6-Day Budget friendly Big Five Combo, Chimps and Murchison Falls

Your safari starts from the hotel or Entebbe Airport where our guide/driver will pick you and hit the road to Murchison Falls National Park. The highlights of this park include the roaring rapids of the Murchison, the rolling plains of Uganda’s largest national park, where you will have the chance of viewing lions, giraffes, hartebeest, buffalo, and elephants. Then surely you will be fascinated by the concentration of hippos and the Nile crocodiles here. For birders, Murchison Falls boasts 450 bird species including the elusive shoebill stork, dwarf kingfisher, the white-thigh hornbill, and the Goliath heron among others. En-route, make a stopover at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for your first Big Five experience where you will have an hour of rhino tracking. Another stop will be in Masindi in order to enjoy your lunch. Continue to the park and check in to your accommodation to relax for the evening.

After an early breakfast, tour the northern section of Murchison with a high concentration of savannah wildlife. Enjoy game viewing and photography of elephants, buffalos, waterbucks, giraffes, Uganda kobs, lions, the leopards (if you are lucky) plus a variety of bird species. Return to your accommodation for lunch and then go for a launch trip to the base of the falls (which is the highlight of the safari in Murchison Falls as it allows you to get up close to the animal species in the water). Cruise past huge hippo pods, crocodiles, bathing buffalo, and numerous aquatic birds adorning the north bank on the way to the mighty waterfalls. You will have an opportunity to take thousands of pictures, so carry your camera with you if you like. Also, you can proceed for a hike (if you like) to the top of the falls. The hike is a strenuous one but the thrill of reaching the top is unforgettable. Miss only if you must! Return to your accommodation, relax, enjoy dinner and your overnight stay.

After breakfast at your accommodation, drive to the top of the falls (if you didn’t hike yesterday) where you will have spectacular views of the falls. If you hiked, you can depart for Kibale Forest National Park. Kibale is highest at the park’s northern tip, which stands 1,590 m above sea level. The lowest point is 1,100 m on the floor of the Albertine Rift Valley to the south and covers 795 sq km of beautiful forest. You will have lunch en route.

Today you will experience some serious primate business! Kibale Forest National Park boasts the highest number of primate species in the world, including chimpanzees. Approximately 5,000 chimpanzees live in the wild in Uganda, which makes it a perfect place to spot them! An experienced ranger will take you chimp tracking in the morning. The activity begins at 8.00 am with a briefing regarding the rules of trekking the chimpanzees. Afterward, you will set off to search for them in the forest. Once you locate the chimpanzees, you will have a full hour with them. You will return to the lodge for lunch after which you will head out for Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will arrive in the evening and have an overnight stay at your booked accommodation.

On this day, you will have a game drive and launch trip (boat trip) on the Kazinga Channel. Early in the morning, you will go out for a game drive through the park, with magnificent views of the plains, valleys, terraced hills, and wild animals such as reedbuck, bushbuck, kob, warthog, elephant, lion, buffalo, and so much more. Have a break and relax as you eat lunch served at the lodge. The afternoon adventure entails a launch trip (boat trip) on the Kazinga Channel, a water stream joining Lake Edward and Lake George. The channel attracts a large school of hippos and Nile crocodiles, besides the variety of birds that flock the reed shores like the shoebill, pelicans, kingfishers, saddle billed stork, and sometimes the crowned cranes. Return to your accommodation in time for your dinner.

Depending on your departure time, you may opt to visit the Katwe Salt Lake or go for explosion crater drive before exiting Queen Elizabeth. Else, depart for Entebbe straight away after your breakfast. Your lunch will be en route. You will be dropped off in Entebbe Airport or taken to your preferred hotel. We hope to see you (or any referral) when next, you visit and thanks for choosing verdoro safaris Uganda.