Uganda · 7 Days / 6 Nights · Scheduled Group Departure
7-Day Uganda Gorillas & Wildlife Safari
Entebbe · Mabamba Wetland · Bwindi Impenetrable National Park · Ishasha · Queen Elizabeth National Park
From the Water to the Rainforest to the Plains.
Begin on the shores of Lake Victoria, searching the papyrus channels of Mabamba for the extraordinary shoebill. Fly southwest over a landscape that grows steadily wilder, and walk into one of the world’s great rainforests to stand quietly before a mountain gorilla.
Then trade the forest for open savannah — the Ishasha sector and its famous tree-climbing lions, the Kasenyi plains at first light, and the wildlife-filled waters of the Kazinga Channel.
With your Queen of East Africa team coordinating your permit, domestic flights, lodges, transfers and guiding, seven days gives you the whole arc of Uganda — wetland, rainforest and plains — without ever feeling rushed through it.
Your Journey
Seven days. Wetland, rainforest and savannah.
A morning in the papyrus channels west of Entebbe. A flight over the hills to the southwest. A road that ends where the rainforest begins — and then a second road, north, into the open.
- 01 Entebbe Arrival & welcome
- 02 Mabamba · Bwindi Shoebill tracking, then fly southwest
- 03 Bwindi Gorilla trekking
- 04 Ishasha · Queen Elizabeth Rainforest to savannah
- 05 Queen Elizabeth Game drive & the Kazinga Channel
- 06 Entebbe Fly back, then farewell
- 07 Entebbe Departure
- Road Entebbe → Mabamba → Entebbe
- Flight · Day 02 Entebbe → Kihihi
- Road Kihihi → Buhoma, Bwindi
- Road · Day 04 Buhoma → Ishasha → Queen Elizabeth
- Return Flight · Day 06 Queen Elizabeth → Entebbe
At a Glance
- Duration 7 Days / 6 Nights
- Start / End Entebbe, Uganda
- Travel Style Scheduled Group Departure
Departure Dates
Places Visited Entebbe · Mabamba Wetland · Bwindi Impenetrable National Park · Ishasha · Queen Elizabeth National Park
Travelling as a Group
Travel on one of our scheduled departure dates with a small group of fellow travelers, accompanied by a dedicated Queen of East Africa Safari Manager and professional Safari Guide. From arrival to departure, our team coordinates and supports your journey.
Highlights
- Mountain Gorilla Trekking
- Mabamba Shoebill Tracking
- Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
- Ishasha Tree-Climbing Lions
- Kasenyi Plains Game Drive
- Kazinga Channel Boat Safari
01 Arrive in Uganda
Welcome to the Pearl of Africa.
Arrive at Entebbe International Airport, where your Queen of East Africa safari guide, together with your Safari Manager as scheduled, will meet you and transfer you to your boutique accommodation in Entebbe.
There is no rush today. Settle into Uganda’s rhythm.
Your Uganda story begins on the shores of Lake Victoria, journeys through the rainforest and across the savannah, before returning to Entebbe.
Depending on your arrival time, join us for the Queen Welcome Dinner — a warm introduction to Uganda and the journey ahead.
Where You Stay in Entebbe
Your First and Last Nights in Uganda
Your first and last nights are planned at Hotel No.5 or similar. The two properties that follow are the alternatives we turn to, and every property shown is subject to availability.
/
Hotel No.5
Entebbe
An intimate boutique hotel in Entebbe with stylish interiors, personalized service and a quiet setting — the first evening of your journey, and the last.
/
Protea Hotel by Marriott Entebbe
Entebbe · Lake Victoria
A comfortable lakefront hotel close to Entebbe International Airport, particularly convenient after an international arrival or before an early domestic flight.
/
Latitude 0°
Kampala
A contemporary, design-led hotel in Kampala with distinctive interiors, excellent dining and elevated spaces for travelers who prefer a stylish city stay.
All named properties are preferred and confirmed subject to availability.
02 Mabamba Wetland · Bwindi
Shoebill in the Morning. Bwindi by Evening.
Before the forest comes the water. Begin among the papyrus channels of Mabamba, and end the day at the edge of one of Africa’s great rainforests.
After breakfast, set out across Lake Victoria toward Mabamba Wetland, one of Uganda’s celebrated places to search for the remarkable shoebill.
With your local wetland guide, move quietly through the papyrus by traditional canoe, watching the channels open into hidden waterways alive with birdlife. Then comes the moment everyone waits for: the unmistakable silhouette of one of Africa’s most extraordinary birds.
Mabamba Wetland · Lake Victoria
After your morning on the wetland, return toward Entebbe for your scheduled domestic flight to southwestern Uganda, watching the country unfold beneath you — lakes, villages, cultivated hills and increasingly dramatic highlands.
