13-Day Uganda Wildlife & Birding Safari Holiday

This 13-day Uganda Wildlife Adventure and Birding Safari Holiday blends classic big-game viewing with sought-after primate encounters and some of East Africa’s richest bird habitats. Designed by Deks Safaris Africa Tours for travelers who love nature, photography, and community connections, the route begins with the thunder of Murchison Falls and ends on the calm waters of Mabamba Bay in search of the iconic Shoebill. In between, you will track rhinos on foot at Ziwa, watch elephants and lions on open savannah, cruise the Nile and Kazinga Channel among hippos and crocodiles, and trek chimpanzees and mountain gorillas in ancient forests.

You will also walk-through Bigodi wetlands with local guides, witness boiling hot springs in Semuliki, and enjoy tranquil time at Lake Bunyonyi and Lake Mburo, including a rare chance to explore the bush on horseback. Comfortable, well-situated lodges chosen for their views, hospitality, and proximity to wildlife anchor each day’s adventure. The program is paced to optimize wildlife sightings while allowing time for rest, reflection, and golden-hour photography. By combining expert guiding, responsible community experiences, and thoughtful logistics, this itinerary ensures you see the very best of Uganda’s biodiversity across diverse ecosystems from savannah plains and papyrus swamps to montane and lowland forests. Expect close-up wildlife moments, superb birding with many Albertine Rift endemics, and warm Ugandan hospitality from the first welcome to your farewell.

13-Day Uganda Wildlife Adventure & Birding Safari Highlights

Day Activities Safari Lodge
Day 1 Transfer to Murchison Falls, Ziwa Sanctuary for Rhino Tracking and Top of The Murchison Falls Pakuba Safari Lodge
Day 2 Morning Game Drive and Boat Cruise in Murchison Falls National Park Pakuba Safari Lodge
Day 3 Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park and Bigodi Swamp Walk and Community Walk Turaco Treetops Kibale Lodge
Day 4 Chimpanzee Tracking and Birdwatching in Kibale Forest National Park Turaco Treetops Kibale Lodge
Day 5 Early Morning Drive to Semuliki National Park for Birdwatching and The Hot Springs Rwenzori View Guest House
Day 6 Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park, Visit the Crater Lakes Exploration and Birding Around the Craters Enshama Safari Lodge
Day 7 Morning Game Drive in Kasenyi Plains, Boat Cruise At 10am And Evening Birdwatching in Queen Elizabeth National Park Elephant Hub Lodge
Day 8 Morning Road Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park Via Ishasha Sector (Spot Tree Climbing Lions) Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge
Day 9 Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Afternoon Road Transfer to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Mutanda Lake Resort
Day 10 Golden Monkey Tracking in Mgahinga National Park and Road Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi for Birding and Sunset Boat Cruise! Arcadia Safari Lodge
Day 11 Morning Road Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park, afternoon Horseback Riding, and Evening Boat Cruise on Lake Mburo Rwakobo Rock Lodge
Day 12 Morning Game Drive in Lake Mburo National Park and Mid-Morning Road Transfer to Kampala (Entebbe) Lake Victoria Hotel
Day 13 Morning Birding in Mabamba Swamp on A Canoe to Spot the Shoe Bill Stork None

Tour Quotation Based on Mid-Range Safari: From US$4,890

 

3 Days Bwindi Gorilla Trekking Safaris

3 Days Bwindi Gorilla Trekking Safari

Detailed 13 Days Uganda Wildlife Adventure and Birding Safari Holiday

Day 1: Transfer to Murchison Falls via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary & Top of the Falls

Lodge: Pakuba Safari Lodge

Your 13-Day Uganda Wildlife Adventure & Birding Safari begins after breakfast with a scenic drive north toward Murchison Falls National Park. En route, stop at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for a guided rhino tracking experience on foot. Rangers share the sanctuary’s conservation story as you quietly observe these magnificent animals at a respectful distance an unforgettable way to complete Uganda’s Big Five later in the 13-Day Uganda Wildlife & Birding Safari. After lunch, continue to Murchison and enter the park, where Borassus palms dot the savannah and Uganda kob graze in the distance. Before settling in, visit the Top of the Murchison Falls, the most powerful waterfall on the Nile.

