Grab your safari hat, binoculars and don’t forget your camera because your friends are not going to believe your stories on this African Safari in Uganda!

Straight out of the pages of a National Geographic Magazine, Uganda offers intrepid travelers a chance to live like an explorer. This epic journey is a combination of observational game drives through wildlife parks, and on-the-ground up-close encounters with some of the world’s most endangered animals like rhinos and, chimpanzees, and mountain gorillas.

The adventure begins in Entebbe and follows a game circuit north, west, and returns south to Entebbe. We will explore wooded savannas, grasslands, tributaries of the Nile River, and mountain tropical cloud forest. Lodges with delicious food and comfortable accommodations.

More off-the-beaten than more popular East Africa countries, Uganda is known for its friendly people, and high concentrations of animals in smaller game reserves. You will see the iconic animals of Africa, but the primates are the highlight of this safari! The grand finale is a ranger-led small group trek into the home of highly endangered wild mountain gorillas & chimpanzees.

This active educational travel adventure is for any healthy adult from beginner to seasoned traveler. All skill levels welcome. No experience necessary. Anyone age 18+ welcome.

Uganda Edventure Highlights

• Walk with the last rhinos in Uganda in their natural habitat.
• Experience spectacular game drives in Uganda’s National Parks full of amazing mammals, reptiles, and birds!
• Go Big! Photograph the largest mammals: elephants, giraffes, cape buffalo, and hippos in the wild.
• Get close to our closest genetic animal relative, on a chimpanzee tracking expedition in the Kimbale National Forest.
• Stay at lodges in beautiful locations near national parks and in the country-side.
• See tree-climbing lions of Ishasha in Queen Elizabeth Nation Park.
• Life-changing up close encounters with endangered mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

Minimum 4 / Maximum 12

To ensure an intimate and authentic experience, the group is limited to no more than 12 participants, allowing us to connect more deeply while minimizing our impact on the pristine environment.

We need 4 participants to confirm this trip, and we truly appreciate your patience as we work toward that goal. We’re just as eager as you are to confirm this adventure! 

Once the trip is confirmed, you’ll receive an email with essential details, including flight booking guidelines, waivers, and tour-specific information. If we’re unable to fill the trip within 90 days of the start date, all participants will receive a full refund. 

Moderate For Most, Strenuous for Some.

For trekking, participants should be healthy, know their limits, and be able to walk 4-6 miles on rolling and uneven terrain which could be steep and slippery depending on the conditions. Hiking trails for gorilla and chimpanzee trekking vary from easy, medium and strenuous. Trail assignments are based on the participants’ abilities, but subject to park rangers’ authority and number of trekkers that day.  During gorilla trekking, each participant has a porter who will carry his/her day pack and always there to lend a helping hand. If you have concerns about hiking, please contact us to discuss.   

Examples: Half-day hikes, or multi-sport activity days with varied intensity.

Preparation: A regular exercise routine that includes aerobic activities like walking, biking, or swimming for 20-40 minutes, 3 to 4 times a week. 

Click HERE to view Google Map of the itinerary.

We stay at a variety of eco-lodges on the edge of the parks and protected areas. Each lodge is modest, clean and the staff are friendly. Accommodations are surrounded by beautiful scenery and sometimes animals come through the property. All will have hot water and solar electricity or generators for power. From luxury accommodations to economical properties, they are at the mercy of a 3rd world infrastructure and the fates. Your packing list will include a headlamp and wet wipes for the possible chance that you could be without running water or electricity for a night. During a visit in 2018, there was one night where there wasn’t hot water or electricity in our  cabins. We did have cold bottled water, a delicious meal, and hippos talking to each other while grazing in the yard that night. It was worth the trade off!

Here is a list of scheduled locations. These are subject to change and can be substituted for similar accommodations. 

