6-Day Uganda Gorilla Trekking & Queen Elizabeth Safari from Entebbe

Your representative meets you at Entebbe International Airport on arrival and transfers you to your Entebbe hotel. Entebbe is a calm, garden city on the shore of Lake Victoria — a marked contrast to Kampala’s 40 km of traffic to the north. If your flight arrives early enough, the optional Ngamba Island excursion is the highlight of Day 1: a boat ride of approximately 1 hour from Entebbe Pier brings you to Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary — a 100-acre forested island on Lake Victoria where 49+ rescued chimpanzees from across Uganda live in a semi-wild forest sanctuary. Viewing from a raised platform over the forest edge allows close-range observation during the afternoon feeding session. The sanctuary’s team explains the rescue and rehabilitation stories of individual chimps. Return to Entebbe by boat for dinner and overnight.

Option A (domestic flight, upgrade): Transfer to Entebbe Airport for the 30–45 minute flight to Kihihi airstrip. Your guide meets you at the airstrip for the short transfer to your Bwindi lodge — total transfer time approximately 2 hours. Arrive in time for lunch and an afternoon introduction to the local communities and forest edge scenery around the park.

Option B (overland, base itinerary): Depart Entebbe early morning (5:30–6:00 a.m.) for the 8–9 hour drive west through Kampala, Mbarara, and the rolling hills of western Uganda to Bwindi. The road passes through dramatically beautiful highland countryside, tea estates, and the Kigezi highlands before descending to the Bwindi forest edge. Lunch stop en route. Arrive at your lodge in the late afternoon. Your guide provides the gorilla trekking briefing over dinner — preparation timing, what to bring, safety rules, UWA protocols.

Report to the UWA ranger station at the designated sector headquarters (Ruhija, Buhoma, Nkuringo, or Rushaga — based on your permit allocation) at 7:30 a.m. for the trekking briefing. The gorilla trekking permit (included) secures your place in a group of maximum 8 visitors assigned to a specific habituated gorilla family. Trackers have been following the family since dawn; the group enters the forest and follows the trail to wherever the gorillas have moved. The trek duration ranges from 1 hour to a full day depending on gorilla family position — average is 3–5 hours. When the gorillas are located, the one-hour encounter begins: the silverback may rest within metres of the group, juveniles interact among themselves, and mothers carry infants through the dense undergrowth. This is one of the most profound wildlife encounters available anywhere on Earth. Return to the lodge for a late lunch, rest, and dinner.

This flexible day gives you three options based on your interest and energy after Day 3:

Option A — Second Gorilla Trek: Book a second day of gorilla trekking (second permit required — not included; USD 800/adult). The second trek may be assigned to a different gorilla family group, giving you a completely new encounter. Gorilla trekking on consecutive days is a rare and extraordinary privilege.

Option B — Guided Forest Walk: A Bwindi-certified nature guide leads a 3–4 hour walk through the park’s forest interior. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is one of Africa’s most biodiverse ecosystems, home to 350+ bird species (including 23 Albertine Rift endemics), 120 mammal species, and over 1,000 plant species. Forest elephants, black and white colobus monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, and a remarkable diversity of forest birds are the targets.

Option C — Village Community Walk: A guided walk through one of the communities bordering the park — learn about the livelihoods, agriculture, and daily life of the Batwa and Bakiga communities that have lived alongside Bwindi for generations, and how the gorilla tourism programme has transformed community conservation relationships. Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, drive north from Bwindi to the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park (approximately 2–3 hours). Ishasha is the remote southern section of QENP, renowned for one of Africa’s most unusual wildlife behaviours: lions that regularly climb the large spreading fig trees (Ficus natalensis) of the Ntungwe River valley. The behaviour is well-documented — theories include thermoregulation (trees are cooler), insect avoidance, and improved visibility for hunting — and is observed most consistently in the late morning and early afternoon when lions seek shade. Check in to your lodge in time for lunch. At 3:00–4:00 p.m., depart for afternoon game drives through the Ishasha savannah: Uganda kob (the graceful antelope of Uganda’s coat of arms), buffalo, elephant, warthog, and Ishasha’s distinctive landscape of open grassland and riverine fig woodland. Dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, depart for the return to Entebbe.

Option A (domestic flight, upgrade): Drive from Ishasha to the nearest QENP airstrip (Mweya or Kasese) and take a 45–60 minute scenic domestic flight back to Entebbe. Arrive midday with a relaxed afternoon before your international departure.

Option B (overland, base itinerary): Drive from Ishasha north through QENP (optional morning game drive in the northern sector), along the equator, and back to Entebbe (approximately 7–8 hours). Lunch stop on the road. Arrive Entebbe in the early evening. Note: ensure international departures are after 7:00 p.m. for overland return. Domestic flight upgrade is strongly recommended if your international flight departs before 9:00 p.m.

Optional Day 6 addition: Kazinga Channel Boat Safari in the northern QENP sector (en route from Ishasha to Entebbe overland). The 2-hour launch cruise on the channel connecting Lake George and Lake Edward observes one of Africa’s highest hippo concentrations (over 5,000 animals in QENP), Nile crocodiles, and exceptional waterbird diversity from close range. The optional stop adds approximately 2–3 hours to the overland Day 6 journey.