Feel the ground hum and mist rise as the world’s longest river squeezes through a narrow 7-meter gorge, plunging into the Rift Valley below. It’s a powerful welcome and a superb spot for photographs of rainbows and spray. Arrive at Pakuba Safari Lodge in time to unwind as the sun fades over the Albert Nile. Over dinner, your guide briefs you on tomorrow’s game drive and boat cruise, offering tips on spotting elephants, giraffes, and raptors in morning light. Sleep to the distant calls of nightjars and the river’s steady murmur.

 

Day 2: Game Drive & Nile Boat Cruise in Murchison Falls National Park

Lodge: Pakuba Safari Lodge

Rise early for a sunrise game drive across the northern sector, where open plains favor sightings of Rothschild’s giraffe, elephant herds, buffalo, Jackson’s hartebeest, oribi, and lions on the move before the day warms. Birders keep binoculars handy for Abyssinian ground hornbill, secretarybird, and raptors lifting on thermals. With soft morning light, the landscape photographs beautifully, and your guide positions the vehicle for ethical, unhurried viewing. Return to the lodge for brunch and a short rest. In the afternoon, board a boat for the classic cruise up the Victoria Nile toward the base of Murchison Falls.

Hippos bob in pods, crocodiles bask on sandy banks, and waterbirds, African fish eagle, pied kingfisher, red-throated bee-eater line the channels. The boat idles near the turbulent base, giving you a dramatic angle on the cataract. Optional: disembark for a guided hike to the Top of the Falls, meeting your 13-Day Uganda Wildlife Adventure & Birding Safari driver at the viewpoint. Alternatively, enjoy a slower downstream cruise for sunset colors and a chance of elephants at the water’s edge. Return to Pakuba for dinner under the stars, sharing favorite sightings and reviewing tomorrow’s road journey south to Kibale Forest.

 

Day 3: Transfer to Kibale Forest, Bigodi Swamp Walk & Community Visit

Lodge: Turaco Treetops Kibale Lodge

After breakfast, depart through the Albertine Rift landscapes toward Fort Portal, passing tea estates and crater-dotted hillsides. Arrive near Kibale Forest in time for a hot lunch and an afternoon exploration of Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, a community-managed conservation success. A 13-Day Uganda Wildlife & Birding Safari local guide leads you along boardwalks and forest edges where papyrus supports a remarkable array of birds, including great blue turaco, papyrus gonolek, black-and-white casqued hornbill, and many weavers and sunbirds. Primates such as red-tailed, L’Hoest’s, and red colobus monkeys often appear, while butterflies dance above the channels.

The walk concludes with a community visit to learn about local projects and crafts that benefit from tourism. It’s a meaningful exchange that shows how conservation and livelihoods intertwine. Check in at Turaco Treetops Kibale Lodge, set amid rolling hills with views toward the forest. As evening falls, enjoy a relaxed dinner and a briefing on chimpanzee tracking protocols limited group sizes, no flash photography, and minimum distances that keep both visitors and chimps safe. Prepare day packs with water, snacks, long trousers, sturdy boots, and a light rain jacket for tomorrow’s trek in the rainforest.

 

Short Rwanda Chimpanzee Safaris

Short Rwanda Chimpanzee Safaris

Day 4: Chimpanzee Tracking & Birdwatching in Kibale Forest National Park

Lodge: Turaco Treetops Kibale Lodge

Start early at the park headquarters for a safety briefing, then enter Kibale’s evergreen forest with Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers to track a habituated chimpanzee community. The forest reverberates with drumming on buttress roots, pant-hoots, and birdsong as filtered light paints the understory. Encountering chimps in their natural home grooming, feeding, or resting high in the canopy is a humbling experience. You’ll have one hour for observations and photography once located. After the trek, enjoy a relaxed lunch, then spend the afternoon birding along forest edges and nearby tracks, targeting green-breasted pitta (seasonal and elusive), African emerald cuckoo, yellow-billed barbet, and numerous forest bulbuls, flycatchers, and sunbirds.

