This 21-Day Uganda Expedition is a comprehensive way to explore one of Africa’s most complete safari countries.
The trip covers mountain gorillas and golden monkeys in the southwest, wildlife across Uganda’s most scenic parks, a trek through the Rwenzori range, and a mix of adventure and cultural experiences.
This grand Uganda safari tour includes 2 free gorilla permits.
21-Day Uganda Safari Highlights
- Day 1: Arrival in Kigali and city tour
- Day 2: Transfer to Mgahinga, evening cultural tour
- Day 3: Golden monkey habituation experience
- Day 4: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi, sunset boat cruise
- Day 5: Morning canoeing, afternoon adventure experience
- Day 6: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
- Day 7: Gorilla trekking in Bwindi
- Day 8: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park, sunset boat cruise
- Day 9: Game drive and transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
- Day 10: Game drive and boat cruise on Kazinga Channel
- Day 11: Transfer to Mount Rwenzori, evening cultural experience
- Day 12: Nature walk in the Rwenzori Mountains and transfer to Kibale Forest National Park
- Day 13: Chimpanzee trekking and Bigodi swamp walk
- Day 14: Visit Sempaya Hot Springs and Fort Portal town tour
- Day 15: Transfer to Hoima, cultural tour and overnight stay
- Day 16: Kibiro salt gardens tour and transfer to Murchison Falls National Park
- Day 17: Game drive and boat cruise
- Day 18: Afternoon nature walk in Budongo Forest
- Day 19: Transfer to Kampala via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
- Day 20: Whole day city tour
- Day 21: Entebbe tour and departure
Detailed 21-Day Uganda Safari Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Kigali and City Tour
Welcome to Rwanda. Your guide will meet you at Kigali International Airport and transfer you to your hotel in Kigali, one of Africa’s cleanest and best-organized cities.
Depending on your flight time, spend the morning at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisozi, where visitors come to learn about and honor the victims of the 1994 genocide, which claimed over 1,000,000 lives, with up to 245,000 buried at this site.
Other stops include city monuments, the Kigali craft market, and the Presidential Palace Museum. Afterward, return to your hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 2: Transfer to Mgahinga, Evening Cultural Tour
Leave Kigali after breakfast for Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, roughly a 6-hour drive through Rwanda’s countryside to the forests of southern Uganda.
Along the way, take in Rwanda’s northwestern hills, marked by terraced farmland and traditional settlements.
Cross into Uganda via the Cyanika border and arrive at your accommodation on the edge of the forest in the late afternoon, or stay overnight in Kisoro town, depending on your lodge choice.
An optional evening activity is a visit to the Batwa community near Mgahinga, to learn about their traditional performances, history, and way of life. Dinner and overnight stay at your camp or lodge.
Day 3: Golden Monkey Habituation Experience
After an early breakfast, spend half the day on the golden monkey habituation experience in the bamboo sections of Mgahinga National Park.
Beyond the golden monkeys themselves, you’ll see other monkeys, birds, amphibians, and plant life along the way.
Golden monkeys are an endangered primate species found only in the Virunga foothills, in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda.
Track until you find them, then spend up to four hours observing, photographing, and learning about their behavior, family structure, and conservation status from your guide.
Unlike a standard trek, habituation allows a longer, closer look at their daily activities over the full four hours.
Have a picnic lunch, then return to the lodge in the afternoon to rest for the evening.
Day 4: Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi, Sunset Boat Cruise
Leave Mgahinga after breakfast for Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda’s deepest lake and Africa’s second deepest, home to 29 islands.
The drive takes about 2 hours through Kigezi’s mountains, terraced hills, and forest. Arrive at Lake Bunyonyi in the evening for a sunset boat cruise to explore the lake’s islands.
Day 5: Morning Canoeing, Afternoon Adventure Experience
In the morning, take a sunrise canoe trip or a community walk along the shores of Lake Bunyonyi, taking in some of its islands and their history, along with local fishermen casting their nets. After 2 to 3 hours, rest ahead of the afternoon’s activity.
