10-DAY UGANDA MOTORCYCLE TOUR

The short answer: nowhere else combines a motorcycle tour with a genuine safari. On four wheels, a game drive is something you watch. On a motorcycle, it is something you are inside of. Our route strings together four of Uganda's national parks — Murchison Falls, Kibale Forest, Queen Elizabeth and Lake Mburo — with rhino tracking at the Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary on the way in and an optional jungle hike to the mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest near the end. In ten days we ride the open savanna, cross the Uganda Equator, take boat trips to see crocodiles and birds, visit the birthplace of the river Nile and its spectacular waterfalls, and stay in amazing safari camps where the wildlife keeps moving past while you eat dinner.

Then there are the gorillas. For riders who add the optional trek, day 7 is a hike deep into Bwindi Forest to see some of the world's last silverback mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. With only an estimated 1,500 left on the planet, this may be the most exclusive wildlife encounter you can attach to any motorcycle tour, anywhere.

Riders come back struggling to rank it against everything else they have done. Andrew Cone from the USA summed up his tour in one line: "This is one of the best things I've ever done." Jeremy Leisure, also from the USA, went further — "one of the most amazing things I've ever done." When two riders on the same tour independently reach for "best thing I've ever done," we think the destination has earned its place on the shortlist.

Our Uganda tour rates 30% off-road, 60% comfort and 100% fun on our published scale. In practice that means the connecting stages between parks run on paved roads — including a beautiful, brand-new stretch along Lake Edward on the Congo border — while the days inside the parks are where the dirt lives. Day 3's game ride through Murchison Falls and day 5's stage toward Queen Elizabeth are each roughly 50% dirt: curvy tracks that our guide briefs you on at the park gate, ridden at wildlife pace with an armed ranger alongside.

Across eight riding days the route covers roughly 2,020 kilometers. Here is how the distances break down:

• Day 2 — Kampala to Murchison Falls, 380 km. Well-paved roads through small villages, with a stop to track rhinos at Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary, then two hours of curvy dirt inside the park to reach the lodge. Carry plenty of water — it gets hot and humid when the sun is out.
• Day 3 — Murchison Falls game ride, 170 km, 50% dirt. A full savanna loop with our ranger, then lunch and the pool at the lodge while wildlife wanders past.
• Day 4 — Murchison Falls to Kibale Forest, 370 km. Views along the Rwenzori Mountains, a fishing village on Lake Edward, lunch in Kagadi.
• Day 5 — Kibale toward Queen Elizabeth, about 200 km, 50% dirt. A shorter distance that still takes around four hours because of road conditions, capped with an evening game ride at 4:00 pm.
• Day 6 — Queen Elizabeth to Kisoro, 390 km. The biggest day: a 6:30 am game drive, then mountain riding with sharp turns and changing altitudes toward Bwindi, passing scenic Lake Bunyonyi. It can get cold up here, day and night.
• Day 7 — Bwindi to Lake Bunyonyi, 80 km. Gorilla trekking for those who booked it; a short, easy ride to the lake known as the deepest in Africa.
• Day 8 — Lake Bunyonyi to Lake Mburo, 200 km. Pleasant roads — though local drivers are not always considerate, so we ride alert.
• Day 9 — Lake Mburo to Kampala, 230 km of smooth tarmac, with a photo stop at the Uganda Equator and arrival before the city traffic builds.

Days 1 and 10 are arrival and departure days at Entebbe Airport, with transfers included and an optional 2–3 hour scooter tour of Kampala's chaotic charm before your flight home. The rhythm of the week matters as much as the numbers: long paved connectors alternate with slower dirt days inside the parks, and the two big-distance days (2 and 6) are followed by shorter, easier stages. Nobody grinds out maximum mileage every day — this is a safari that happens to be ridden, not an endurance test.

Every wildlife encounter on this tour is built into the itinerary rather than left to chance. This is what the ten days actually contain:

Rhinos (day 2). Before we even reach Murchison Falls, we stop at the Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary to track rhinos on foot — the first of the big animals, a few hours into the first riding day.

The Murchison Falls game ride (day 3). A 170-kilometer ride through the park's savanna with an armed ranger accompanying the group. The wildlife here roams freely — this is the "real game drive on motorcycle" that exists nowhere else in the world — and the ranger shares insights on the park's flora and fauna while keeping the encounter safe. Afterward you watch the passing wildlife from the lodge pool.

