In just 4 days, you can explore Queen Elizabeth National Park with lion tracking and chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura Gorge. A visit to this popular park is exciting, but unlike a normal game drive, lion tracking allows you to see lions more closely because experts follow them using tracking devices. Chimpanzees are also among the top primates to see in Africa, and watching them in the wild is very rewarding. This safari starts and ends in Kampala.
Alongside these activities, you will enjoy a game drive in the Savannah where the park is home to over 95 species of mammals and 600 bird species. A boat safari on the Kazinga Channel completes the adventure, giving you a chance to see Nile crocodiles, hippos, elephants, and many birds.
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Kampala to Queen Elizabeth National Park
In the morning, your driver will meet you at your accommodation, brief you about the trip, and then transfer you to Queen Elizabeth National Park. The journey takes 7 to 8 hours through Masaka and Mbarara. You will stop at the Equator crossing in Kayabwe to take photos and see simple experiments. Craft shops here also sell handmade items.
Continue to Queen Elizabeth National Park with a lunch stop in Mbarara. In the evening, you will enter the park and may spot elephants, warthogs, leopards, waterbucks, antelopes, and birds as you drive to your lodge. Check in, have dinner, and rest overnight.
Day 2: Lion Tracking and Boat Cruise
After an early breakfast, head to the Kasenyi Plains for a lion tracking experience. With the help of trackers and park rangers, you will follow lions fitted with radio collars. This allows you to see them at a close distance and learn more about their behavior.
Return to your lodge to relax and have lunch. In the afternoon, take a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, starting around 2:00 p.m. From the motorboat, enjoy views of the park and look out for hippos, crocodiles, buffalos, elephants, and birds such as saddle-billed storks, kingfishers, and skimmers. Later, return to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 3: Game Drive and Chimpanzee Tracking
After breakfast, return to the Kasenyi Plains for a morning game drive lasting 2 to 3 hours. Look for antelopes like Uganda kob, waterbucks, and topis, as well as predators such as lions, leopards, and hyenas.
After lunch, head to Kyambura Gorge for chimpanzee trekking. A habituated troop lives here, and once found, you will spend one hour watching them. The gorge is also home to other primates such as black-and-white colobus monkeys and many butterflies. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight rest.
Day 4: Return to Kampala
After breakfast, check out of the lodge and begin the journey back to Kampala through Mbarara and Masaka. The trip takes about 7 to 8 hours. You will stop in Mbarara for lunch before continuing to Kampala or Entebbe International Airport, marking the end of your 4-day safari.
