Uganda – Great Apes & Wildlife Photo Safari II 2027
18 Nov 2027 - 28 Nov 2027
ORYX Photo Tours is proud to present our Uganda Photo Safari, which takes us to some of this wonderful nation’s most thrilling wildlife destinations. Our photo tour in Churchill’s “Pearl of Africa” begins with a search for the iconic Shoebill, a denizen of large central African swamps, and one of the world’s most sought-after birds. Onwards we go to Kibale Forest in search of our closest living relative, the Chimpanzee. Here we will amble along the gentle slopes in search of these highly intelligent creatures. The next leg of this journey will take us to Queen Elizabeth National Park. This vast reserve boasts impressive crater scenery, expansive savannas, tropical forests and large herds of Elephant, Buffalo, Uganda Kob as well as the famed tree-climbing Lions of the region. Our incredible photo tour ends with a visit to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to photograph the astounding Mountain Gorilla. Trekking for these primates is undoubtedly one of the world’s most thrilling wildlife experiences, and with 2 treks offered, we will have wonderful opportunities to spend time photographing and appreciating and these gentle giants, capturing an array of stories in Uganda’s legendary Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.Why this Photo Safari is for You
Destination Allure
Due to its location at the “crossroads” of the central African rainforests and the savanna zone of east Africa, it is home to a huge array of primates, principally Mountain Gorilla and Chimpanzee, while savannas are home to Lion and even Leopard. Uganda as a whole sports a whopping collection of birds with the Shoebill being the standout among this list, and Uganda is a destination not to be missed!
Trekking for Great Apes
Chimpanzee Trekking – over the course of 2 Chimpanzee treks and 1 Chimpanzee habituation trek in Kibale National Park, we have the opportunity observe our closest living ancestors as they go about their daily activities. Mountain Gorilla Trekking – we will partake in 2 Gorilla treks in the beautiful Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, and upon reaching the Gorillas, we will spend a maximum of 1 hour with our designated family.
Tree Climbing Lions and other Beasts
Queen Elizabeth National Park is home to an assortment of habitats and consequentially it has a huge mammal and bird list. We will cruise on the Kazinga Channel, famous for the huge aggregations of birds that line the banks alongside Buffalo, Hippo and Elephant, but will stay in the Ishasha Sector of the park, famous for its tree climbing lions. Isasha’s savannas are also home to other species including Uganda Kob, Topi, Spotted Hyaena and Leopard.
Guided Experience
Local knowledge of the region and its inhabitants is key to crafting the ultimate photography tour experience. Combined with the photographic expertise of your ORYX Photo Tour Leader, and you are in for an adventure that will further fuel your excitement for photography and the destination.
11 Days
Guests +1 ORYX Leaders
Classic
- Destination:
Uganda
- Departure:
- Person Sharing:
112095.00
- Single Supplement:
1634.00
- Photographic Highlights:
- Guide:
Penny Robartes
- 1
Day 1: Arrival in Entebbe and transfer to accommodation
Today is an arrival day in the Uganda capital for the start of our African photo safari. You will be met at the airport by an ORYX representative, who will escort you to your lovely guesthouse via a short drive (5 – 10 minutes, depending on traffic). Tonight we will meet for dinner and our tour leader will discuss this exciting upcoming Uganda adventure in more detail.
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Day 2: Excursion for Shoebill, drive onwards to Kibale Forest
After breakfast we will head out for this morning’s primary photographic target, the legendary Shoebill. After heading across a section of Lake Victoria, we transfer to motorised wooden canoes and enter Mabamba Wetland, where we will search for this iconic bird. Thereafter, we will continue through rural Uganda to Kibale Forest, where will be based for the next three nights.
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Days 3 & 4: Chimpanzee Trekking & Habituation
We have two full-days in the wondrous forest of Kibale searching for our closest living relative – the Chimpanzee. They are often noisy and, when we manage to come across a troop, their thrilling whoops, shrieks and grunts are likely to betray their presence long before we see and photograph them! On Day 3 we will embark on two trekking sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Once located, we will have 1 hour to spend with the Chimpanzees, revelling in their antics and documenting a piece of their lives with camera in hand. On Day 4, we will set out early on a Chimpanzee habituation trek, which gives us the better part of the whole morning in the field.
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Day 5: Depart Kibale Forest, cruise Kazinga Channel, transfer to Ishasha, Queen Elizabeth National Park
We depart Kibale Forest this morning and make our way to Queen Elizabeth National Park. As we near the park, we will pass an area that is dominated by explosion craters (evidence of the regions volcanic origins!) before routing to the boat dock on Mweya Peninsula, where we begin our boat cruise. The Kazinga Channel is home to wonderful numbers of animals: herds of buffalo laze on its shores, frequently in close proximity to the numerous hippo that are resident (some of Africa’s densest concentrations of Hippo can be found here!) along with good concentrations of Nile Crocodile (a recent colonist of the channel). Elephant can often be seen browsing on riverside vegetation, and additionally, birds are found in huge numbers. After our cruise, we will transfer to the remote southern section of the Queen Elizabeth National Park, where we will spend the next three nights. Photographic targets include Lion, Leopard, Spotted Hyaena, African Buffalo (this form sometimes known as Lake Chad Buffalo), Uganda Bushbuck, Hippo, impressive Defassa Waterbuck, Olive Baboon and comical Warthog. Uganda Kob form some impressive leks, fleet-footed Topi scan the grasslands for competitors, and African Elephant stroll through the plentiful savannas, browsing the nutritious Acacia’s that dot the area.