We coordinate your Mabamba experience around your confirmed flight time, keeping the morning unhurried while making the most of the day.
Flying turns a long road journey into more time where it matters — in Bwindi.
On arrival, your Queen of East Africa safari guide will meet you for the drive into the emerald landscape surrounding Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Settle into your lodge at the forest’s edge. The rest of the day is intentionally easy — time to take in the surroundings, enjoy dinner and prepare for tomorrow.
Tonight, the forest is close. Tomorrow, you walk into it.
Where You’ll Stay in Bwindi
In the Forest. Two Nights.
Your two nights in Bwindi are planned at Mahogany Springs or similar, in Buhoma — one of Bwindi’s most established safari areas and an excellent base for a gorilla trekking journey.
/
Mahogany Springs
Buhoma · Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
A warm, generously proportioned lodge beside the river at the forest’s edge in Buhoma, known for spacious suites, open views over the valley and genuinely personal hospitality.
Confirmed subject to availability.
Explore Bwindi →03 Gorilla Trekking · Bwindi
One Hour You Will Never Stop Describing.
This is the morning you came to Uganda for.
Wake early in Bwindi and enjoy breakfast before your safari guide takes you to the gorilla trekking briefing point.
Here you’ll meet the Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers, receive your briefing and join your trekking group before entering a UNESCO World Heritage rainforest shaped by millions of years of life.
The trek itself is part of the experience. Trails disappear beneath towering trees, sunlight filters through layers of green, and your guides read signs in the forest that most of us would never notice.
Mountain gorillas move freely through the forest, so reaching your assigned family may involve anything from a relatively manageable walk to several hours of trekking. If you have mobility, fitness or other considerations, tell us during the planning process so we can take them into account.
Once your group reaches the habituated family, you’ll normally have up to one hour with them, subject to Uganda Wildlife Authority regulations. Watch a silverback command the forest without a sound. See mothers cradle their young, juveniles climb and investigate, and hands and glances that feel startlingly familiar.
Afterward, return to your lodge for lunch and time to let the magnitude of the morning settle in.
After the Trek
Your Afternoon, Your Way.
We deliberately leave the rest of the day flexible.
Gorilla trekking can be physically demanding, and you may simply want to return to your lodge, enjoy the forest and rest.
If you would like to experience more of Buhoma, we can arrange an appropriate activity depending on your interests, energy level and timing.
- Batwa cultural experience
- Community experience
- Guided village walk
- Nature walk
- Rest at the lodge
There are wildlife encounters you photograph, and encounters you carry home. This is the latter.
Enjoy dinner and your second night beside Bwindi’s forest.
04 Bwindi · Ishasha · Queen Elizabeth
From Rainforest to Savannah.
Today Uganda changes in front of you.
After breakfast, leave Bwindi’s mist-covered mountains and travel north through the Ishasha sector, where dense forest gradually gives way to the vast landscapes of Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Keep watch as you travel. Elephants, buffalo, antelope and other wildlife can appear along the way, and Ishasha is renowned for its tree-climbing lions, often found resting in the branches of the fig trees through the heat of the day.
Ishasha Sector · Queen Elizabeth National Park
After the intimacy of Bwindi, the horizon suddenly feels enormous.
By afternoon, arrive at your lodge, set above the wilderness with sweeping views across one of Uganda’s most celebrated national parks.
Settle onto your private veranda, listen to the sounds of the bush and watch the African light disappear across the plains.
Where You’ll Stay in Queen Elizabeth
Above the Plains. Two Nights.
/
Elephant Plains Lodge
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Set high above the wilderness with long views across the park, this is a lodge built around its horizon: spacious cottages, private verandas and evenings spent watching the light go out over the plains.
Elephant Plains Lodge or similar is the preferred property for these two nights, confirmed subject to availability. Alternative lodges in and around the park may be used.
05 Queen Elizabeth National Park
Where the Savannah Meets the Water.
A morning on the Kasenyi plains, and an afternoon on the channel that joins two lakes.
Rise early as the park wakes and explore the Kasenyi Plains on a morning game drive, searching for lions, elephants, buffalo, Uganda kob and the extraordinary variety of wildlife that inhabits this diverse ecosystem.
Your safari guide reads the plains as the light comes up — the herds moving out to graze, the kob gathering on their breeding grounds, and the lions that follow them.
Some mornings the plains stay quiet. Some mornings they do not.
Then, in the afternoon, experience the park from an entirely different perspective. Board a boat for a safari along the Kazinga Channel, the natural waterway connecting Lakes George and Edward.
Kazinga Channel · Queen Elizabeth National Park
Here, you don’t simply search for wildlife. The wildlife comes to the water around you.
Hippos crowd the shallows. Elephants come down to drink. Buffalo rest at the water’s edge, crocodiles disappear beneath the surface, and extraordinary birdlife fills the banks and the sky above them.