Chimpanzees and hippos (day 5). Riders who booked the optional chimpanzee trekking start with a 6:00 am trek in Kibale Forest. Everyone else strolls the tea plantations or watches the lake, where playful hippos often show themselves. The day ends with an evening game ride.

Queen Elizabeth National Park (day 6). An early game drive to spot the park's famous tree-climbing lions, herds of elephants and antelopes — and, if you're lucky, a leopard.

Gorillas (day 7, optional). The trek into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to sit with silverback mountain gorillas. Riders who skip it explore the mountains and lakes of the region or visit the pygmy tribes in the forest, and the group reunites at Lake Bunyonyi in the afternoon.

Lake Mburo (day 8). One more national park, one more chance to see wildlife against the hills before the ride back to the capital, with the night spent at Leopard Rest Camp inside the park.

Add the boat trips — crocodiles, birdlife and the source of the Nile — and the density of animal encounters explains why Andrew Cone's testimonial keeps coming back to the wildlife: "we did so much cool stuff, saw so many great animals." That is not marketing copy; it is a rider's own words at the end of the tour.

Uganda sits in the accessible middle of our catalog: 30% off-road with a 60% comfort rating, well short of the dedicated dirt-and-enduro profile of a tour like Namibia. If you ride confidently at home on a 500cc-plus bike, this route is within reach — the dirt sections inside the parks are ridden at deliberate, wildlife-watching pace with a briefing at the gate, and a certified tour leader, local guide and support vehicle accompany the group the entire way. Groups stay small, between five and ten riders, and every morning starts with a briefing.

The most honest measure of the tour's difficulty comes from Timothy Morin, who joined us after a long break from motorcycles entirely:

"It was a crash course in refresher after 15 years of not riding — and I am a much more confident rider."

— Timothy Morin, USA

A rider who had not touched a bike in 15 years finished this tour more confident than he started. That is what the combination of manageable terrain, morning briefings and full crew support is designed to do. To join, you need to be 20 or older with at least one year of experience on a 500cc-or-bigger motorcycle, hold a valid license with motorcycle endorsement, and carry a passport with at least six months' validity at tour start. When you register, we ask you to self-rate your experience with bigger bikes, off-road riding, tight mountain curves and third-world city traffic — so we know exactly who is in the group before anyone turns a wheel.

The motorcycles. The base bike is the Kawasaki KLR650, included in the tour price, with an upgrade to the Yamaha Ténéré 700 available for +$499. Both are professionally maintained, and fuel, road tolls, damage-and-theft liability reduction insurance and mandatory third-party liability insurance are all included.

The price. The tour starts at $5,499 per rider on the KLR650 in a shared room, backed by our price match guarantee. Upgrades and options: single room +$799, pillion passenger +$2,999, chimpanzee trekking +$250, gorilla trekking +$850. The base price covers nine nights' accommodation, all breakfasts plus dinners on riding days, the game drive, rhino trekking, park rangers and boat trips, group activities and entry fees, airport transfers at Entebbe (EBB) on official arrival and departure days, a pre-tour preparation guide, up to 25% discount on riding gear from our partners Klim, Giant Loop and Mosko Moto, a MotoDreamer apparel gift and all taxes. Not included: airfare, lunches and drinks, gorilla and chimpanzee trekking permits, visas and personal paperwork, travel insurance (available from Global Rescue) and tips.

Booking and payment. Hit Book Now, pick your date and pay the deposit. We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal, bank transfer and Bitcoin — and you can split the balance into monthly payments with no interest. Booking as a group? When five riders pay, rider number six travels free on the base tour price.

Who you are riding with. MotoDreamer is a rider-founded operator with 17+ years of experience and more than 4,000 customers, running small-group tours led by certified multilingual tour leaders with expert local knowledge. Everything we do is built on safety first — destinations, routes, bikes and partners — and every booking is backed by our price match and departure guarantees.

Uganda is not the tour you take to log maximum off-road miles. It is the tour you take to ride through a landscape where the wildlife outranks you — and to come home, like Jeremy, Andrew and Timothy, calling it one of the best things you have ever done.