Have lunch, then head to Prime Nature Island at Supreme Adventure Park for an afternoon of adventure activities, including the Warrior High Ropes course, run in three stages, ending with a zip line to close out the experience.
Afterward, return to the lodge for the evening.
Day 6: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Have breakfast at your lakeside resort, then depart Lake Bunyonyi for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Reach the Ruhija sector after about an hour’s drive, then take a community tour to visit the Batwa, or a nature walk through the forest.
Day 7: Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi
Have an early breakfast, then head to the Ruhija briefing point with your trekking gear, packed lunch, and water to join other trekkers. Groups are organized into teams of eight, each assigned a specific gorilla family.
Head into the forest with an experienced tracking guide to search for your assigned family. Gorillas tend to stay in the more remote parts of the forest, so trekking time can run 1 to 8 hours depending on their location.
Once you find them, spend an hour photographing and observing their behavior, with your ranger guide explaining what you’re seeing.
Return to the lodge and spend the evening reflecting on the day.
Day 8: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park, Sunset Boat Cruise
After breakfast at your lodge in Bwindi, your driver guide will pick you up for the drive to Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda’s smallest savannah park. The route passes through the rolling plains of Kigezi and Ankole.
Stop at banana and flower plantations in Ntungamo district for photos, then continue to Igongo Country Hotel for lunch before checking in at your pre-booked lodge.
Day 9: Game Drive and Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Take an early morning game drive through Lake Mburo, with sightings of buffalo, zebra, reintroduced giraffe, other primates, big cats, and bird life. After 3 to 4 hours, begin the drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The route runs along the lower eastern escarpment of the Rwenzori range, with views of the glaciated peaks on a clear day.
Continue through the hills of Buhweju into the Great Rift Valley escarpment before reaching Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The park sits in a fertile equatorial area and ranks among Uganda’s most visited and accessible savannah parks, with grassy plains, forest, papyrus swamp, and crater lakes.
Day 10: Game Drive and Boat Cruise on Kazinga Channel
Have an early morning game drive after breakfast, looking for early risers and nocturnal animals heading back to cover. Look for elephants, bushbuck, warthogs, and Uganda kob, along with a chance at spotting leopards or lions. Return to the lodge for lunch.
After lunch, head to Mweya jetty for a 2-hour boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel into Lake Edward.
The cruise passes through one of Africa’s highest concentrations of hippos, along with other mammals drinking at the channel’s edge, and large monitor lizards and Nile crocodiles along the banks. Bird life along the route is strong and varied.
Day 11: Transfer to Mount Rwenzori, Evening Cultural Experience
After breakfast in Queen Elizabeth National Park, your guide will transfer you to Rwenzori Mountains National Park, on the edge of Kasese town. Check in to your hotel and rest ahead of lunch.
In the evening, take a cultural tour of the Bakonzo community, with traditional music, dance, and storytelling. You may also get to try local dishes, including fish and cassava flour.
Day 12: Nature Walk in the Rwenzori Mountains and Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park
After tea, get briefed by park rangers on hiking procedures for Mount Rwenzori. A day’s nature walk on the mountain’s lower slopes covers a wide range of mammals, amphibians, primates, and birds.
The trek passes through dense montane forest, with chances to spot chameleons, leopards, olive baboons, bushbuck, blue monkeys, and hyenas.
Return from the trek in the early evening and transfer to Kibale Forest National Park for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 13: Chimpanzee Trekking and Bigodi Swamp Walk
Have breakfast, then prepare for the day’s main activity, Kibale’s chimpanzee trek, one of the park’s most popular experiences.
Attend the briefing at Kanyanchu Visitor Center, covering the rules for chimp trekking.
With your guide, trackers, and porters, walk through tea plantations before entering the forest.
Kibale Forest holds over 13 primate species, including chimpanzees, along with strong birding, over 100 butterfly species, and rainforest trees over 100 years old.
Trekking time runs 1 to 5 hours, and you’ll likely hear the chimps’ calls from early in the walk.
Once you find a troop, spend up to an hour watching them play, feed, and go about their day.
Return to the lodge for lunch, or take a picnic in the forest, then spend the afternoon at Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, known for its birds and other primates.
