Hire a 4×4 car in Uganda for a 12-day self drive safari to visit the country’s top national parks. In the first days of the self drive Uganda, you will visit Murchison falls national park, biodiversity dissected by the Might Nile, arguably the longest river in the world.
Murchison Falls national park offers a game drive where you have a chance of seeing some of the most popular big mammals in Africa’s wilderness. The launch cruise at the Nile is another activity to do in the park.
Kibale national park will be the second tourist destination to explore, where you will have a date with the chimpanzees, your closest relatives in animal classification. During your 12 Days 4×4 Uganda Car Hire Self Drive Safari, you will travel to Queen Elizabeth national park, the most known protected area in Uganda around the world.
This was named after Queen Elizabeth II of The United Kingdom during her visit in 1954. Queen Elizabeth is a tourist destination mainly for game viewing and boat ride experiences.
In the third half of the self drive safari, you will travel to Bwindi Impenetrable National park-best known for being home to almost half of the total population of mountain gorillas in the world. You will engage in the gorilla trekking experience to have a close encounter with these huge endangered apes.
As you will be marking the end of your trip, you will make a stopover at Lake Mburo national park en route to Entebbe. At Lake Mburo, you will enjoy a leisurely game drive and boat ride.
At the end of the self drive safari, you will relax at one of the beaches in Entebbe to shake off the fatigue after a long-haul travel experience.
Detailed Itinerary:
Day1: Car rental Pick up and Travel to North of Uganda
Car rental pickup will be done at either Entebbe airport or your lodge. You will go through the paperwork, inspect the vehicle and make payment and then set off to Northern Uganda where Murchison Falls National Park is located.
You are advised to make stopovers after every 2 hours drive to refresh and stretch your body. When you reach Nakasongola district, Nakitoma area, you will branch off to Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary to see the only rhinos in the wild in Uganda.
After rhino tracking at Zziwa, you will get back on the road up to Masindi. In Masindi Town, you will have lunch at one of the restaurants conducive for travelers. After your meal, you will head to Murchison Falls national park where you will reach in the late afternoon or early evening.
When you enter the park through the Kichumbanyobo gate, you will head to the top of the falls area. The hike at the top of the falls will enable you to have an aerial and up-close view of the Mighty Nile forcing its way through a narrow path to plunge into the Nile basin. The sightings are spectacular and outstanding. This is a great place for photo and video shooting.
After the hike, you will head to your lodge for dinner and a night’s rest.
Travel distance: From Entebbe to Murchison Falls national park is approximately 325km
Travel time: About 6 hours
Day2: Murchison Falls National Park Game Drive and Boat Ride
Early in the morning after breakfast, you drive west of Paraa, Buligi area which is the richest biodiversity expanse in Murchison falls national park. Buligi section is a popular spot for safari game drive and you will have a chance to sight wild mammals like lions, giraffes, elands, buffaloes, elephants, warthog, oribi, leopards, hartebeest, and many more.
To have a higher chance of viewing most of the animals at Buligi, you are advised to hire a park guide. The game drive takes about 3-4 hours henceforth by noon you will have completed it and head back to your lodge for lunch.
After lunch, you will drive to Paraa Dock for a launch trip on the Nile. There are two kinds of boat ride experiences, namely the upstream experience that leads to the front of the falls and the downstream that sails to the Victoria Nile delta.
You will have to choose one but all of them offer the same wildlife species sighting. The marine animals to see on a boat ride include hippopotamuses, Nile crocodiles, waterbucks, and birds like fish eagles, white-thighed hornbills, vultures et cetera.
The boat ride will end in the evening since it takes about 2-3 hours.
At the end of it, you will drive back to your lodge for a supper and night’s stay.
Day3: Travel to Fort Portal
After your morning meal, you will drive out of Murchison falls national park using the Masindi-Bulisa-Paraa route. The route rewards sightings of Lake Albert, rift valley, and Bunyoro escarpment.
You will make a stopover in Hoima town for lunch and then embark on your journey passing through Kagadi to Kyenjojo district where you will connect to Fort Portal town. You will make a city drive around Fort Portal to have a sneak peek of its monumental architecture and then head to your lodge either in Fort Portal or at Kibale Forest national park.
