The Victoria Nile running through Murchison Falls National Park

10 days, Uganda

10-Day Uganda Grand Circuit

Rhino on foot at Ziwa, the Nile at Murchison, chimps at Kibale, the Kazinga Channel and gorillas in Bwindi

Duration: 10 days, 9 nights
Group size: 2 to 8 guests
Physical demand: Challenging
From: $7,200

About this safari

This is the full western loop, driven the way the country is actually laid out rather than flown between highlights. You go north first to Ziwa and Murchison while your legs are fresh, come down the Hoima road to Kibale for the chimpanzees, cross Queen Elizabeth from the Kazinga Channel to the Ishasha fig trees, and finish in Bwindi. Ten days is what the loop takes if you want a full day in each place instead of a morning.

There is a lot of driving, and we would rather say so than bury it. The Murchison to Kibale leg is five to six hours, the Ziwa to Murchison run is another three on top of the three out of Kampala, and the last stretch into Buhoma is rough. In exchange you see the country between the parks, which is most of what Uganda is, and you arrive at each park with time to work it properly. Only the final leg is flown, from Kihihi back to Entebbe, because the alternative is nine hours in a vehicle on your last day.

The price carries three permits: white rhino tracking on foot at Ziwa, the Kibale chimpanzee permit at 250 US dollars and the Uganda gorilla permit at 800 US dollars per person. The two park permits are priced by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and can change; the figure on the day of issue governs. The gorilla trek is the hard day of the trip. Expect anything between forty minutes and eight hours of walking in each direction, at altitude, in humidity, and frequently in mud on a steep slope.

Highlights

Tracking white rhino on foot at Ziwa, the only place in Uganda you can do it
The top of Murchison Falls, where the entire Victoria Nile is forced through a seven-metre gap
The three-hour launch from Paraa to the base of the falls, then the climb up the gorge
Rothschild’s giraffe on the Buligi peninsula, the largest population anywhere
Chimpanzee tracking at Kanyanchu in Kibale and the community wetland circuit at Bigodi
The Kazinga Channel launch and the Kasenyi kob plains at first light
Lions in the fig trees at Ishasha, worked properly rather than driven past
One hour with a habituated mountain gorilla family in Bwindi

