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Planning notes, destination ideas and safari inspiration from the Rift & Tide Africa team.
Get safari planning ideas, destination notes and occasional offers.
Nairobi-based East Africa safari specialists for tailor-made journeys, beach escapes, and trade-ready planning.
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Planning notes, destination ideas and safari inspiration from the Rift & Tide Africa team.
Get safari planning ideas, destination notes and occasional offers.
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Private Tailor Made Tour
Spend 9 unforgettable vacation days in Uganda on a gorillas and wildlife safari. The package is planned to give you the best of Africa's wilderness experience on a private trip to a small country unknown to most world travellers. Spend 4 nights equally in two cottages at different ends of the ancient rainforest, boasting enchanting views across the Virunga mountain. And three nights in a savannah bush camp close to uninterrupted game viewing.
The journey begins in Entebbe and flies you across southwestern Uganda's enchanting rugged landscape to a small town outside the park. From Kisoro town, you get down a village track, walking through rural villages and terraced gardens on the mountain slopes, to the Quant Volcano lake for a canoeing experience with local fishermen in dug-out canoes.
You will trek gorillas in the south of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, cross the impenetrable jungle to the north sector, meet the mountain gorillas again, dance with the Batwa forest people, meet with the local skills women, and drive north for a 3-day wildlife viewing adventure.
For Rift & Tide Africa, this journey works as a polished starting point for private travellers and travel advisors who want a clear, premium East Africa itinerary. Final routing, lodge level, rooming, permits and special interests can be refined at quotation stage so the trip fits the traveller's dates, comfort level and pace.
Travel and accommodation
9 Days / 8 Nights, 1 country, Arrival in Entebbe to Entebbe
8 nights accommodation
Meals
Meals as per day-by-day itinerary
Safari style
Walking and Adventure Collection
Private Tailor Made
Itinerary
8 stops across the route
Trip code: RTT-EXP004
Starting from
Price on request
Public retail pricing. Final quote confirms availability and inclusions.
Request quoteWhy this trip
FAQs
Answers are general public guidance. Your final itinerary, inclusions, pricing, and supplier conditions are confirmed during quotation.
Public prices are indicative retail guidance. Availability, seasonal adjustments, rooming, and final inclusions are confirmed when the team prepares your quote.
Many scheduled routes can be adapted with lodge, timing, or extension changes depending on availability and supplier rules.
Share travel dates, traveller count, rooming preferences, gateway city, and any must-see destinations or experiences so the team can respond efficiently.
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Keep exploring
Compare similar routes before sending your enquiry.
Entebbe
private tailor made
Virunga Highlands Expedition is a 8-day Uganda and Rwanda journey designed around refined pacing, meaningful wildlife encounters and carefully selected lodges, with a route shaped around Entebbe, Lake Victoria, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Bwindi.
8 Days / 7 Nights
Price on request
Plan this journey
Ask Rift & Tide Africa to shape Gorilla Trails & Savannah Adventures around your travel dates, preferred lodge level, permits and pace.
Route notes
Trip route
Follow the day-by-day flow of this itinerary across East Africa.
Entebbe International Airport
Day 01: Arrival in Entebbe & Shoebill Tracking
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Day 02: Fly Entebbe to Kisoro
Mapped stop
Day 03: The Gorilla Trek in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Day 04: Walking Safari Across Bwindi
Day 05: Optional Activities
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Day 06: Buhoma to Queen Elizabeth via Ishasha
Mapped stop
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Day 07: Queen Elizabeth National Park Safaris
Mapped stop
Day 08: Morning Game Drive
Entebbe
Day 09: Fly Mweya airport to Entebbe
Mapped stop
Itinerary
Our driver will pick you up from Entebbe International airport (15 minutes) and check you in at your hotel within Entebbe. You will meet with your trip specialist for a briefing just before dinner.
Otherwise, there are optional activities around Entebbe for those who arrive early and want to stay active. For example, bird-watchers can visit the world-renowned botanical gardens or Mabamba swamps to meet the prehistoric shoebill bird. You can take a quiet walk to the local markets or shop at the modern malls.
