After breakfast you will go for an early morning game drive on the rolling plains where you can view lions, giraffe, hartebeest, Buffalo and elephant as well many other mammals of the park. For the birders, this area supports the secretary bird, black-chested snake eagle, tawny and marshal eagles and many others. This is a beautiful drive across the African savannah down to Lake Albert, where the Albert Nile heads north to Sudan.

Take an afternoon boat trip to the bottom of Murchison Falls. This launch trip is for a bout three hours. This is an experience not to be missed! The launch trip gives you a chance to get up close with Nile hippos and to see the huge Nile crocodiles and other wildlife that may come down to drink from the river.

Overnight Paraa Safari Lodge, Murchison Fall National Park

Today you spend the day hiking through the dense overgrowth of the Kibale Forest in search of primates, both greater and lesser. The forest has well marked trails that make it easily accessible. Three large communities of Chimpanzees each inhabit Kibale, each numbering over 200 individuals. Typically you will locate the chimps by listening for their pant-hooting calls, then observe them as they feed in the trees, lounge or hunt (this is usually an adrenaline-filled moment!). Chimps move quickly through the bushy canopy hunting colobus monkeys and bush babies, and will occasionally capture ground dwellers such as small duikers or dik-dik. Though they feed primarily on figs and other fruits, they are effective hunters. The chimp's strong social order and behavior is fascinating to watch. They are noisy, communicative, and often confrontational with each other. The male is territorial and uses elaborate boundaries and defense techniques to protect his turf. Fierce battles between communities occasionally occur, sometimes with fatalities, yet young females can pass from group to group ensuring genetic diversity.

Once you have encountered the Chimps, you will continue hiking through the forest, looking for birds and lesser primates, which may include red-tailed monkey, red colobus monkey, black-and-white colobus monkey, gray cheeked mangabey, olive baboon and vervet monkey. The forest is the habitat of the spectacular great Blue Turaco and the African Gray Parrot; it is alive with the tantalizing sounds of the elusive birds such as the Angola Pitta. Expert national park guides will accompany us and will reveal some of the botanical secrets of the forest. A night walk to see the potto and galagoo can be arranged (optional).

Overnight Ndali Lodge / Mantana Tented Camp

Today's exploration of Queen Elizabeth National Park begins with an early morning launch trip on the Kazinga Channel. This fresh water system, joining Lake Edward and Lake George, boasts of the highest concentration of Nile Hippos in the world. This area is excellent for birders and you expect to see species ranging in size from the tiny and brilliant Malachite Kingfisher to the Giant Goliath Heron. You leave the water and re-unite with your drivers to explore the park in a more traditional manner. In addition to these semi-aquatic mammals, the launch affords unique opportunities to view other mammals, and birds as they come to the waters edge to drink or bathe. Birding Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Cape buffalo, Hartebeest, Giant Forest Hog, Warthog, Elephant, and potentially Leopard and Lion. The scenic beauty of the park is a perfect backdrop for the wildlife drama that takes place before us.

Overnight Mweya Lodge

The Impenetrable Forest of Bwindi National Park is certainly aptly named. On its steep slopes and in the deep valleys, the largest of the primates has managed to escape extinction.

Report at the park office at 7.30am for the gorilla tracking. Carry a picnic lunch and plenty of water. Cameras and plenty of fast speed film is recommended. It can rain at short notice; hence waterproof clothing is a good essential including zip lock bags for cameras and film.

Meeting our ranger guides, gorilla watchers head off the steep, trail-less slopes to search for gorillas. In addition to the gorillas, you may spot many birds, red-tailed and ground-dwelling L'Hoest's monkeys.

Although park rangers try to keep tabs on the whereabouts of the gorillas, they are free ranging wild creatures and can be difficult to locate. Sometimes finding the gorillas can be easy, as they may have remained close to the area where they had been feeding the previous day. Sometimes they require constant tracking, which can be arduous. Some of the difficulties to be encountered can include steep, muddy slopes, stinging nettles, safari ants, and rain. The reward is an extraordinary opportunity to observe the gorillas at close range. The gorillas are not tame, but they have been scientifically habituated to accept the presence of quiet and non-threatening observers.

The park rangers will brief you on appropriate behavior. You can expect to stay with the animals for about an hour after first encountering them. However we can't guarantee you'll see them but chances are 98%.

If your group size is less than six members, the park rangers will add other trekkers to your group. You have no way of knowing who these trekkers will be or what physical condition they may be in, and our group will need to trek together.

Should your gorilla trekking end early, rainforest walks in Bwindi can be arranged. Other wildlife you may encounter includes yellow-backed duiker and a variety of birds.

Overnight Gorilla Forest Camp / Mantana Tented Camp

After breakfast we depart for Lake Mburo National Park. En route, we pass through Uganda's Ankole District where the people keep massively horned cattle, which have been bred in this region for centuries and are used as an indicator of personal wealth. The horns of these domestic beasts may measure well in excess of four feet each. Small children tend their herds, making sure that the cattle don't invade the fertile fields and banana plantations that dot the countryside. We continue to Lake Mburo National Park, a small park surrounding a lovely system of lakes and papyrus swamps. Mburo offers perhaps the best opportunities in Uganda to see birds associated with acacia woodlands, such as the Bare-faced Go-away Bird, Black-bellied Bustard, Black-headed Gonolek, Grey Hornbill and Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater. The only large predators here are Spotted Hyena and Leopard, but the park is home to a large variety of ungulate species, including African Buffalo, Topi, Uganda Kob, Oribi, Reedbuck, Klipspringer, Defassa Waterbuck, Common Zebra and Eland. This is the only place in Uganda where Impala are found. Nile Hippo and Crocodile are also fairly common in the park.

Overnight Mantana tented camp

This morning, you will visit the spectacular Bujagali Falls and the source of the Nile. On your way to Kampala you will branch off the main road and visit the Ssezibwa falls, which is a cultural site, used by the Kabaka's (Kings) for traditional healing. A witch doctor lives here and the Baganda people visit this site regularly. Transfer to Entebbe for your flight out depending on flight departure times. (Your departure flight should be late in the afternoon or in the evening otherwise, another night can be arranged in Entebbe)