Travel around Uganda by a 4×4 Land Cruiser With Rooftop Tent Hire to explore most of its popular game parks on this 14 Days Car Rental with Rooftop Tent Camping Experience.
National parks to visit include Murchison Falls national park, the largest and oldest biodiversity area in Uganda, hosting most of the classic African wild mammals.
It is also famous for having the most powerful waterfall in the world, Murchison Falls. Kibale national park is another wildlife-protected area to explore on this trip which is popularly known as the capital of primates in Africa, but the main activity is chimpanzee trekking.
Amid the Uganda self drive car hire experience, Queen Elizabeth national park is visited for a game drive through the Kasenyi Game drive track and a boat ride at Kazinga channel.
A date with the endangered mountain gorillas at Bwindi Impenetrable national park prevails. After a run of engaging in extensive activities, take a day off at Lake Bunyonyi to enjoy the beauty and tranquillity of the Kigezi highlands.
As you get back to Kampala, you make a stopover at Lake Mburo national park for another game-viewing expedition and boat ride and then proceed to Kampala or Entebbe for vehicle drop-off.
Detailed Itinerary:
Day1: Vehicle Pickup at the Airport and an Excursion Around Entebbe
Upon arrival at Entebbe Airport, our staff will be waiting for you to hand over the rental vehicle. You will exchange pleasantries and then go through the car rental contract, inspect the vehicle, and also be taught how to set up the rooftop tent.
You will drive out of the airport and get to your lodge for check-in and short rest. In the late afternoon, you will go out for a tour in Entebbe town. You will either visit a shopping mall for window shopping or go to the beach for relaxation.
Late in the evening, you will get back to your lodge for a night’s stay.
Day 2: Self Drive to Murchison Falls National Park and Top of the Falls Hike
Early in the morning, you will start your journey to Northern Uganda where Murchison Falls National Park is located. You will use the Entebbe Express Highway- Northern bypass and then connect to Bombo Road by Bwaise Roundabout.
Endeavor to make a stopover after every two hours of driving to recharge your batteries and get going again. The recommended stopover points on this route are Luwero Town and Masindi. Masindi town will be the most likely place to have your lunch based on the travel time.
After lunch, you will proceed to Murchison Falls National Park where you will enter the park through the Kichumbanyobo gate. Drive to the top of the falls area to hike to the viewpoint of Murchison Falls.
At this cliff, you will witness River Nile, arguably the longest river in the world force its way through a narrow gorge to plunge into the basin producing a deafening sound. It is such an interesting phenomenon to sight.
Pictures and videos taken around the places are outstanding and amazingly beautiful.
At the end of the hike, you will drive to your designated campsite. Most of the budget and Mid-range lodges in Murchison Falls national park have campsites for example; Red Chilli Rest Camp, Sambiya River Lodge, Fort Murchison Lodge, Pakuba Safari Lodge, and many more. You can opt to cook your dinner or eat at the lodge around the campsite.
Travel distance: From Entebbe to Murchison Falls national park is approximately 325km
Travel time: About 6 hours
Day 3: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat ride
Early in the morning, you will go for a game-viewing expedition around the park. The most prominent places are Buligi and Nyamsika. These are the highest breeding areas of wild mammals in the park.
On a game drive, you will chance to see animals like lions, giraffes, elephants, buffaloes, elands, warthogs, spotted hyenas, hartebeest, and a plethora of birds.
At around midday, you will go for lunch at any lodge around the park with great and affordable food and drinks. After lunch, you will drive to Paraa dock to catch up on the boat ride.
Two boat ride experiences are conducted at River Nile, that is the; upstream boat ride leading to the basin contagious to Murchison Falls and the downstream boat ride experience which sails to the Victoria Nile Delta.
You will choose one of the two. While floating on the waters of The Mighty Nile, you will encounter aquatic animals like hippos, Nile crocodiles, waterbucks, and countless water birds.
Land mammals like elephants and buffaloes are seen drinking water on the banks of the river. The boat ride takes about 2-3 hours and henceforth, you will complete the experience at around 5 pm.
You will then go for dinner at the lodge around your campsite or cook for yourself and set up the rooftop tent at the vehicle for a night’s rest.
Day 4: Drive to Fort Portal and Kibale Forest Region
After the morning meal, you lead out of Murchison falls national park through Bugungu Gate and join the Masindi-Bulisa-Paraa road to slope to the Bunyororo escapement area.
As you traverse through the area, you will be rewarded with sights of Lake Albert and the great western rift valley. You will reach Hoima town around midday where you may opt to have lunch or proceed and wait till you will reach Fort Portal city in the late afternoon or early evening.
Fort Portal is a relatively modernized place with lots of good restaurants and hangout places for tourists to dine and refresh after a long travel journey.
In the late evening, you will drive to your hotel in Fort Portal in case you booked one in the area or drive to the Kibale forest area at a campsite of any lodge that has one for a night stay in your rooftop tent.