You will stay at: Boutique Hotel Number 5 (Luxury) or Papyrus Guesthouse (Comfortable)
You will catch an early morning domestic flight from Entebbe to Kisoro to kick off your Uganda Gorillas and Wildlife Safari with Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The one-hour flight goes over Lake Victoria, beautiful central plains, into the rolling hills of the southwest region with cultivated terraces, tropical rainforest, bamboo forest, and the majestic chain of the Virunga Volcanoes. Our driver will pick you up from Kisoro airstrip and transfer you to the lodge.
In the afternoon, you can walk the Batwa Forest Trail in Buniga Forest, a pocketed forest close to the lodge. The Batwa people showcase their ancient cultural tales, hunting and survival skills on the trail.
Stay details available on request.
Stay details available on request.
Stay details available on request.
Stay details available on request.
Featured stays
Specific lodges, rooms and camps are subject to availability. Where a named stay is unavailable, Rift & Tide Africa will recommend a property of comparable character, location and comfort level before confirmation.
Inclusions & Exclusions
Departures
Contact us for current departure dates and quotation-stage availability.
Good to know
private tailor made
Rwenzori Summit Challenge is a 9-day Uganda journey designed around refined pacing, meaningful wildlife encounters and carefully selected lodges, with a route shaped around Entebbe, Rwenzori Mountains.
9 Days / 8 Nights
Price on request
Entebbe
private tailor made
Rwenzori Foothills Trek is a 5-day Uganda journey designed around refined pacing, meaningful wildlife encounters and carefully selected lodges, with a route shaped around Entebbe, Rwenzori Mountains.
5 Days / 4 Nights
Price on request
Alternatively, from Kisoro airport, join our walking safari guide in Kisoro Town for a community walk, canoeing excursion on Lake Mutanda, and nature hike through communities & cultivated garden trails.
It is an immersive off-the-beaten-track walking adventure connecting you with the local people and environments. It takes you to some of the most incredible scenes of rugged southwestern Uganda. The walking safari takes about 4-5 hours to Lake Mutanda, where the driver will pick you up for lunch before continuing to your night's stay at Nkuringo.
Stay: Nkuringo BWindi Gorilla Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
Imagine waking up as the mist swirls around your lodge, nestled on the edge of the ancient Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. This dense rainforest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the last remaining homes of the magnificent mountain gorilla. After a hearty breakfast, you meet your guide and a small group of fellow adventurers at 7:30 am, with your packed lunch and gear. Hearts pounding with anticipation, you step into the emerald green undergrowth, a world of tangled vines, giant ferns, and echoing birdsong.
The gorilla trek is a challenge, but oh so rewarding. You will clamber up muddy slopes, push through thick vegetation, and feel the thrill of the unknown with each step. Your guide, an expert tracker, reads the forest like a book - a broken branch, a faint trail, fresh dung - all clues leading you closer to the gorillas. Suddenly, a rustle in the leaves, and your guide signals to stop. Your heart thumps in your chest. It is time.
There, through the foliage, you see them - a mighty silverback male, mothers cradling their young, playful juveniles tumbling in the leaves. Time seems to melt away as you observe these gentle giants in their natural habitat. Their movements are surprisingly human-like, their eyes filled with an ancient wisdom. For a precious hour, you are a visitor in their world, privileged to witness a bond with our closest primate relatives. The experience will leave you feeling humbled, exhilarated, and deeply connected to African wilderness.
You will be out of there relatively by 2:00 pm; you will have your lunch somewhere in the jungle and get back to your cottage for the evening. Don't the after-dinner talk in the lounge.
Stay: Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (packed), and Dinner.
You will get on the trail at about 8:30 am after a short briefing with your walking safari guide at the lodge. You must hit the trails in the misty early morning hours so that the intense afternoon sunrays find you under the jungle canopy. You will travel with a local guide and two armed rangers for security. Go light; just your backpack with lunch, a camera, and walking. It takes about 4-5 hours to walk the trail.