Lodging:

• Day 1: Papyrus Guest House
• Day 2: Papyrus Guest House
• Day 3: Pakuba Safari Lodge
• Day 4: Pakuba Safari Lodge
• Day 5: Pakuba Safari Lodge
• Day 6: Chimpanzee View Guest House
• Day 7: Chimpanzee View Guest House
• Day 8: Ishasha Jungle Lodge
• Day 9: Bakiga Lodge
• Day 10: Bakiga Lodge
• Day 11: Rwakobo Rock Lodge

Meals on a safari in Uganda are typically a delightful mix of local flavors and international cuisine, designed to satisfy a range of tastes and dietary needs. Here's what you can expect:

1. Breakfast: Usually served early before morning game drives, breakfast can include freshly baked bread, eggs cooked to order, fruit, yogurt, cereal, pancakes, and coffee or tea. Some lodges offer a full English breakfast, while others may prepare a packed breakfast if you’re heading out early.
2. Lunch: Depending on the day’s activities, lunch can either be a sit-down meal at the lodge or a packed picnic enjoyed in the bush. Picnic lunches are typically portable yet filling, with sandwiches or fried chicken, fruit, snacks, hard boiled egg, and juice or water.
3. Dinner: Dinner is often a three-course affair. Meals typically start with soup or salad, followed by a main course like grilled chicken, beef stew, or fish, accompanied by vegetables, rice, or potatoes. Desserts can include fruit, cakes, or tarts.
4. Special Dietary Needs: Most lodges and camps are well-prepared to accommodate dietary restrictions, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free. If you have strict dietary needs please contact us to discuss your options.

All participants must have a passport valid for travel 6 months beyond the date of departure. 

Passports/Visas:

Visit the US State Department Website for the most current requirements. Most destinations require your passport to be valid 6 months beyond your planned departure date. Check your passport now to avoid last minute stress and hassle. 

State Department Website 

Vaccinations & Travel Health:

Visit the CDC website for the most current requirements for travel and other travel health related suggestions and concerns for your destination.

CDC Website

Proof of Yellow Fever Vaccination (Yellow Card)

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/uganda 

Tourist Visa

Purchase online three months before travel for $50 USD (as of 4/2024)

Installments

For your convenience you can pay for your adventure in interest-free monthly installments using a checking account or credit card. 

ACH / Checking Account 

Pay zero transaction fees when you pay from your checking account.

Credit Card

Want to rack up points on your credit card? We get it. WeTravel will add a service fee to the total amount of your trip if you pay with a credit card. Credit Cards fees: 2.9% (Amex: 3.9%). This is a bank convenience fee not a fee added by Green Edventures. 

Alternate Between ACH & Credit Card

You can change your payment method at any time in your WeTravel Account

Click on link to review:

Terms & Conditions

Cancellation Policy

Mandatory Medical Insurance

Green Edventures does not provide medical or travel insurance in the package price. Due to the remote nature of our tours, we require that all participants have, at minimum, $250,0000 medical evacuation coverage for this program. This is for the safety of all guests. A comprehensive travel insurance policy will cover medical evacuation.

Comprehensive travel insurance is available at www.greenedventures.com/travel-insurance 

A detailed packing list will be provided. Here is what you can expect to wear on safari in Uganda. In addition to binoculars here are some things you will want on safari.

• Luggage: 75-90 Liter duffel or rolling duffel bag. No hard suitcases. Rolling duffel limited to one hard side, and 27 inches tall. 
• Neutral, Lightweight Layers: Wear breathable, neutral-colored clothing (khaki, beige) with long sleeves and pants for sun and insect protection. Avoid bright colors (they can attract unwanted attention from wildlife) and dark blues/black (which attract tsetse flies).
• Sturdy Footwear: Comfortable hiking boots for walking in muddy, and uneven terrain.
• Sun and Bug Protection: Bring a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, and insect repellent (preferably with DEET).
• Warm Layers and Rain Gear: Pack a light jacket for chilly mornings and evenings, and a rain jacket if traveling during the wet season.

Packing List - Coming Soon!

Click Here for FAQs and Supplemental Information

Uganda Info Session

2024 Uganda Safari Info Session Recording

We strive to deliver a seamless and unforgettable travel experience. However, all itineraries are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control. We reserve the right to modify the advertised itinerary, including changes to the order of activities, destinations, or accommodations, guides, and trip leaders without prior notice.

In the event of changes, we will make every effort to provide alternative arrangements of equal value to ensure your overall experience remains exceptional. Your safety, satisfaction, and enjoyment remain our top priorities.

We appreciate your understanding and flexibility as we work to create the best possible journey for you.

Lori started her Green Edventures journey in 2019 going on trips such as Tanzania, Idaho, Northwoods WI, Yellowstone, WI Dog Sledding, Uganda, Iceland Multi-sport and Laugavegur, Baja, Roatan and Alaska. In 2021 she led our Northwoods WI Women’s Trip, and in 2022, she Co-Led two WI Dog Sledding Trips, Tanzania Women’s trip and Co-Ed trip, Idaho Salmon River Rafting and a Northwoods WI student trip. 

