4 Days Murchison Falls and Budongo Chimps
The 4 days Murchison Falls and Budongo Chimps is a combined wildlife and primate tour taking you to explore Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda’s most extensive wildlife safari park. The key highlights of this trip include a game drive, a launch cruise excursion, and Budongo chimpanzee tracking.
Murchison Falls National Park lies in four districts in Northwestern Uganda: Nwoya, Buliisa, Kiryandongo, and Masindi. Established in 1952, it is one of the oldest wildlife parks in Uganda and occupies 3840 sq km. It hosts 76 species of mammals and 451 bird species, including shoebill storks and forest birds.
Day 1: Travel to Budongo Forest and Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, visit
After breakfast, leave Kampala/Entebbe for Budongo Forest, one of the scenic tropical rainforests in Uganda. This is found in the southern section of Murchison Falls NP. Before you get there, you will branch off at Nakasongola district for rhino tracking in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. From Ziwa, drive to Masindi for lunch, then drive to Budongo Forest to check in at your lodge.
Day 2: Budongo chimps & drive to the top of the falls
Wake up early for breakfast, and after, connect to a briefing point to get to know the chimpanzee tracking guidelines. Budongo comes second after Kibale National Park with a vast profusion of chimpanzees, and today, you will track habituated chimpanzee communities.
Over 800 chimps live within Budongo, and today’s encounters include other primates such as baboons, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, and black & white monkeys. Other than primates, Budongo is a rich birding site, inhabited by birds such as arrow-marked, isabelline wheatear, sooty chat, Puvel’s illadopsis, Nubian woodpeckers, white-fronted black chat, yellow-footed flycatchers, and more. After returning to the lodge for lunch, prepare to be awestruck as you journey to the top of the falls. The sight of the falls forcing themselves into a narrow gorge of 8 meters and then cascading 45m down before flowing to the Albertine Nile is a breathtaking spectacle that inspires you.
Day 3: Murchison Falls Game Drive & Launch Cruise recreation
After a refreshing coffee or tea, you’ll depart from your lodge in the northern sector of Murchison Falls National Park for an early morning game drive. As you traverse the north circuit, keep your eyes peeled for the diverse wildlife that calls this park home, including buffalo, giraffes, elephants, antelopes, warthogs, and many bird species. The thrill of spotting these magnificent creatures in their natural habitat is an experience you won’t soon forget.
The boat cruise excursion starts at 2:00 p.m. from the Paraa Jetty and takes 2-3 hours. It is along the Victoria Nile, taking you upstream to the base of the falls while you watch for hippos, crocodiles, aquatic bird species, and other animals.
Day 4: Depart Murchison Falls Park
A hefty breakfast will be enjoyed while at the lodge, after which you will catch up with early morning risers during a short game drive or check out of the lodge and drive back to Kampala or Entebbe city. If time allows, you can go to the airport to depart for the next destination. Today marks the end of the 4 days Murchison Falls and Budongo chimps.
