Built around Ziwa, Murchison Falls and Kibale, this 12-day safari staying in comfortable tented camps and established safari lodges throughout. 11 nights on safari, priced on request.
Ziwa - Murchison Falls - Kibale - Queen Elizabeth - Bwindi/Mgahinga - Bunyonyi - Lake Mburo
About this safari
The route opens in Ziwa — uganda's only wild rhino, tracked on foot — and works through 7 further destinations over 12 days. It stays within Uganda; the final proposal will confirm transfer times and the balance between travel and game viewing. Accommodation is at the mid-range standard: comfortable tented camps and established safari lodges. The balance most travellers settle on — proper beds, en-suite bathrooms and well-run lodges in good positions, without the premium that the top end of the market commands. Like every safari in this catalogue, it is priced on request rather than sold at a published rate, because park fees, permits, group size and contracted accommodation all change the figure.
Day by day
Written out in full before you book, so you can see exactly how the days are paced and where each night is spent.
Day 1
This planning outline starts in Entebbe and continues into western Uganda; the collection point, timing and any permit arrangements are confirmed in the final proposal. The road north from Entebbe and Kampala takes a few hours to clear the city's traffic and reach open country, and Ziwa sits beside it as a natural and genuinely useful break. The sanctuary occupies roughly seventy square kilometres of grassland and woodland, fenced and patrolled, and it is the only place in Uganda where rhino can be seen at all. Uganda's rhino were entirely wiped out by the early 1980s, and Ziwa is the project that brought them back. Southern white rhino were reintroduced here onto private land, and the population has grown steadily under round-the-clock ranger protection. Tracking them is done on foot with the rangers who monitor each animal daily, approaching to a safe distance on the ground rather than viewing from a vehicle. The suggested standard is mid-range. Citrus will confirm the property and contracted services in writing before booking.
Overnight: Ziwa
Day 2
This activity is a planning option and only forms part of the day when it appears in the written quotation. The next leg links the two destinations, heading for Murchison Falls, the route leaves the highlands and runs into hotter, flatter country towards the Nile. It is Uganda's largest national park and feels it — open savannah running to the horizon, with the river drawing a broad green line through it and the falls themselves hidden in a gorge until you are almost on top of them. The catalogue suggests a comfortable mid-range stay here. The exact lodge, room basis and meals are confirmed in the quotation.
Overnight: Murchison Falls
Day 3
If this optional activity is included in your written quotation, a boat trip upstream towards the falls fills the afternoon and is the best wildlife viewing in the park. From the water you see the riverbank as the animals use it — hippo pods surfacing and resubmerging, crocodile basking, elephants bathing and waterbuck standing in the shallows. The Nile narrows as you approach, the current picks up visibly, and the launch holds position below the cascade while the whole river pours through a gap you could almost throw a stone across. Game drives on the northern bank work the open borassus palm savannah, where Rothschild's giraffe — a subspecies that has been the focus of a major recovery effort — browse in loose groups, and Uganda kob, hartebeest, oribi and buffalo spread out across the grassland. Lion are regularly seen here and leopard occasionally, and the open country makes for straightforward viewing. A mid-range camp or lodge is proposed for this night, subject to availability and written confirmation.
Overnight: Murchison Falls
Day 4
Leaving the previous stop behind, the road west towards Fort Portal runs through tea estates and crater lake country, with the Rwenzori Mountains sometimes visible to the west when the cloud allows. Kibale itself announces itself as a wall of tall forest closing over the road — moist evergreen rainforest, noticeably flatter and more open underfoot than Bwindi, and loud with primates. Kibale holds thirteen primate species — the highest diversity of any forest in East Africa. Beyond the chimpanzees there are red colobus, black-and-white colobus, grey-cheeked mangabey, red-tailed monkey, blue monkey, olive baboon and, after dark, the nocturnal potto. Forest elephant and buffalo move through too, though the vegetation means they are seldom seen. This outline assumes a comfortable safari stay near the route. The named property remains a suggestion until quoted.
