13 Day Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
A 13-day Uganda and Tanzania safari tour allows you to experience the diverse wildlife, stunning landscapes, and rich cultural heritage of these two East African countries. All of this is on top of all main highlights like gorilla tracking, chimpanzee tracking and the boat safaris. Tanzania has the highest density of wildlife in the world.
Famous national parks like the Serengeti and the Ngorogoro crater with huge population of predators and especially the annual migration of 2,000,000 ungulates. This multi-country tour will show you the best of both countries. You will stay in comfortable mid-range lodges on spectacular locations.
Itinerary
Arrival in Uganda, transfer to the lodge / visiting Entebbe
Travel to Kibale Forest National Park.
Chimpanzee Tracking, To Queen Elizabeth National Park, game drive
Safari by road and by boat in Queen Elizabeth National Park
To Lake Mutanda
Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi Forest
Optional activities at Lake Mutanda – To Kigali
Flight to Tanzania, to Arusha
Game drive in Late Manyara National Park
Arrival in the Serengeti, game drive en-route to Seronera Valley
Optional Balloon safari – Full day of game drives in Serengeti National Park
Game drives Serengeti N.P. and Ngorongoro Crater
Airport transfer / Optional Zanzibar extension
Day 1: Welcome To Uganda
Your driver/guide will certainly pick you up from Entebbe airport and transfers you straightaway to Via Via Guesthouse. This is where your guide will find you tomorrow morning for the start of your tour after a good breakfast.
However, depending on the time of your arrival, you might be able to explore the area. There are many options in Entebbe and easily organized through the reception of ViaVia Guesthouse.
Destination: Entebbe International Airport | Kampala
Accommodation Option: Serena Kampala Hotel or Similar
Meals Plan: Breakfast and Lunch as well as Dinner
Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey
Day 2: Fort Portal/ Kibale Forest
Today, you will undertake the journey to green Kibale Forest. The drive is incredibly scenic, passing through tea plantations and the lush green countryside which characterizes so much of Uganda.
On arrival at the forest, you will basically enter a completely different world some serious monkey business. Kibale Forest National Park lies just outside the colonial town of Fort Portal and is made up of dense tropical rainforest.
This park is considered one of the big highlights of Uganda due to some serious monkey business going on here. A big number of primates residing can be found here and particularly a visit to one of the habituated chimpanzee groups is a very memorable experience.
The rare red colobus as well as the black and white colobus, red tailed monkey, olive baboon, the blue Monkey and l’hoest’s monkeys are also regularly seen here. While here, you would you find a better spot to experience encounters with nature; smelling the forest and listening to the many sounds.
Destination: Kibale Forest National Park
Accommodation Option: Kyaninga Lodge
Meals Plan: Breakfast and Lunch as well as Dinner
Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey
Day 3: Chimpanzee Trekking, Bigodi Swamp Walk
Chimpanzees share 98% of human genes making them our closest living relatives. They are found in 21 countries throughout Africa, but are most easily sighted in Uganda due to their dense populations.
Today, in Uganda, there are approximately 5,000 chimpanzees left in the wild. The Chimpanzee Trekking experience here is done on several well maintained walking trails. There is also a wonderfully diverse concentration of other primates, more than any other forest in East Africa, in fact. Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
Besides our delightful cousins, the chimpanzees, you can find red colobus, red-tailed guenon, white-nosed monkey, gray-cheeked mangabey, blue monkey, L’Hoest’s monkey, and the black and white colobus monkey. In addition, you may see olive baboons, bush babies and nocturnal pottos.
The aim for your trekking through the jungle uynder the care of professional guide, it 1 hour of eye to eye contact with the chimpanzees. We can however cannot guarantee 100% for you to see them as they are still wild animals; nevertheless your chances are very good. In the late afternoon you will take a scenic route to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Your accommodation for the coming two nights is
Destination: Queen Elizabeth National Park
Accommodation Option: Mweya Safari Lodge or Similar
Meals Plan: Breakfast and Lunch as well as Dinner
Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey
Day 4: Park Game Drive & Boat Safari
After an early breakfast, you go for a long game drive in time to see the sun rise. The morning is the best time for a game drive as the African animal kingdom tends to me most active when during the golden hours of the first sunlight touching the savannah.
