Gorilla Trekking, Primate Safari, and Big Five Photography Adventure
Another phenomenal year in Uganda trekking with gorillas, chimps, and other primates and going on safari to see the ‘Big Five’ and many other iconic African animals!
This year I led two back to back 10 day expeditions. Both trips were excellent. Each week had its own special encounters, but overall, but each trip ticked all the boxes and each group saw virtually everything that the other group saw, so I’ve combined some of my best images the most memorable moments from each week to build one extremely image rich trip report. Enjoy!
Two Friends
As always, when our guests arrived in Entebbe, the first night we put them up at Two Friends Beach Hotel not far from the airport and perched on the banks of Lake Victoria. This is a great place to relax after a long flight to Uganda.
Walking with Rhinos
On our journey north to Murchison Falls, we stopped at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, which is a large wilderness area that has a rhino breeding program. Ziwa currently contains 43 rhinos, most of which were born in the sanctuary. Once they reach 50 rhinos, they will begin relocating rhinos to other parks.
The rhinos at Ziwa roam freely in the park; protected from poachers by a team of armed rangers.
After a thorough briefing, we accompanied a local guide into the bush to observe the rhinos as they socialized or relaxed in the shade. I think everyone was shocked by how close we got to the rhinos.
The welcoming commitee at Murchison Falls
By midafternoon we arrived at Murchison Falls National Park where we would be based for the next two days. While driving into the park, we passed many large troops of olive baboons.
Murchison Falls
The mighty Nile River divides the park into two sections; north and south. After driving through the forested southern sector towards our lodge, we stopped at spectacular Murch Falls; the most powerful water chute in the world, which sends 300 cubic meters or 11,000 cubic feet of water over the falls every second!
Simbaya Lodge
As the sun began to set we arrived at the lovely Simbaya Lodge where we would be sleeping for the next two nights.
Exploring the northern Sector
The next morning we ate an early breakfast and then crossed the Nile to explore the northern sector of Murchison Falls National Park. Enormous and beautiful, it sector is filled with an incredible biomass of animal life. The herd species include 40,000 Uganda cob, many thousands of waterbucks, bushbucks, oribis (a small antelope), Jackson’s hartebeests, huge herds of cape buffalo, large families of giraffe, hundreds of elephants, and much more! We spent most of the day driving among the herds, enjoying one epic encounter after another.
Leopard Encounter
We see the most predators on our nocturnal game drives, but sometimes we also run into leopards and lions during the day. This leopard crossing the trail, was the first large cat of the trip.
Patas Monkeys
The north side of Murchison is one of the best spots in Africa to find families of Patas Monkeys; an unusually long-legged monkey that has adapted to life on the savannah where few trees are available to escape from predators. Not surprisingly, Patas monkeys are the world’s fastest primates, capable of sprinting at speeds of more than 50km per hour!
Yellow-headed Agamas
By late afternoon we were suffering from full memory cards and depleted batteries, so we returned to the lodge for a few hours to recharge and relax before the night drive. Never sated, I joined a few of our avid photographers in the grounds of the lodge to look for birds and beautiful yellow-headed agama lizards.
Predators on the Night Shift
When darkness fell, we returned to the north sector of the park for a night drive. Over the next four hours we saw more leopards, and watched lions chasing buffalo and oribis. We also saw many smaller predators including a family of spotted hyenas, gennet cats, jackals, and many white-tailed mongooses, all on their way to find breakfast.
Eagle Owls
Of course, avian species are not very prominent at night, but we were treated with sightings of Greyish Eagle Owls on both of our night drives.
Southwest to Kibale
The next day we drove south to Kibale, first through dusty villages with waving children, then up into the hills dominated by huge tea plantations, and finally into densely forested Kibale National Park. After checking into our beautful lodge right on the edge of the forest, we went on a guided night walk to look for galagos and pottos. These are small nocturnal monkeys that are quite common in the forest if you know where to look. The galagos are extremely fast, jumping from limb to limb away from our lights. I eventually got a ‘proof of life shot of one, but the quest continues to get a print-worthy Demidof’s Galago shot.
