14 Days Uganda Safari

Your safari begins when you arrive at Entebbe International Airport. Your Friendly Gorillas guide welcomes you, helps with your luggage, and transfers you to your hotel in Kampala.

This first day gives you time to settle in after your flight. You can rest at your hotel, prepare your safari bag, change money if needed, and recover before the longer journey begins.

Your guide gives you a short briefing about the route, permits, activities, road transfers, lodge categories, and what to expect during the next 14 days. Depending on your need, you may do a simple city tour to get properly introduced to the beautiful Uganda.

After breakfast, leave Kampala and drive north toward Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. After driving for about 2 hours, this stop gives you the chance to track rhinos on foot with trained guides.

Rhino tracking adds strong value to this safari because it helps complete the Big Five experience in Uganda. You also learn about rhino conservation and why the sanctuary plays an important role in Uganda’s wildlife recovery.

After rhino tracking, continue toward Murchison Falls National Park with lunch along the way. Depending on timing, you may visit the top of Murchison Falls before going to your lodge.

At the top of the falls, the Nile squeezes through a narrow rock gap before dropping with great force. It is a powerful introduction to one of Uganda’s most famous parks.

Arrive at your lodge, check in, have dinner, and rest as you await tomorrow’s adventure.

Wake up early for a morning game drive in Murchison Falls National Park. The early start gives you better chances of seeing wildlife when animals are more active and ofcourse, this it the best time to take some captivating photos.

Your guide drives through selected tracks while looking for elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, antelopes, warthogs, and other savannah wildlife. Lions may also be seen depending on movement and timing.

Return to your lodge for lunch and a short rest.

In the afternoon, take a boat cruise on the Nile toward the base of Murchison Falls. This boat safari is one of the most rewarding activities in the park because many animals come close to the river.

You may see hippos, crocodiles, elephants, buffaloes, waterbirds, and other wildlife along the banks. The boat also gives you a different view of the park from the water.

Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

After breakfast, enjoy another game drive in Murchison Falls National Park. A second game drive improves your chances of different sightings because wildlife movement changes from day to day.

This extra time in the park is one reason the 14-day itinerary gives better value than a rushed safari. You are not passing through Murchison just to tick it off. You have more room to search, watch, wait, and enjoy the landscape.

Return to the lodge for lunch and rest.

In the afternoon, you may relax at the lodge or request an optional activity depending on your lodge location and final package. This slower afternoon helps balance the safari before the long transfer to Kibale the next day. If you want, ask for a cultural musical performance to be arranged at no extra cost.

After breakfast, leave Murchison Falls and begin the journey toward Kibale Forest National Park. This is a long but scenic travel day through western Uganda.

The route takes you through rural towns, farms, villages, and changing landscapes. You see more of Uganda’s everyday life between the major safari parks, which adds context to the journey.

As you approach Fort Portal and Kibale, the scenery becomes greener and cooler. Tea estates, crater lake views, forest patches, and the wider western highlands give this region a peaceful feel.

Arrive at your lodge in the late afternoon or evening. Check in, have dinner, and prepare for chimpanzee tracking.

After an early breakfast, your guide transfers you to the Kibale park offices for registration and briefing. The chimpanzee trekking ranger guides explain the chimpanzee tracking rules, forest safety, and how to behave near the chimps.

You then enter Kibale Forest with your ranger guide. The forest is active with birds, monkeys, insects, and chimpanzee calls. Chimpanzees are vocal and social, so the experience feels lively and different from gorilla trekking.

Once you find the chimpanzees, you spend time watching them feed, climb, groom, call, and move through the forest. This gives you a close look at one of our closest wild relatives.

After tracking, return to the lodge for lunch and rest.

In the afternoon, you prepare and go for a Bigodi Wetland Walk. At Friendly Gorillas, we recommend this activity because it supports the local community and gives you an encounter with some great birds such as blue turaco, colobus monkeys, wetland scenery, and village life in one gentle walk in the remote wild.

After breakfast, enjoy a relaxed scenic experience around the Kibale and Fort Portal region before continuing to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

The crater lake area gives you beautiful views, local villages, farms, and green hills. This softer scenic day adds value because it gives you time to enjoy western Uganda beyond the major park activities.

After the crater lake stops, drive toward Queen Elizabeth National Park. On clear days, you may enjoy views toward the Rwenzori Mountains as the landscape opens into savannah, crater areas, lakes, and wetlands.

Today, you may also go for a Waterfall hike to enjoy a simple village trek as you learn several stories about this place.