You will continue the search for all the wildlife; elephant, buffalo, lion, waterbuck, leopard, uganda kob, warthog and do not forget about the birds and the primates. Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
After lunch, you will take a boat safari along the Kazinga Channel. Here, you will see a lot of hippos (more than you can possibly imagine!), as well as a variety of other animals which come to the waterhole to drink or bathe. You can expect to see:
Buffalo, Crocodile, bathing Elephant, and a range of beautiful birds. This will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of your tour. After the boat-safari you game drive back to the lodge
Destination: Queen Elizabeth National Park
Accommodation Option: Mweya Safari Lodge or Similar
Meals Plan: Breakfast and Lunch as well as Dinner
Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey
Day 5: To Lake Mutanda/ Bwindi Forest/Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
Today you drive to Kisoro in the south-western part of Uganda; close to the borders with Rwanda and Congo. You cross a beautiful part of the country often referred to as ‘the Switzerland of Africa’.
You will see a great country-side, bamboo forest and have great views over the Virunga Mountains. For lunch you will stop at a local restaurant on the road (inclusive). Mutanda Lake Resort offers one of the best views in Uganda! Perched on a peninsula in Lake Mutanda, isolated in the shadow of the Virunga Mountain Range, this lodge offers comfortable accommodation in a very unique corner of the country. Their cuisine is listed amongst the best in Uganda.
Situated between Kisoro town, Mgahinga and Bwindi National Parks the Resort makes a perfect base for a gorilla trekking, volcano hikers, and bird lovers as well for those looking for a secluded magical place in nature. Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
Don’t forget to take your chance to dip in the lake as its Bilharzia free, so safe to swim, peddle board or canoe amongst the locals going about their daily business on the lake! The sunset scenes are spectacular so make sure to be on one of the verandas (with a sundowner drink in hand) at that time.
Destination: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Accommodation Option: Buhoma Lodge or Similar
Meals Plan: Breakfast and Lunch as well as Dinner
Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey
Day 6: Gorilla Trekking Experience/Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
Today is the big day prepares you for an encounter with one of Bwindi’s gentle giants: the rare mountain gorilla. For most people this is the absolute highlight of their tour in Uganda.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a highlight for many visitors as this is where they will be visiting the home of the gentle giants. The park lies in southwestern Uganda on the edge of the Rift Valley.
Uganda’s oldest and most biologically diverse rainforests lies on the mist-covered hillsides. This magnificent forest dates back over 25,000 years, even surviving the last Ice Age (most forests disappeared). Bwindi forest has an incredible diversity of flora and fauna and is the only forest in Africa which can make claim to host both mountain gorillas and chimpanzees. Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
In fact, half the worlds’ population of gorillas live here divided over nine habituated family groups. Also 5 other primate species, 120 species of mammal, over 220 butterflies and 360 birds’ species call Bwindi home. This is THE place to see the critically endangered mountain gorillas up close for your very own ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ moment.
The gorillas you will trek belong to one of nine family groups who can tolerate the presence of humans for a brief period every day. Your trek will be an exciting (for some also challenging) journey along forested (sometimes slippery) slopes, entwined vines, bushes and bamboo before you eventually reach the gentle giants.
Destination: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Accommodation Option: Buhoma Lodge or Similar
Meals Plan: Breakfast and Lunch as well as Dinner
Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey
Day 7: Optional Activities At Lake Mutanda, To Kigali/Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
Today you can relax at Lake Mutanda or choose one optional activity organized by the lodge. The drivers of the lodge will than take you to Kigali in Rwanda.
However, depending on your arrival time you can visit some of Kigali’s craft markets, to browse amongst the pottery, carvings, batik, weaving, sculpture, musical instruments, leather and fabrics on offer. Prepare to haggle! All activities today are at your own cost.
You will spend the night at a lovely accommodation.
Destination: Kigali Rwanda
Accommodation Option: Flame Tree Village or Similar
Meals Plan: Breakfast and Lunch as well as Dinner
Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey
Day 8: Flight To Tanzania
Meanwhile, the drive of Flame tree village will take you to Kigali international airport. Today you will fly with the airline Rwanda Air to Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania in the morning.
Destination: Arusha Tanzania
Accommodation Option: Ilboru Safari lodge
Meals Plan: Breakfast and Lunch as well as Dinner
Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey
Day 9: Lake Manyara National Park/Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
After an early breakfast you game drive out of the park and travel to ‘Mto Wa Mbu’. The bustling farming community of Mto Wa Mbu is home to around 18,000 people.
On this walk you’ll discover a side of Tanzania many visitors miss out on. A melting pot of cultures; Mto Wa Mbu is thought to be one of the only places in Tanzania where there are representatives from all 120 tribes living happily side by side.
During your visit you’ll get a good feel for the social side of the village – the farms and the milling machines, the schools, markets and churches. You’ll likely visit the village banana plantation as well as a youth art project, and a wood workshop where you can watch skilled Makonde tribe members carve intricate figurines, masks and household objects.
Lake Manyara National Park is one of Tanzania’s smaller and most underrated parks. It may lack the size and variety of other northern-circuit destinations, its’ vegetation is diverse and beautiful. There are 11 ecosystems, ranging from savannah to marshland to the only evergreen rainforest in Tanzania.