Lori is a proud Cheesehead originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Although she still calls Wisconsin home, she has done her share of traveling. She has been traveling since the age of 11 where she took her first trip out of the country to Canada, since then, she hasn’t stopped.

For Lori, it isn’t always about the destination, she wants to travel anywhere and everywhere! She loves all forms of travel – road trips, plane trips, cruises, guided tours, self-guided/planned trips, outdoor/indoor, beach or mountain, hiking or theater, solo or partner or group – you name it! But her favorite part of travel is meeting new people along the way and hearing their stories! You won’t catch Lori without her headlamp, and her boast worthy Luminaid lantern.

 Paul Tamwenya is probably one of the most interesting people you will ever meet in your life. Not only is he an expert at wildlife ID and behavior, he is sensitive to the needs of his clients.

Great care and detail go into his safaris to ensure each person is having their best experience. Paul is the principal guide for his safari company which he created in 2009, and the founder of a non-profit called Birds of a Feather, which helps the children from his hometown by providing school supplies and environmental education.

Paul is a graduate of tourism management with more than 12 years experience guiding wildlife and birding tours in Uganda. He also provides guide training and is an inspirational speaker. 

Arrival at Entebbe International Airport where you will be greeted by our guide or representative and then transferred to your hotel. Overnight at Papyrus Guest House. 

Travel Plan:

Airport Code EBB

Arrive anytime before 11:00 PM. Pre-trip lodging can be arranged for those who would like to come in earlier.

The early morning adventure begins at the shores of Lake Victoria. In a simple wooden motorized boat, we will cruise across the vast expanse of a tiny portion of Africa’s largest lake to Mabamba Swamp. 

Mabamba Swamp is a large tract of marshlands with various channels through it, and it provides the perfect habitat for 260 bird species including shoebill storks. Stork-like, but related to pelicans, you don’t have to be a “birder” to be impressed with seeing a shoebill. These prehistoric looking birds stand over 3ft tall!  There are only 5000-8000 individuals remaining in Uganda and the surrounding countries. From this day forward, you will be the envy of every hardcore birder you meet if you tell them you saw a shoebill.  

Afternoon activities include a visit to the botanical garden and markets.

Overnight at Papyrus Guest House.

Meals: BLD

We start driving northwest to Murchison Falls National Park with a visit to the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary (approximately 3 hours drive). The drive takes us through the famous Luwero triangle to the sanctuary in Nakasongola which is a privately-owned white rhino breeding sanctuary. The sanctuary is home to the last rhinos in Uganda with a mission of restoring them in Uganda’s protected areas once the population reaches over 50 breeding individuals. Led by a ranger, you will trek on foot within the sanctuary to see white rhinos in their natural habitat. When you spot the rhinos, your ranger will teach about the individuals you are observing while you take in the fact that you are standing in the company of wild rhinos. 

After a hot lunch at the sanctuary, we will head toward Murchison Falls National Park. The duration of the drive is approximately 3 hours to the banks of the Nile River.

Overnight at Pakuba Safari Lodge

Meals: BLD

Today we our first game drive of the adventure. Named for the falls where the Victoria Nile surges through a narrow gap and cascades over a massive 141 feet drop, Murchison Falls is a small national park with big diversity of animals. In one photo, you could have 3 species of the big 5! It will be your favorite game drive of the trip!

In the afternoon, a boat cruise to the bottom of the falls will reward you with eye-level viewing of hippos bathing in the Nile. You will see a variety of natural behaviors and hear them grunt, splash and snort as they hang out in hippo schools along the shoreline. Lurking close by are Nile crocodiles hunting for unsuspecting wading birds and other wildlife that come to the water to cool off in the midday heat. 

Participants who want a challenge can hike to the top of the falls on an established trail.

Overnight at Pakuba Safari Lodge.

Meals: BLD

Today will be broken up into a morning and afternoon game drive. There is so much to see here!  Murchison has 76 mammal species including African elephants, Cape buffalo, and Rothschild’s giraffe. Other game includes African antelopes like the leaf-eared Oribi, Jackson's hartebeest, water and bushbuck, the beautiful Uganda kob, Bohor reedbuck, and common duiker. 

The park is home to 450 species of birds like: Northern carmine, swallow tail and little bee-eater, Abyssinian ground hornbill, Denham’s and black bellied bustard, large eagles like the bateleur, martial, brown and banded snake among others and large flocks of vultures.

