIONAL PARK
Kibale National Park, 320 kms/5 hrs from Kampala, is Uganda’s primates’ paradise, her 776 km² of moist evergreen rain forest home to the highest concentration of primates in the world - 13 species, including the very ‘local-ized’ Red Colobus as well as L'Hoest's monkey. The elusive forest elephant, smaller and hairier than its bush counterpart, moves seasonally into the park while other terrestrial mammals include buffalo, giant forest hog, leopard and half a dozen antelope species. Bird life is also prolific with 335 species including hornbills, pittas, turacos, the endemic Prirogrine's ground thrush and African Grey Parrots.
But the park’s principal attraction remains the opportunity to track her 500 habituated Chimpanzees. These delightful apes, genetically the closest living relatives of man, are tremendous fun to watch as they squabble and play in fruiting trees. Tracking usually takes about 4 hrs.
One other unique experience in Kibali: join the habituation team that goes out in the morning to study the chimpanzees and habituate them humans.
MGAHINGA GORILLA NATIONAL PARK
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, a tropical rainforest, is situated in the southwestern corner of Uganda, on the border with Rwanda and DR Congo, 540 kms from Kampala and 14 km south of Kisoro. One of Uganda’s smallest parks at a mere 33.7 km², she encompasses the slopes of the three northernmost Virunga Volcanoes - Muhavura (4,127 m), Gahinga (3,474 m) and Sabyinyo (3,645 m) - thus protecting the Ugandan part of the Virungas, their huge volcanic cones dominate her entire landscape.
Besides the Nyakagezi, the one habituated gorilla family consisting of 2 silverbacks, 3 adult females, 2 juveniles and 2 infants, this little gem is also home to Black & White Colobus monkeys, Blue Monkeys, Leopard, Forest elephant, Giant forest hog, etc.
Activities in this park include Gorilla Tracking (the Nyakagezi group sometimes crosses the border into Rwanda thus not very reliable), a popular 6 hours round trip hike through a pure Bamboo forest as well as Bird walks in search of the park’s 79 bird species including several endemics to the East Congo Montane region.
Start at
$150
per day
Start at
$250
per week
KIDEPO VALLEY NATIONAL PARK
The 1,442 km² Kidepo Valley National Park is tucked away into the corner of Uganda's border with Sudan and Kenya approx. 700 kms from Kampala. Transected by Rivers Kidepo and Narus and well fed with ample rainfall, Kidepo is an oasis in the semi-desert; unsurpassed scenery, dense Acacia geradi forest along Lorupei River and breathtaking savannah landscapes dominated by Mt. Morungole (2750m).
The park’s extremely diverse flora and fauna includes over 500 species of birds and over 80 mammals species, (28 of which do not occur anywhere else in Ugandan), including the bat-eared fox, striped hyena, cheetah and leopard, aardwolf, caracal, hunting dogs, elephants, zebra, bush pigs, warthog, rothschild giraffe, buffalo, eland, bushbuck, bush duskier, defassa water buck, bohor reed buck, jackson's hartbeest and oribi as well as tree climbing lions; game viewing could never be better. Less common residents include the greater and lesser kudu, Chandlers Mountain reedbuck, klipspringer, etc.
Activities include: Hiking on Lamoj Mountains just a few kilometers from the Park HQs, sightseeing at the splendid Kidepo River Valley dominated by Borassus palm forest, the Kanangorok Hot Springs, located only 11 km from Kidepo river valley and Cultural Performances such as the Emuya of the Naporre and Nyangia ethnic groups and Larakaraka and Apiti dances of the Acholi.
MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK
At the dramatic Murchison Falls, the world's longest river explodes through a narrow, 7m cleft in the Rift Valley escarpment to plunge into a frothing pool 43M below. In the lush borassus grassland north of the Nile, elephant, buffalo, giraffe and a variety of antelope are regularly encountered. In the southeast, Rabongo Forest is home to chimpanzees and other rainforest creatures while the River Nile itself hosts one of Africa's densest hippo and crocodile populations. Add a dazzling variety of water-birds, including the world's most accessible wild population of the rare shoebill stork, and Welcome! to Murchison Falls National Park; an untamed African savannah bisected east to west, for 115 kms, by the mighty river Nile.
Situated approx. 300 kms/5 hrs northwest of Kampala, this 3,840 km² park spreading inland from the shores of Lake Albert around the Victoria Nile is Uganda's largest National Park. And the only one where all of the ‘Big Five’ are to be found; buffalo, elephant, lion and occasional leopard seen above the Nile while rhinos are being bred in a sanctuary south of the park - 40 to 50 of them are lined up for release into the wild by around 2040. Together with the adjacent 748 km² Bugungu Wildlife Reserve and the 720 km² Karuma Wildlife Reserve, the park is part of the greater, 5,308 km², Murchison Falls Conservation Area.
Special activities include launch trips to the base of the falls, Boat trips to the Lake Albert delta, Chimpanzee tracking at Rabongo Forest and Budongo Forest en-route from Masindi plus regular game viewing drives.
Start at
$150
per day
Start at
$250
per week
SEMLIKI WILDLIFE RESERVE
Semliki National Park, an extension of the Congo's vast Ituri rainforest, is situated on the Uganda/Congo border, approx. 240 kms/6 hrs from kampala between Lake Albert and the Rwenzoris. Totally off the beaten track with breathtaking scenery and fuming 130ºC hot-springs, this rich mosaic of grassland savannah, tropical lowland forest, bamboo forest and wetland habitats is endowed with a correspondingly diverse fauna. While the Uganda kob is the most common large mammal, there are also forest elephants, giraffe, chimpanzees, buffalo, leopard, sitatunga, pigmy hippos, crocodile, chimps, even the more localized De Brazza's monkey, and antelopes.
But the main attraction in Semliki remains birding over her well established birding trails that loop around the hot springs at Sempaya. The over 400 species of birds recorded include many West African forest types like White Crested, Red Dwarf, Black Dwarf and Wattled Casque Hornbills as well as the shoebill stork, Red Rumped Tinker Bird and the Palm Greenbul (a localized endemic). The park remains of special interest to ornithologists for some 40 essentially Congolese species found nowhere else in Uganda.
DON'T WAIT AND EXPERIENCE THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME
Let Us organise Your Next Trip For You
