Uganda Guided Safari Game Drives
Guided safari game drives in Uganda and other African destinations involve traveling through savanna plains in a 4X4 safari vehicle, accompanied by an expert local guide, and watching wild game in their natural habitat. A game drive is a highlight of any Africa tour, taking you deep into the natural wildness and bringing you closer to the big and small animals within the safe boundaries of a 4×4. Let’s dive deeper into what to anticipate during these game drives, which destinations offer the best game viewing experiences, and how to make the most of driving in Uganda’s safari game parks.
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What to look forward to on a private safari wildlife tour
The most gratifying guided game excursions will take place during the misty dawn and late in the chilly evenings or at night. This is when most animals are more active. Every game drive, regardless of safari location, is distinct, making wildlife interactions surprising and exciting. However, the working format with various ground operators may be identical.
In Uganda, a normal wildlife drive may last 3-4 hours. Other game drives last longer than six hours, with brief pauses to enable the traveler to exercise, loosen up, and snack. For brief breaks, the guide typically picks a location with excellent views of the plains. For early morning wildlife viewing, some safari lodges provide breakfast settings in wilderness. Afternoon wildlife excursions are typically planned to conclude with a well-timed refreshing sundowner.
The local guide is most likely your driver, and he or she will be in charge of the adventure excursion, finding the animals, bringing you through game viewing tracks, and telling you funny tales about your wildlife experiences. Although wildlife densities in Uganda’s safari parks do not compare to those found in eastern destinations, wildlife watching on an expert-guided safari game drive in Uganda is far more gratifying. Because the number of tourists vehicles in the game parks is a portion of those visiting more established locations, game safaris in Uganda are more private. On a good day, seeing a lion, elephant, or leopard is a rare treat, and such encounters are rarely shared with crowds of cars.
On Uganda’s savannah expanses, famous game drive views include tree-climbing lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park’s Ishasha section, elephants, buffalo, leopard, numerous antelope species, hippo, and the endangered Rothchild’s giraffe. Expect to be driven in a usually closed 4×4 Land cruiser with big windows for each passenger and a top pop-up for photos. In other cases, you might discover an open-sided four-by-four boat at a camp. To prevent lengthy winding journeys from the airport to the safari area, Uganda safaris are operated in closed cruisers.
Guided safari game drives per day
Two wildlife excursions per day are generally recommended. On the afternoon of your visit, you can expect to go on your first safari wildlife drive. Safaris departing from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park’s trekking gorillas cannot escape the tree-climbing experience of Queen Elizabeth National Park’s southern Ishasha region. Safari trips typically include at least two wildlife game drives per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, lasting approximately three to five hours each. On your final day in the park, your local guide may include another safari wildlife drive on the way to your next location.
Photography safaris typically include one safari drive per day that lasts 6-10 hours and includes a picnic meal. Travers who favor a single trip per day are more likely to return to the camp’s more leisurely activities in the afternoons, such as nature viewing, hikes, chats, swimming, reading a novel, or watching local cultural performances. You should consult with your guide or tour manager first thing in the morning the number of drives you will have that day and when the next one should be.
Which Ugandan locations offer wildlife drives?
The most gratifying safari wildlife excursions in Uganda take place in four of the country’s ten national parks. In southwestern Uganda, Queen Elizabeth National Park and Lake Mburo National Park are popular with visitors wanting to explore the primate-rich rainforests of Bwindi and Kibale. Murchison Falls National Park and Kidepo National Park in the extreme northeastern region are two of the most popular safari destinations for safaris lasting more than a week or two.
Queen Elizabeth National park
If lions are a must-see on your Uganda safari vacation, safari game excursions in Queen Elizabeth should be on your schedule. The area is home to the largest number of lions in the country. Finding lions on a safari game drive, on the other hand, is always difficult anywhere in the wild and requires an effective spotting local guide, chance, and persistence. It’s not as easy as what nature television networks portray. An experienced tour guide can locate the big cats in the grassy Kasenyi Plains of northern and southern Ishasha.
