Budongo Forest Chimp Trek
Murchison Falls · Nile Cruise · Red-Tailed Monkeys

Depart Kampala north on the Kampala–Gulu highway. Optional stop at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary (en route, ~2 hrs from Kampala) — Uganda's only wild white rhino population, tracked on foot with rangers. Continue to Murchison Falls National Park. Arrive at lodge by early evening. Briefing and dinner.

Morning: Budongo Forest Chimp Trek. Budongo Forest Reserve borders the southern edge of Murchison Falls NP and is one of Uganda's most biodiverse forests — home to over 700 chimpanzees across multiple communities. Unlike Kibale's tourist-managed tracking, Budongo offers a more raw, less-visited experience. Set off with your ranger guide into the mahogany and ironwood forest. Track the chimps through their morning territory. Spend your permitted time with them — in Budongo, the chimps are often found feeding in fruiting mahogany trees, their silhouettes dramatic against the forest canopy. Afternoon: Murchison Falls Game Drive. Drive to the northern bank for Uganda's classic game drive — lion, elephant, Rothschild's giraffe, Jackson's hartebeest, and buffalo are regularly seen. The giraffe here are Rothschild's — one of the world's most endangered giraffe subspecies, with a significant population in Murchison.

Morning: The Nile Launch Cruise. Board the launch from Paraa for the 2-hour cruise upriver to the base of Murchison Falls — where the entire Nile River squeezes through a 7-metre gorge and drops 43 metres in the most powerful waterfall on Earth. The banks are lined with hippos, enormous Nile crocodiles, African skimmer, goliath heron, and the resident shoebill stork in the delta wetlands. This cruise is one of Uganda's greatest wildlife experiences. Afternoon: birding walk in the Murchison delta — excellent for shoebill stork, yellow-billed stork, and Abyssinian ground hornbill. Return to lodge for final night.

Final dawn game drive — Murchison at first light. Then depart south to Kampala (305 km, approx. 5 hours). Arrive by afternoon.