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Days 6 & 7: Ishasha area
The Ishasha Sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park is the place to search for “tree climbing lions”. These cats favour larger trees, especially figs, and we will visit a few key areas that regularly attract these cats. Spotting a Lion in a tree is uncommon over most of the Lions range in Africa, however in Ishasha, this behaviour is seen regularly. It is wonderful to see Lions lazing on a bough and enjoying the breeze the elevation affords! Isasha receives minimal tourist traffic when compared to the north of the park, and typically only a handful of game vehicles are to be found in the area at any time. As our camp is the only camp within this section of the park, we have flexibility in the timings of our morning and afternoon drives and will often have a sighting completely to ourselves.
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Day 8: Road transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
After a final morning game drive, we will transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for our next leg of the journey; 2 days of trekking Mountain Gorillas.
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Days 9 & 10: Gorilla Trekking
On these mornings, we will head a short distance to the debriefing area (3 minutes’ drive), before departing to the starting point for our hike (this could be a walk from the park HQ, or it could be a drive over 1 hour long). Depending on where our allocated Gorilla family are located, our treks will vary in length and ease from one trek to the next. Upon reaching the Gorillas, we will spend an hour with these gentle giants which is, without a doubt, one of the most exciting and emotional wildlife experiences on Earth. Although the Gorilla families are habituated, they are still wild and sightings cannot be guaranteed. However, there is a 99% success rate of meeting a Gorilla group when trekking in Uganda
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Day 11: Fly Kihihi to Entebbe and depart
Today sadly marks the end of our Uganda photo tour as we transfer to Kihihi in time for flight back to Entebbe International Airport with this safari concludes.
My photo tour to Uganda was excellent. My guide, Charlotte Arthun, was very patient, helpful and knowledgeable and a delight to travel with. She provided several tips on how to improve my photo compositions in the jungle. Our local Uganda guide, Moses, was also a pleasure to be with. The camps were comfortable, food was good and the treks and drives were everything I hoped they would be.
Charlotte is an excellent photo tour guide and was very adept at dealing with all the personalities that sign up for a trip. I enjoyed her very much, and felt safe and well care for. I hope to travel with her again and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Uganda does not seem like the easiest country to run a photo safari in, and both Charlotte and the team on the ground did a wonderful job.
Our Uganda photo tour was absolutely fantastic!
We weren’t bored for a minute, and everyday we encountered new unforgettable, once in a life time experiences.
Our guide Ham did an unbelievable job in looking after us and ensuring that our experience was as awesome as possible. He really went out of his way and deserves a notable mention in making it the trip it was.
The Gorillas were the highlight of the trip, and truly surpassed our expectations. Although the Gorillas were the highlight, everything else we did was incredible too, from hiking and spotting the forrest elephants in Bwindi to chasing Chimps in Kibale and watching the tree climbing lions and a giant Forrest hog in Ishasha, and not to mention the incredible birding every where we went!
Thanks so much for setting this up for us, we loved it and will most definitely recommend ORYX Photo Tours and the trip again!
Once again ORYX Photo Tours seriously raised the bar that we thought could not be raised any higher! This was my third trip with ORYX and my first with my husband joining me. The other two trips were solo. Let's start with the planning portion. I was nervous about taking a photo tour with my husband as he is just learning about photography with a Nikon (versus Iphone) and I have been shooting for a number of years. I was hoping he would fall in love with the art of photography. Marius Cotezee, our guide and owner of ORYX assured me there would be no problem. He could not have been more right. While continuing to teach me, Marius in less than two weeks was able to provide my husband with fabulous instruction, a base to move forward and the confidence to embrace and enjoy his camera. At the same time Marius helped raise my photography skills up another notch. We traveled to Uganda to see the gorillas and the chimps. We also wanted to add in some cultural photography of local tribes. Due to Marius’ contacts and knowledge of Africa and the reputation of Oryx Photo Tours we had two extraordinary cultural experiences interacting with lesser known tribes. It was fabulous.
Nicolette who was directly responsible for working out the details made everything absolutely seamless. Her attention to detail, follow up, attitude and customer service skills are off the charts. You would never know that travel can still be challenging these days with Nicolette responsible for your adventure.
Can't forget to mention the surprises. We had a number of things to celebrate on this trip. ORYX surprised us twice, once with an incredible breakfast in the middle of the Queen Elizabeth National Park and also a happy hour "sundowner" in Kidepo Valley National Park, of course both in picture perfect locations. We can’t wait to travel again with ORYX Photo Tours! You would be well served to use them for your next adventure wherever in the world you want to explore.
Another absolute incredible photo safari to Africa (this time Uganda) arranged by ORYX Photo Tours, simply outstanding. Unbelievable primate and savannah experiences (Kidepo!), all expertly organised. And to think they had 2 days to arrange it as Kenya hit the red list just makes it even more remarkable!! Thank you so much to Marius, Rainer and the whole team... I can’t wait to be travel with ORYX again!
