For first time visitors to Uganda, the thought of a self-drive safari can be intimidating, with a guide you undoubtedly have the benefit of an expert pair of eyes when it comes to spotting wildlife and you have someone in the know on hand to take care of the driving, the directions and most important your safety.
However, for those with an adventurous spirit, a self-drive safari gets you closer the essence of Uganda which is after all the freedom to explore and discover the country’s wonders in your own time. The Self-drive safaris have many benefits and there are prescribed schedules or time limits meaning that you can spend two hours photographing animals if you feel like it. The self drive safari holidays are so much suitable while renting out the 4×4 rooftop tent vehicles that are suitable to take you through all the game drive tracks and offering the relatively affordable accommodation in the safari and game wilderness.
By using a combination of campsites and lodges, we ensure you will still experience the guided element by getting you in the right camps with the best guides.
Kidepo Valley National Park
Less crowded, Kidepo Valley National Park is one of Uganda’s most popular self-drive destinations. The park is a perfect starting point for anyone who wants to tour Uganda. The park has everything for a perfect self-drive holiday from wildlife to viewing landscapes. The destination is best traveled by vehicle as it allows you to make your way through the regions, seeing every view as it comes.
The park is arguably Uganda’s finest wildlife preserve, contains rolling Savannah extending towards mountain ranges in three countries, Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan. The remote National Park lies in the far northeast of Uganda, isolated from the rest of the country by the sparsely populated, arid bad lands of Karamoja region.
Seldom visited by tourists due to the expense and difficulty of getting there, Kidepo is nevertheless one of the most alluring destinations in the country, boasting a strong wilderness atmosphere, rugged mountain scenery and exceptional game viewing and bird watching.
Kidepo Valley covers an area of 1,442km and it has an altitude range of between 914m and 2750m above sea level. The park protects one of the most exciting faunas of any Ugandan national park, although it is total of 86 mammal species has been reduced to 77 after a rash of local extinctions in recent years.
The bird checklist of 463 confirmed and 26 unconfirmed species is second only to Queen Elizabeth National Park and more than 60 of the birds listed have been recorded in no other Ugandan national park. The variety of butterflies and other smaller creature is far less than in the forested national parks of western Uganda.
The park contains two rivers: Kidepo and Narus which disappear in the dry season leaving just pools for the wildlife. Wildlife is most active in the Narus Valley during early mornings and late afternoon are optimum times to set off on game drives. While on a game drive in Kidepo, you will be able see animals like elephants, herds of buffaloes, lions, leopard, bush duiker, jackal, giraffes, zebras, bush buck, bush pig, and much more.
The local communities around the park include pastoral Karamojong people, similar to the Maasai of Kenya and the IK, a hunter gather tribe whose survival is threatened. You can visit the Lorukul Cultural Group and explore the fascinating, ancient culture of the Karamojong. You can also visit traditional homesteads, sample local dishes and hear stories of the flock of this remote tribe.
Murchison Falls National Park
Another park to visit best for self-drive safari is Murchison Falls National Park, one of the largest and oldest conservation parks in Uganda. The park is in north-western Uganda, spreading inland from the shore of Lake Albert around the Victoria Nile. Together with the adjacent 748 square kilometres Bugungu Wildlife Reserve and the 720 square, Karuma Wildlife Reserve, the park forms the Murchison Falls Conservation Area (MFCA). The park is bisected by the Victoria Nile, which plunges 45m over the remnant rift valley wall, creating the dramatic Murchison Falls.
It is possible to drive from Kidepo Valley National Park to Murchison Falls National Park. A number of routes can be used to reach the Nile at Paraa at the heart of the Murchison Falls Conservation Area. The river is crossed here using a vehicle ferry which runs at roughly hourly intervals throughout the day. You can self- drive through the southern entrance gates in case you are coming from the north side of the park.
Murchison Falls National Park can also be entered via the Chobe, Wankwar, Mubako and Tangi gates north of the Nile. These are reached from the Kampala-Pakwach Road which crosses the Nile at Karuma Falls Bridge in the north-eastern corner of the park, 260km from Kampala. These gates are convenient for visitor traveling to/from Gulu town and Kidepo Valley National Park.
As you drive around the Buligi tracks on the northern bank with a trained ranger guide you will come across majestic herds of Giraffes, families of elephants, herds of Buffaloes, warthogs, along with bush bucks, reed buck, duikers, Kobs, Oribi and the unusual-looking hartebeest lions, and even you may even spot a leopard at dusk.
