Uganda Safari Information
Safari Activities
There are a variety of safaris activities to undertake while on safari in Uganda. Top activities including
- Game drives are a good way to explore the parks and giving a chance to see wildlife in the wild. Game drives are best early in the morning, evening and at night. Game drives are conducted strictly in the vehicle with an armed park ranger for safety reasons. Chances of seeing wildlife especially the cats is based on luck and timing, since they are in the wild seeing them is not a guarantee but there are high chances. Game drives are a must do activity in Murchison National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Semliki , Kidepo Valley & Lake Mburo National Parks.
- Boat cruises/ Launch trips; These avail visitors with the opportunity to see wildlife quite up close. Launch trips are a must do activity on Kazinga channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Nile River in Murchison Falls National Park, and on Lake mburo in Lake Mburo National Park. To lookout for are hippos, buffaloes, elephants, crocodiles, and many more.
- Hiking/ Nature walks; these are on foot activities offered in most of the national parks and are perfect addons to the major activities while in the individual parks; Bwindi has a number of nature trails in Buhoma, including forest walks, waterfall walks, primate encounters;
Queen Elizabeth is the Maramagambo forest walk; hike to the Mweya Peninsula for scenic viewing, and the ishasha river nature walk scenic views.
In Mt Elgon Nature walks include; the Sipi Falls, the Walls of Death and the African sunrise across the Karamoja plains. In Murchison Falls National Park are nature trails through Kaniyo Pabidi and Rabongo Forests for primate watching and birds, swamp walks at the Nile Delta perfect for Shoebill sighting.
Lake Mburo National Park is one of the places where game viewing is done foot guided by a ranger, besides are other nature trails at the salt lick in Rwonyo, Rubanga Forest.
- Sporting Fishing done on river nile in murchison falls national park and lake mburo national park. Both fishing spots have a number of fish species Nile perch and tilapia being the commonly caught.
Special Needs
We take into consideration the persons with special needs or persons with disabilities. As we plan safaris, we carefully select activities, accommodation facilities that are comfortable for the special needs persons. For the visitors on wheelchairs we arrange for wheelchair services on activities that involve tracking like mountain gorilla tracking and chimpanzee tracking, there are special porters that help to carry the special needs person to and from the point of tracking on a specialized local portable chair.
For the persons with an impaired speech, we arrange for sign language instructors. Whatever the special needs, consult with us we will make it happen.
Accommodation
Most safari destinations have well organised safari lodges, Permanent tents and camping facilities with running water. The accommodation ranges from luxury, mid range and budget. As we plan your safari, we advise on the best options that fit well with your interests and budget.
Fly or Drive Safaris
We organize both flying safaris and driving safaris, these entirely depend on the interest of our visitors and the time at hand. With flying safaris you can cover a lot in quite a short span of time. There are scheduled flights to all national parks in Uganda, the flights begin and end at Entebbe airport.
Driving safaris are quite adventurous and give you an opportunity to explore the countryside, there is more to see when on a diving safari. Our driving safaris are done in 4x 4 safari vehicles with an experienced driver/guide. Some drives may be a bit longer but worth in every sense.
Combined Safaris across the region
Wondering is its possible to have one round safari across the east african region i.e Uganda, to Rwanda, kenya, Tanzania, Dr Congo or Burundi, it is surely possible, we arrange such safaris either by road or connecting by air, this entirely depends on the time you have and of course you interests.
Traveling with Children on safari.
When planning a safari with children, we give you advise on the best places and activities to do that accommodate and are safe for the children. Different age ranges determine what activities they be able to participate in, below is a sample of the activities and their age requirements.
- Activities restrictive on age: Gorilla tracking and gorilla habituation experience require a minimum of 15 years, slightly lesser age can be accepted only on special occasions.
Chimpanzee tracking, golden monkey tracking all these require a minimum age of 12 years.
Mountain climbing 10 years depending on the difficulty.
White water rafting from the age of 14 years old
Rhino tracking at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary from 6 years - Children Friendly Activities
Game viewing: This is a children friendly activity and enjoyable to children of all ages. Game viewing takes place in the following parks in Uganda; Murchison Falls National Park, Queen Elizabeth National park, Lake Mburo national park and Kidepo national park. It’s important to note that these are wild places with wild animals thus having children onboard means extra caution. We advise that Children be under the strictest supervision of the parents, to avoid incidents.
Boat cruises; Boat cruises are as well children friendly and quite interesting adventure again the main point is to be very strict with the children, children remain children. - Day activities Versus Night Activities: When with the children, night activities are not appropriate such as night game drives, night nature walks, we keep strictly to day activities.
- Accommodation; The best accommodation for the children especially younger is in the lodges other than camping. Camping is advisable to children advanced in age. Most accommodation facilities make provisions for the children as below as 1 year, some offer baby cots in the same room as parent, others offer family rooms with attached doors. Depending on your needs we advise accordingly.
- A Hand in Babysitting: This is done on special arrangement, we can offer special services to visitors that are in most need of them, especially those with very young children. You may need this service if you have more than one child and are probably travelling alone as an adult, you may need this service if you will participate in an activity that has age restrictions like gorilla tracking, chimp tracking and others. Whatever the case we avail you with an English speaking babysitter for a specified period and at a special cost depending on individual needs.
Meet the Local people.
Traveling to a particular safari destination to explore the wilderness and get upclose with animals and nature is not all that there is. When you go on safari with us, we make sure that you get to meet and interact with the local people, meeting the people is a very good addition to your safari experience. Community walks and cultural expriences are the best way of getting to learn of the way of life, the cultural practices, traditions of the local people and this gives you a chance to learn just diverse the people are.
There are more established cultural experiences that give you a comprehensive experience like the Batwa trail in Mgahinga.