Day by day

01
Arrive at Entebbe
Met at the airport and ten minutes to the lake shore. The first night is deliberately unscheduled because tomorrow is a six hour driving day and the loop works better if you start it rested. Your guide runs through the route, the packing and the two permit days over dinner.
- Entebbe, Uganda
- The Boma Entebbe
- Dinner
02
Ziwa rhino on foot, then north to the Nile
Leave at 07:00 to be through Kampala before it sets. Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is three hours north on the Gulu road and is the only place in the country where southern white rhino can be tracked on foot, which takes an hour or two with rangers and is done at walking pace at close quarters. Lunch at the sanctuary, then three more hours through Masindi and down the escarpment to the river. You reach the lodge in time to watch the light go off the water.
- Kampala to Ziwa and Murchison Falls, Uganda
- Nile Safari Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
03
The Buligi plains and the launch to the falls
Across on the early Paraa ferry and out onto the Buligi peninsula between the Victoria Nile and the Albert Nile, which is where almost all of the park’s game sits. Rothschild’s giraffe in numbers, elephant herds, buffalo, Jackson’s hartebeest and, with patience, lion. Back for lunch, then the three-hour launch upstream to the foot of the falls past continuous hippo pods and hauled-out crocodile. Rangers drop you at the base and you climb forty-five minutes up the gorge to the top, which is a far better way to arrive there than driving.
- Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda
- Nile Safari Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
04
South down the Hoima road to Kibale
One more early game drive on the northern bank, then breakfast and the long leg south. The direct route via Hoima takes about five hours on a mix of tarmac and murram and passes through the Albertine oil development, whose well pads and access roads you will see. You arrive at the Kibale escarpment in the late afternoon with the crater lakes below you.
- Murchison Falls to Kibale Forest, Uganda
- Kyaninga Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
05
Chimpanzee tracking and the Bigodi wetland
Tracking leaves Kanyanchu at 08:00 in groups of six. Kibale holds around 1,500 chimpanzees and thirteen primate species in total, the highest density recorded in Africa, and the community tracked from Kanyanchu has been habituated since 1993. You get one hour once they are found. The afternoon is the Bigodi circuit on the park boundary, where the fees fund a secondary school and the guides are locally trained and genuinely good.
- Kibale Forest and Bigodi, Uganda
- Kyaninga Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
06
The crater lakes and the Kazinga Channel
Two hours south through the Ndali and Kasenda craters to the northern gate of Queen Elizabeth, with a stop above Lake Nyabikere. Lunch at Mweya on the peninsula where the channel meets Lake Edward, with hippo and elephant regularly on the lawns. The afternoon launch runs the channel at water level, which reliably puts more animals close to you than a morning game drive anywhere else in Uganda.
- Kibale to Mweya, Queen Elizabeth National Park
- Mweya Safari Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
07
Kasenyi, the Katwe craters and the road to Ishasha
First light on the Kasenyi plains for the kob rutting grounds and the lions that work them. Mid morning we take in the Katwe explosion craters and the salt pans at Lake Katwe, where salt has been cut by hand since long before the park existed and where a visit arranged through the local cooperative is worth far more than the drive-past most itineraries give it. Two hours south in the afternoon to Ishasha, arriving in time for the first fig tree circuit.
- Kasenyi and Katwe to Ishasha, Uganda
- Ishasha Wilderness Camp
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
08
Ishasha fig trees, then down into Buhoma
An early circuit of the northern and southern fig loops while the lions are still up in the branches, which they are not every day and nobody can promise they will be. Your guide will know which individual trees the pride has been using that week, which is the whole difference between finding them and not. Then two hours south on rough road into Buhoma, arriving mid afternoon. The gorilla briefing and an optional Batwa community walk fill the rest of the day.
- Ishasha to Buhoma, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
- Bwindi Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
09
Gorilla trek in the Buhoma sector
Briefing at 07:30 and walking by 08:00 with a ranger, two trackers and an armed escort. The trek runs between about 1,500 and 2,300 metres and can take forty minutes or eight hours in each direction; the gradient, the humidity and the mud are what make it hard, not the mileage. One hour with the family. Take the porter, whether or not you think you need one: they carry your bag, they pull you up the steep sections, and the fee goes straight to people living on the park boundary.
- Buhoma sector, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
- Bwindi Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
10
Kihihi airstrip and the flight to Entebbe
Breakfast at the lodge and the 45 minute drive back up to Kihihi through the tea. The flight to Entebbe takes about ninety minutes and lands early enough in the afternoon to connect with the evening long-haul departures. Flying this leg rather than driving it saves you a nine hour day in a vehicle at the end of a long trip, which is why it is in the price.
- Buhoma to Kihihi and Entebbe, Uganda
- Departure day, no accommodation
- Breakfast

What is included

One Uganda gorilla trekking permit per person, currently 800 US dollars, set by the Uganda Wildlife Authority
One Kibale chimpanzee tracking permit per person, currently 250 US dollars, set by the same authority
White rhino tracking on foot at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, including the ranger fee
The one-way light aircraft flight from Kihihi airstrip to Entebbe on the last day
Nine nights on full board at the lodges named in the itinerary, or comparable properties
A private 4x4 with a pop-top roof, long-range fuel and one driver guide throughout
The Paraa launch at Murchison and the Kazinga Channel launch at Queen Elizabeth
All national park entry fees and the Paraa ferry crossings for the days shown
One porter per guest on gorilla trek day, with the fee paid in advance
Bottled water in the vehicle daily and packed lunches on the long driving and permit days
A loan set of gaiters and gardening gloves for the forest days
All conservation levies and government taxes

What is not included

International flights to and from Entebbe
Uganda visa or East Africa Tourist Visa, applied for online before travel
Travel insurance, which must cover trekking at altitude and medical evacuation by air
All drinks, including beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks at the lodges
Tips for your driver guide, the rangers, trackers, porters and lodge teams
Optional extras such as sport fishing below Murchison Falls or a hot air balloon at Murchison
Kidepo Valley, which needs a charter flight and two extra nights and is quoted separately
Laundry, telephone and anything else charged to your lodge account