The launch trip upstream from Paraa presents an astonishing display of wildlife and culminates with the memorable frontal view of the Falls. The launch departs at 9am and 2pm daily and takes three hours. Recommended for birders is a morning cruise downstream to the Nile-Lake Albert Delta, providing the best chance in Africa of sighting the elusive Shoe bill.
This four- to five-hour return voyage also takes in a variety of other wildlife, including hippos, Nile crocodiles, elephants and many birds. Trails around the top of the falls go right up to the water’s edge. You have the opportunity to hike the top of the falls from the boat landing and get close to the narrow gorge through which the river plunges.
Kibale Forest National Park
Next to Murchison Falls National Park is Kibale Forest National Park, Uganda’s tropical rain forest and one of the most rewarding areas to explore. Kibale forest is the primate capital of world best known for its primate populations, with 1450 chimpanzee and 13 other primate species. The Kibale Forest National Park is situated in the heart of the Toro kingdom in western Uganda, near fort portal, the park lies close to the tranquil Ndali Kasenda crater area and is within a full days’ drive from Murchison Falls.
The park can be accessed from Kampala, along a newly surfaced road via Kasese near Queen Elizabeth national park. The park can also be reached from Kampala via Mubende and fort portal or through Mbarara and Kamwenge.
Kibale National Park offers Chimpanzee Experience that includes Chimpanzee Habituation and Chimpanzee trekking. Chimpanzees are our closest relatives sharing about 98% of their DNA composition with humans. They are sociable, intelligent as well as communicative and among their very fascinating traits is the ability to utilize tools. Kibale’s most popular activity is the Kanyanchu Primate Walk. Thirteen species can be sought, and a good variety of diurnal monkeys invariably encountered, but the stars of this trail are the chimpanzees. Kanyanchu chimps have been tracked since 1993 and the chances of locating them are excellent. Guided walks start at 8am and 2pm and last an average of three hours, depending on various factors.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Next Kibale National Park is Queen Elizabeth National Park Uganda’s most popular tourist destination. The park’s diverse ecosystem, which include sprawling Savannah, shady, humid forest, sparkling lakes and fertile wetlands, make it the ideal habitat for classic big game, ten primate species including chimpanzees and over 600 species of birds. Game drives in queen will reward you variety of wildlife through Kasenyi, the North Kazinga Plains and the Ishasha Sector offer virtually guaranteed buffalo, antelope and elephant sightings, along with warthogs and baboons.
Taking an experienced guide in the early morning or at dusk is the most successful way to track down a pride of lions, and maybe even the odd leopard. Guides are available from 6:30am on wards; morning game drives should be booked the day before.
Launch trips in Queen Elizabeth National Park is another highlight of your safari trip on Kazinga Channel an oasis for many of the fascinating species that inhabit the park, and taking a boat tour along it gives visitors the chance to cruise just meters from hundreds of enormous hippos, crocodiles and buffaloes while elephants linger on the shoreline. This launch cruise may take anything from 2 – 3 hours to well explore the water and the wildlife along the shores of the Kazinga Channel. There are professional guides right on the boat who will be give you all the necessary information pertaining this safari or tour as well as answer any questions that may arise about the wildlife.
Lake Mburo National Park
Next to Queen Elizabeth National Park is Lake Mburo National Park Uganda’s most spectacular and breath-taking game parks in Uganda. Lake Mburo national park conveniently located close to the western high way that connects Kampala to the parks of western Uganda.
This beautiful jewel of a park is found en- route to the Albertine Rift and offers the best place to see the Impala, buffalo, Topi, and the largest heard of zebra the country has to offer, together with a vast variety of birdlife. Small enough to cover in a day and conveniently located close enough to Kampala city to make it the perfect getaway.
Lake Mburo harbours several species not easily observed elsewhere in Uganda. It is the only park in the country to support a population of impala, the handsome antelope for which Kampala is named, and one of only three protected areas countrywide where Burchell’s zebra occurs, the other two being the far less accessible Kidepo and Pian Upe.
The Lake is rich with a diversity of animal and plant species which can only be viewed clearly if you take a boat trip the crocodiles, Hippopotamuses and birds like Pelicans, Black Crake, Heron, Cormorant, and Fish Eagle. Watch out for crocodiles and hippopotamus during the two-hour Voyage.
Lake Mburo is possibly the easiest place in Uganda to see the elusive African fin foot, which is generally associated with still water below overhanging branches. The duration of each boat cruise is negotiable with the park management.
