7-Day Lakes, Savannah and Gorillas Safari

We pick you up in the morning from your hotel in Entebbe or Kampala, or from the airport, and drive south-west on the Masaka road. At Mpambire, families have made traditional drums for generations; stop to watch the makers stretch the skins and try a drum yourself. Then a photo stop at the Equator and lunch on the way. The drive takes about 5 to 6 hours from Entebbe with stops. In the late afternoon, take a boat trip on Lake Mburo, close to hippos and water birds such as the African finfoot. Dinner under a wide sky.

Overnight: lodge in or near Lake Mburo. Meals: lunch, dinner.

Start early with a guided walk with an armed UWA ranger among zebras, impala and eland, a rare chance to see a savannah park on foot. Then visit the Rurambira Community Conservancy (RCC), just east of the park, formed in 2013 by local landowners whose cattle share the land with zebras, impala and other wildlife. Community guides show you how families keep the famous long-horned Ankole cattle alongside the wildlife and answer your questions. After an early lunch, drive west through Mbarara and the green hills of Bushenyi to Queen Elizabeth National Park, about 4 hours. Settle in and watch the evening light over the savannah.

Overnight: lodge in or near Queen Elizabeth. Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Leave at sunrise for a game drive on the northern plains, the best time for Uganda kob, buffaloes, elephants and, with luck, lions or leopards. Later in the morning, visit Lake Katwe, a crater lake where salt has been harvested by hand for generations, on a tour run with the Katwe community. After lunch, take a boat trip of about two hours on the Kazinga Channel between Lake George and Lake Edward. Hippos crowd the water, elephants and buffaloes come down to drink, and pelicans, kingfishers and fish eagles are everywhere.

Overnight: lodge in or near Queen Elizabeth. Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

After breakfast, drive south through the park to the Ishasha sector. Here lions sometimes rest high in fig trees; they are seen on some days and missed on others, but the drive among topi, buffaloes and Uganda kob is lovely either way. Continue to Buhoma on the northern edge of Bwindi, about 5 to 6 hours in total with the game drive. In the late afternoon, visit Ride 4 a Woman, a Buhoma group started by local women in 2009, which runs sewing and craft workshops.

Overnight: lodge near Bwindi (Buhoma). Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

After an early breakfast, walk or drive to the UWA park office for the briefing. You set off with rangers and trackers into the forest. The walk to your gorilla family can take 1 hour or more than 6, on steep, muddy slopes. When you find them, you stay one hour, at least 10 metres away, watching young gorillas play, mothers feed and a silverback rest nearby. At the start you can hire a porter from the local villages to carry your bag and help you on steep parts, a fair day's pay for village families. The afternoon is for rest and a hot shower.

Overnight: lodge near Bwindi (Buhoma). Meals: breakfast, packed lunch, dinner.

After a slow breakfast, drive south along the edge of the forest and through the terraced hills of Kigezi to Lake Bunyonyi, about 4 to 5 hours. You arrive in time for a late lunch by the water. In the afternoon, paddle a wooden dugout canoe between the islands with a local guide, or simply rest and look at the view. A local craft group, including Batwa-run groups, shows and sells their baskets and other work; what you pay goes straight to the makers. This is the rest stop of the trip: no early start tomorrow unless you want one.

Overnight: lodge at Lake Bunyonyi. Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Enjoy the morning mist on the lake, perhaps with a short paddle or walk before breakfast. Then start the drive back, about 7 to 8 hours to Kampala and about 1 hour more to Entebbe, with a lunch stop near Mbarara. You cross the Equator once more and reach Kampala or Entebbe in the evening. We drop you at your hotel, or at Entebbe airport for a late-night flight. Please share your flight time with us before booking, so we can plan the right departure time.

Meals: breakfast, lunch.