Retreat from the adventure, arrive at your lodge, check in, and spend the evening at leisure.

Wake up early for a morning game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Your guide chooses the best tracks based on wildlife movement, lodge location, and road conditions.

You look for elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, warthogs, waterbucks, and other animals. Lions may also be seen depending on the day’s movement and timing.

Return to the lodge for lunch and a short rest.

In the afternoon, take the Kazinga Channel boat cruise. This activity is one of the most valuable wildlife experiences in Queen Elizabeth National Park because animals often gather near the water.

You may see hippos, crocodiles, buffaloes, elephants, waterbirds, and other wildlife along the shoreline. The boat cruise also gives strong photography opportunities because animals can be viewed from a calm and safe position.

Accommodation options in Queen Elizabeth National Park:

After breakfast, say goodbye to Queen Elizabeth and embark on a drive toward Bwindi Impenetrable National Park through the Ishasha sector, if route conditions allow.

Ishasha is known for tree-climbing lions, although sightings are never guaranteed. Even when lions are not seen, the route gives you a more remote safari feel and breaks the journey between Queen Elizabeth and Bwindi.

As you continue south, the landscape changes from savannah to highlands, terraced farms, villages, and forested hills. This transition is one of the reasons Uganda feels so varied in one itinerary.

Arrive at your lodge near your confirmed gorilla trekking sector. Bwindi has several sectors, including Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga, and Nkuringo. We choose the lodge based on the permit sector to reduce unnecessary early morning transfers.

Wake up early, have breakfast, and transfer to the park headquarters for briefing. This is one of the most important days of the safari so, go ready for it.

The Uganda gorilla trekking ranger guides explain the trekking rules, safety guidelines, gorilla behavior, and what to do once you reach the gorilla family. You then enter Bwindi with ranger guides and trackers.

The trek may take a shorter or longer time depending on where the gorillas moved overnight. The forest can be steep, muddy, and thick, so you should move at a steady pace and listen to your guides.

When you find the gorillas, you spend up to one hour with them. You may watch a silverback resting, females feeding, young gorillas playing, or the family moving through the forest.

This encounter often becomes the most emotional moment of the safari. It gives you more than a photo opportunity. It gives you a quiet, close, and respectful connection with one of Africa’s most treasured species.

After the trek, return to the park offices and receive your gorilla trekking certificate. You then return to your lodge for rest.

After breakfast, transfer from Bwindi to Lake Bunyonyi. This is a shorter scenic drive compared to other safari days, and it gives you time to rest after gorilla trekking.

Lake Bunyonyi is a perfect recovery stop. The lake is calm, surrounded by terraced hills, and dotted with islands. It gives the itinerary a peaceful change of pace after forests and savannah parks.

Spend the afternoon at leisure or add an optional canoe ride, motorboat trip, island visit, or community walk. This day helps you slow down without losing value.

After breakfast, leave Lake Bunyonyi and drive toward Lake Mburo National Park. This park works well as a final wildlife stop because it breaks the journey back to Kampala and gives you a softer safari experience.

Lake Mburo is known for zebras, impalas, elands, buffaloes, warthogs, birds, and scenic lakeside landscapes. It also offers optional activities that differ from the rest of the safari, including guided nature walks, boat rides, cycling, and horseback safaris.

Depending on arrival time, you may take an afternoon game drive or enjoy one of the optional activities.

Wake up early for a final Lake Mburo activity. You may take a game drive or an optional guided nature walk, depending on your package and interest.

The guided nature walk is especially useful because Lake Mburo is one of Uganda’s best places for walking safari experiences. It allows you to enjoy wildlife and tracks from ground level with an armed ranger guide.

After the activity, begin the drive toward Jinja. You may stop at the Equator for photos and a short break if timing allows. Continue past Kampala and head east toward the source of the Nile region.

Arrive in Jinja, check in, and relax. Jinja adds a fresh ending to the safari because it shifts the experience from national parks to the River Nile, culture, and soft adventure.

After breakfast, enjoy a visit to the Source of the Nile area. Depending on your interest and timing, you may take a boat ride, visit local craft spots, or add an optional adventure activity.

Jinja gives the safari a relaxed final chapter. After nearly two weeks of wildlife, forests, parks, and long drives, the Nile experience adds scenery, history, and a gentle finish before your departure.

Later, drive back to Entebbe. Your guide drops you at your hotel or Entebbe International Airport, depending on your final travel plan.

This marks the end of your 14 Days Uganda Grand Safari with Friendly Gorillas Safaris.