Back to HomeThree of Africa's most sought-after wildlife sightings live within a few hours of each other. None of them get the attention they deserve.
Why Uganda
Uganda does not have the famous names. No Masai Mara migration, no Serengeti horizon. What Uganda has instead is precision: a bird so prehistoric it looks like it stepped out of the Cretaceous. Lions that climb trees and have baffled biologists for decades. The only wild white rhinos in the country, growing slowly after a careful rewilding effort that started with just two animals.
These are not animals you see in passing. You plan for them. You go with a guide who knows exactly where they will be, and you give yourself the morning or the full day that the sighting deserves. Every one of these encounters is designed to be unhurried, private, and genuinely rare.
Mabamba Wetlands, Lake Victoria
One of Africa's most sought-after birds. The shoebill stands 1.2 metres tall and stares at you with prehistoric indifference. Mabamba Swamp on the northern shore of Lake Victoria is one of the most reliable sites in Africa to find them. We arrange private dugout canoe trips at dawn, when the light is flat and the swamp is completely quiet.
✦One of only 5,000 to 8,000 remaining worldwide
✦Classified Vulnerable by the IUCN
✦Best viewed at dawn from a private canoe
✦Mabamba is 1 hour from Entebbe
Ishasha, Queen Elizabeth National Park
The Ishasha lions have developed a habit that lions almost nowhere else in Africa share: they climb fig trees and sleep in the branches. No one knows with certainty why. The Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park is remote and quiet. Sightings require patience and the right guide. When you find them, it is one of the most surreal wildlife moments available anywhere.
✦One of only two lion populations known to climb trees
✦Ishasha: a remote sector with very few visitors
✦Best season: June through September
✦Full-day game drive to reach the sector
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, Nakasongola
Uganda's white rhinos were wiped out by poachers in the 1980s. The Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary began a rewilding programme in 2005 and now has more than 30 rhinos in a protected reserve. You walk among them on foot with armed Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers, within twenty metres of animals that weigh two tonnes. It is one of the few places in East Africa where you can do this.
✦Only wild white rhinos in Uganda
✦Rewilded since 2005 from South African stock
✦Walk on foot with UWA armed rangers
✦3 hours north of Kampala, on route to Murchison
How These Fit Into a Journey
One hour from Entebbe airport. Works perfectly as a first morning in Uganda, before the drive west to Bwindi.
Three hours north of Kampala. Works as a stopover en route to Murchison Falls or as a standalone day trip from the capital.
Five hours from Bwindi. The southern Ishasha sector pairs with a main Queen Elizabeth game drive and can be combined with chimp tracking at Kyambura Gorge.
Journeys for wildlife travellers
The Iconic Five includes a shoebill outing, tree-climbing lions and a rhino walk. If you want to focus on one elusive species, we can build around it instead.
Best matchMountain gorilla, shoebill stork, tree-climbing lion, wild white rhino, chimpanzee. The flagship country journey.
A wider Uganda journey that brings together the shoebill, tree-climbing lions and rhinos.
From $13,500 per person
A journey made for your dates
Stay here and share your travel window. We’ll check the right permits, lodges and route for this journey.