You will have supper and enjoy a night’s rest at the lodge.
Driving distance: From Murchison Falls national park to Fort Portal is about 264km
Travel time: About 6 hours
Day4: Kibale Chimpanzee Tracking Experience
Early in the morning, you will drive to Kanyanchu Visitor Center, Kibale Forest national park for a briefing. After the briefing, you will proceed to the forest to interact with the chimpanzees.
Chimpanzees are one of the most intelligent animals you can ever meet in the wild. Their character is beyond animal behavior imagination. They show compassion to one another and have the ability to use their surrounding nature as tools. Trackers normally spend strictly one hour with the chimpanzees and lead them out of the forest.
After the chimpanzee trekking experience, you will drive back to your lodge for lunch. In the evening, you will either go to Bigodi Sanctuary Wetland or Fort Portal for a city tour. Late in the evening, you will return to your area of abode for dinner and a night’s rest.
Day5: Self Drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Since you will not have so much to do on this day, you will do everything at your leisure. After breakfast at around 10 am, you will check out of the lodge and slope to Kasese where Queen Elizabeth national park is situated.
On your way, you will pass on the foothills of Mt. Rwenzori, one of the most eye-catching phenomena in Uganda. This is a snow-capped mountain and one of a kind in Africa.
You will reach Kasese in the afternoon and have lunch in one of the popular tourist restaurants in the area. You will drive to the park and enter it through the Crater gate to have a crater drive.
The crater drive offers lots of interesting attractions for example the Katwe explosion craters, Lake Katwe Salt pans, and Queen’s Pavilion. You will also see baboons when you make a stopover at the Baboon Cliff.
After the crater drive, you will transcend to your lodge for dinner and a night’s stay.
Travel distance: From Fort Portal to Queen Elizabeth national park is about 78km
Travel Time: About 1 and 1/2 hours.
Day6: Queen Elizabeth National Park Kasenyi Game Drive and Kazinga Launch Cruise
By sunrise, you will be in the short fields of Kasenyi searching for a game. Some of the mammals, you will chance to see include lions, elephants, buffaloes, bush pigs, red river hogs, Uganda kobs, reedbucks, topis, duikers, and a variety of bird species.
The game drive will take 3-4 hours of your time. You are advised to hire a park ranger to guide you around the savannah field as they know most of the breeding spots of the game in the park.
At the end of your safari game drive, you will get back to the lodge for lunch and prepare for the next activity.
The next activity will be Kazinga Launch Cruise which starts at 2 pm from the Mweya dock. The Launch cruise traverses through the 32-kilometer waterway of Kazinga starting from Lake Edward to George and back.
Kazinga is a natural anchorage for numerous aquatic animals like hippos, crocodiles, waterbucks, and birds. The duration of the launch trip is 2-3 hours by 5 pm, you will be back at Mweya dock. You will then drive back to your lodge for dinner and a night’s rest.
Day7: Slope to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Area
After breakfast, you will check out of your lodge and drive out of Queen Elizabeth national park. En route, you will have a stopover at Ishasha sector, a place known for harboring tree-climbing lions.
You will spend some good time here tracking the lions and then will lead out of the park through Katookye gate. You will have lunch in Kihihi, a spot that connects Queen Elizabeth national park to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
You will reach Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in the late afternoon or early evening depending on the sector, you will be trekking the gorillas.
When you reach Bwindi, you will check in at your lodge, take a shower, have supper, prepare for tomorrow and finally go to sleep.
Travel distance: From Queen to Bwindi is approximately 180km
Travel time: 3 hours
Day8: Bwindi Gorilla Tracking Expedition
At dawn, you will be already awake, take a cup of tea, and head to Bwindi Impenetrable national park head offices for a briefing. The briefing is all about the dos and don’ts of gorilla trekking, verification of gorilla permits, and allocation of gorilla groups to trackers.
When all that is done, you walk or drive to the starting point of your gorilla trekking expedition. The gorilla trekking expedition is such a strenuous activity involving long-distance walking on uneven terrain.
You have to be mentally and physically prepared. It will take you about 1-4 hours to find the gorillas in their exact localities. The interaction with the gorillas only takes one hour as per the rules of the trekking experience.
