Itinerary · 9 days · 32 places
9 Days in Uganda
Nine days from Lake Victoria via Kampala and Lake Bunyonyi to the Bwindi forest, with a morning spent with a gorilla family and, to round things off, the lions and elephants of Queen Elizabeth National Park.
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Photo: Mad Knoxx Deluxe · Pexels
The route on the map
The plan, day by day
Day 1Arrival on Lake Victoria
Arrival in Entebbe
Hotel check-in
Your base is in Entebbe, between the airport and the lakeshore — a quiet garden town where, after dark, only the frogs make any noise.
Entebbe Botanical Gardens
Laid out in 1898, the gardens drop in terraces towards Lake Victoria; in the lakeside forest, colobus monkeys and hornbills clamber through the fig trees.
Day 2Kampala: royal tombs and seven hills
Onward to Kampala
Hotel check-in
Kasubi Tombs
Beneath the vast thatched roof of Muzibu Azaala Mpanga lie four Kabakas of Buganda; women of the royal household still guard the interior today.
Uganda Museum
East Africa's oldest museum displays drums, hunting weapons and musical instruments from all of the country's peoples — in the back hall you're allowed to play them.
Gaddafi National Mosque
After 272 steps up the minaret on Old Kampala Hill, you look out over the whole city to Lake Victoria; shawls and headscarves are provided at the entrance.
Namirembe Cathedral
The red-brick church of 1919 stands on the neighbouring hill; from the forecourt you can see the smoke over the old town and hear the choir rehearsing.
Evening: Ndere Centre
On the open-air stage, troupes from all over the country dance and drum — right up to the Kiganda dance with clay pots balanced on the head.
Day 3Zebras at Lake Mburo
Onward to Lake Mburo
Hotel check-in
Rwonyo Ranger Station
At the park headquarters the vehicle is registered and the route agreed; from the rise behind it you spot the first impalas and Ankole cattle with their metre-long horns.
Boat trip on Lake Mburo
From the jetty you glide past pods of hippos, crocodiles and shoebill nesting sites in the papyrus belt.
Game drive across the Ruroko plain
Lake Mburo is one of the few parks in Uganda with zebras and elands; in the afternoon sun they stand in their hundreds among the acacias.
Evening: campfire above the Mburo valley
After sunset the fire burns on the hillside, while down in the valley the hippos climb out of the lake to graze in the dark.
Day 4Islands of Lake Bunyonyi
Onward to Lake Bunyonyi
Hotel check-in
Boat trip on Lake Bunyonyi
By dugout canoe or motorboat you weave between the islands; the lake has neither crocodiles nor bilharzia, which is why people really do swim here.
Akampene, Punishment Island
Unmarried pregnant Bakiga girls were abandoned on this tiny islet — the boatman tells the story, which only came to an end in the 1940s.
Bwama Island and the Sharp mission station
English doctor Leonard Sharp founded a leper colony here in 1931; of the brick buildings on the slope, a school remains today.
Evening: lakeside terrace in Rutinda
Above the landing stage you sit looking out at the dark ridges of the islands; at 2,000 metres the evenings get noticeably chilly, so bring a jacket.
Day 5Arrival at the Bwindi forest
Onward to Buhoma
Hotel check-in
Munyaga Waterfall Trail in the Bwindi forest
A trail along the river to three waterfalls, past tree ferns, swarms of butterflies and the calls of blue monkeys.
Ride 4 a Woman in Buhoma
In the women's cooperative workshop, people sew on treadle machines and weave baskets; the proceeds pay for school fees and microloans in the village.
Village walk through Buhoma
The path leads past banana groves, a banana-beer brewery and the primary school up to a viewpoint over the forest edge.
Evening: campfire above the Bwindi forest
From the terrace you hear the forest at work — cicadas, tree hyraxes, the occasional snapping branch; the stars shine here without any light pollution.
Day 6An hour with the mountain gorillas
Briefing at Buhoma Ranger Station
At quarter to eight, permits are checked, groups of eight are formed and the rules explained: seven metres' distance, no flash, and anyone with a cold stays behind.
Gorilla trekking to the Rushegura group
With machetes, the trackers clear a path through nettles and steep slopes until the family is sitting among the leaves — then you get exactly one hour with them.
Bwindi Bar in Buhoma
The café at the village entrance trains young people from the area in hospitality; it serves the best coffee for miles around, and it's where the trekking certificate gets celebrated.
Evening: starry sky over the Buhoma valley
After the long day in the forest you sit outside on tired legs; mist drifts into the valley and the Milky Way stretches right across the ridge.
Day 7Tree-climbing lions in the Ishasha sector
Onward to Ishasha
Hotel check-in
Game drive to the fig trees of the Ishasha lions
In the northern loop the lions lounge at midday in the branches of the big fig trees — one of the few prides in the world that behave like this.
Ntungwe River
Along the river lined with candelabra euphorbias stand herds of elephants and topi antelopes, with the Congo beginning just beyond.
Sunset over the Ishasha plain
From the rise by the camp you see the plain stretching to the Rwenzori foothills, while the riverine forests are lit from behind.
Evening: campfire by the Ishasha River
By the water, hippos crunch through the reeds and a ranger walks you back to your tent — nobody walks alone here at night.
Day 8Kazinga Channel and crater lakes
Onward to Mweya
Hotel check-in
Lake Katwe salt lake
In the crater lake below the village, workers have been cutting blocks of salt out of the ground for centuries, wading hip-deep in the brine.
Mweya Peninsula
Between the airstrip and the bluff, warthogs and waterbucks graze right among the houses; from the edge you look out over both lakes.
Boat trip on the Kazinga Channel
Along the 32 kilometres between the lakes, hippos, buffalo and elephants crowd the banks, along with colonies of yellow-billed storks and kingfishers by the dozen.
Evening: channel view from the bluff
After sunset the wind carries up the grunting of the hippos; below, the lights of the fishing boats from Katunguru drift past.
Day 9Morning game drive and flight home
Game drive on the Kasenyi plain
At first light the lions of the Kasenyi plain move through the herds of kob — the best hour in the whole park, with crowned cranes and kori bustards too.
Equator monument at Kikorongo
Two white concrete rings by the roadside mark zero latitude; next to them, craftswomen sell basketwork from the neighbouring village.
Departure from Entebbe
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