Those who prefer cultural immersion may extend community interactions started yesterday, visiting small farms and tasting locally grown coffee or fruit. Back at the lodge, review species lists and enjoy the cool highland air. Your 13-Day Uganda Wildlife & Birding Safari guide offers an overview of tomorrow’s drive into the Semuliki Valley, a biodiversity hotspot with Congo Basin affinities, famous for its hot springs, unique birds, and rich cultural heritage.

 

Day 5: Semuliki National Park Birding & Sempaya Hot Springs

Lodge: Rwenzori View Guest House

Set out early across the Rift Valley floor into Semuliki National Park, where lowland rainforest meets savannah and swamp, yielding exceptional birdlife. With a packed breakfast, explore prime birding tracks such as Kirumia, Sempaya, or roadside forest edges, scanning for specialties like Nkulengu rail, black-casqued wattled hornbill, white-crested hornbill, piping hornbill, and swamp palm bulbul. The chorus here is different—more Congo influence offering fresh calls and challenges for birders. Midday, visit the Sempaya Hot Springs to witness steaming vents and boiling pools surrounded by dense vegetation.

Short interpretive walks reveal local lore and the geological forces that shape this dramatic landscape. Picnic lunch in a shaded spot, then continue birding in the afternoon when temperatures ease and mixed flocks become active again. Keep an eye out for primates including De Brazza’s and blue monkeys along riverine edges. Return to Fort Portal and settle at Rwenzori View Guest House, a friendly base with delicious home-style meals. Over dinner, celebrate new additions to your bird list and prepare for tomorrow’s crater lake exploration and transfer to the savannahs of Queen Elizabeth National Park.

 

Day 6: Crater Lakes Exploration, Birding & Transfer to Queen Elizabeth NP

Lodge: Elephant Hub Safari Lodge

Enjoy a leisurely morning exploring Fort Portal’s scenic crater lakes, where rolling green hills cradle sapphire pools formed by ancient volcanic activity. Short walks to viewpoints provide sweeping panoramas perfect for landscape photography, while the mixed habitats around the craters shelter white-browed robin-chat, double-toothed barbet, black-headed weaver, and the ever-charismatic great blue turaco. After an early lunch, drive south into Queen Elizabeth National Park, descending along the Rwenzori foothills into a mosaic of acacia woodland, grassland, and wetlands.

Check in at Elephant Hub Safari Lodge and take an optional late-afternoon birding circuit near the lodge, scanning for African wattled lapwing, grey-crowned crane, speckled mousebird, and raptors hovering above the plains. As the sky turns coppery, elephants and buffalo often emerge to graze, and hippos grunt from nearby channels. Dine under wide African skies while your 13-Day Uganda Wildlife & Birding Safari guide previews tomorrow’s action-packed day: a sunrise game drive in the Kasenyi Plains, a 10:00 a.m. boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, and an evening birding session to maximize sightings in this diverse park.

 

Uganda Wildlife & Birding Safari

Uganda Wildlife Safari Experiences

Day 7: Kasenyi Game Drive, 10:00 a.m. Kazinga Channel Cruise & Evening Birding

Lodge: Elephant Hub Safari Lodge

Depart at first light for the Kasenyi Plains, renowned for big cats that follow kob breeding herds. Scan termite mounds and thickets for lions and, with luck, leopards trotting the track edges. Large herds of buffalo and elephant often cross the flats, while hyenas return from nocturnal forays. Birding remains excellent: black-bellied bustard, red-capped lark, Temminck’s courser, and many raptors patrol the open grassland. Return to dock by 9:45 a.m. to board the scheduled 10:00 a.m. Kazinga Channel cruise, a highlight of the park.

