Uganda Activity
Night Game Drive
Venture into the savanna after dark with high-powered spotlights to discover elusive nocturnal predators on the hunt.
- What Happens
- You set off just as twilight falls, accompanied by an armed Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger. Your guide navigates the quiet tracks using handheld spotlights to catch the distinctive eye-shine of hidden animals. You stop to observe leopards stalking their prey, lions active in the cooler air, and smaller nocturnal species like bushbabies, nightjars, and genets that completely vanish during the daytime.
- How It Feels
- The familiar daytime plains feel entirely transformed by darkness and mystery. Your senses heighten as you listen to the intense chorus of crickets, frogs, and distant hyena laughs. A thrill runs through the vehicle when the spotlight beam reveals a big cat moving silently through the grass right beside you.
- Who It's For
- Perfect for wildlife enthusiasts, repeat safari-goers, and older families seeking an exclusive, dramatic look at African predator behavior.
- Good to Know
- Nights on the open savanna get surprisingly chilly, so packing a heavy fleece or windproof jacket is highly recommended. This specialized activity is only permitted in specific locations like Lake Mburo, Murchison Falls, and Queen Elizabeth National Parks. You must be staying at a lodge inside park boundaries to join
Safaris With Night Game Drive
4-Day Ultra-Luxury Fly-In Kidepo Safari
Fly in by private charter, skip the 12-hour drive, and spend 4 days at Kidepo's only true luxury lodge.
From $7,000 per person
Where to do Night Game Drive in Uganda
Kidepo Valley National Park
Kidepo Valley National Park is Uganda’s most remote and ruggedly beautiful savanna wilderness, spanning 1,442 square kilometers in the extreme northeastern Karamoja region. Bordering South Sudan and Kenya, the park features a dramatic landscape dominated by the Narus and Kidepo valleys, flanked by the soaring Mount Morungole and rugged mountain ranges. Because it is isolated, it receives a fraction of the tourists found in western Uganda, providing an exclusive, untamed safari atmosphere reminiscent of Africa fifty years ago. The park protects a diverse ecosystem of montane forests and semi-arid savanna grasslands. It is home to 86 mammal species and over 460 bird species, including many found nowhere else in the country.
Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve
Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve is Uganda's second-largest protected area, a semi-arid stretch of Karamoja savannah covering roughly 2,788 square kilometers between Mount Elgon and Kidepo Valley. It holds Uganda's only confirmed cheetah range and some of the country's last roan antelope, ostrich, and Bright's gazelle populations, in a landscape far drier and more open than the western parks.