Driving distance: From Murchison Falls national park to Kibale is about 264km
Travel time: About 6 hours
Day 5: Kibale Chimpanzee Trekking Experience and Bigodi Tour
At dawn, you will drive to the Kanyanchu visitor center, Kibale Forest National Park to take part in the chimpanzee trekking briefing session.
After the briefing, you dive into the tropical rainforest of Kibale to search for the chimpanzees, our close relatives in the animal kingdom. It will take like an hour to reach the actual abodes of these small shrewd apes.
You will have so much fun with the chimpanzees because of their playful and ingenious nature. You are advised to carry a good camera and binoculars to capture every moment and also enjoy the sights of the chimpanzees and other natural wonders. At an hour mark, your interaction with the chimpanzees will end, and move out of the forest.
We recommend having lunch at one of the nearby lodges around the park so that you can easily go to Bigodi wetland sanctuary for a visit.
In the late afternoon, you will go to Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary for a tour. This is a natural habitat with over 100 species of birds but the most sought-after bird in the area is the great blue turaco.
It also has several species of primates that migrate from Kibale Forest for example red-tailed monkeys, colobuses, blue monkeys et cetera.
After a tour around the wetland, you will walk to the local communities to interact with people by greeting them, visiting social centers like hospitals, schools, and markets, meeting and chatting with elders, and buying curios at craft shops. The village walk can be concluded by an entertainment performance from the traditional group.
In the late evening, you will drive to the lodge where your campsite is situated, have dinner, set up the rooftop tent and enjoy the night’s rest.
Day 6: Travel to Queen Elizabeth National Park and Afternoon Game Drive
Since Kibale forest national park is not far away from Queen Elizabeth national park, you will start your journey in mid-morning. You will reach Kasese Town in the afternoon where you will have lunch to enjoy Uganda’s organic food.
In the late afternoon, you will enter Queen Elizabeth national park however as you reach the park entrance (crater), you may have a stopover at the Equator point for photography and then proceed.
While in the park, you will explore the explosion craters. These are eye-catching lakes formed as a result of the volcanic eruption in the area thousand years ago. You will also visit Lake Katwe where salt mining is done.
In the evening, you will drive to your campsite most preferably the Mweya campsite, have dinner and rest for the night.
Travel distance: From Fort Portal to Queen Elizabeth national park is about 78km
Travel Time: About 1 and a half hours.
Day 7: Queen Elizabeth Kasenyi Game Drive and Kazinga Boat Ride Experience
On this day, you will wake up to the sounds and chirps of animals and birds respectively in the jungles of Queen Elizabeth National Park, the medley of wonders. You will have your breakfast and head to Kasenyi Plains for a game-viewing excursion.
The open savannah plains are popular habitats for animals such as lions, topi, Uganda kobs, buffaloes, duikers, leopards, warthogs, elephants, and numerous bird species.
If you still have energy and ample time, you may visit the North Kazinga plains to enjoy the game it offers. To fully explore the game drive tracks and also have a chance to see most of the animals in the plains, you will have to spend about 4 hours on the expedition.
The game drive will end at around noon and you will go for lunch and also have some bit of relaxation at a restaurant of any lodge of your choice. The safari lodges in Queen Elizabeth have modern restaurants with nice food and beverages and conducive environments to refresh and relax after a strenuous game drive excursion.
After your lunch, the next activity will be the boat ride experience at the Kazinga channel, a famous 32-kilometer waterway that connects Lake Edward and Lake George.
The boat ride normally starts at 2 pm from Mweya dock on the side of Lake Edward and sails up to Lake George and back. It takes about 2 hours and you will have a great time enjoying the sea breeze and encountering different maritime species such as crocodiles, hippopotamuses, waterbucks, and birds like flamingos, Pel’s fishing owl, fish eagle, African finfoot, pelicans, and many more.
In the late evening, you will have dinner and then station your rooftop tent at the campsite for a night’s rest.
Day 8: Travel to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Region
In the early hours of the day, you will set off to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest area through Katookye Gate. On your way out of Queen Elizabeth national park, you will make a stopover at the Ishasaha sector, a renowned habitat for tree-climbing lions.
You will sight lions nestled and resting on the fig trees after a long hunt of prey. You will then proceed to Kihihi town for lunch and head to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Bwindi is a very large conservation area divided into four sections, namely Buhoma, Nkuringo, Ruhija, and Rushaga therefore you will drive to the sector where you will be tracking the gorillas.
In the evening, you will have your supper and head to the campsite to lodge your rooftop tent for a night’s rest.
Travel distance: From Queen to Bwindi is approximately 180km
Travel time: 3 hours
Day 9: Bwindi Gorilla Trekking Experience and Community Tour
You will wake up at dawn, have a cup of tea, and head to the park headquarters for a briefing about the dos and don’ts of the gorilla trekking experience.
You will then be allocated to a group of six people and head to the starting point where you plunge into the impenetrable forests of Bwindi. It will take you 1-6 hours of trekking to find the gorillas depending on the location of the habitat of the gorilla family.