During the interaction, trackers witness gorillas relate with one another, play around, communicate, and feed. Trackers are also allowed to take pictures and videos of the gorillas. Some of the lucky trackers, have themselves captured with the gorillas but at a distance.
After the gorilla interaction, you will move out of the forest to drive to your lodge to clean up, refresh, and feast. If you are not so tired, you will go for a community walk around Bwindi.
Among the tribes around the area, Batwa is the most fascinating to interact with. The Batwa are primitive and traditional. A venture into their world is intriguing and revealing.
When the sun goes down, you will drive back to your lodge for supper and a night’s rest.
Day9: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park
You will drive to Lake Mburo National Park for one last thrilling game-viewing experience as your Uganda Self Drive Trip will be coming to an end.
You will have lunch in Ntugamo or Mbarara city as you head to Kiruhura district where Lake Mburo National Park is found. You will reach the park section in the evening, check-in at your lodge, have dinner, and rest for the night.
Travel distance: From Bwindi to Lake Mburo National Park is almost 340km
Travel time: About 7 hours
Day10: Game Drive and Lake Mburo Boat Ride Experience
Lake Mburo National Park is one of the smallest game parks in Uganda but it has lots of animals to enjoy. On a game drive around the park, you are likely to see animals like zebras, impalas, giraffes, buffaloes, elands, elephants, topis, warthogs, and predators like leopards, jackals, and hyenas.
After the morning game drive, you will drive back to the lodge for lunch and then head to Lake Mburo. Lake Mburo is the masterpiece in the park.
This is a water body that acts as a lifeline for most of the animals in the park. A large population of different animal species gathers around the lake to feed and thrive, especially in the dry season.
During the boat ride, you will expect to spot marine animals such as hippos, crocodiles, and birds like herons, pelicans, fish eagles, and so forth. Warm-blooded mammals such as elephants, buffaloes, zebras, and elands are seen loitering on the shores of the lake.
In the late evening, after the boat ride experience, you will get back to your lodge for supper and a night’s stay.
Day11: Travel to Entebbe and Relax at The Beach
Early in the morning after breakfast, you drive to Entebbe to relax at one of its resorts and also enjoy the seafood it produces. The most recommended resort beaches to visit in Entebbe are Imperial Resort Beach, Spinnah Beach, White Sand Beach, Aero Beach, and Sports Beach.
At one of the resorts, you will enjoy the tropical weather, music, food, and beautiful people the whole afternoon and evening.
When the sun sets, you will drive to your guesthouse for a night’s stay.
Driving distance: From Lake Mburo National Park to Kampala is approximately 230km
Travel time: almost 4hours
Day12: Vehicle Drop Off and Departure
This will be the last day of your Self Drive Uganda. The car rental staff will meet you at the agreed point either Entebbe Airport or the hotel to hand over the vehicle.
End of Safari
Useful Travel Tips
- Hiring a 4×4 vehicle for self drive Uganda is our main priority. Vehicles for hire in our fleet include Toyota Rav4 for a couple on a budget trip, a Land cruiser Prado TX for a standard self drive tour, a safari van for a group trip, Toyota Land cruiser Vx, V8, and GX for Luxury self drive tours.
- Our cost for the car rental includes only the vehicle, camping gear, and rooftop tent if requested. The fuel, park fees, gorilla trekking, and chimp permits are excluded.
- However, we can book and acquire gorilla and chimpanzee permits on your behalf from Uganda Wildlife Authority. We advise booking the permits at the earliest time possible as they are issued on a first come first serve basis.
- There are several campsites found at the different lodges around all the national parks of Uganda. The cost of camping at a certain lodge ranges from 4$-10$ per night.
- Travelers are advised to make stopovers to stretch their bodies and refresh their minds after every two hours of driving especially when they are taking long routes.
- The speed limit is 50km/hr on roads in towns and 80km/hr on highways and in national parks 40km/hr.
- In addition, do not go off track while driving in the national park, and wildlife is given priority in these areas. Once knocked it, you are fined or may even face jail.
- Do not drive at night because it is the peak time for accidents due to reckless driving from public means, the darkness of the roads, and potholes.