Big Game Safari: Queen Elizabeth & Murchison Falls

This morning you set out on a scenic drive north towards Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda's largest and one of its most dramatic. En route you can stop at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for an optional guided rhino tracking walk on foot, the only place in Uganda to see wild southern white rhino, a thrilling addition to your safari. Continuing north, the landscape opens into vast, rolling savanna, and you enter the park to reach your lodge above the Nile in the afternoon. There may be time for a first game drive or simply to relax on your terrace, watching the great river flow and the light soften over the wilderness. This evening, savour dinner surrounded by the sounds of the African bush and the distant roar of the falls. Rest well, ready to explore Murchison tomorrow.

Today you experience the full drama of Murchison Falls. At dawn you cross the Nile and set out on a game drive across the northern plains, in search of lion, herds of elephant and buffalo, Rothschild's giraffe, Jackson's hartebeest, oribi and Uganda kob, with the chance of leopard, all set against sweeping golden grasslands. After lunch and a rest, the afternoon brings the highlight, a boat safari up the calm Nile below the falls, gliding past enormous pods of hippo, basking crocodiles, elephants and buffalo at the water's edge, and a wealth of birds, with the chance of the rare shoebill. The boat carries you towards the base of the roaring cataract, where the entire Nile explodes through a seven-metre gorge above you. Many travellers also hike to the top of the falls. This evening, celebrate a spectacular day over dinner. Rest well.

After breakfast, and perhaps a final morning game drive or a visit to the top of the falls if you have not yet stood over the thundering gorge, you begin the long, scenic drive south to Queen Elizabeth National Park, set beneath the Rwenzori Mountains between two lakes. The journey takes you through a changing landscape of savanna, farmland and green hills, with stops for photographs and lunch along the way, and possibly a crossing of the equator. You arrive at your lodge in the park in the late afternoon, with time to settle in and enjoy the sweeping views over the plains and lakes as the light softens and wildlife comes down to drink. This evening, savour dinner surrounded by the sounds of the bush. Rest well, ready for a full day of game viewing in Uganda's most popular savanna park tomorrow.

Today you explore the wildlife riches of Queen Elizabeth National Park. An early morning game drive across the Kasenyi plains offers the chance of lion, elephant, buffalo, warthog and herds of Uganda kob and waterbuck, with the Rwenzori peaks sometimes on the horizon. Later you cruise the Kazinga Channel, the broad waterway between Lake Edward and Lake George, gliding past huge pods of hippo, elephants and buffalo at the water's edge, basking crocodiles and one of the greatest gatherings of water birds in Africa. In the afternoon you journey into the remote Ishasha sector, famous for its tree-climbing lions, scanning the great fig and acacia trees for tawny bodies draped along the branches, an unusual behaviour seen in only a few places on Earth. This evening, savour dinner in the southern wilderness, reflecting on a magnificent day. Rest well.

After a relaxed breakfast you leave Queen Elizabeth and drive east through the green, rolling hills of western Uganda towards Lake Mburo National Park, a gentle, scenic finale to your Big Game safari. The journey passes farmland, tea country and busy roadside towns, offering a window into everyday Ugandan life, and your guide is happy to stop for photographs, coffee, a local market or the equator crossing. You arrive at your lodge in the afternoon, set amid peaceful acacia savanna beside the shining lake, with time to settle in and enjoy the relaxed change of pace. Compact Lake Mburo, home to zebra, impala, topi, eland and giraffe, has no lions or elephants, so it can be explored on foot, and it offers wonderful birdlife and lake cruises. This evening, savour dinner beneath the wide African sky. Rest well, ready for a peaceful safari finale tomorrow.

This morning you enjoy the special pleasures of Lake Mburo, perhaps a guided nature walk with an armed ranger among grazing zebra, impala and eland, one of the few places in Uganda to safari on foot, followed by a relaxed boat trip on the lake, gliding past hippos, crocodiles and abundant water birds with the chance of the shy sitatunga. After a final lunch you begin the scenic drive back towards Entebbe, pausing perhaps at the equator for a photograph or at craft markets along the way. Depending on your international flight time, you are transferred to Entebbe International Airport for your onward departure, leaving with vivid memories of the thundering Nile at Murchison, the lions and hippos of Queen Elizabeth and the peaceful plains of Lake Mburo. You depart already dreaming of a return to the great savanna parks of the Pearl of Africa.