13 Days Uganda Ultimate Expedition

Lake Victoria glimmers softly as it cascades towards the horizon, the sunset light bringing a range of fresh hues to call time on your first day in Uganda. After being greeted at Entebbe International Airport, you'll be transferred to Protea Hotel by Marriott Entebbe - This luxurious 4 star resort hotel is ideally located on the glistening shores of Lake Victoria and a convenient 1km from the Entebbe airport. Protea Hotel Entebbe offers a wide variety of services & amenities including a restaurant that offers an exciting and truly inviting a la carte menu 7 days of the week. Specialties include Tilapia and Nile Perch, while guests can also relax on the terrace and bar. It’s a hotel that complements your travel style. With elegant furnishings and a warm, inviting feel, the hotel’s decor and rooms create a luxurious atmosphere. The outside terrace, with its own special ambiance and superb lake views is the perfect place to take it all in.

As the sun beckons, you will leave Entebbe after your breakfast and head out for Lake Mburo national Park - a 4hr road trip. On arrival at Lake Mburo you will check in at the Mihingo Lodge. Mihingo Lodge is an exclusive, family-owned retreat located adjacent to Uganda’s Lake Mburo National Park. The tented Uganda lodge represents Uganda at its most magical, with luxury tents designed to blend in with the natural landscape and uncanny views of the surrounding savannah from its perch on a rocky kopje.

Hunched beneath trees on a rocky kopje (koppie), Mihingo overlooks Lake Mburo National Park and its sweeping landscape covered with boulders, shrubs and trees. Natural elements predominate in the lodge's construction too – the walls are of local rocks and olive wood, and rugged tree trunks support the roofs, which are thatched in rural Ugandan style. The place is perfect for both unwinding after a safari or a longer stay, its setting is peaceful and very beautiful, the accommodation, facilities and simple but delicious food will more than fulfill your expectations.

Lake Mburo National Park is Uganda’s smallest national park and the closest park to both Kampala and Entebbe, It covers an area of 260 square kilometres but still the smallest of Uganda‘s Savannah national parks and underlined by ancient Precambrian metamorphic rocks which date back.

Lake mburo national park being a special place, it has got a vast ecosytem and nature prevails, in its western region. There are Rocky Ridges and forested gorges, Narrow bands of lush, riparian woodland and much more. Like many lakes this as been an addition to the formation of beautiful sceneries hence attracting many tourists to come and see the hidden treasures of the park. Since lake mburo national park is a special place, it habours 68 mammal species though it does not have elephants and lions. The fact that there are no lions, it gives a chance to the tourist to freely move close to the animals and have a close impact with them. The park has got a wide range of birds flopping in the sky and are so being visible to visitors. Some of the birds that are seen in this park include rare rare shoebill, stork, African fin foot, pelican, heron among others.

Drive south, winding towards the mountains as the landscape is dominated by trails of rustic red earth. There's something wonderfully iconic about Uganda's colors as if the country has been painted by the imagination of a first-time visitor to Africa. It's a four-hour journey to Bwindi, and you quickly rise in altitude, the roads twisting and turning across vertiginous terraces of maize and cassava. Fairytale wisps of mist flutter across the hills, casting their spell across the forest and promising much for tomorrow's gorilla trekking adventure. You'll reach Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge by mid-afternoon in time for lunch.

Unspoiled and untamed, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of the world’s last remaining rich ecosystems. It is spread over a series of steep ridges and valleys that form a protective habitat for the mountain gorillas, the main attractions in this pristine jungle.

The Nkuringo section of the forest is home to three Mountain Gorilla families. Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge provides a prime access point to the start of the excellent gorilla trekking activity. And about 25 minutes drive away if another trailhead, Rushaga, has eight habituated gorilla families and is also an alternative to trekking Nkuringo gorilla groups.

Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge is entirely eco-friendly. Its design is inspired and built with the natural material locally sourced within the communities that surround the lodge. It is owned and operated by a woman owner who employs from the local population to support the growth of the native population. Because the team at Nkuringo focuses on great service delivery, the lodge has won the WTA’s for the “Best Safari Lodge in Uganda” every year since 2016.