Two trails meet somewhere in the jungle and meander down to Buhoma town; you will have to select one. The longer one takes about six plus meanders along the Kashasha river and over several ridges. The shorter one starts at Kashasha River, down Nteko valley, and meanders along Ivy River. You must drive about 15 kilometers to Nteko village to start the Ivy River Trail. However, both trails deliver the same jolt of adventure for intrepid travellers.
The richness of this UNESCO World Heritage site and the benefits of walking in an untamed rainforest to your health is just enough to lure you to this Uganda gorillas & wildlife safari package. The local guide will be your connection to this impenetrable jungle, with occasional sightings of prominent inhabitants like chimpanzees, forest elephants, birds, monkeys, and butterflies.
On the other side, you will check in a forest cottage in Mahogany Springs Lodge, in the spring valley overlooking the Bwindi, now a penetrable forest.
Stay: Mahogany Springs Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (packed), and Dinner.
This day, we allow you to pick something you can do that matches your physical ability and interest, considering you tracked gorillas the previous day.
Some travellers prefer trekking gorillas for the second time. Besides, it is a different trekking sector, a different experience. Yes, it is possible. But you must have booked your trekking permit before the beginning of the trip.
The second option is to visit with the Batwa forest people on their time-lapse cultural trail. Check out the medicine man, and dance to their ancient tunes. From the trail, you can walk through local markets or check out some rural development organizations.
Another optional activity is to visit the Ride 4 A Woman Charity Organization. The charitable organization was established to support Bwindi women struggling with poverty, HIV, and domestic violence. Take a walk around the campus and learn a few creative skills like local basket weaving, sewing, and pottery.
Stay: Mahogany Springs Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (packed), and Dinner.
This morning, you leave the mountains, and the rainforests, and the gorillas behind and drive down the rift valley to Queen Elizabeth National Park. You will drive through the Ishasha sector, a Tree-climbing Lions' territory. You may see these lazy giant cats lounging in fig tree branches if you are fortunate.
As we traverse to your safari camp on the edge of the sector, you could encounter some savannah favorites like antelope species, elephants, buffalo, and maybe an occasional leopard.
Stay: Ishasha Wilderness Camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (packed), and Dinner.
Get chance to reach close to Africa safari's big game players on an early morning or evening game drive and a boat safari on Kazinga Channel, famous for hosting the largest population of hippos.
While on a game drive on Kasenyi tracks, you will encounter animals like enormous herds of elephants and buffalo. You will also spot many interesting antelope species such as Uganda kob, topi, and bushbuck. The giant forest hog is unusually easy to spot. Search around the Kasenyi tracks for the elusive leopard.
On the Kazinga Channel boat safari trip that will set off at 14:00, you are able to catch sight of elephants, buffalo, waterbuck, Uganda kob, and large hippo pods daily. Keep an eye open for the enormous water monitor lizard, which is common in the riverine scrub, as well as crocodiles. You will also see the giant forest hog, leopard, and lion. The odds of seeing predators and other nocturnal creatures coming to drink are highest in the late afternoon.
You will stay at: Elephant Plains Lodge Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (Packed), Dinner
This Africa safari doesn't get any better with a third day in the African savanna plains: what a vacation.
After an early morning hot cuppa or caffeine fix, your safari guide will whisk you off in his 4x4 truck into the misty light to catch the golden sunrise over a live lion hunt and morning rise for most animals.
Along the Kasenyi tracks, you may sight lions, cape buffalos, elephants, warthogs, waterbucks, spotted hyenas, Mangoose, kobs, and with much luck, the sneak leopard is often spotted.
After the morning game drive, have breakfast at the camp and stay in the rest of the day to take in the African air.
You will stay at: Elephant Plains Lodge Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (Packed), Dinner
After breakfast proceed to Mweya Penisular for scheduled flight to Entebbe - relax at Papyrus Guesthouse and later transfer for evening flight. End of the Classic Primates & Wildlife Safari.
Optional accommodation: Papyrus Guesthouse Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (packed)
