Travel advisory, last checked 23 September 2026: the US State Department rates Uganda Level 4, “Do Not Travel”, an advisory issued in May 2026 because of Ebola. WHO declared Uganda’s outbreak over on 27 August 2026; the outbreak in the neighbouring DRC continues. Read our dated safety guide before you decide.
Uganda safari tours · Private & tailor-made
Bwindi. Kibale. Queen Elizabeth. Murchison Falls. Kidepo.
Mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, the Nile and the wild north-east, planned permit-first around your dates by a US-registered travel company with vetted local partners.
Uganda safari finder
Six quick questions about your month, your party, your comfort level and your must-sees. We suggest the route that fits best, ready to reshape around the permits for your dates.
Why Uganda
Uganda protects close to half of the world’s mountain gorillas. Bwindi Impenetrable’s steep rainforest holds about 459 of them, trekked from four separate sectors, and neighboring Mgahinga adds a single family on the slopes of the Virunga volcanoes. UWA’s gorilla permit has long been priced below Rwanda’s, and the chimpanzee forest of Kibale lies to the north, a scenic drive away through Queen Elizabeth National Park.
What sets Uganda apart is everything around the primates: a launch trip along the hippo-lined Kazinga Channel, the Nile forced through its gorge at Murchison Falls, tree-climbing lions in Ishasha’s fig trees when luck is with you, white rhinos tracked on foot at Ziwa and shoebills in the papyrus of Mabamba. In the far north-east, Kidepo Valley holds cheetah and ostrich, found in no other Ugandan park, in a valley few visitors ever reach.
Planning Uganda well comes down to decisions many itineraries skip: the right Bwindi sector before the lodge, Entebbe or Kigali as your gateway, and when a flight beats a long road day. We make those calls with you, quote UWA fees with their dates, and keep a dated, sourced note on safety and health rather than staying silent about it.
Figures are widely published approximations.
Uganda safari ideas
Four routes that show what Uganda can be, from a short gorilla trip to the whole country. Every day, lodge and permit is shaped around you.
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary · Murchison Falls · Kibale Forest · Queen Elizabeth NP · Ishasha · Buhoma · Lake Mburo
Travelers with close to two weeks who want primates, savanna and the Nile, and are happy with a few long road days
Kigali · Rushaga · Mgahinga
Travelers with a week who want two gorilla treks at Uganda’s permit price and the simplest international access
Kidepo Valley · Murchison Falls · Buhoma
Travelers who want Uganda’s wildest corner and its gorillas without spending whole days on the road
Mabamba Swamp · Lake Mburo · Ruhija · Buhoma · Queen Elizabeth NP · Kibale Forest
Keen birders and bird photographers who want a private guide, early starts and time to find their targets
Where to go
Rainforest in the south-west, savanna and crater lakes in the west, the Nile in the north and semi-arid wilderness in the north-east. Most journeys combine three or four.
Approximate locations — not for navigation.
More places in Uganda
Uganda’s great gorilla forest: steep, misty and divided into four trekking sectors that shape your whole route.
Explore
Uganda’s primate forest: habituated chimps at Kanyanchu, twelve other primate species and crater lakes near Fort Portal.
ExploreUganda’s classic savanna park: Kazinga Channel boat trips, Kasenyi’s kob and lions, Kyambura chimps and Ishasha’s tree-climbing lions.
ExploreUganda’s largest park: the Nile forced through a narrow gorge, north-bank game drives, delta shoebills and Budongo chimps nearby.
ExploreUganda’s remote north-east: the wide Narus Valley, big buffalo herds, cheetah and ostrich, best reached by light aircraft.
Explore
Uganda’s smallest park, where one gorilla family, golden monkeys and volcano summits share the Virunga slopes.
ExploreBeyond the game drive
Primate days, a rhino walk and a dawn canoe into the papyrus: the experiences that make a Uganda journey feel unlike any other safari.
Primates
Spend up to four hours with a gorilla family that is still learning to accept people, alongside the researchers and trackers doing the work, in Bwindi’s southern Rushaga sector.
Primates
Follow a chimpanzee community through Kibale’s forest, Kyambura’s sunken gorge or Budongo’s mahogany stands, then spend an hour among them once they are found.
On foot
Walk with sanctuary rangers to find southern white rhinos grazing in the bush at Ziwa, the heart of Uganda’s rhino comeback, on the way to Murchison Falls.
On the water
Glide through papyrus channels on the Lake Victoria shore in a community-run canoe, looking for the shoebill within easy reach of Entebbe.
Where you’ll stay
We plan Uganda with comfort, premium and luxury stay styles; exclusive-use, top-tier properties are rare here. In Bwindi, every lodge is matched to the trekking sector on your permit.
