Plan your Uganda safari with local experts. Gorilla trekking, wildlife safaris, and tailor-made tours designed around your time, budget, and travel style.
Trek Safaris Uganda is a trusted local tour operator creating tailor-made travel experiences across Uganda’s most remarkable landscapes. From the misty forests of Bwindi to the vast savannahs of Queen Elizabeth National Park, we design journeys that connect you with wildlife, culture, and nature in a meaningful way.
Our team specializes in personalised safaris, including gorilla trekking, chimpanzee encounters, wildlife game drives, and adventure experiences across the country. Every itinerary is crafted with local expertise, professional guidance, and attention to detail to ensure a seamless and memorable journey.
Whether you are planning your first visit or returning to explore deeper, Trek Safaris Uganda offers authentic, well-organised experiences designed around your interests.
Pairing gorilla trekking in Bwindi with chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest creates the most complete primate safari in Africa. Both are in Uganda, reachable on a single circuit without crossing borders. Trek Safaris Uganda designs combined itineraries from 5 days, connecting the two parks with game drives through Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Bwindi is the most biodiverse forest in East Africa and home to over half of the world’s mountain gorillas. Treks depart from four sectors: Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo. Difficulty ranges from moderate to strenuous depending on your family allocation. Permits are limited to eight visitors per gorilla family per day.
Bwindi is the most biodiverse forest in East Africa and home to over half of the world’s mountain gorillas. Treks depart from four sectors: Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo. Difficulty ranges from moderate to strenuous depending on your family allocation. Permits are limited to eight visitors per gorilla family per day.
Chimpanzee trekking is one of the most exciting wildlife encounters in Uganda, offering a chance to observe these intelligent primates in their natural forest habitat. Guided by experienced trackers, you follow their movements through the forest as they feed, communicate, and interact within their groups.
Uganda offers several locations for chimpanzee encounters, each with its own unique landscape and atmosphere. These experiences can be seamlessly included in a wider safari, alongside gorilla trekking, game drives, and other activities across the country.
Whether as a highlight or part of a multi-day itinerary, chimpanzee trekking adds a dynamic and memorable dimension to any Uganda safari.
Kibale is where most chimp trekkers begin. Morning and afternoon departures are available, with groups limited to six visitors per chimp community. Treks start from Kanyanchu Visitor Centre. The forest is also exceptional for birding, with over 375 species recorded. Kibale pairs naturally with a Queen Elizabeth game drive on a 5 or 7-day Uganda circuit.
The Chimpanzee Habituation Experience is a full-day permit run from Kibale, available for only four visitors per day. You join the research team from 06:00 and follow a community that is still in the process of habituation. You observe them waking, building nests, foraging and socialising for up to eight hours. For serious wildlife travellers this is significantly more rewarding than a standard trek.
Budongo Forest Reserve lies at the southern edge of Murchison Falls National Park and is one of Uganda’s largest tropical forests. It holds around 700 chimpanzees and is an excellent add-on to any Murchison Falls safari. Combining a game drive, a boat cruise to the falls, and a Budongo chimp trek creates one of the most varied 3 to 4-day itineraries in Uganda.
A safari in Uganda is built around a combination of experiences rather than a single activity. From primate encounters to wildlife viewing and time on the water, each journey brings together different moments across the country’s landscapes.
These experiences are designed to work together within a single itinerary, allowing you to explore more of Uganda in a structured and seamless way. Whether you are planning a short visit or a longer journey, each safari can be shaped around your time, pace, and interests.
Game drives in Uganda cover some of Africa’s most underrated savannah. Queen Elizabeth National Park offers the famous Ishasha sector for tree-climbing lions, Murchison Falls has large elephant and buffalo herds along the Albert Nile, Kidepo Valley delivers genuine wilderness with roan antelope and cheetah, and Lake Mburo is the only Uganda park with zebra. Morning and evening drives are available in all parks.
The Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park carries one of the highest concentrations of hippos and Nile crocodiles in Africa. A 2-hour launch trip passes within metres of both. At Murchison Falls, the boat cruise upstream to the base of the falls is an essential part of any visit and is included in most Trek Safaris Uganda itineraries. The Nile above the falls also holds the rare Shoebill stork.
Uganda holds more bird species than the entire continental United States, packed into a country slightly smaller than the UK. Bwindi alone records over 350 species, including 23 Albertine Rift endemics. Queen Elizabeth has the Shoebill and African Green Broadbill. Murchison Falls is the best place in Uganda for the Abyssinian Ground Hornbill. Trek Safaris Uganda can design dedicated birding itineraries for serious listers.
Jinja, at the source of the Nile, has some of the most accessible grade 4 and 5 white water in Africa. Full-day rafting trips run year-round and can be combined with a multi-day Uganda safari as either an opening or closing activity from Kampala. Trek Safaris Uganda can coordinate rafting through trusted Jinja operators as part of a broader Uganda itinerary that continues to Kibale or Bwindi.