The natural waterway connecting Lakes George and Edward teems with hippos, crocodiles, and one of Africa’s densest concentrations of waterbirds, African skimmer (seasonal), Goliath heron, pink-backed pelican, and countless kingfishers. The shoreline throngs with elephants and buffalo cooling off at midday. After lunch and a siesta, head out again for an evening birding drive or walk where habitats shift with the light; target species may include white-backed vulture, martial eagle, saddle-billed stork in the wetland.

 

Day 8: Transfer to Bwindi via Ishasha – Tree-Climbing Lions

Lodge: Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge

Set off southward into the remote Ishasha sector, a wild, open landscape where fig trees punctuate wide savannahs. This is the best place in Uganda to look for the famous tree-climbing lions, often draped across branches to escape biting insects and catch a breeze. Game-drive gently along the tracks, scanning boughs and riverine fig stands for tawny shapes and flicking tails. Top sightings here can also include topi, elephant, and large flocks of vultures riding thermals. After a picnic lunch, continue to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that protects the largest population of mountain gorillas on Earth.

The air cools as you climb into emerald ridges cloaked in ancient forest. Arrive at Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge, tucked on a hillside with sweeping views of the canopy. This eco-lodge offers rustic charm with comfortable cottages, en-suite facilities, and private verandas overlooking the forested slopes. Evenings are cozy around a central fireplace, where guests share trekking stories over a hearty dinner. Your 13-Day Uganda Wildlife & Birding Safari guide will conduct a detailed gorilla trekking briefing packing list, etiquette, and fitness tips to ensure a respectful, rewarding encounter tomorrow. Early to bed for a fresh start.

 

Day 9: Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi & Transfer to Mgahinga

Lodge: Mutanda Lake Resort

After an early breakfast, report to the park office for allocation to a gorilla family and a thorough safety briefing. With experienced rangers and trackers, enter the forest on narrow trails that wind through ferns and towering trees. The trek can vary from one to several hours depending on the group’s location, but the moment you meet mountain gorillas, watching a silverback preside, juveniles tumble, or mothers nurse makes every step worthwhile. You are allowed one sacred hour with the family for observation and photography without flash, maintaining the recommended distance to protect both primates and people. Return to the trailhead, collect your certificate, and enjoy lunch.

In the afternoon, drive to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, part of the transboundary Virunga Massif. Settle at Mutanda Lake Resort, a tranquil retreat overlooking the water and volcanoes. The lodge features stone-built cottages with private terraces, warm showers, and serene views of Lake Mulehe. Meals highlight local and continental flavors, served in a dining area that looks out over the lake. As the sun dips, birds call from the reedbeds and the lake mirrors pastel skies. Over dinner, receive a briefing on tomorrow’s golden monkey tracking and the onward journey to Lake Bunyonyi.

 

Uganda Wildlife & Birding Safari

Golden Monkey Tracking in Uganda

Day 10: Golden Monkey Tracking in Mgahinga & Transfer to Lake Bunyonyi (Birding & Sunset Cruise)

Lodge: Arcadia Safari Lodge

This morning’s focus is the endangered golden monkey, a beautiful, fast-moving primate endemic to the Virunga volcanoes. After a briefing, hike through montane bamboo zones where these playful monkeys feed and leap between stems a delightful photographic challenge that rewards patience and quick reflexes. Enjoy an hour with the troop, then descend and drive to Lake Bunyonyi, a highland lake dotted with island silhouettes. Check in at Arcadia Safari Lodge, a comfortable property perched on a hillside with breathtaking lake views.

The lodge provides spacious cottages and family-friendly amenities, with lush gardens leading to the lakeshore. In the afternoon, embark on a guided birding walk along the shoreline where malachite kingfishers, herons, cormorants, and weavers are abundant. Later, board a boat for a relaxed sunset cruise among the islands as the water glows with evening color. Your skipper shares stories of the lake’s history and culture while you keep binoculars ready for last-light sightings. Return to the resort for a cozy dinner in the panoramic dining hall before retiring for the night.