Overnight: Kibale
Day 5
Chimpanzee tracking starts with a briefing at Kanyanchu before the group sets out into the forest. Unlike a gorilla trek, this is fast-moving work: chimpanzees travel through the canopy and along the ground, and following them means keeping up. When the group settles — feeding in a fruiting fig, grooming, or breaking into the screaming pant-hoot chorus that carries for a kilometre — you have one hour with them. Success rates at Kibale are the highest in Africa because several communities have been habituated over decades of research. The community-run Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary on the forest edge is a genuinely worthwhile addition. A boardwalk trail runs through papyrus swamp and forest, guided by local villagers, and it is excellent for primates and for birds — the great blue turaco among them. Revenue goes directly into the community, which has made the sanctuary a model for how conservation and local benefit can align. The suggested standard is mid-range. Citrus will confirm the property and contracted services in writing before booking.
Overnight: Kibale
Day 6
The route then continues onward, today's route brings you into Uganda's most visited national park, a broad stretch of savannah, crater lakes and waterway on the floor of the western Rift Valley. After the enclosed forests the openness is a relief, and the change of wildlife is complete — elephant, buffalo, kob and lion instead of primates in a canopy. The southern Ishasha sector is where the tree-climbing lions are. They rest through the heat of the day in the branches of large fig trees, which is genuinely unusual behaviour seen in only a handful of places in Africa. It is never a certainty — the sector is large and the lions move — but a drive through the fig country in the middle of the day is the way to look. The catalogue suggests a comfortable mid-range stay here. The exact lodge, room basis and meals are confirmed in the quotation.
Overnight: Queen Elizabeth
Day 7
If this optional activity is included in your written quotation, the launch leaves from below Mweya in the afternoon and works slowly along the channel for a couple of hours. Being at water level changes everything — hippo surface a few metres away, elephants come down the bank to drink and bathe in front of the boat, and the shoreline birdlife is close enough to identify without binoculars. Pied kingfishers hover in numbers, skimmers cut the surface, and cormorants dry their wings on every available log. The cruise is usually booked as a separate extra. Kibale's chimpanzees are not the only primates in this region: Kyambura Gorge, a forested rift cut into the park's eastern edge, holds its own chimpanzee community. Tracking there is less reliable than at Kibale because the group is smaller and the gorge is steep, but descending into the forested cleft is a striking experience in its own right. A mid-range camp or lodge is proposed for this night, subject to availability and written confirmation.
Overnight: Queen Elizabeth
Day 8
The next leg links the two destinations, today's journey ends at one of the most biologically rich forests in Africa. The roads through the highlands are winding and slow, but the country they cross is spectacular — terraced hills, crater lakes and distant views towards the Virunga volcanoes — and the arrival at the forest edge, with the canopy rising in front of you, justifies the hours it took. Bwindi protects around half the world's remaining mountain gorillas across a little over 320 square kilometres of montane rainforest. Beyond the gorillas the forest holds chimpanzee, black-and-white colobus, L'Hoest's and red-tailed monkey, and more than 350 bird species including some two dozen Albertine Rift endemics — though the density of the vegetation means most of them are heard long before they are seen. This outline assumes a comfortable safari stay near the route. The named property remains a suggestion until quoted.
Overnight: Bwindi
Day 9
Gorilla trekking is the reason the whole itinerary exists, and the day is built entirely around it. After the morning briefing your group sets off behind a guide and armed ranger, following radio contact with the trackers who located the family at dawn. The forest is steep, wet and close, and the walking can take anywhere from one to seven hours. The hour you are given at the end passes extraordinarily quickly — juveniles wrestling in the vegetation, a female nursing an infant, the silverback shifting position and everyone freezing. Trackers work to locate habituated families, though nothing in the forest is guaranteed. Bwindi protects around half the world's remaining mountain gorillas across a little over 320 square kilometres of montane rainforest. Beyond the gorillas the forest holds chimpanzee, black-and-white colobus, L'Hoest's and red-tailed monkey, and more than 350 bird species including some two dozen Albertine Rift endemics — though the density of the vegetation means most of them are heard long before they are seen. The catalogue suggests a comfortable mid-range stay here. The exact lodge, room basis and meals are confirmed in the quotation.