Forest walks in Uganda bring you closer to the small details that game drives miss. Guided walks in Bwindi move through layers of moss, orchids and giant ferns. The Rwenzori Mountains offer multi-day routes to the glaciated Margherita Peak, the highest point in Uganda. Sipi Falls on the slopes of Mount Elgon combines coffee farm visits with three-tiered waterfall hikes accessible to most fitness levels.
Uganda’s cultural diversity is one of the most overlooked aspects of a safari here. The Batwa trail in Bwindi tells the history of the forest’s original inhabitants. Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary near Kibale is community-managed and pairs primate spotting with a cultural walk. Visits to homesteads, traditional healers and local markets can be arranged through Trek Safaris Uganda and are included in several family itineraries.
Uganda’s national parks offer a quieter, more intimate safari experience compared to many other destinations in East Africa. Wildlife encounters feel less crowded, allowing you to explore at a more natural pace without the pressure of large tourist numbers.
From dense rainforest to open savannah and remote wilderness, each destination offers something distinct. Whether it is tracking primates through forest trails, watching wildlife along riverbanks, or exploring lesser-visited landscapes, these locations form the foundation of journeys across Uganda.
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Bwindi covers 321 square kilometres of montane and lowland rainforest along the DRC border in southwestern Uganda. It is the most biodiverse forest in East Africa, sheltering more than half the world’s mountain gorillas alongside 120 mammal species and over 350 birds. Most visitors combine Bwindi with Lake Bunyonyi or Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Queen Elizabeth is Uganda’s most visited national park, covering 1,978 square kilometres across three distinct ecosystems. The Ishasha sector in the south holds the famous tree-climbing lions. The Kazinga Channel runs 40 kilometres between Lake Edward and Lake George, flanked by some of the highest hippo densities in Africa. Chimp trekking is available in Kyambura Gorge.
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Murchison Falls is Uganda’s largest national park at 3,840 square kilometres. The Nile squeezes through a 7-metre gap in the rocks and drops 43 metres to the pool below, one of the most dramatic sights in Africa. The park holds substantial elephant, buffalo, giraffe, hippo and lion populations. Budongo Forest Reserve on its southern boundary is prime for chimpanzee trekking.
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Kibale covers 795 square kilometres of tropical forest in western Uganda and holds more primate species than any other forest in East Africa. Its 1,500 chimpanzees are the main draw, but 12 other primate species share the forest, including the rare L’Hoest’s monkey and the olive baboon. The Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary on the park boundary is community-managed and excellent for birding.
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Lake Mburo sits 240 kilometres southwest of Kampala, making it the most accessible of Uganda’s national parks for a weekend safari or a night stop on the way to Bwindi. It is the only park in Uganda with zebra and impala, and one of the best for hippo, leopard and eland. Boat trips on Lake Mburo and horseback safaris are available and are excellent alternatives to a standard game drive.
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Lake Bunyonyi is one of Uganda’s most scenic and peaceful destinations, known for its calm waters and terraced hills dotted with small islands. Located near Bwindi, it is often included as a relaxing stop before or after time in the forest.The lake offers a slower pace, with activities such as canoeing, boat rides, nature walks, and cultural visits to surrounding communities. Its quiet setting and cooler climate make it ideal for rest and reflection, adding balance to a journey that includes more active wildlife experiences.
The itineraries below represent the most popular Uganda safari circuits Trek Safaris Uganda operates. Each one is a starting point rather than a fixed departure. Dates, accommodation grade and activities can be adjusted. All packages include airport transfers, park fees, a qualified guide and vehicle. Gorilla and chimpanzee permits are secured in advance and confirmed before your trip is finalised.
Every itinerary Trek Safaris Uganda operates can be customised for your group size, budget, travel dates and interests. We build Uganda safaris from scratch as frequently as we run set departures. Tell us what you have in mind.
Our quotes include gorilla permits, park fees, accommodation, meals, airport transfers and a qualified guide with a 4WD vehicle. We confirm permit availability before accepting payment. The price we quote is the price you pay. We do not adjust costs after booking
Our gorilla trekking guides have tracked families in Bwindi and Mgahinga for over a decade. They know individual gorillas by name, understand the forest in all seasons, and can read animal behaviour in a way that only comes from daily proximity. You will not get that from a guide who has done the trek twice.
We do not run fixed group departures. Every itinerary is built around your travel dates, budget, interests and fitness level. If you want to combine gorillas with a coffee farm visit and a cooking class in Kampala, we will design that. If you want 10 days of serious wildlife photography with early gate access, we will design that too.
All Trek Safaris Uganda guides are certified by the Uganda Tourism Board and fluent in English. A representative is available by phone throughout your safari. If your domestic flight is delayed, we wait. If a park road is impassable, we find the alternative. You will not be left managing a problem alone in a remote park.
Talk to our team about dates, permits and itinerary options. We respond within 24 hours, and there is no obligation to book.