PremiumSouthern Bwindi · Rushaga
Forest lodge
LuxuryNorthern Bwindi · Buhoma
Forest lodge
ComfortKibale · Kanyanchu area
Tented camp
ComfortQueen Elizabeth · Mweya Peninsula
Lodge
PremiumMurchison Falls · Victoria Nile
Tented camp
LuxuryKidepo Valley · Apoka
Lodge
Travel your way
When to go
The south and west have two drier windows, December to February and June to August, with rains in between, and gorillas and chimps are trekked in every month. Kidepo in the north-east follows a single wet season and is at its best from about December to March.
| Experience | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gorilla trekking — trail conditions (Bwindi, Mgahinga) | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Fair | Fair | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Fair | Fair | Good |
| Chimp tracking (Kibale, Kyambura) | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Fair | Fair | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Fair | Fair | Good |
| Savanna game viewing (Queen Elizabeth, Murchison, Lake Mburo) | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Fair | Fair | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Fair | Fair | Good |
| Kidepo Valley | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Excellent |
| Birding (incl. Palearctic migrants) | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Excellent | Excellent |
| Rainfall | Mostly dry | Showers | Rainy season | Rainy season | Rainy season | Mostly dry | Mostly dry | Showers | Showers | Rainy season | Rainy season | Showers |
| Travel season | High season | High season | Shoulder | Green season | Green season | High season | Peak season | Peak season | High season | Shoulder | Green season | High season |
Values rate conditions, not sighting odds — habituated gorillas and chimps are found on most treks in every month. Southern and western Uganda has two rainy seasons (roughly March–May and October–November) and Bwindi is never fully dry; Kidepo in the north-east has a single wet season (about April–September). Lower gorilla and chimp permit rates for April, May and November have been reported but were not in a published UWA tariff when we checked (23 September 2026).
Why African Safari Reserve
Traveler reviews
We only publish genuine, verified reviews. Read what past travelers have written about us on TripAdvisor.
Uganda travel guide
Permit rules from UWA’s own documents, entry requirements from Uganda’s immigration directorate and dated safety advice, alongside honest guides to timing and cost.
Uganda’s Mountain Gorillas
Where you can trek gorillas in Uganda, what happens on the day, how fit you need to be and the rules that protect the gorillas, with pointers to permits and timing.
Uganda Planning
Month-by-month timing for Uganda by activity: when gorilla trails are firmest, when Kidepo is at its best, what the rains really mean and when low-season permits apply.
Uganda Planning
What goes into the cost of a private Uganda safari: UWA permit and park fees with their dates, road versus flights, lodge levels and indicative market ranges with their sources.
Uganda Travel Guide
The previous, dated UWA permit prices and the reported 2026–27 changes, how booking works, availability by sector, and UWA’s reschedule and refund rules, quoted from its own guidelines.
Uganda Travel Guide
Uganda visa requirements explained: the official eVisa, fees, the East Africa Tourist Visa for Kigali routes, passport and yellow fever rules, and dated 2026 health notes.
Uganda Travel Guide
What US and UK travel advice said in September 2026, the Ebola outbreak and its end, park security, roads, Karamoja and LGBTQ+ law, and how we plan around each.
Good to know
Yes, if primates are high on your list and you don’t mind some long travel days. Uganda combines gorillas and chimps with savanna game drives and boat safaris, though its savanna parks are quieter and smaller in scale than the Serengeti or the Masai Mara. First-timers who mainly want big cats on open plains often start in Kenya or Tanzania and add Uganda’s gorillas.
Six days covers gorillas in southern Bwindi and Mgahinga if you fly into Kigali. Ten to twelve days lets you add Kibale’s chimps, Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls at a comfortable pace, and a fly-in route can reach Kidepo in the same time. Most travelers find eight to twelve days right.
It depends on where you are going. Entebbe is Uganda’s international airport and the natural gateway for Murchison, Kibale, Queen Elizabeth and Kidepo. For southern Bwindi and Mgahinga, Kigali in Rwanda is often closer, about four to five hours by road, against a full day’s drive or a domestic flight from Entebbe.
You travel with your own vehicle and driver-guide throughout, and UWA ranger guides join you for treks and guided walks. We design the route, secure permits and book lodges through vetted Ugandan partners, and you have a local contact for the whole journey. You only share an activity with other visitors where the park runs it that way, such as a gorilla group or a public launch.
Yes, and it is one of Uganda’s great strengths. Kibale’s chimpanzees and Bwindi’s gorillas are linked by Queen Elizabeth National Park, so a route of eight days or more can include both, with savanna and a boat trip in between. Keep the age limits in mind: 12 for chimps and 15 for gorillas.
Easily. Rwanda shares the Virunga volcanoes with Uganda, and Kigali is the closest international airport to southern Bwindi. Kenya and Tanzania are a short regional flight from Entebbe, adding the Masai Mara or the Serengeti to a primate-focused trip.
The US State Department rates Uganda at Level 4, “Do Not Travel”, an advisory issued on 26 May 2026 because of Ebola and unchanged when we last checked it on 23 September 2026. WHO declared Uganda’s own Ebola outbreak over on 27 August 2026 after 42 days without new cases, so there is no active transmission in Uganda, but the outbreak in the neighbouring DRC continues and cross-border reintroduction remains a risk. Check travel.state.gov for the current level before booking. Our Uganda safety guide sets out the full, dated picture.
Tell us when you would like to travel, who is coming and how many gorilla days you want. We check permit availability first, then design a private Uganda journey around it, with nothing booked until you approve.
Plan My Uganda Safari