Today brings you to another destination famous for its tree climbing lions on the Ishasha Sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. They sleep with two eyes open, watching the landscape from the premium vantage point. Ugandan kobs are the abundant prey, small antelopes that graze in herds with sentinels gazing upwards as the others feed. Elephants march along the savanna, large herds a compelling counterpoint to the fearful menace of the resident lions. After the drive from Bwindi, you'll spend the afternoon on a game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park, seeking out the tree-climbing lions before retiring to Ishasha Wilderness Camp. A boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel bringing countless encounters with wild hippos and bathing elephants. Buffalos and crocodiles also occupy the riverbanks as you slowly drift past.

Ishasha Wilderness Camp is a tranquil retreat set on the banks of the Ntungwe River. Blending perfectly into their wild natural setting, just ten spacious tented rooms create a true refuge in the wilderness. Large, mosquito-netted beds look out onto private verandas with beautiful river views. Simple but elegant interiors, as well as hot bush showers and flushing toilets ensure a taste of pure comfort in this wild setting.

A spacious thatched lounge provides the ideal place for guests to relax, while meals are served either in the cosy dining area or al fresco on the banks of the river. A blazing bonfire is the ideal focal point for guests to share stories of the day’s adventures over an ice-cold beverage. Activities include game drives in some of the most unspoilt and remote sectors of the Queen Elizabeth National Park and bush walks, as well as the opportunity to visit the nearby community and experience the local schools and traditional medicinal herbalists.

The Rwenzori Mountain Chain divides East and Central Africa, with some of the jagged peaks rising over 15,000 feet. Lower slopes are dominated by rainforest, swathes of green that are often immersed in the clouds. Higher slopes are raw and scarred, pockmarked by holes as they live up to their local name, translated into English as the Mountains of the Moon. Today's drive brings you north, winding beneath the resplendent summits before dipping beneath the canopy of Kibale Forest. You should arrive in time for a guided tour of Crater Lake, where hundreds of colorful bird species reside and the sound of resident primates echoes across the water. Many of the primates swing past your balcony at Ndali Lodge and the evening brings cute encounters with vervet and colobus monkeys, plus the ramblings of baboon troops.

Ndali Lodge is a fantastic traditional colonial lodge set in the stunning crater region of Western Uganda. Built of local stone and thatch, the 8 luxury bandas offer views over the dramatic Rwenzori Mountains; each banda is en-suite with a private veranda. The dining room and lounge offer relaxing views over the crater lake below. Ndali Lodge is set in a stunning location on the rim an extinct volcano which has now filled with water to become the breathtaking Lake Nyinambuga – 250 acres in size and 130 metres deep.

Murchison Falls is the fifth and final of Uganda's national parks you visit, a luscious landscape dominated by the flowing waters of Africa's most famous river. The Nile originates close to here, and it meanders through the park, before dropping off a cliff with a dramatic flourish. This is Murchison Falls itself, a striking cascade that's regularly surrounded by baboons and streaming hippo pods. After the drive north, you spend a relaxed afternoon admiring the falls, before retiring to Paraa safari lodge for dinner and overnight.

Elevated high above Murchison Falls on the north side of the river, the historic Paraa Safari Lodge in Uganda is known for its astounding views. It recreates the mood of quiet elegance for a new generation of guests, with a selection of 54 rooms and a few suites set in a small area of landscaped gardens. Each room is defined by style and serenity, with the type of modernized safari décor that reflects the bygone era of early explorers. Each boasts its own en-suite bathroom with contemporary facilities and private balcony. In the suites, lounge areas with sofas are perfect for relaxing and entertaining, ceiling fans and air conditioning units promote ultimate comfort, and large balconies and windows ensure constant panoramic views of the Nile River below.

The River Nile teems with life. Hippos are the unmissable kings, dominating the water with boisterous behavior and raucous grunts. Elephants and giraffe grace the sandy shores and splash in the shallows, while Ugandan kobs must drink with ears on alert for resident lions. To see it all you just need to cruise, a boat taking you along the River Nile for a final day of wildlife safari in remote Uganda. After the walks and drives of the last 12 days, the luxury vessel offers a serene place to sit back and watch wild Africa slowly unfold. Then back at the lodge, it's not uncommon for dinner to be interrupted by a marching elephant or the mischievous escapades of vervet monkeys and baboons.

The small Murchison Falls airstrip provides micro flights to Entebbe, where you connect with your international departure. A representative will greet you in Entebbe and assist with the transfer to your homebound flight.