Highlights of Uganda: Gorillas, Chimps & the Savanna

This morning you transfer to the airstrip for a scenic light-aircraft flight over Uganda's patchwork of green hills, lakes and forests to the far southwest, landing near Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (a long, spectacular road journey is also possible if you prefer). Your guide meets you and drives you to your lodge on the edge of the ancient forest, where the folded, mist-wrapped mountains rise dramatically all around. After settling in and enjoying lunch, you might take a gentle guided community or forest-edge walk, meeting local Batwa or Bakiga people, learning about life beside the forest, and looking out for birds and monkeys. As evening falls over the vast, brooding rainforest, the anticipation of tomorrow's gorilla trek builds. Enjoy dinner at the lodge, and rest well ahead of one of the world's great wildlife encounters.

Today is the magical heart of your journey. After an early breakfast you gather at the park headquarters for a briefing, then set off with your ranger and trackers into the dense, dripping forest of Bwindi, home to almost half the world's mountain gorillas. The trek can be short or several hours of steep, muddy, exhilarating hiking through tangled vegetation, and a porter is warmly recommended to help and to support the local community. When you reach the habituated gorilla family, everything else falls away, and you spend a breathless, closely regulated hour just metres from a mighty silverback, gentle mothers with infants and playful youngsters. It is one of the most moving experiences in all of nature. You return to your lodge tired, muddy and elated, to celebrate an unforgettable encounter over dinner. Rest well.

After a relaxed breakfast you leave Bwindi and drive north into Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of Uganda's greatest wildlife destinations, set beneath the Rwenzori Mountains between two lakes. Your route brings you through the remote Ishasha sector, famous for its celebrated tree-climbing lions, and your guide scans the great fig and acacia trees for tawny bodies draped along the branches, an unusual behaviour seen in only a few places on Earth. Along the way you watch for elephant, buffalo, Uganda kob and abundant birdlife across the open savanna. You arrive at your lodge in the afternoon, with time to settle in and enjoy the sweeping views over the plains and lakes as the light softens. This evening, savour dinner surrounded by the sounds of the African bush. Rest well, ready for a full day of safari tomorrow.

Today you explore the wildlife-rich heart of Queen Elizabeth National Park. An early morning game drive across the Kasenyi plains offers the chance of lion, elephant, buffalo, warthog, and herds of Uganda kob and waterbuck, with the Rwenzori peaks sometimes floating on the horizon. After lunch and a rest at the lodge, the afternoon highlight is a boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel, the broad natural waterway between Lake Edward and Lake George. Gliding slowly along the banks, you watch huge pods of hippo, elephants and buffalo coming down to drink, basking crocodiles, and one of the greatest gatherings of water birds in Africa, from fish eagles and pelicans to kingfishers and storks. The abundance of life is spellbinding. As the sun sets over the water, you return to your lodge for dinner. Rest well.

This morning you journey north and east to Kibale National Park, home to the finest chimpanzee tracking in Uganda and one of the richest primate forests in Africa. The scenic drive takes you through rolling tea plantations, crater lakes and green farmland, with time to stop for photographs and to enjoy the ever-changing landscapes of western Uganda. You arrive at your forest lodge in time for lunch, then have the afternoon to relax amid the tall trees and birdsong, or to take an optional guided walk in the nearby Bigodi wetland, alive with monkeys, birds and butterflies. As evening falls, the forest hums with the calls of insects, frogs and nocturnal creatures. Enjoy dinner at the lodge and an early night, ready to head into the forest in search of our closest wild relatives at first light tomorrow. Rest well.

After an early breakfast and a briefing, you set off with an expert ranger into the beautiful, towering forest of Kibale in search of wild chimpanzees. Following the hoots, screams and drumming that echo through the trees, you track a habituated community until you find them feeding, grooming, resting or swinging noisily through the canopy overhead. Spending time in the presence of these charismatic, intelligent and wonderfully expressive great apes, our closest living relatives, is exhilarating and deeply moving. Along the way you may also see red colobus, grey-cheeked mangabeys, blue monkeys and a dazzling variety of forest birds. Back at the lodge for lunch, your afternoon is free to relax, or to take a guided walk in the Bigodi swamp with its rich birdlife and primates. This evening, savour dinner and reflect on a day among the chimps. Rest well.

Today you drive south and east towards Lake Mburo National Park, the gentle, scenic finale to your safari, set amid rolling acacia savanna and shining lakes on the way back towards Entebbe. The journey passes through green hills, farmland and busy roadside towns, offering a window into everyday Ugandan life, and your guide is happy to stop for photographs, coffee, or a look at a local market or the equator crossing. You arrive at your lodge in the afternoon, with time to settle in and enjoy the peaceful lakeside setting. Compact Lake Mburo has no lions or elephants, which means it can be explored on foot, and its plains are home to zebra, impala, topi, eland and giraffe. As evening falls over the acacia country, savour dinner beneath the stars. Rest well, ready to explore this beautiful park tomorrow.

This morning you enjoy the special pleasures of Lake Mburo, beginning with a guided nature walk in the company of an armed ranger, one of the few places in Uganda where you can safari on foot, strolling among grazing zebra, impala, topi and eland with an intimacy impossible from a vehicle. A relaxed boat trip on the lake glides you past hippos, crocodiles and a wealth of water birds, with the chance of spotting the shy, swamp-dwelling sitatunga antelope. After a final lunch you begin the drive back towards Entebbe, perhaps pausing at the equator for a photograph and at craft markets along the way. You arrive in the evening for a comfortable overnight near the airport. This evening, enjoy a farewell dinner and reflect on the astonishing variety of wildlife you have seen. Rest well.

After a relaxed final breakfast beside Lake Victoria, and depending on your flight time, perhaps a last stroll, some souvenir shopping or a visit to the Entebbe botanical gardens, you are transferred to Entebbe International Airport for your onward departure. You leave having experienced the very best of the Pearl of Africa, the profound encounter with mountain gorillas in the misty forest of Bwindi, wild chimpanzees swinging through the trees of Kibale, the tree-climbing lions and teeming Kazinga Channel of Queen Elizabeth, and the peaceful plains of Lake Mburo. The images stay vivid long after you land, the silverback among the leaves, the hippos in the channel, the lions in the fig trees and the zebra on the plains, all set against the warmth of the Ugandan people. You depart already dreaming of a return to green and welcoming Uganda.