A safari built for families: rhino tracking on foot, boat trips among hippos and elephants, game drives, crater lakes and horse riding at Lake Mburo, with shorter drives and child-friendly lodges.
This eight-day safari is built around what families enjoy most: walking with rhinos, boat trips among hippos and elephants, game drives with plenty to see, and active days at Lake Mburo with walking and horse riding. Distances are kept manageable, lodges are chosen for families, and every day has a highlight for children and adults alike.
Because gorilla trekking requires a minimum age of 15, this itinerary focuses on savannah wildlife, rhinos and boats, with optional chimpanzee tracking for children aged 12 and over.
Leave Entebbe after an early breakfast and drive north to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Children love walking with the rangers to find the rhinos, often a mother with her calf, and learning their names and stories. After lunch at the sanctuary, continue to Murchison Falls National Park, arriving at your lodge by the Nile in the late afternoon.
Cross the Nile at Paraa early for a morning game drive on the Buligi tracks north of the river. This is the best area in the park for lions, Rothschild’s giraffe, elephants, buffalo, Uganda kob and Jackson’s hartebeest, with the Albert Nile and the Congo hills as a backdrop. Giraffes, elephants and warthogs keep children busy at the windows.
In the afternoon, take the three-hour launch trip from Paraa up the Victoria Nile to the foot of Murchison Falls. You pass pods of hippos, large crocodiles, elephants and buffalo on the banks and countless birds, before the boat stops below the thundering falls.
Drive to the top of Murchison Falls, where the entire Nile forces itself through a gorge just seven metres wide and plunges 43 metres with a roar you feel underfoot. Walk the short trail to the viewpoints for the full force of the water. Then drive south through Hoima to Fort Portal, arriving at your lodge among the crater lakes in the late afternoon. Families with children aged 12 or over can add chimpanzee tracking in Kibale the next morning; younger children can enjoy a gentle crater lakes walk or a swim instead.
Take a morning walk around the crater lakes or join the optional chimp trek, then drive south into Queen Elizabeth National Park, stopping at the equator for a family photo with a foot in each hemisphere.
In the afternoon, board the two-hour launch cruise on the Kazinga Channel from Mweya. The channel links Lakes George and Edward and its banks hold one of Africa’s highest concentrations of hippos, along with buffalo, elephants coming down to drink, Nile crocodiles and huge numbers of waterbirds such as pelicans, African skimmers and pied kingfishers.
Set out at dawn for a game drive on the Kasenyi plains, where thousands of Uganda kob gather on their breeding grounds and the lions of Kasenyi hunt in the early light. Look also for buffalo, waterbuck, warthog and elephants, and for leopards along the Channel Track.
In the afternoon, visit the salt pans of Lake Katwe, where local workers have harvested salt by hand for centuries. Children are fascinated by the colourful pans and the stories of the salt trade.
Drive south-east via Mbarara to Lake Mburo National Park, arriving for lunch. In the afternoon, take a game drive among zebra, impala, eland and giraffe, followed by a boat trip on the lake to see hippos and crocodiles up close.
Start with a ranger-guided walk on the savannah, where children learn to read animal tracks and droppings. Later, families can join a horseback safari among zebra on the eastern side of the park, with gentle rides for younger children, or relax at the lodge pool.
Drive back to Entebbe, stopping at the equator at Kayabwe and, time permitting, the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre on the shores of Lake Victoria, where children can see rescued animals up close, including a shoebill. Transfer to the airport for your evening flight.
Lodges shown match the quoted price. Ask us about mid-range and luxury upgrades.
All ages. Rhino tracking, boat trips, game drives and walks suit children of most ages; chimpanzee tracking requires children to be 12 or over.
Gorilla trekking has a minimum age of 15. If your children are 15 or older, we can add Bwindi; see our 7-day primates and wildlife safari.
We keep most days to 3–6 hours, with stops for the equator, snacks and wildlife along the way.
Yes. We choose lodges with family rooms or connecting rooms, pools where possible and flexible meal times.
Uganda is a malaria area. Speak to your doctor about child-friendly anti-malarials, and use repellent and mosquito nets, which lodges provide.
Yes. Add nights at Lake Bunyonyi, which is safe for swimming, or fly from Entebbe to Zanzibar for a family beach finish.
Wildlife 7 daysTwo of Uganda’s greatest wildernesses in one journey: the thundering Nile at Murchison Falls, then the wide, wild plains of Kidepo Valley in the far north-east.
Short break 4 daysRhinos on foot, chimpanzees in a mahogany forest, the most powerful waterfall on the Nile and the big game of Uganda’s largest park, in four unhurried days from Kampala.
Honeymoon 12 daysAdventure and romance: fly in to trek gorillas in Bwindi, see tree-climbing lions and the Kazinga Channel, then fly to Zanzibar for Stone Town and six nights on the beach.
Change the dates, add a night, upgrade a lodge or combine it with Rwanda or Kenya. Tell us what you have in mind and we’ll send a revised plan and price.