Overnight: Bwindi
Day 10
If this optional activity is included in your written quotation, golden monkey tracking sets out from the park headquarters into the bamboo zone on the volcano's lower slopes. The troops are large, active and noisy, crashing through the bamboo and dropping to the ground to feed, and photographing them is a genuine challenge given the movement and the light. The walk is far easier than a gorilla trek, and on a clear morning the views back across the volcano chain are exceptional. Leaving the previous stop behind, today's transfer is short and the destination is deliberately undemanding. Lake Bunyonyi — the place of many little birds — is where most Uganda itineraries put their recovery day, and after a gorilla trek that is exactly what is needed. The catalogue suggests a comfortable mid-range stay here. The exact lodge, room basis and meals are confirmed in the quotation.
Overnight: Lake Bunyonyi
Day 11
The next section of the circuit moves on, the road from the south-west towards Kampala passes the long ridges and open acacia country of Lake Mburo, the smallest of Uganda's savannah parks and the closest to the capital. After the forests it is open and bright, and zebra — genuinely unusual in Uganda — are often visible from the main road before you reach the gate. A boat trip on the lake adds hippo, crocodile and a good list of waterbirds, including the elusive African finfoot working the overhanging vegetation along the shoreline. On land, guided walks with a ranger and horseback rides among the zebra and antelope are what make the park distinctive — activities that simply cannot be offered where elephant and lion are abundant. A mid-range camp or lodge is proposed for this night, subject to availability and written confirmation.
Overnight: Lake Mburo
Day 12
Citrus will time the last day around the agreed end point and onward arrangements. A boat trip on the lake adds hippo, crocodile and a good list of waterbirds, including the elusive African finfoot working the overhanging vegetation along the shoreline. On land, guided walks with a ranger and horseback rides among the zebra and antelope are what make the park distinctive — activities that simply cannot be offered where elephant and lion are abundant. Entebbe is the working end point, with the final transfer stated in the written proposal.
Safari ends
Where you stay
Accommodation below is the suggested standard for this package, taken from the Citrus catalogue. Where an entry describes a standard rather than a named property, we confirm the exact camp or lodge with your quotation. Named properties are suggestions and are substituted with comparable alternatives if they are unavailable for your dates.
Source catalogue listing
Pakuba Safari Lodge + Primate Lodge + Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge + Engagi Lodge + Lake Bunyonyi & Lake Mburo stays
This is reproduced exactly from the catalogue. The written quotation will allocate nights and confirm each available property before booking.
These are planning examples, not confirmed inclusions for this package. Your written quotation will confirm exactly what is included.
The quotation will identify every separate cost before you confirm.
Where this safari goes
Uganda
Uganda's only wild rhino, tracked on foot
ExploreUganda
The Nile forced through an eight-metre-wide gorge
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The best chimpanzee tracking in Africa
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Kazinga Channel hippos and the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha
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Half the world's mountain gorillas, in genuinely impenetrable forest
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Terraced hills, twenty-nine islands and the place to recover after trekking
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Volcano slopes, golden monkeys and a second gorilla option
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Zebra, acacia woodland and Uganda's most walkable park
ExploreBefore you ask
The catalogue sets the route and travel standard, but it does not publish a fixed price or a contracted inclusion list. Citrus will prepare a written quotation for your dates, party and rooming, showing the exact transfers, activities, accommodation, meals, fees and permits before you confirm.
No. It is suggested accommodation from the source catalogue. Availability and any proposed alternative are confirmed in the written quotation before a booking is made.
Do not assume so. Permit availability and whether each permit is included or quoted separately must be stated in the written quotation.
Ask Citrus to revise it. Any change to route, nights or transport must be reflected in the final itinerary and quotation.
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