7-Day Big Five and Kidepo, Private Overland Style

• You'll be collected from the airport.
• Accommodation before the tour starts can be arranged for an extra cost.

Rhinos and Murchison Falls

Meet and brief at your accommodation in Entebbe at 8.00am or in Kampala 9.00am if you prefer.
Transfer to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and a rest stop en route at Lowero Market.
Arrive at Ziwa around noon for a guided walk with the white rhinos. You'll learn about the re-introduction program of this rare beast into Uganda.
Late lunch at Ziwa then depart via Masindi for Murchison Falls National Park. Visit the top of Murchison Falls, the most powerful on earth, channeling the River Nile through a 7-meter-wide ravine.
Short hop to Red Chilli Restcamp for the first camp night and an introduction to our fabulous setup. More details are on our website.
Enjoy dinner and drinks around the camp or in the restaurant banda —or a bit of both —with a lodge fire overlooking the Nile Basin.

Main Destination:

Ziwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch

Best Time To Go June to August and December to February (Dry seasons)

High Season June to September (Peak time for Uganda)

Best Weather

Accommodation:

Budget camping

Meals & Drinks:

• Lunch & dinner (Breakfast not included)
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Nile Boat Safari, Game Drive and Wild Camp

Early breakfast at Red Chili, followed by a boat safari to the base of Murchison Falls. Spectacular wildlife on the Nile banks and in the water include elephants, hippos, water buffalos, and abundant birdlife: kingfisher, weaver birds, and fish eagles.
Short transfer to Paraa Lodge for lunch and a midday break around the pool, overlooking the Nile.
Depart mid-afternoon with a ranger for a savannah game safari into the wilderness and to camp in the wild at the Nile Delta with Lake Albert. Expect antelopes, elephants, giraffes, water buffalos, and an abundance of birdlife. Uganda is home to over 1000 species! We'll collect firewood as we go and set up camp in the wild, overlooking Lake Albert. Evening game drive with the best chance to see a lion and perhaps a leopard, before returning to camp for BBQ and drinks around the campfire. This is wild camping: but we have a hot shower and a folding toilet seat! Welcome to Africa!

Main Destination:

Murchison Falls National Park

Best Time To Visit December to February (Easier to spot animals)

High Season June to September (Peak time for Uganda)

Best Weather June and July (Less rain and lower temperatures)

Wildlife in Murchison Falls NP

ChimpanzeeOccasional

ElephantCommon

GiraffeCommon

LionCommon

BuffaloCommon

HippoAbundant

Show more

LeopardOccasional

White RhinoNone

Black RhinoNone

CheetahNone

ZebraNone

WildebeestNone

Wild DogNone

Accommodation:

Budget camping

• Inside Murchison Falls NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Kidepo Valley National Park

Break camp before dawn with a cup of tea and head into the nearby hunting grounds for the best chance to see the lions and perhaps leopard. Stop by the Nile for breakfast and take a short walk to find hippos or perhaps a croc or two while we prepare. Continue the game drive across Murchison and head out the far northeast gate through a sector renowned for elephants.
Depart the park and head to Gulu for lunch. Then continue across the north of Uganda to the remote Kidepo Valley National Park, rated by CNN as the second-best park in the whole of Africa. Journey by road and track, through remote villages and an ever changing landscape to finally arrive for a lodge night at Kidepo Savannah Lodge —a luxury safari banda overlooking the valley with a spectacular hilltop restaurant to relax and unwind.

Main Destination:

Kidepo Valley National Park

Best Time To Visit September to March (Dry season)

High Season September to March (The park rarely gets crowded)

Best Weather September to November (End of the rains)

Wildlife in Kidepo Valley NP

ElephantCommon

BuffaloAbundant

ZebraCommon

GiraffeOccasional

LionOccasional

LeopardOccasional

Show more

HyenaOccasional

CheetahRare

Wild DogRare

White RhinoNone

Black RhinoNone

WildebeestNone

HippoNone

Accommodation:

Kidepo Savannah Lodge (Safari Tent)

• Mid-range tented camp bordering Kidepo Valley NP without fences

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Kidepo Valley National Park Wilderness

Leisurely breakfast and depart for a game safari into Kidepo Valley. Apart from the magnificent scenery and the sense of truly vast African skies, this is perhaps the richest populated wildlife park in Uganda offering abundant antelopes, zebras, giraffes, elephants, and water buffalos as well as lions and a possibility of leopards and cheetahs. Birdlife everywhere.
Rest at Apoka, the park HQ for lunch and pick up a ranger for an afternoon safari, heading towards Kakine Kopje for your second wild camp with a 360 view over the savannah plains of Kidepo Valley below. Relax in the late afternoon, taking in the scene and preparing for the sunset. Enjoy evening dinner and drinks around the campfire under some of the brightest stars in Africa.

Main Destination:

Kidepo Valley National Park

Accommodation:

Budget camping

• Inside Kidepo Valley NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

The Karamoja and Pian-Upe Wildlife Reserve

Break camp at dawn for an early morning game drive and depart Kidepo, heading south through the remote and magical Karamoja tribal region with volcanoes rising out of the savannah plains and everywhere the villages and ornate bomas of the Karamojong. Short detour to Nakaperumoru to meet the people of the Jie warrior tribe. Lunchstop by Mount Moroto at the Karatunga Foundation, a community enterprise supporting the Karamoja Region.
Continue south to Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve for a late afternoon game drive and a rare opportunity to see roan antelope and ostrich.
Camp at the Karatunga Eco Camp.

Main Destination:

Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve

Best Time To Go November to March (Dry season)

High Season June to September (But it’s never busy)

Best Weather

Accommodation:

Budget camping

• Inside Pian Upe WR

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Mount Elgon and Sipi Falls

Short trek to the ceremonial caves of the Upe tribe. Feel the presence of ancient tribal gatherings, adorned with cave paintings. Depart Pian Upe and transfer to Sipi Falls, ascending the slopes of Mount Elgon, one of the highest volcanoes in Africa and with the largest caldera in the world.
The Sipi River descends Mount Elgon over three spectacular waterfalls. Lunch at the beautiful Lacam Lodge overlooking the Lower Falls. Afternoon visit to the Upper Falls and a short trek to the Middle Falls. Complete the day with a visit to a community coffee processing facility, a fascinating opportunity to learn the key stages of coffee production and understand the potential of this vital product to the local economy.
Spectacular final camp on the edge of the Mount Elgon escarpment overlooking the plains far below and with views to the Lower Falls. Campfire on the edge with the twinkling lights of settlements below merging with the bright stars above.

Main Destination:

Sipi Falls (Highlight)

Accommodation:

Budget camping

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Jinja and the Source of the Nile

Descend Mount Elgon and commence the return leg of the journey. Stop at Jinja for lunch and a short boat trip to visit the source of the Nile.
Depart Jinja for the return transfer to your accommodation either in Kampala around 6.00 pm or Entebbe around 7.00 pm.
Why not add a stayover in Jinja and spend a further day whitewater rafting or more passive pursuits on the Nile or within the famous city of Jinja?

Main Destination:

Jinja (Town)

Accommodation:

No accommodation (End of tour)

Meals & Drinks:

• Breakfast & lunch (Dinner not included)
• Non-alcoholic drinks

• Additional accommodation can be arranged for an extra cost.
• You'll be dropped off at the airport.