Chimpanzee Trekking
The next morning we gathered at the ranger station for an interesting talk about chimpanzees and then we walked deep into the forest to spend time with humanity’s closest living relative; the chimpanzee. We located multiple families during the trek and were able to watch lots of behavior including moms traveling with pink faced babies and adults feeding and grooming each other, but I feel the most rewarding experience was simply looking into the soulful eyes of individual chimps as they sat contemplating their world.
Pottos
That evening we went on another forest walk to look for more galagos and pottos. I found a couple of epauletted fruit bats roosting in trees, but more importantly, we found eight different pottos; a primate that moves at sloth-like speed, making it very easy to photograph!
Swamp Walk with Monkeys
The following morning we went on a trek around Bigodi Swamp; a fantastic spot to see many species of monkeys including redtail monkeys, Guereza black and white colobus monkeys, and red crested mangabeys; a species that is only found in Kibale.
Onward to Queen Elizabeth National Park
After lunch we continued south to Queen Elizabeth National Park; another enormous savannah dominated park filled with large herds of waterbucks, cob, buffalo, elephants, and a healthy population of lions and leopards. After checking into Park view lodge which has a commanding view of the savannah below, we went on a late afternoon drive and found an extremely relaxed leopard lounging in a tree. We also came across a huge herd of elephants, one of which repeatedly mock charged one of our two safari vehicles to the delight of the guests.
After some amazing big animal action we returned to the lodge and gazed out at the beautiful vista acacia trees on the savannah.
Morning Game Drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park
The next morning we returned to the park for a second game drive. This time the highlight was a family of four young male lions accompanied by one female.
The Kazinga Channel
After lunch at the lodge we took a boat ride along the Kazinga Channel which joins Lake Albert to Lake George. This channel is one of the highlights of the trip and the main reason we visit Queen Elizabeth National Park. Hundreds of hippos crowd the shore and elephants, buffalo, and many other animals come to the river to drink.
The Kazinga Channel
The bird life is also really good along the banks of the channel and if you’re lucky you can get really close to Nile Crocs.
South to Bwindi
The next morning continued south to Bwindi. The nice thing about this part of the route is that its not just a travel day. We spend all morning in the park in order to exit through the southern sector which is only an hour or so from Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
As well as many of the species we had already encountered, we got a distant look at some blue monkeys which was another new species for the group, and many closer encounters with troops of Tantalus Monkeys.
Topi
We also found a herd of Topi; a large dark antelope species that you can’t see in any of the other parks we visited.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
By midafternoon we had climbed into the hills of Bwindi. While the group settled into the lodge and gazed up at the forest they would be ascending the next day, I went in search of blue headed agamas to add to the collection.
Mountain Gorillas
After a hearty breakfast, we descended from the lodge to the ranger station for a talk about mountain gorillas. Then, we climbed up switchback trails to the very top of Bwindi where the gorillas are found.
Gorillas in the Mist
After three hours of trekking, we rendezvoused with the gorilla trackers that follow the troops throughout the day. Leaving all but our cameras with the porters, our guide hacked a path through the dense forest and finally we were in the presence of the largest primate in the world; the Eastern Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei).
For the next hour we watched them playing, feeding, and relaxing in the forest. The silverback was spectacular but the baby gorillas stole the show.
Animals on the drive home
That night we celebrated at the lodge as the sun set over Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The next morning we packed up for the long journey back to Entebbe. To break up the journey, we always make a few stops along the way. The first was to photograph a massive colony of straw coloured fruit bats.
Lunch with Zebras and Impala
At lunch time we stopped at the edge of Lake Mboro National Park; a pretty spot where we often find groups of zebras and Impalas shading under the trees.
Equatorial Photo Op
Our final pitstop was at the equator. A fun spot for a souvenir group photo at the end of a great trip. In the early evening, we arrived back in Entebbe and said our farewells.
Both groups had fantastic trips, but it would be hard not to with so many amazing animal encounters crammed into one epic adventure. Join us next year! Gorilla and Chimpanzee Trekking and the Big Five Safari in Uganda 2025