Whilst with the gorillas, you will observe them communicate among themselves and watch them feed and play. The icing on the cake is the photo and video shooting session. After one hour of interacting with the gorillas, you will walk out of the forest to end your gorilla-tracking experience.
You will have lunch in the afternoon and relax at the lounge of the lodge where your campsite is found. In the early evening, you will visit the villages of people around Bwindi. There are three races of people in the area, namely Batwa, Bakiga, and Bafumbira.
You will visit their marketplaces, herb centers, local bars, and community schools. The entertainment from the traditional performance group will close the village tour.
Late in the evening, you will drive to the lodge where your campsite is situated for dinner and a night’s stay in your rooftop tent.
Day10: Travel to Bunyonyi
In mid-morning, you will travel to the Lake Bunyonyi area still in Kigezi highland. Lake Bunyonyi is such a beautiful and nonchalant place for refreshing, relaxing, having a good time with your lover, and enjoying the green breathtaking landscapes.
You will reach the lake area in the afternoon and have lunch in Bufuka town, the main town of Bunyonyi. You will visit the lakeside to laze in the sun and also enjoy the sea bliss as you take a cold or warm beer at any beach bar around.
In the evening, you will drive to the campsite for supper and have a night’s rest.
Travel distance: From Bwindi to Lake Bunyonyi is about 70km
Travel time: About 2 hours
Day 11: Lake Bunyonyi Boat Ride and Relaxation
After your breakfast, you will embark on a boat ride experience to explore some of the 29 Virgin Islands of Bunyonyi. The most popular islands to visit are (Akampene, Bwama, and Njuyeera).
Akampene is historically known as the punishment island where Bakiga used to desert girls who got pregnant before marriage. The Bwama and Njuyeera are known as Sharp’s Island.
Leopard Sharp, an Englishman set up different developments on the two islands for instance at Bwana, he set up a leprosy treatment center, and at Njuyeera his residential home is now a lodge known as the White Cottage.
A visit to the three islands offers an in-depth history of Lake Bunyoro. You will also encounter different bird species on the islands and waters of the lake.
By afternoon, you will be back from your boat tour and will have lunch at any resort or restaurant of your choice. In the late afternoon, you will head to the beach to soak in the sun and swim.
Or you may opt to visit the nearby communities and homesteads to interact with the people and get to know about their culture and traditions.
Late in the evening, you will get back to your campsite for dinner and a night’s stay.
Day 12: Drive to Lake Mburo National Park
In the morning, you drive out of the Kigezi Highland region towards the west-central part of Uganda where Lake Mburo national Park.
En route, you will make a stopover in Mbarara city for lunch and then proceed to Kiruhura district where Lake Mburo National Park is found. You will pass through the park to access your campsite. A few animals will be randomly encountered on your way to the campsite.
Late in the evening, you will have your meal and set up your rooftop tent for a night’s stay in the jungles of Mburo.
Travel distance: From Lake Bunyonyi to Lake Mburo National Park is almost 270km
Travel time: About 5 hours
Day 13: Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Lake Mburo Boat Cruise
In the morning, you will go for a game-viewing excursion within the open grasslands of Mburo. Lake Mburo National Park is a small protected area that is so much easy to explore and see most of its mammals like elands, zebras, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, and numerous birds.
Around noon, you will finish your game drive and go for lunch at any restaurant of any safari lodge around the park.
At 2 pm in the afternoon, you must be at Lake Mburo to start your launch trip. Lake Mburo is such a lifeline for numerous animals and birds in the park including hippos, crocodiles, waterbucks, and birds like kingfishers, jacana, pelicans, African fish eagles et cetera.
Warm-blooded animals like elephants and buffaloes are spotted quenching off their thirst on the margins of the lake. The boat ride will end at around 5 pm and you will drive to your campsite for dinner and a night’s rest.
Day 14: Travel to Entebbe for Vehicle Drop off and Fly out.
Early in the morning, you will drive out of Lake Mburo National Park to access the Mbarara-Masaka- Kampala highway which will lead you to Kampala city or Entebbe.
You will reach Kampala or Entebbe in the early evening to drop off the vehicle at either the airport or Hotel.
Driving distance: From Lake Mburo National Park to Kampala is approximately 230km
Travel time: almost 4hours
End of trip.
Useful Travel Tip For 4×4 Self Drive Car Rental with Rooftop Tent Camping Safari
Renting a 4×4 vehicle with a rooftop tent is our main priority. The vehicles that come with the rooftop tent camping are the Toyota Landcruiser prado Tx, land cruiser V8 and GX, and Landcruiser hardtop. A maximum of two tents can be lodged at the roof of the vehicle.
Our cost for the car hire with rooftop tent only includes vehicle, rooftop tent, and camping gear. 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 out 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 parks, and wildlife is given first priority in these areas. Once you knock any animal, 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 the potholes