You find baboons and other interesting animals in the forest, whereby the lake you may find flamingos (outside rainy season), pelicans and other water birds. Birders absolutely love Lake Manyara National Park as the big lake provides opportunities to spot over 300 species of migratory birds.
The park supports one of the highest densities of large mammals in the world. The high chance to see elephant families moving through the forest as well as Lake Manyara’s famous tree-climbing lions are reason enough to be excited for a visit.
Destination: Mto wa Mbu
Accommodation Option: Manyara Wildlife Safari Camp or Similar
Meals Plan: Breakfast and Lunch as well as Dinner
Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey
Day 10: The Great Serengeti National Park/Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
A Tanzania tour is certainly not complete without safari in the most famous safari park in the world, Serengeti National Park. This park hosts the most extensive population of wild animals on earth and has a complex and untouched ecosystem.
Serengeti means “endless plains” in the language of the Maasai, a description that the Serengeti completely lives up to. Even the (long) drive towards your accommodation is one continuous safari! The park is usually described as divided into three regions: Serengeti plains, Western corridor and Northern Serengeti.
The latter is where we can witness wildebeest and zebra migrating in their millions during the Great Migration, following the ancient rhythm of Africa’s seasons. This is one of the most impressive natural events in the world. No matter which part of the park and in which season you visit, very few people forget their first encounter with the Serengeti!
After the incredible impressions of the Serengeti, you drive to your accommodation for a delicious diner and a good night’s sleep.
Destination: Serengeti National Park
Accommodation Option: Tortilis Camp or Similar
Meals Plan: Breakfast and Lunch as well as Dinner
Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey
Day 11: Game Drives In Serengeti National Park/Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
Early in the morning you leave your accommodation for a full day safari! This is when Africa can reveals its cool side, so you should wrap up warm for the start of your day.
Your guide will bring you as close as possible to the wildlife. Few predators hunt during the heat of the day, so the early morning is the best time to observe the thrill of the chase. It is also a magical time, with the subtle light dappling the landscape, the birds awakening and the sense of a great adventure beginning to unfurl. You visit the heart of the Serengeti, Seronera Valley.
This valley is often termed as the ‘classic’ Serengeti; short grass plains with all different kind of wild animals ranging from the impressive lion to the naughty mongoose. These full day safaris are the best way to see the full range of what this magnificent park has to offer.
We will find you a nice picnic spot to enjoy your packed lunch and then you continue your safari back to Tortilis Camp where you have an excellent dinner and some time to relax. Tired but satisfied, you go to bed with dreams of Serengeti plains.
Destination: Serengeti National Park
Accommodation Option: Tortilis Camp or Similar
Meals Plan: Breakfast and Lunch as well as Dinner
Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey
Day 12: Game Drive In The Ngorongoro Crater/Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
Today you enjoy a game drive on your way en-route out of the beautiful Serengeti and continue to the Ngorongoro Crater. In the afternoon, you will have a game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater
This UNESCO World Heritage Site offers a unique biosphere which has remained virtually unchanged since the dawn of time. There are very few places in the world where you can find such a large population of wildlife throughout the year.
Deep within the crater, enclosed by towering walls, you have a good chance of spotting ‘The Big 5’: lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard. Other wildlife includes serval cat, cheetah, jackal, Grant’s and Thompson’s gazelle, flamingo and bat-eared foxes, as well as approximately 400 species of colorful birds
After this great experience, you will go to your accommodation for tonight.
Destination: Ngoro Ngoro Crater
Accommodation Option: Country Lodge Karatu
Meals Plan: Breakfast and Lunch as well as Dinner
Drinking Water and Fruits Throughout the journey
Day 13: Departure or Holiday extension/Uganda & Tanzania Safari Tour
Today is unfortunately the last day of your trip with us! Depending on the time of your international flight you can decide to do an optional activity.
This 1, 5 to 2 hour activity will be guided by an armed ranger. The rugged and beautiful Ngorongoro Highlands offers one of the finest blends of culture, landscapes and wildlife in Tanzania. The best way to experience the highlands is no doubt on foot. Its diverse landscapes consisting of elevated volcanoes and craters, forests and vast grassy plains offers a remarkable experience for those hiking through this area.
Hikers will experience first-hand how the Maasai people, who inhabit these highlands and the wildlife, coexist. This excursion gets you close to nature in a different way than from a safari vehicle and allows you the chance to get an authentic taste of the local culture at the same time.
Your driver/guide will take care of your transfer to Kilimanjaro Airport. Thus the end of our Safari. However, if you are not ready to go home, you can extend your tour to the tropical island on the Swahili coast.