6 Days 5 Nights – Semuliki National Park

Meet your safari guide and transfer to Karibu Guest House. Karibu Guest House is a just 10 minutes’ drive from the Entebbe International Airport just opposite the Uganda’s presidential house and it was designed to offer an exclusive stay with limited rooms to offer a personalized touch to its guests along the free internet access, swimming pool, and spa and massage facilities plus the fresh air of the greenery.

Overnight at Karibu Guest House.

Meet your safari guide at Karibu Guest House and transfer to Semuliki National Park.

Semuliki National park is a virgin park and the only lowland tropical forest remaining in East Africa located in Bwamba country, a rural area in Bundibugyo district. It stretches through Semuliki valley and a portion of the ituri forest connecting to Zaire River in Democratic republic of Congo. The park is also surrounded by two of Uganda’s most famous physical features namely Mountain Rwenzori in the south East and Lake Albert in the northern side.

Semuliki National park that began as a forest reserve in 1932 was later converted to a national park in 1993 which is now a home to very many wildlife including 40 % of Uganda’s bird population with 441 species of birds and 66% of the forest birds found in Uganda making Semuliki national park the number one birding site in Uganda. It is also a home to the rare shoe bill

Possible mammal sightings include different monkeys, chimpanzees, baboons’ species like De Brazza’s monkey, Vervet monkey, olive baboons, guereza colobus and night primates like pattos and galagos.

Overnight at Semuliki River Lodge, a very small and beautiful lodge found inside Semuliki game reserve, it is the only lodge found inside the reserve with different rooms, divided into the suites and the luxury tents with exclusive verandas and day beds. Enjoy tea and coffee from the big open thatched main lodge and a refreshment from the swimming pool.

Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

In order to experience more of the forests vegetation and wildlife, UWA has created different trails in the forest like the walk through the 8km Sempaya nature trail, the 11km red monkey track, the 13km Kirumia hiking trail. The 3- 4 hours walk offers sightings and sounds of the forest, encounter the native wildlife like the animal and plant species in the park.

You could need a walking stick to spread the shrub in order to create a clear path as you hike. In case you are interested in spending a night in the nature, please come along with your camping facilities.

Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

Return to the Lodge for lunch and relaxation and later proceed for the Sempaya hot springs visit.

The park, famous for its two hot springs, with very exciting stories of their creation from the locals as compared to the scientific belief of formation, one of the hot springs is believed to be female and other male.

The male spring locally called Bintene is believed to be 12 meters long in diameter and the female called Nyasimbi which is a geyser that sends jetting water and steam into the air from deep down the earth’s crust.

The steam is visible even in a kilometer distance, the hot water can be used to boil eggs and Matoke. UWA has also created a bridge from which visitors can stand and enjoy the views of the hot springs.

Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

The chimpanzee trek for the habituated chimpanzees starts from the park headquarters where you are briefed about the chimpanzee trek guidelines, rules and regulations by the ranger guides. Proceed on your trek down to the forest with your ranger who keeps informing about the daily life style and behavior of the chimpanzees like the fact that they stay in groups of about 35 – 40 individuals of all genders, they like cracking nuts from roots of trees, they like chewing leaves, they like jumping from one tree to the other and the food they like most – fruits, young antelopes and goats. You also be to see the chimpanzees swing from the trees, prepare their nests to rest and overnight in, mating, nursing their babies among others.

Embark on an afternoon game drive through the savannah wilderness in your safari vehicle searching for the diversity of wildlife in Semuliki National park of over 52 mammals including buffalo, elephants, and Uganda kobs among others. The game drive can be done both in the morning and evening and the duration is according to your preference.

Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

Four tribes have settled around at the edge of the park including the Batwa who are hunters and forest gatherers, bakonjo and bamba are farmers, batuku are cattle keepers.

Embark on a community walk through the local villages surrounding Semuliki National park. Optional activities include visits to a traditional home, local orphanage or school, banana brewing demonstrations and even meeting traditional medicinal healers. This three to four hour walk is easily tailored to your individual schedule and interests.

Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

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