Overnight at Pakuba Safari Lodge

Meals: BLD

In the morning, we will check out of the lodge, and transfer to Kibale Forest National Park. 

The drive is long, 8 hours with stops, but interesting as you pass through small towns, green plantations and traditional homesteads.

Overnight at Chimpanzee View Guesthouse

Meals: BLD

Early morning, we assemble at the park headquarters for the briefing before a ranger leads you into the magnificent forest.

The Kibale Forest is a tropical forest where all human disturbances fade away and it’s just you and the sounds of nature.  The ranger will locate the chimps by listening to their pant-hooting calls, looking for the fresh nests where they spent the previous night, and the direction of their fresh knuckle imprints in the mud while leaving their nests.

The other primates expected on the walk included the red colobus, black and white colobus and the red-tailed, Blue, L’hoest’s monkey and the Grey-cheeked mangabey.  

In the afternoon enjoy a guided nature walk through the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary and visit the women’s crafts project KAFRED.  

Overnight at Chimpanzee View Guesthouse

Meals: BLD

After a leisurely breakfast, we then start our drive further south of Uganda towards the Impenetrable Bwindi Forest National Park. Driving duration is 6 hours today including a game drive in Ishasha National Park.
 

Ishasha, is a remote and beautiful part of Africa, with wonderful scenery. As it is always said, remote destinations still harbor the best wildlife! Proof of this is Queen Elizabeth National Park Ishasha Sector, the second largest in Uganda. It is host to wildlife among which on lucky days your guide will spot tree climbing lions in figs, acacia or Albizia trees! Nowhere in Africa do you stand a better chance of seeing this than in this Ishasha sector.

Packed lunch on route.

Late afternoon, check in at our lodge. For those who wish, we can offer a late game drive which will produce close encounters of more wildlife in this section of the park.

Overnight at Ishasha Jungle Lodge

Meals: BLD

After breakfast, we start with a game drive which will give us more chances of seeing the tree climbing lions and bigger opportunities of seeing the leopard this morning before setting off to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

On the drive we will find game coupled with stopovers to look out for interesting savannah birds; These may include Black lored and Arrow-marked babbler, Ovambo sparrow hawk, African cuckoo hawk, stout, wing snapping, zitting, and trilling cisticolas, Violet-backed starling, brown and banded snake eagle, Holub’s golden weaver, lesser and greater honeyguide, grassland and plain backed pipit, fork-tailed drongo, Blue-naped mousebird and many more. After this, we shall continue and drive to Bwindi.

After this, we shall continue and drive to Bwindi.

Overnight at Bakiga Lodge

Meals: BLD

This will be a day to remember! Like chimp trekking, a ranger will provide a safety and orientation briefing before the group is assigned a troop to visit. The ranger and scouts will lead groups of visitors with porters into the forest in search of habituated mountain gorillas.

Habituated troops are used to people observing and are less likely to become territorial when approached. When sighted, your expected to stay 21 feet from the gorillas, however, many times, gorillas have moved close to their human observers, and even touched them. Time spent observing the troop is limited to 1 hour. It is a phenomenal experience to watch wild mountain gorillas as they forage and care for their young, and as the babies trundle down the hills and in the grasses for fun!! 

Packed lunch on the trail.

Evening, return to the hotel for relaxation, depending on how you feel, an evening community walk is always rewarding to learn how the people living near the gorillas go about their daily lives.

Overnight at Bakiga Lodge

Meals: BLD

After morning breakfast, we head northwest to Lake Mburo National Park (approximately 5 hours). Packed lunch on route.

Via a boat cruise, we will have more opportunities for wildlife viewing and photography including schools of hippos, crocodiles, different bird species and large mammals like the Cape buffaloes, zebras, topi, impala, water and bushbuck, Oribi and the giant Eland, among others. If we are lucky, this is a good spot for the leopard and hyenas.

After dark, there will be time for a late drive in search of some nocturnal species.

Overnight stay at Rwakobo Rock Lodge

Meals: BLD

Early morning game drive as we depart Lake Mburo National Park, we may spot some zebra, buffaloes, impalas and many others in the open acacia woods. Continue to  Kampala  with a stopover at the equator and the royal drum makers in Mpigi time allowing.

Packed lunch en route

Meals: BL

Airport drop off approximately 12:30pm for 4:30pm departures.