Return to the lodge as evening settles over the park, bringing one of the journey’s great safari days to a close.
06 Queen Elizabeth · Entebbe
One Last Look at the Wild.
Wake to your final morning in the Ugandan wilderness before transferring to the airstrip for your scheduled flight to Entebbe. From above, take in one last view of the landscapes that have carried you from wetland to rainforest and savannah.
On arrival in Entebbe, transfer to your accommodation. This evening, gather for the Queen Farewell Dinner — a final celebration of the journey shared across Uganda.
Seven days ago, Uganda was a destination on a map. Tonight, it is a collection of faces, landscapes and moments you know personally.
07 Entebbe · Departure
Until Uganda Calls You Back.
Enjoy a relaxed breakfast and a final morning in Entebbe before your transfer to Entebbe International Airport for your onward journey.
Where your flight schedule allows, we’ll keep the morning unhurried. For an early international departure we’ll adapt around it rather than compromise your arrangements, and if your flight leaves the following day, an additional night in Entebbe can be arranged.
You leave with photographs, certainly. But Uganda has a way of sending you home with something harder to explain.
The stillness of a forest before a silverback appeared. The strange silhouette of a shoebill rising above the papyrus. Elephants beside the Kazinga Channel, and the feeling of standing in places where the wild still sets the rhythm of the day.
End of Safari
Around Your Departure
The Dates Are Set. The Edges Are Yours.
The route, the lodges and the dates are the same for everyone on the departure. What sits either side of them is still yours to arrange.
Arrive Early
An extra night in Entebbe or Kampala before the group comes together, so you land, sleep and begin the journey rested.
A Room of Your Own
Rates are quoted per person sharing. A single room can be held on any departure for a supplement.
Stay On
Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale, the Nile at Murchison Falls or quiet days on Lake Bunyonyi, added to the end of the journey once the group departure closes.
Your Safari Designer handles your arrival and departure timings, room arrangements and anything you would like to add before or after the departure.
If none of the dates suit you, this same journey can also run privately, on dates of your choosing.
Inquire About This Journey →What’s Included
Already Arranged.
- Professional Queen of East Africa safari guide throughout
- Dedicated safari vehicle for the group for ground transfers, game drives and touring
- Personal airport welcome
- Safari Manager welcome as scheduled
- Airport and ground transfers as specified
- Six nights’ accommodation as confirmed
- Meals as specified
- Queen Welcome Dinner according to arrival schedule
- Scheduled domestic flights as specified
- Gorilla trekking permit
- Mabamba shoebill tracking experience
- Game drives in Queen Elizabeth National Park as specified
- Kazinga Channel boat safari
- Applicable park and included activity fees
- AMREF Flying Doctors emergency evacuation coverage during your safari
- Queen of East Africa on-ground support
- Queen Farewell Dinner according to departure schedule
Emergency Evacuation Support
Added Support While You Travel.
AMREF Flying Doctors emergency evacuation coverage is included during your safari, subject to the applicable terms, conditions and service area.
It provides emergency medical evacuation support where applicable should a qualifying medical emergency arise during your journey.
AMREF Flying Doctors coverage is not a substitute for comprehensive travel or medical insurance. We strongly recommend appropriate travel insurance for your trip, including medical treatment, trip cancellation or interruption, baggage and other relevant protection.
Not Included
- International flights
- Uganda visa or entry costs where applicable
- Travel and medical insurance
- Gratuities
- Personal purchases and expenses
- Optional activities not included in your confirmed itinerary
- Additional accommodation required because of international flight schedules unless included in your proposal
- Anything not specifically stated as included
Why Seven Days
Seven Days. The Whole Arc of Uganda.
Four days can take you to the gorillas. Seven days lets Uganda change around you.
You see the country in three registers — water, forest and plains — and two nights in each of the two parks means you are never packing up the morning after you arrive.
Scheduled domestic flights carry the long distances, so the days are spent in the landscapes rather than driving between them.
In seven days, you can:
- Track the remarkable shoebill at Mabamba Wetland.
- Spend two nights at the edge of Bwindi’s rainforest.
- Spend an hour with a mountain gorilla family.
- Cross the Ishasha sector as the forest becomes savannah.
- Drive the Kasenyi plains and cruise the Kazinga Channel.
Have more time? We can extend your journey with chimpanzee trekking in Kibale, the Nile at Murchison Falls and more of Uganda — designing the route around the experiences that matter most to you.
Ready for Uganda?
Your Place on the Departure.
You came for the gorillas. You leave remembering Uganda.
Choose the departure that works for you and reserve your place.
Your Uganda journey is thoughtfully arranged — from your gorilla permit and handpicked lodges to domestic flights, expert guiding, transfers and the details in between.