10 Days Herping, Wildlife & Ultimate Gorilla Safari

Highlights of the Trip

Day 1: Arrival, and pick up from airport

Day 2: Transfer to Mityana (Herping)

Day 3: Herping in Mityana

Day 4:  Transfer to Kasese (Rwenzori mountains), Night Walk around the Lodge.

Day 5:  Herping in Rwenzori then transfer to Queen (afternoon game drive)

Day 6: Morning game drive and Afternoon Boat cruise in Queen

Day 7: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park through Ishasha sector

Day 8:  Ultimate Gorilla Trekking Experience

Day 9: Transfer to Entebbe through the Uganda Equator

Day 10: Shoebill Watching, transfer to Entebbe(airport)

and end of the 10 days Herping, wildlife and Ultimate Gorilla Safari in Uganda.

Day-to-day Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival and Pickup from the Airport :    

Meet and greet with Our Representative and transfer to hotel for overnight stay

 Day 2 and 3: Herping in Mityana

After early breakfast from your hotel on the second day of the trip, our safari guide representative will have you transferred to Mityana forest where you will have two days herping expeditions.

Herping usually starts from 8:00am and ends depending on our targets met or not.

We do not guarantee anything when it comes to snake excursions because we do not make appointment with these wonderful creatures. The rule is to be determined, work as a team, and of course we can’t dictate nature.

However, the target species during our herpetological expeditions in Mityana are The Gaboon vipers (B.Gabonica), Rhinoceros vipers (B. narsicornis), Jameson’s mambas (D. Jamesoni Kaimosae), Green bush vipers (A. squamigera), Rough scaled bush vipers (A. hispida), different chameleon types in the Rwenzoris and among others.

Point to note: Local guides are always used during herping expeditions, these are people very familiar with the community people around, and we won’t be treated as strangers. They also help in snake spotting, and using them is also a great indicator that can make them value nature, carry on information to those who take wrong myths about snakes be true, and promote community conservation.

Day 4: Transfer to Rwenzori Mountains, Kasese

Have a morning breakfast and be ready to head to the Rwenzori Mountains. Have a relaxed lunch on the way.

Check in the lodge, and embark on the night walk around the lodge in search for the reptiles and some nocturnal mammals.

Day 5: Herping in Rwenzori Mountains, then transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Have early morning breakfast, and be ready for a morning herping expedition.

Get ready in the afternoon after lunch for a transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park, check in the lodge and then embark on an evening game drive.

During the game drive you will be able to view animals like buffaloes, elephants, Uganda kobs, warthogs, waterbucks, bushbucks among others which will be grazing in the open savannah plains, view predators like lions and elephants if you are lucky, view different bird species among others. After the game drive, you will drive back to the lodge for dinner and retire with camp fire.

Day 6:  Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise in Queen

Make use of the Morning sunrise as you watch wildlife come-out of their hiding in search for pasture. Follow footprints of Lions, Leopards that roamed the tracks in search for a prey and trail it to the end. Watch Lions trying to find shed in the thickets as curious Giraffes, Antelopes and Buffaloes tow their necks looking closely at the predators not to lose sight of them – More less a hide and seek game or be lucky and witness a leopard prey on an Oribi or kob or A lion stealthily prey on a warthog. Go back to the lodge for lunch.

Later take on to the jetty and embark on an exclusive Kazinga Boat Cruise. Watch elephants, Buffaloes, Giraffes, Huge schools of Hippos, Nile Crocodiles and pied kingfishers take their catch from the silent flowing Kazinga Channel creating one of the best sought sights in Uganda – It’s a Magical encounter. Return to starting point and transfer to the lodge to unwind your day memories.

Day 7: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park through Ishasha sector for climbing lions

Transfer to Bwindi impenetrable park through Queen Elizabeth National Park. Do not forget to have a stopover and do a 2hrs or 3hrs game drive in the South Western rim of Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda. The sector is dominated by candelabra trees with big branches that allow lions to hang up ther e making it be famous because of the unique tree climbing lions.

The main reason as to why the lions within Shashaa sector in Queen Elizabeth national park climb trees are now clear (basing on a number of research); the lions climb trees running away from the hot ground during the dry season. The lions also climb trees because they want to relax from the days hunt. The candelabra trees act as spying site for the lions.  Proceed to the lodge after the game drive for a cozy evening.

Day 8: Ultimate Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Today morning embark on a Gorilla Trekking Experience in Bwindi Forest. Be briefed at the starting point, ascend and descend into the forest of Bwindi with a ranger guide and porter in search for the Great Giants of Bwindi, the Gorillas. Enjoy an hour with them and return to unwind on a great day with the optional Batwa or community experience. The Batwa known as the God Fathers of the Forest stay in the Buniga Forest adjacent to the Bwindi Forest where they were relocated when Bwindi was gazetted into a UNESCO site.

Watch how the God fathers of Bwindi lived in harmony with mountain Gorillas and be part of the conservation and sustainability initiatives.

Day 9: Transfer to Entebbe through the Equator

After enjoying morning breakfast, you will then check out of the lodge and meet up with your driver guide to get transferred to Entebbe.

On the way you will have an en-route lunch and a stopover at the Equator to take photos and buy souvenirs.

Proceed to Entebbe for an overnight.

Day 10: Shoebill Watching then Transfer to Airport:

Our safari guide representative will pick you up from your hotel, and have you transferred to the Swamp. Because of the wonder of this enormous, prehistoric-looking bird, safari goers and business travelers both want to see it in Uganda. The Shoebill is a special sighting for birdwatchers and is frequently near the top of their lists of Ugandan birds to see and photograph. The Shoebill and Mabamba wetlands are by far the best locations in Uganda to provide you the best possibilities of seeing one. Being situated on Lake Victoria’s shoreline and only an hour’s drive from either Entebbe or Kampala, it is also the most easily accessible. More than 300 bird species can be found in Mabamba, a RAMSAR wetland and Important Bird Area (IBA), including 7 of Uganda’s 12 Lake Victoria Basin restricted species. Get transferred from Nachiwogo landing site to the swamp by the motorized boat (about 45 mins)

We will immediately hop into the motorized wooden boats or canoes and start exploring the water channels to discover the Shoebill as a top priority when we arrive, where our boat man and site guide will be waiting. Finding the Shoebill might not take an hour of searching. If they saw the Shoebill, local fishermen who venture out at dusk might be able to aid with information.  The Shoebill is most active in the early morning hours, when it is searching for lungfish, thus this is the best time to look for it.

It hunts by staying stationary for extended periods of time while waiting for fish to cross, then catching it with its large, powerful beak in the style of a shoe!

Get transferred to the airport immediately after the Shoebill watching activity and this will mark the end of the 10 days Herping, Wildlife & Ultimate Gorilla Trekking Uganda Safari in Uganda with us Herping & Wildlife Safaris (U) Ltd.