7 days highlights of the West without Gorillas

Experience Uganda’s diverse landscapes: equator experiment, wildlife safaris, cultural museums, lake exploration, and hot spring adventures.

Day 1 – Equator Adventure & Lake Mburo Safari
Day 2 – Cultural Museum & Lake Bunyonyi Retreat
Day 3 – Lake Bunyonyi Exploration & Queen Elizabeth Arrival
Day 4 – Queen Elizabeth Game Drive & Kazinga Channel Cruise
Day 5 – Chimp Tracking & Drive to Ruwenzori Mountains
Day 6 – Crater Lakes Exploration & Rwenzori Foothills Hike
Day 7 – Semuliki Hot Springs Adventure & Return to Kampala

Explore Uganda with Walter’s Tours.

Whichever direction you move in Uganda, you will experience the pleasure of its diversity. Uganda lies in equatorial Africa, with a landscape that ranges from mountains reaching close to 5200m above sea level to tropical rainforests, with the lowest point close to 600m. One-third of the country is covered by lakes, including Lake Victoria, the world’s largest tropical lake and renowned source of the Nile. While English is the official language, 48 tribal groups speak 40 recognized languages, in addition to languages and cultures that have traveled with different migrant and refugee communities. At Walter’s Tours, we are excited to offer you a fun, personalized, and informative tour that provides a new way to explore all of the above and experience Uganda at the local level.

While we can recommend routes and activities, we also support anyone who wants to create their own itinerary based on their interests and budgets. In your case, we focus on good lodges, relaxing downtime, and an almost luxurious trip. We believe that when lodging is luxurious, so is the trip because we use the finest modified safari jeeps and professional guides. Walter personally will be your guide, joined by his team of well-trained experts and local guides in different areas.

Here is a summary of our tour of Uganda:

• 7 days highlights of the west without gorillas, but 8-9 days with gorillas.
• Explore the West of Uganda after Kampala and Murchison Falls in the North, including Jinja in the East, and possibly all the way to Kidepo Valley National Park in the northeast, where you’ll find a version of what you would call the Masai of Uganda, called Karimojongs—a culture-rich and beautiful place.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Western Uganda is one of the greatest entry points to paradise. It boasts wetlands, grasslands, terraced gardens, thick tropical rainforests, and snow-peaked mountains. There is no shortage of game reserves, forest reserves, and opportunities to encounter mountain gorillas as your highlight, along with much more, like the famous boda boda city tour, cultural tours, and visits to national parks.

Day 1 – Equator Adventure & Lake Mburo Safari

Start the drive from Kampala and take the route of the equator to Lake Mburo National Park. Stay at Leopard Camp for glamorous camping. Enjoy great food and a great place. Alternatively, opt for luxury at Rwakobo or even Walter’s special open bush camping. Talk to us; we plan.

Here is the route plan for the day: Leave Kampala and drive to the equator, which is 2 hours away. Make a 30-minute stop for coffee and to do an experiment to see how water swirls on both sides of the hemisphere – south and north – and on the equator.

Later, drive to Lake Mburo, which is 2-3 hours away. Located 150 km away from the equator (maximum 3 hours), Lake Mburo is one of Uganda’s best-kept national parks. It is among Uganda’s smallest but most unique national parks. It is the most accessible and one of the few parks in Uganda where you can see zebras, as well as the only game park supporting a population of impala, the antelope creature after which Kampala is named.

There are options available in the park to take the rare opportunity to see game on foot or by bicycle. Stay overnight to take nature walks to track all animals on foot. Lake Mburo is the park where one can freely walk and even see all animals. I highly recommend the cultural walks and bicycle rides, followed by an overnight stay and campfire. Then, enjoy a cultural tour in the area. We don’t have to cover the whole park, as this park is mainly famous for walks and bicycles but not game drives. We will do game drives in other places like Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Day 2 – Cultural Museum & Lake Bunyonyi Retreat

After a morning cultural walk, we will return for a big breakfast. By around 11 am, we will set off to Lake Bunyonyi via Mbarara and Igongo Cultural Museum, where we will stop for 2 hours to enjoy the cultural place and history. Later, we will drive to Bunyonyi and proceed all the way to Sharp Island Gorilla Lodge to enjoy nature and the lovely island luxury. If one wishes to do gorilla tracking, we will add an extra day or two on this trip before continuing to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Day 3 – Lake Bunyonyi Exploration & Queen Elizabeth Arrival

Wake up whenever you like, have breakfast, and then go for a tour around the lake and on the islands. Later, come back for lunch and refreshment. Then, drive for 3 hours to Queen Elizabeth National Park. We will arrive at Kingfisher Lodge, which boasts the best view of the park and the Rift Valley. Rest and enjoy swimming in the lodge’s pool with a view.

Day 4 – Queen Elizabeth Game Drive & Kazinga Channel Cruise

Wake up very early morning at 6 am, have breakfast, and go for a long morning game drive until around 11 am before embarking on the famous boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel. By around 1 pm, when the boat ride ends, we will stop for a fish lunch cooked Walter style (freshly caught from the Kazinga Channel). Later, continue with game drives and further exploration of the park until around 6 pm, then drive back to the lodge.

Day 5 – Chimp Tracking & Drive to Rwenzori Mountains

Wake up early in the morning at around 6:30 am, have breakfast, and then embark on a 40-minute game drive to Kalinzu Forest for chimp tracking, which will end around 11 am at the latest, or possibly earlier. Afterward, we will set off to drive for 3 hours to the heart of the Rwenzori Mountains/Fort Portal, the crater lakes region.

Day 6 – Crater Lakes Exploration & Rwenzori Foothills Hike

Wake up whenever we want and drive to explore the crater lakes. If you want to experience one-day hikes on the foothills of Rwenzori, it’s also fine. Enjoy nature walks and even bicycle rides, etc.

Day 7 – Semuliki Hot Springs Adventure & Return to Kampala

We could explore Semuliki Hot Springs, the hottest hot springs in Uganda. The nature walks there last for 2 hours, etc. Later, we will drive back to Kampala, which takes about 5 hours.