6-days Uganda: Jungle and Safari

Flying into Entebbe you already get wowed by one of the world’s most impressive natural wonders, since the city is located on the Victoria Lake peninsula. Upon leaving Entebbe International Airport your personal Africa Safari Trips guide greets you with a smile and a friendly “Ki Kati in Uganda!”.

On the way to your hotel you get a feeling for Entebbe’s hustle and bustle of everyday life and you might already have some questions about Uganda, its culture and lifestyle or the upcoming days. Don’t be shy: simply ask, you’re guide is happy to answer all of them.

After arriving at your accomodation you can unwind in its cozy and charming atmosphere, take a nap in your comfortable room or enjoy a drink at the bar. A yummy dinner at the restaurant and a quick “I’m here and it’s so beautiful” to your loved ones at home (yay, Wi-Fi!) are the cherries on top of the cake aka your first day in Entebbe.

Your day starts early and the drive to Kibale National Park is quite a long one, around five to six hours. But since you’ve just arrived here, it doesn’t matter – on the way to this verdant paradies you get a glimpse of Uganda’s capital Kampala, Lake Wamala as well as local countryside life and drive through the lush Matiri Central Forest Reserve.

Once arrived in Kibale, you embark on the Top of the World Hike and that’s exactly how you’ll feel from beginning to end. From the scenic Lake Nyabikere (lake of frogs) you follow your guide through coffee and tea plantations, banana groves and along green gardens and crater lakes (hippo included, if you’re lucky). The highlight: the view from World Hill on the crater lakes, the Rwenzori Mountains and Kibale Forest… where you’ll spend the next day.

Get ready for a day full of “Wows” and “Do you see that?” and “I need to take a picture of this!”… we’re not even exaggerating. During your swamp walk through the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, which received an award from the UNESCO Wetlands Sustainable Tourism Projects, you can dive deep into the jungle’s flora and fauna.

This natural gem is home to more than 200 bird species, including the unique blue turaco and the fascinating hornbill. You can also spot a lot of different mammals like the semi-aquatic sitatungas, mongoose, bush bucks or otters. So keep your eyes open and your camera close!

The biggest highlight (yes, there’s more) are the primates though and mostly the chimpanzees. Besides blue monkeys, baboons, grey-cheeked mangabeys and many more it’s clearly the chimpanzees stealing the show. If you want to make sure to see our furry relatives up close, you can join chimpanzee trekking – a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The time has come for your classic safari adventure, an experience many dream of. In Queen Elizabeth National Park it’s royalty through and through. First, the name itself in reference to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Second, its size with 1,978 square kilometers (764 square miles). Third, its landscapes with the typical savannah, wetlands and lush forests.  And last but not least, its animals, the cream of the crop of African wildlife.

From your 4×4 vehicle you cannot only spot the Big Five here – elephants, buffaloe, lions, leopards and the shy rhino – but also giraffes grabbing some food from acacia trees or various antelopes, like the Uganda kob, waterbucks and of course zebras. If you’re lucky, you even see the mainly nocturnal hyenas or witness other predators hunting for their lunch. Animal planet IRL so to speak.

If you’re a fan of birdlife, your inner ornothologist’s heart will skip a few beats at the sight of more than 600 bird species like the little bee eater, the martial eagle or the grey-crowned crane.

“Another jeep safari,” you ask happily? Yes! Queen Elizabeth National Park is full of so many treasures that we thought you’d need to go on the hunt twice (pun intended). To mix things up, we’ve added a boat safari giving you the unique opportunity to discover not only the animals on land, but also in and around the water… as well as the indescribable beauty of the landscape surrounding it.

On the park’s 32-kilometer-long Kazinga Channel connecting Lake George and Lake Edward you go on this wonderful journey. This is your big chance to see hippos in full or semi-submerged, Nile crocodiles chilling in the sun and a plethora of water-loving birds. From the swamp nightjar to the swamp flycatcher and the saddle-billed stork… you can spot them all and capture them forever with a good zoom 😉

If luck’s on your side that day, you might even be able to see the rare shoebill at Lake Edward – a bird that has been around for approximately 30 million years.

Even if you don’t want to… you might have to leave Uganda now since everyday life and your job are calling. But maybe you don’t (yay!) and you can keep on travelling. Uganda has many more treasures for you to discover. From the lush Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and its VIP inhabitants (hint: big, black, furry) to the splashing Sipi Falls and the vibrant culture in Jinja, the Adrenaline Capital of East Africa. Should you want to add any of these or other highlights to your Uganda experience after your six-day jungle and safari tour, just let us know and we’ll make it work.

And even if you go home after this adventure, you’ll stay in Uganda for a little longer… thanks to all the wonderful memories.