Adventure Consults realizes that most (if not all) travelers don’t enjoy spending lots of time in motor vehicles or motorized boats. As a result, we’ve decided to introduce cycling safaris as a way to complement the safari experience for those traveling with us in Uganda.
Bike safaris are certainly not new. It’s how we get you pedaling through the African bush that makes this adventure unique.
Anyone can participate in our cycling trips with a little training, tips and advice — you don’t need to be a Tour de France winner or cycling expert! Riding through the national parks and countryside, and beside the many lakes and rivers, is one of the best adventures that Uganda has to offer.
Our cycling safaris are coupled with wildlife viewing and lots of interaction with local communities. All tours are fully supported with back-up vehicles, snacks and guides who are also experienced in bicycle mechanics. Support vehicles are available for you and your bike at any time you decide to take a break.
Check the equipment list on our travel info page for clothing tips. And get in touch for pricing or customized itineraries.
Primates & Wildlife Cycling Adventure
A 9 day/8 nights adventure through Western Uganda. This will enable you see the most spectacular scenery, interact with the local communities, enjoy a water safari, follow the elusive Chimpanzees and track the endangered Mountain Gorillas. This package can be narrowed down to 4 days/3 nights or expanded to cover more fascinating areas to suit travelers’ interests.
Day 1: Arrival @ Entebbe International Airport
Adventure Consults staff will meet you upon arrival at Entebbe Airport, assist you through customs, fetch your checked bags and hand you over to a safari guide for transfer to your hotel. Depending on arrival time, you have the option of an escorted cycling experience around the Entebbe area including the slope down to the golf course, botanical gardens and a meander near the shore of Lake Victoria. Entebbe is far more laidback than Kampala and much of the area is still green with lots of monkeys, birds and butterflies. After your ride, return to your hotel in Entebbe for an overnight on bed & breakfast basis.
Day 2: Entebbe – Kibale Forest National Park
Meet your guide in the lobby for detailed briefing of the day’s adventure and start the journey to western Uganda via Kampala. The drive goes through verdant countryside, traditional homesteads and farmlands before arriving at Fort Portal in time for lunch.
In the afternoon, start cycling with your guide to the Kibale Forest along a road that rambles in the shadow of the fabled “Mountains of the Moon.” It’s a 40-km (24-mile) stretch, but you don’t have to cycle the entire distance. Your guide will point out interesting places along the way, including the lush tea plantations. Our support vehicle will follow at an agreed/reasonable distance. Proceed straight to your overnight lodge upon arriving at Kibale in the late afternoon. Meals and accommodation included.
Day 3: Chimpanzee Tracking — Kibale Forest
After an early morning breakfast, drive to Kibale Forest National Park headquarters for a briefing then head out for primate viewing along a jungle trail. Your guide will help you search for chimps and other animals that inhabit a park that hosts 13 species of primate. Making sure the trek is both enjoyable and informative, your guide is a fountain of information, not just on primates, but all the fauna and flora one finds in Kibale Forest. The walk is excellent for viewing bird life and primates at close quarters.
You can relax at the lodge after lunch before undertaking an hour-long cycling experience in the Kibale/Bigodi area. Along the way you may encounter baboons, black-and-white colobus monkeys, birds and lots more! You return to the lodge around the same time the sun is disappearing over the forest canopy. Meals and overnight accommodation included.
Day 4: Kibale — Queen Elizabeth National Park
After a short briefing by the guides, we start the three-hour drive from Kibale to Queen Elizabeth National Park, cruising beside the mystical Rwenzori Mountains for most of the journey. Along the way there’s a 21-km (13-mile) cycle through an area dotted with volcanic craters, farms and homesteads. Upon reaching the Kasese-Fort Portal Highway, we hop back into the jeeps and proceed to Queen Elizabeth National Park and lunch at the lodge.
Following an afternoon siesta, it’s time for a game drive through a park that harbors hundreds of animal species including waterbuck, elephant, leopard, buffalo, hyena and a variety of antelope. Meals and overnight at the lodge.
Day 5: Game Viewing & Boat Ride
Today starts with an early morning rise and a cup of your favorite beverage before embarking on a morning game drive along Kasenyi Track and the Queens’s Mile. Keep a look out for lion, elephant, buffalo, warthog, leopard, hyena, mongoose, waterbuck and Ugandan kob, as well as many small animals and birds.