Bird species here include the Great Blue Turaco and Papyrus Gonolek, among more than 130 others, along with butterflies and other insect life. Return to your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 14: Visit Sempaya Hot Springs and Fort Portal Town Tour
In the morning, travel to Sempaya Hot Springs in Semuliki National Park, about 35 km south of Fort Portal.
Learn about the local beliefs tied to the hot springs, along with the scientific explanation for their formation, from your site guide.
Return to Fort Portal for lunch and an afternoon town tour.
Day 15: Transfer to Hoima, Cultural Tour and Overnight Stay
Leave Kibale Forest National Park after breakfast for Hoima, through the countryside around Fort Portal.
Arrive in Hoima for an early lunch, then take a short tour of the Bunyoro Kingdom palace to learn about the traditions and history of the Banyoro people.
Visit the royal tombs where Bunyoro’s kings are buried, including King Kabalega, known for resisting British rule. Time permitting, take a walk around Hoima town before resting for the night.
Day 16: Kibiro Salt Gardens Tour and Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park
Take a half-day drive north to Murchison Falls National Park, through countryside, traditional homesteads, and farmland.
About 20 minutes from Hoima town, visit the historic Kibiro Salt Gardens, Uganda’s former main salt source, dating back to the 18th century.
Learn how local residents still make a living from the site today, and about the traditional salt-processing methods used.
Murchison Falls National Park sits along the Nile, the world’s longest river. The drive passes the western Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Albert, and several tea plantations, with stops for photos.
Day 17: Game Drive and Boat Cruise
After an early breakfast, take a game drive through the park, looking for buffalo, Jackson’s hartebeest, bushbuck, Uganda kobs, waterbuck, warthogs, giraffe, and elephants.
Bird sightings on a morning drive can include the Abyssinian ground hornbill, black-headed gonolek, black-billed barbet, piapiac, eastern grey plantain-eater, silverbird, African quail-finch, and speckle-fronted weaver.
Return to the lodge for lunch, then head to Paraa jetty at 2:00 pm for the boat trip to the base of Murchison Falls.
The cruise along the Victoria Nile brings sightings of hippos, crocodiles, and other mammals drinking along the shore, along with large monitor lizards. Bird life along the route is strong throughout.
Return to the lodge in the evening for dinner.
Day 18: Afternoon Nature Walk in Budongo Forest
After breakfast, drive about 2 hours to the southern side of Murchison Falls National Park, crossing the bridge over the Nile. Arrive at Budongo Eco Lodge for lunch, then take an afternoon nature walk through East Africa’s largest forest. Overnight stay in Budongo Forest.
Day 19: Transfer to Kampala via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
Depart Murchison Falls National Park via the Kachumbanyobo gate. Continue to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, about two hours away along the Masindi-Kampala highway.
While tracking the rhinos, watch for bushbuck, leopard, Uganda kob, oribi, and other wildlife on the ranch.
The sanctuary also holds strong bird life, including the shoebill stork, sometimes seen by canoe in the Lugogo wetlands. After the rhino tracking, have lunch at Amuka Lodge or Ziwa Visitor’s Camp, then continue to Kampala or Entebbe for an overnight stay.
Day 20: Whole Day City Tour
Have breakfast at 8:00 am, then take a city tour covering Kampala’s hills and landmarks, including Rubaga Cathedral, Namirembe Cathedral, Namugongo Martyrs Shrine, and the Gaddafi National Mosque.
Visit the Kabaka’s Palace in Mengo to learn about the Buganda Kingdom and Baganda tradition.
Close the tour with a visit to the Bahá’í Temple and the Uganda Museum, both set on Kampala’s oldest and tallest hills, with wide views over the city.
After the city tour, drive to Entebbe for an overnight stay.
Day 21: Entebbe Tour and Departure
Have a relaxed breakfast, then take a short walk around Entebbe town, with stops at the Uganda Wildlife Education Center and the Entebbe Botanical Gardens for birding and nature walks.
Depending on your flight time, transfer for your departure flight, marking the end of your 21-Day Uganda Expedition.
End of 21-Day Uganda Expedition.
