Urban Jay Exclusive: Mid-Range
This seven day circuit through western Uganda brings together the four most celebrated wildlife experiences the country has to offer, arranged in a logical geographic flow that minimises road time and maximises time in the field. Beginning in the ancient rainforest of Kibale, you will encounter habituated chimpanzee communities at close range before moving south to the open savannah and waterways of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The route continues through the remote Ishasha sector, famous for its tree-climbing lions, and concludes in the mist-wrapped valleys of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, where a gorilla tracking permit delivers what many travellers describe as the single most powerful wildlife experience of their lives. A final night at Lake Mburo provides a gentle transition before your return to Entebbe.
Day 1
Entebbe to Kibale Forest and Evening Bigodi Wetland Walk
Your East African adventure launches from Entebbe International Airport, where your dedicated driver guide welcomes you and loads your luggage into a customised safari vehicle. The road west from Entebbe crosses central Uganda through a landscape of terraced tea estates, banana groves, and red laterite roads connecting small trading towns before the terrain rises and the air cools as you enter the forest belt approaching Kibale. Arriving at your lodge in the late afternoon, you have time to freshen up and take in the sounds of the forest before embarking on an early evening guided walk into the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary. This community-managed conservation area on the southern boundary of Kibale Forest is a remarkable introduction to Uganda's primate life: Red-tailed Monkeys, Olive Baboons, Black and White Colobus, and the striking Grey-cheeked Mangabey move through the papyrus swamps and riverine woodland, while the birding is extraordinary throughout.
Dinner
Day 2
Kibale Chimpanzee Tracking and Afternoon Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
The morning begins with a briefing at Kanyanchu Visitor Centre before entering the forest at first light with your Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger guide. Tracking the habituated chimpanzee communities of Kibale is an experience of sustained intensity: following fresh knuckle prints and half-eaten fruit through the understorey, listening for the far-carrying hoots and screams that signal the location of the group, and then standing in the presence of our closest living relatives as they go about the ordinary business of their lives with complete indifference to your presence. The full allocated hour passes with remarkable swiftness. After lunch and time to rest and record your impressions, the afternoon drive south toward Queen Elizabeth National Park crosses the equator and enters the broad valley of the Albertine Rift, arriving at your lodge as the last light colours the escarpment walls.
Breakfast,Dinner
Day 3
Queen Elizabeth National Park Game Drive and Kazinga Channel Launch Cruise
The Kasenyi plains stretch northward from your lodge in the thin light of early morning, alive with Uganda kob grazing in loose herds and the distant shapes of buffalo and elephant moving toward the water. A game drive across the most productive circuits of the park gives excellent opportunities for lion, especially in the volcanic crater region near Katwe, as well as the elusive leopard, spotted hyena, and the African wild cat. After returning for lunch, you join the afternoon launch cruise along the Kazinga Channel, which connects Lakes George and Edward at the heart of the park. The shores of this remarkable waterway support what is described as the highest density of hippopotamus in Africa, and the boat passes within metres of groups of these animals resting in the shallows alongside enormous Nile crocodiles. The birdlife is staggering, with African Skimmer, African Finfoot, Goliath Heron, and dozens of kingfisher and heron species lining every reach of the bank.
Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner
Day 4
Ishasha Sector Tree Climbing Lions and Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
The southern Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park is a world apart from the busy game circuits of the north: open fig tree woodland and the broad flood plain of the Ntungwe River, where pride of lions have adopted the remarkable habit of climbing into the massive branches of fig trees to rest in the elevated shade. This behaviour, extremely rare among African lion populations and observed consistently only in Ishasha and a single area of Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania, makes the sector a compelling destination in its own right. A morning game drive through the area offers strong prospects of locating the resident prides in their elevated resting positions before the route continues south through the Kigezi highlands, rising through deeply terraced hillsides of sorghum and tea before dropping into the forested valleys at the edge of Bwindi.
Breakfast,Dinner
Day 5
Bwindi Gorilla Tracking Experience in the Forest
Long before the forest wakes, you will be at your sector headquarters for the morning briefing, where Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers assign each visitor group to a habituated gorilla family based on fitness level and recent gorilla movement reports. Setting out at first light, your party moves into the forest along trails that may be steep, muddy, and demanding, but the reward more than justifies the effort. The moment of first contact with a mountain gorilla family is impossible to adequately prepare for: a silverback of extraordinary size resting in a pool of green light, juveniles tumbling through the undergrowth overhead, a nursing mother watching your approach with calm intelligence. The full hour allocated by regulation passes in what feels like moments, and the walk back to the briefing point gives time for quiet reflection on an encounter that many visitors describe as the most meaningful of their lives.
Breakfast,Dinner
Day 6
Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park and Evening Game Drive
The road northeast from Bwindi descends through the Kigezi highlands and crosses the flat cattle country of western Uganda toward the compact savannah of Lake Mburo National Park, the smallest savannah park in the country but one of the most rewarding for an intimate wildlife experience. An afternoon check-in is followed by an evening game drive through the park's acacia and mixed woodland, where zebra, impala, topi, reedbuck, and the shy oribi are encountered in relaxed conditions. The lake margins are alive with hippos calling from the water and African Fish Eagles announcing the dusk from every prominent perch along the shore.
Breakfast,Dinner
Day 7
Morning Nature Walk and Transfer to Entebbe International Airport
The last morning in the wild begins on foot. A guided nature walk along the lake edge and through the park's boundary woodland brings a new perspective to the landscape: tracks in the soft earth, the tiny movements of sunbirds and waxbills in the acacia canopy, the sound of the lake against the papyrus, the smell of the morning air. After a final breakfast and checkout, the drive returns northeast to Entebbe, crossing the breadth of Uganda through a succession of market towns and agricultural landscapes before the airport comes into view above Lake Victoria.
Breakfast
Safari Pricing Guide
Prices are per person depending on group size.
| Group Size | Price Per Person (USD) |
|---|---|
| 1 Person (Solo Traveler) | $4,620 |
| 2 People (Per Person) | $3,300 |
| 4 People (Per Person) | $3,036 |
| 5 People (Per Person) | $2,904 |
| 6+ People (Per Person) | $2,772 |
Included
- Airport pickup and drop-off transfers
- Transport in a customised 4x4 safari vehicle with pop-up roof
- All national park and reserve entrance fees
- All accommodation as detailed in the itinerary
- Full board meals as specified per day
- Services of a professional English-speaking driver guide
- Drinking water in the vehicle throughout
- All applicable government taxes and levies
- Emergency evacuation insurance cover
Excluded
- International airfares
- Visa fees and travel documentation
- Comprehensive personal travel insurance
- Gratuities for guide and camp staff
- Alcoholic beverages and soft drinks at properties
- Optional activities not listed in the itinerary
- Any costs arising from illness, injury, or force majeure
