Day 1: Kampala to Queen Elizabeth national park

Day 2: Launch cruise along the Kazinga Channel

Day 3: Ishasha Game drive – Transfer to Bwindi Forest

Day 4: Gorilla Tracking and visit Batwa pygmies

Day 5: Return Trip to Kampala or Kigali

Day 1: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park via Kampala – Masaka road (7hrs drive) en route making a stop over at the equator for photography and Mbarara for lunch. Later transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park. It is roughly a 3 hours drive from Mbarara to Queen Elizabeth national park. Overnight stay at Mweya safari lodge / Katara Lodge/ Park View Lodge / Engazi Lodge

Day 2: Game drive and Launch cruise along Kazinga Channel

In the morning enjoy a game drive to the northern sector of the park – Kasenyi plains in search for leopards and lions. As you drive along Kasenyi track expect to encounter big herds of elephants, buffalos, Uganda Kobs, warthogs, Defassa waterbuck, bushbuck and giant forest hogs among others. Return to the lodge for a hot lunch before undertaking a launch cruise along the Kazinga Channel at 2:00 pm. The launch experience will bring you closer to big herds of elephants, hippos and a plethora of migrant and endemic birds among others. At 6:00 pm return to the lodge for your dinner and relaxation.

Day 3: Ishasha – Bwindi national park

After breakfast at 8:00 am transfer to Ishasha – the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth national park in search of tree climbing lions. It is approximately an hour’s drive from Mweya to Ishasha Gate. At 10:00 am lions begin climbing fig trees as they seek shelter in the tree branches from the scorching sunshine and relaxing after a night and morning feast on the antelopes.

At 13:00 O’clock transfer to Savannah Hotel for a hot lunch and later proceed to Bwindi national park for an evening Batwa (Pygmies) community walk. Overnight stay at Gorilla Forest Camp / Mahogany Springs.

Day 4: Gorilla Tracking Adventure

Wake up very early in the morning for your breakfast and then hike to the park headquarters, which is a few metres from your lodge for a briefing by the park ranger before commencing the gorilla trek at 8:30 am. Gorilla tracking is a strenuous exercise but ranked the most rewarding wildlife experience. The time taken to encounter these apes ranges from an hour to several hours depending on their movement in the jungle. Overnight stay at Gorilla Forest Camp / Mahogany Springs.

Day 5: Departure
After breakfast transfer back to the airport either Entebbe or Kigali. It is more than 8 hours drive to Entebbe from Bwindi; whereas it is a 4 to 5 hours drive to Kigali international airport.

End of Tour

Guide price

USD 3,500 per person based on a group of 6 people traveling, prices are subjected to change.

Why do we use guide prices?
The price for every safari depends on the number of people travelling, their ages, the time of year, whether or not international flights are included, the type of transport and accommodation used and the activities undertaken.

We calculate according to the specific dates of your booking because after we publish our itineraries some things may change. For example, hotels may increase their prices, the government may introduce new taxes or some discounts may become available. Unfortunately, we also have to pass on surcharges imposed on us by, for example, airlines when fuel prices or airport taxes are unexpectedly increased.

We would be happy to prepare a quotation, based on your requirements. We normally include most costs in the price so all you need to bring with you is ‘pocket money’ for items like drinks, tips and personal shopping e.g. souvenirs.

Insurance

AMREF flying doctors provide a medevac service in case of illness or injury during your safari. This costs $25pp for 31 days. We recommend this service and can include it in your package price.

Booking

Once you have selected one of our safari packages you need to send us a booking form. When we receive this we will check availability and inform you if any changes are necessary and issue an invoice for a 50% deposit plus the full cost of any tracking permits (in case of cancellation permit fees are non-refundable). Only once this payment is received can we guarantee availability and issue a booking confirmation. Full payment is required 70 days before travel.

Payments and cancellation

We charge in US dollars. Payment is by bank transfer into our Standard Chartered USD bank account in Uganda. You can also pay by credit card although there is a 5% administration charge. For those booking from within Uganda, cash payments are possible at our office.

When we book your safari, we have to pay non-refundable deposits on your behalf, for example to hotels. Therefore, we charge cancellation fees as follows:

30% of reservation costs if you cancel more than 50 days before your arrival date

100% of reservation costs if you cancel less than 50 days before your arrival date

We strongly recommend that you include cancellation cover in your travel insurance.

Disclaimer: We enter into an agreement with you in good faith but we sometimes encounter unexpected changes in local conditions which can affect your itinerary or price. These changes are beyond our control and we are not liable for them. While we endeavour to protect you against the effects of these changes, we reserve the right to amend the agreed itinerary and price in response to them. Such changes include but are not limited to weather conditions, road conditions, supplier price increases, fuel increases, government tax increases, supplier service changes e.g. cancellation of ferry services for river crossings or national park operations (track maintenance, animal translocations). We assure you that, we will always give you as much notice as possible of changes, suggest alternative plans and keep additional charges to a minimum.

Accommodation

To help us select the right accommodation for your safari (and in the absence of a complete national hotel classification system e.g. 1*–5*) we use four levels: high-end, mid-range, budget and backpackers. These terms can mean different things to different people but are helpful to an extent.

Air-conditioned rooms are not available in all hotels. Where AC is available, there is usually an extra charge.

Some locations have a limited choice of accommodation and so, to stay there, you must accept what is available. Where possible we prefer to work with responsible accommodation providers. This means hotels and lodges which are locally owned, employ local staff, support their community and protect the local environment.

Transport

As standard, we use a spacious 7-seater, 4×4 safari Land Cruiser, with pop-up roof, fridge and phone/camera charging facilities. This is the perfect safari vehicle.

Alternatively, we offer a slightly cheaper 7-seater, 4×4 safari van with a pop-up roof.

5-seater versions of both Land Cruisers and vans are also available.

For large group tours we use small buses called Coasters. These usually seat around 28 people, including 5 jump (fold-down) seats in the aisle. They do not have a boot/trunk so luggage is carried on the back seats which reduces the seating capacity. The overhead luggage shelves are small and can only accommodate small bags. Therefore, we recommend you do not over pack.

All vehicles include a driver/guide and fuel for your itinerary. Additional activities, not included in your itinerary, may incur an additional fuel charge. Our vehicles are comprehensively insured, in good mechanical condition and have seat belts fitted.

Please let us know if you have any special travel requirements. For example, if your group has disabled members we will do our best to accommodate your needs.