After lunch, enjoy a unique boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel and into Lake Edward. This trip passes many hippo groups and a wide variety of animals drinking at the water’s edge. The cruise offers an excellent platform for photography, bird watching and game viewing. The prolific bird life along the channel is both colorful and remarkable, with well over 600 recorded species. Meals and overnight at the lodge.
Day 6: Queen Elizabeth — Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
After an early morning breakfast, we start the journey to Bwindi via the remote Ishasha Sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. As you drive through the area, keep an eye out for Ishasha’s famous tree-climbing lions.
Upon arrival in Bwindi in the afternoon, you have an option to simply relax and enjoy a presentation by a Bwindi orphanage group. Alternatively, you can embark on an escorted bike ride through villages around the fringe of the national park. Expect lots of waves, smiles and local people greeting you with the phrase “Hello Mzungu!” Meals and overnight accommodation included at the lodge.
Day 7: Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. 10 hours.
Another early morning for a trek in the famed gorilla sanctuary. The Bwindi Forest is spectacular, a dense landscape crisscrossed by numerous animal trails that expedite to wherever the gorillas happen to be on any given day.
The amount of time on the trail — somewhere between three and ten hours — is determined by the weather, the terrain and the daily movements of the gorillas. The thrill of spending time with and observing these gentle giants is a rare and moving experience that leaves you with intense, long-lasting memories. The gorillas are shy and peaceful animals and it’s an unforgettable to watch and photograph them as they interact with each other.
Meals and overnight accommodation included at the lodge.
Day 8: Cycling in Bwindi.
Pack enough water, wear the right clothes and set off on a cycle adventure through the tropical forest and villages of the Bwindi area. Depending on the weather, the tracks might be dusty or muddy — but that’s part of the adventure!
Bwindi is renowned for its lush rainforest, great bird watching, friendly communities and cool weather. Return to the lodge in time for lunch. After a relaxing afternoon, enjoy entertainment presented by a local community or school group. Meals and overnight accommodation included at the lodge.
Day 9: Fly to Entebbe — Connect to International Flight
After breakfast, proceed to Kihihi airstrip in time for your 9:45 a.m. flight. Depending on the weather, you might have incredible views of volcanoes, villages and lakes while taking off from Kihihi. Arriving at Entebbe Airport at 11:25 a.m., connect to your onward international flight.
Please make sure your return flight from Entebbe departs after 1 p.m. Note that flight schedules are subject to change. Depending on flight schedule, you may need a day room at a hotel near the airport which we can book upon request.
Lake Mburo Wild Cycling Experience
Smallest of Uganda’s savannah national parks, Lake Mburo features markedly different fauna from parks like Bwindo or Kibale. Hippo, crocodile and a variety of water birds frequent the five lakes within the park, while the fringing swamps hide secretive wetlands wildlife like the sitatunga, as well as the red, black and yellow papyrus gonalek bird. Mburo is also the best place in Uganda to spot cape eland, zebra, topi and impala (for which Kampala is named).
Our cycling experience at Lake Mburo includes early morning, late afternoon and full day bush exploration on mountain bikes. If you’re adventurous and like to keep fit, you can also explore the sandy tracks outside the park. Our guides will join you on this ride and make sure you don’t get lost!
Most of the tracks are suitable for a gentle family ride while taking in the wildlife all around. But there are plenty of alternative routes for more extreme riders to explore, like diving onto narrow animal paths or clambering over termite mounds.
During your stay in the park, you can also enjoy game drives, boat rides and optional horseback riding experiences. There’s also the option of limiting your cycling safari to Lake Mburo or combining it with a longer trip that includes other areas in Uganda and Rwanda. Please get in touch with us for pricing or to create a customized itinerary to suite your interests and the amount of time you have available for the trip.
Jinja Cycling Adventure
Uganda’s adventure capital offers more than just whitewater rafting or bungee jumping — you can also cycle along the banks of the River Nile! If you have an extra day or two to spare during your visit to Uganda, please join us on this off-the-beaten-path cycling experience.
One route takes you on single tracks through villages and small farms, with excellent views of the river along the way. The other route starts with the Bugembe viewpoint and its panoramic view of Lake Victoria, before heading into Jinja town and the celebrated Source of the Nile.