Aside from the usual lion sightings, the park is well-known for its tree-climbing lions, which are frequently observed happily lazing in the gigantic fig trees that grow in the southern Ishasha sector. Other creatures that visitors frequently see while traveling through the Queen Elizabeth savannah lands are massive herds of elephants and buffalo. You’ll also see a variety of fascinating animal species, including Uganda kob, topi, and bushbuck. The huge woodland hog is exceptionally visible. Look for the illusive leopard in the Kasenyi trails. Night wildlife excursions, on the other hand, are ideal for spotting the elusive leopard.
Murchison Falls National Park.
Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda’s biggest savannah park, is located up the Nile at the border of the Albertine Rift. Murchison Falls is one of three major safari parks in Uganda that offer great organized safari wildlife game drives. A decent safari trip on Murchison’s wildlife tracks will take you to four of Africa’s Big Five, with the exception of rhinos. On game drives, buffalo and elephants are especially prevalent. The park has a thriving lion population that feeds on the plentiful Uganda kob. You’ll also see oribi, Jackson’s hartebeest, Defassa waterbuck, grey duiker, and bushbuck, among other animal species.
On any safari wildlife drive in the park, you will see big groups of  Rothschild’s giraffes. The reclusive leopards, though few in number, are most likely to be seen near Pakuba. On the grassy grasslands, keep an eye out for battalions of the endangered Pata’s monkey. Murchison Falls National Park lies approximately 200 km from Kibale National Park, the closest park, and thus is somewhat isolated from the famous western circuit. As a result, it is typically the first or last visit on the finest of Uganda safari vacation. Nonetheless, the Murchison Falls path via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is the only one that guarantees a sighting of Africa’s BIG FIVE.
Lake Mburo National park
If you’re not interested in seeing large game, safari game drives in Lake Mburo National Park will suffice. A game excursion will reveal large herds of impala, zebra, waterbuck, topi, and buffalo. Mburo is typically used as a rest stop on lengthy drives to the southwestern Uganda safari route, where visitors can anticipate more animal action drama. As a result, visitors typically favor the park’s active safari activities, such as wildlife watching on foot or horses, as well as the relaxed sunsets.
A normal Lake Mburo safari ought to involve a night or two in the park before heading deeper into the western safari route to follow gorillas in Bwindi or experience Queen Elizabeth National Park’s Rwenzori Mountains-shadowed savannah plains.
Kidepo Valley National Park
If you want to spend more time in a solitary savannah wilderness in Uganda, Kidepo National park is the finest option. The park is a predator sanctuary, safeguarding many predators that can only be found in Uganda’s parks, such as the cheetah and black-backed jackal. Regular sightings on a game drive in Kidepo include the striped hyena, bat-eared fox, cheetah, caracal, aardwolf, Lesser Kudu plus Grant’s gazelle, elephant, Orbis, Burchell’s zebras, Jackson’s hartebeests, bush pigs, cape buffaloes, bohor reedbuck, warthog, defassa waterbuck, Rothschild giraffes, bush duskier and elands, bushbucks and zebra. A competent local guide will identify the black-backed jackal, side-striped jackal, Kongoni, and spotted hyena, in addition to lions, leopards, and several small cats.
Bear in Mind:
Uganda safari national parks are vast, with wild animals dispersed across vast savannah expanses, so you’ll have to drive over faraway game trails to locate a cluster of animals. Sightings are not assured no matter how much you pay for your expedition, particularly for the large elusive animals.
It’s best to discuss your goals with your expert local guide about the species of wildlife you might meet. Safari game excursions are more difficult than what nature television programs portray. Before you plan your journey, learn more about the park you’ll be visiting, including the types of animals and the caliber of game drives.
When Is the Best Time to Visit?
The ideal times to go on safari game drives in Uganda’s western savannah areas are from June to August and December to February. The ideal time to go on a wildlife drive in Kidepo Valley National Park is right after the rainy season in September, October, and November, as well as during the lengthy dry season from December to April. The beginning of the rainy season, on the other hand, is always a wonderful time to travel on the safari trails and take in the greening scenery.