 

Day 11: Transfer to Lake Mburo – Horseback Safari & Evening Boat Cruise

Lodge: Rwakobo Rock Lodge

After breakfast, depart for Lake Mburo National Park, a compact gem of rolling acacia hills and open valleys, ideal for gentle game viewing and excellent birding. Arrive at Rwakobo Rock Lodge, a spectacular lodge built atop a massive granite outcrop just outside the park gate. Its cottages are eco-friendly, blending into the natural landscape, each with en-suite bathrooms and verandas that open to sweeping views of savannah and distant hills. In the afternoon, saddle up for a guided horseback safari one of East Africa’s most unique experiences allowing you to approach plains game quietly without a vehicle.

Zebras, impalas, eland, and warthogs graze calmly as you pass at a respectful distance, and birds like lilac-breasted roller and bare-faced go-away-bird animate the acacia canopy. Later, take a leisurely boat cruise on Lake Mburo, where hippos wallow and African fish eagles patrol. Look for African finfoot and white-backed night heron along wooded shores. As dusk falls, return to the lodge for a fireside dinner under starry skies.

 

Day 12: Lake Mburo Game Drive & Transfer to Kampala/Entebbe

Lodge: Lake Victoria Hotel

Rise at first light for a game drive when wildlife is most active and the park glows in soft morning tones. Lake Mburo’s open habitats offer excellent chances to see Burchell’s zebra, topi, Defassa waterbuck, impala, and eland. Keep an eye out for hyena or the occasional leopard crossing tracks. Birders often add Bruce’s green pigeon, brown-chested lapwing (regionally significant), coqui francolin, and various cisticolas.

After a hearty breakfast, check out and begin the mid-morning journey back to Kampala or Entebbe, pausing at the Equator for photos and craft shopping. Arrive in the late afternoon and settle into Entebbe Palm Hotel, a boutique property with tastefully designed rooms, a lush tropical garden, and a swimming pool to refresh after the safari circuit. Enjoy dinner in the hotel’s fine dining restaurant, featuring both local and international cuisine, and prepare for tomorrow’s early excursion to Mabamba Swamp.

 

Uganda Wildlife & Birding Safari

Bird Watching Mabamba Swamp

Day 13: Mabamba Swamp Birding by Canoe – Departure

Lodge: None

Set out at dawn for Mabamba Bay Wetland, a RAMSAR site on the shores of Lake Victoria renowned for reliable Shoebill sightings. Meet local boatmen and glide by dugout canoe through channels of papyrus, water lilies, and floating vegetation. Scan patiently for the Shoebill’s unmistakable silhouette, tall, statuesque, and incredibly still as it hunts lungfish. The bay also produces African pygmy goose, blue-breasted bee-eater, malachite and pied kingfisher, swamp flycatcher, purple swamphen, and countless herons and egrets.

With your 13-Day Uganda Wildlife & Birding Safari complete, return to Entebbe Palm Hotel (day room on request) to freshen up and check bags. Depending on your flight time, enjoy a relaxed lunch or last-minute craft shopping before airport transfer. Bid farewell to Uganda’s friendly faces and astonishing biodiversity. Deks Safaris Africa Tours’ operations team ensures your airport drop-off is timely and stress-free, and we remain at your service for future journeys across the Pearl of Africa.

End of 13-Day Uganda Wildlife & Birding Safari

 

13-Day Uganda Wildlife & Birding Safari Inclusions and Exclusions

Safari Inclusions

 

Safari Exclusions

  • International and domestic flights, plus entry visas
  • Travel insurance (medical, evacuation, trip cancellation)
  • Optional activities not specified or listed as “optional”
  • Meals and drinks not included by the lodges/itinerary (e.g., premium spirits)
  • Laundry services unless specified by the lodge
  • Personal expenses (souvenirs, phone, tips/gratuities)
  • Porter fees for trekking (recommended, but at guest’s discretion)
  • Any changes to the itinerary due to weather, park management, or unforeseen circumstances
  • COVID-19 tests or health requirements where applicable