Travelmonke Tours and Travel · UTB/RTT/TT/2025/101816 · direct UWA permit allocations
Tailor-made luxury gorilla trekking, small-capacity lodges, and senior guides who know every sector by name — at roughly half the permit cost of neighbouring Rwanda.
Check permit availability View safari packagesTravelmonke designs tailor-made luxury safaris in Uganda for travellers who want the country's rarest encounters — mountain gorilla trekking, chimpanzee tracking, and classic savanna game drives — without the compromises of a resold, templated itinerary. As one of the Uganda luxury safari operators travellers compare first, we're a Uganda Tourism Board–licensed local team with direct UWA permit allocations, planning every private Uganda safari around confirmed trekking dates, small-capacity luxury lodges, and a senior guide matched to your fitness level and interests.
Whether you're comparing a luxury Uganda safari for a first gorilla trek, planning a honeymoon safari, or building a multi-park itinerary that combines primates with the Big Five, our team designs the trip around you rather than fitting you into a fixed package. It's what separates a genuinely bespoke luxury safari Uganda experience from a brochure itinerary with the dates changed.
Featured itineraries
5 days · fly-in
Our tightest luxury Uganda safari, built around a single confirmed gorilla trek using domestic charter flights.
8 days · honeymoon
Intimate, small-capacity lodges paired with a private gorilla trek — one of the most singular experiences a couple can share.
9 days · primates
Gorilla trekking in Bwindi plus two distinct chimpanzee encounters, in Kibale Forest and Kyambura Gorge.
8 days · classical
Bwindi, Kibale, and Queen Elizabeth connected entirely by domestic charter flight — no long road transfers.
10 days · family
Lake Mburo, Queen Elizabeth, and Bwindi, planned around the gorilla trekking age limit with alternating parent treks.
12 days · grand journey
Our most complete circuit: Murchison Falls, Kibale, Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi, and Lake Mburo in one trip.
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Most requested
2026–2027 pricing, sector-by-sector permit numbers, and the exact booking sequence now that UWA's reservation hold is gone.
Read the guide →
Rushaga sector, limited
Four hours with a semi-habituated family instead of one. $1,500 through 2026, rising to $1,800 from January 2027.
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The $700 question
Same encounter, roughly half the permit cost. Where the extra transfer time in Uganda is, and isn't, worth it.
Read the comparison →Parks & destinations
Roughly half the world's remaining mountain gorillas, across four distinct trekking sectors.
Explore Bwindi →
The Kazinga Channel, tree-climbing lions at Ishasha, and chimp tracking at Kyambura Gorge.
Explore Queen Elizabeth →
The entire Victoria Nile forced through a seven-metre gorge, and the boat safari built around it.
Explore Murchison Falls →
Africa's best chimpanzee trekking, plus eleven other primate species in one of the continent's densest forests.
Explore Kibale Forest →
Uganda's most accessible park, and one of the few where walking and horseback safaris are routinely offered.
Explore Lake Mburo →
One of only two places in Africa with tree-climbing lions, in Queen Elizabeth's quiet southern reaches.
Explore Ishasha →Where to stay
Bwindi · Nkuringo
Uganda's highest lodge, over 2,000m, eight volcanic-stone cottages with views to Rwanda and DR Congo.
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Murchison Falls
Eight riverside bandas on the Victoria Nile's southern bank, elephants visible from your own deck.
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Lake Mburo
An infinity pool carved directly into a granite kopje, overlooking buffalo and zebra in the valley below.
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Bwindi · Buhoma
Among the most established luxury properties in Bwindi, with immediate access to the park's oldest trekking routes.
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Queen Elizabeth
Perched on the edge of the gorge itself, with direct access to chimp tracking and the Kazinga Channel.
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Ishasha
Small, remote, and built specifically around access to the tree-climbing lions and genuine seclusion.
See the lodge →Now booking
A second confirmed gorilla trek, Volcanoes National Park's shortest transfer from any capital, and East Africa's most concentrated stretch of ultra-luxury lodges — Bisate, Singita Kwitonda, One&Only Gorilla's Nest. Best paired with Uganda on one trip.
Explore Rwanda safaris See the combined journeyChimpanzee trekking in Kibale, a Nile boat safari to the base of Murchison Falls, tree-climbing lions at Ishasha, shoebill storks at Mabamba — a Uganda safari is never just one encounter.
Every itinerary we build combines primates, classic savanna game viewing, and at least one experience most operators never mention.
See all experiencesA private plunge pool for two, or lodge-based programmes and alternating trek days for families with children under the gorilla trekking age limit — we plan around who's actually travelling.
Our honeymoon and family itineraries start from the same question: what does your specific group actually need this trip to be?
Honeymoon safarisWhat our travellers say
Reviews shown are paraphrased summaries of guest feedback originally posted on TripAdvisor, under our parent company Travelmonke Tours and Travel. Reviews are the subjective opinion of individual travellers.
Frequently asked
Everything you need to know about planning a seamless, private luxury Uganda safari — the kind of luxury safaris Uganda travellers trust most.
A standard permit costs $800 per person in peak season, or $600 during the low-season months of April, May, and November. See our full permit booking guide for the complete 2026–2027 pricing structure.
A luxury safari in Uganda means a private vehicle and guide, small-capacity lodges rather than shared camps, fly-in transfers between parks, and an itinerary built around your dates rather than a fixed departure. See how to book a premium Uganda safari for the full booking sequence.
Yes — gorilla trekking anchors most of our itineraries, including permit booking, transfer to Bwindi, and stays at named luxury lodges near your trekking sector. See our permit booking guide or browse luxury Uganda safari packages built around it.
Yes. Every Travelmonke itinerary uses a private vehicle, a private driver-guide, and a schedule built around your interests rather than a shared group departure. You won't be combined with other travellers unless you specifically request a group itinerary.
We work with small-capacity luxury lodges across Uganda — typically under 20 rooms, full board, with named properties like Mahogany Springs Lodge, Nile Safari Lodge, and Kyambura Gorge Lodge featured throughout our itineraries. See our guide to Uganda's best luxury lodges for detail on each.
Yes. Domestic charter flights connect Uganda's parks in 30–60 minutes rather than multi-hour road transfers, and helicopter options are available through our aviation partners for special arrangements. See our domestic charter flights guide for operators and typical routes.
Peak season — June to September and December to February — offers the driest trekking conditions and the best wildlife viewing, at the highest lodge rates and permit demand. Low season (April, May, November) drops gorilla permits to $600 and lodge rates by 15–30%. See our month-by-month guide for the trade-offs.
Uganda offers a significantly lower permit price and a larger habituated gorilla population; Rwanda offers a shorter transfer from Kigali. See our full comparison.
Difficulty varies by sector — Buhoma's trails are gentler, while Nkuringo and Rushaga involve steeper, often muddy climbs of 2–6 hours. Porters, walking sticks, and a guide matched to your fitness level are standard on every trek we arrange. See our fitness guide by sector before you book.
6–10 months ahead for peak season (June–September, December–February), 3–4 months for low season. Full detail in our permit guide.
Yes — Uganda is consistently rated among East Africa's safer safari destinations, with secure private transport, vetted guides, and lodges we've personally reviewed. Read our fully transparent, regularly updated honest safety assessment, including current status on regional health advisories.
Yes — every itinerary we build is tailor-made rather than a fixed package. Tell us your dates, interests, and group size and we'll confirm permit and lodge availability directly. Start your request on our booking page.