Southern Tanzania Birding Tour
SOUTHERN TANZANIA BIRDING TOUR
Trip duration
18 days/ 17 nights
The Southern Tanzania Birding Tour can be combined with our Pemba Island Endemics Birding Tour.
Please click here to read a sample tour report.
DAY 1: ARRIVAL IN TANZANIA
Our Southern Tanzania Birding Tour will start in Tanzania’s economic capital, Dar es Salaam.
On this day, if we have an early arrival, we may explore local attractions around Dar es Salaam. Otherwise, we can relax and enjoy the nice Tanzania birds from our lodge.
Night in Dar es Salaam.
DAY 2: DAR ES SALAAM TO UKAGURU
The amazing Southern Tanzania Birding Tour will officially start today. We shall leave early and head towards Ukaguru. We shall enjoy birding on the way and we hope to start adding several special species on this route.
We shall spend the night near the birding forest, to have an early start the following day.
Night near Ukaguru.
DAY 3: UKAGURU MOUNTAINS
On this day, we shall bird the Ukagurus, which is less visited by many birding tours. Our main targets here will be the Rubeho Warbler and Rubeho Akalat.
This area often produces surprises; and we can expect to find some exciting species to add to our Southern Tanzania Birding Tour.
We shall spend the day here as we search for these exciting species. In the later afternoon, we shall drive to Morogoro as we enjoy roadside birding.
Night in Morogoro.
DAY 4, 5 AND 6: ULUGURU MOUNTAINS
We shall continue to the majestic Uluguru Mountains where we shall be targeting the local endemics (Uluguru Greenbul, Winifred’s/ Mrs. Moreau’s Warbler, Loveridge’s Sunbird and Uluguru Bush-shrike); among an array of many other species.
This area is remote and we hope to enjoy lots of rare birds, a key feature of our Southern Tanzania Birding Tour.
We shall camp at two different camp sites to maximise our birding time here.
DAY 7: ULUGURU MOUNTAINS TO IRINGA
Our Southern Tanzania Birding Tour will continue West. We shall drive to the highlands of Iringa.
We shall make several stops as we scan for species along this very productive road. In the afternoon we shall continue our birding adventure around Iringa.
Night in Iringa.
DAY 8 AND 9: UDZUNGWA SCARP AND ULUTI FOREST
We shall have an early start to visit another remote forest. We shall make a trip to Uluti Forest and the Udzungwa Scarp; where we shall hope to spot the endemic Rufous-winged Sunbird. Many other rare birds occupy this forest and the nearby farms.
This forest is often a major highlight on our Southern Tanzania Birding Tour.
Nights in Uluti.
DAY 10, 11, 12 AND 13: WEST UDZUNGWA MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK
We shall then take a deeper trip into the remote West Udzungwa Mountains. This area is famous for the endemic Tanzania/ Kipengere Seedeater and Udzungwa Forest Partridge.
We shall spend time searching for these endemics among an array of other special birds.
Nights in West Udzungwas.
DAY 14: WEST TO EAST UDZUNGWA MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK
After a final birding session in the West Udzungwas, we shall drive onwards to the East Udzungwa Mountains.
We shall enjoy birding here as we track extra forest species.
Night at Udzungwa.
DAY 15: KILOMBERO SWAMP AND EAST UDZUNGWA MOUNTAINS
We shall enjoy a morning visit to a great location- where three Tanzanian endemics occur. Kilombero Swamp is always a highlight on our Southern Tanzania Birding Tour.
This very interesting floodplain hosts the Kilombero Cisticola, White-tailed Cisticola and Kilombero Weaver. We shall search for these endemics as we enjoy many other birds.
We shall spend the afternoon birding around the East Udzungwa Forest.
Night at Udzungwa.
DAY 16 AND 17: MIKUMI NATIONAL PARK
Later we shall drive to the nearby Mikumi National Park, as we enjoy open country birds.
We shall bird the local savannah grassland, wetlands and the magical miombo woodland. This area will also allow us to add some big game to our already exciting Southern Tanzania Birding Tour species list.
Mammals here include African Lion, Leopard, Ratel, Bushy-tailed Mongoose, Black-backed Jackal, African Wild Dog, Spotted Hyena, African Civet, African Elephant, Nile Hippopotamus, Maasai Giraffe, Bohor Reedbuck, Cape Buffalo and Blue Wildebeest.
Nights in Mikumi.
DAY 18: MIKUMI NATIONAL PARK TO DAR ES SALAAM
We shall enjoy some more birding at Mikumi in the morning, as we scan for additional species. We shall then leave for Dar es Salaam; as we enjoy birding stops on the way.
We shall reach Dar es Salaam in the afternoon, where we shall take an airport transfer for the flights home- marking the end to our lovely Southern Tanzania Birding Tour.
Highlight Birds
Udzungwa Forest Partridge, Kipengere/ Tanzania Seedeater, Yellow-browed Seedeater, Livingstone’s Flycatcher, Black-and-white Shrike-Flycatcher, Southern/ Uhehe Fiscal, Fülleborn’s Boubou, Uluguru Bushshrike, African Broadbill, Moustached Tinkerbird, Green Barbet, Black-collared Barbet, Brown-breasted Barbet, Livingstone’s Turaco, Mountain (Green-throated/Yellow-throated) Greenbul, Mountain (Uluguru) Greenbul, Grey-olive Greenbul, Bohm’s Spinetail, Ruwenzori Nightjar, White-backed Night Heron, Forest (Dark) Batis, Kilombero Cisticola, White-tailed Cisticola, Chapin’s Apalis, White-winged Apalis, Brown Parisoma, African Tailorbird/Red-capped Forest Warbler, Miombo/ Stierling’s (Barred) Wren-Warbler, Winifred’s/ Mrs. Moreau’s Warbler,
Rubeho/ Mrs. Moreau’s Warbler, Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler, Red-winged Warbler, Kretschmer’s Longbill, Crested Guineafowl, Loveridge’s (Moreau’s) Sunbird, Loveridge’s Sunbird, Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird, Shelleys/ Hofmann’s Sunbird, Miombo Double-collared Sunbird, Rufous-winged Sunbird, White-headed Black/ Arnott’s Chat, Swynnerton’s Robin, White-chested Alethe, Miombo Rock Thrush, Collared Palm Thrush, Spot-throat, Dappled Mountain-Robin/ Dapple-throat, Iringa (Rubeho) Akalat, Sharpe’s Akalat, Iringa Akalat, Ashy Starling, Lesser/ Miombo (Southern) Blue-eared Starling, Southern Citril, Kilombero Weaver, Bertram’s Weaver, Ruvu Weaver,
Usambara Weaver, Speckle-throated Woodpecker, Olive Woodpecker, Red-faced Crimsonwing, Blue Waxbill/ Southern Cordon-bleu, Magpie Mannikin, Orange-winged Pytilia, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Bohm’s Bee-eater, Oriole Finch, Green-headed Oriole, Bar-tailed Trogon, African Skimmer, White-crowned Lapwing, Coppery-tailed Coucal, Marsh (Anchieta’s) Tchagra, Pale-billed Hornbill, Tanzania/ Ruaha Red-billed Hornbill, Southern Ground Hornbill, African Barred (Scheffler’s) Owlet, Black-bellied Bustard, Brown-necked Parrot, White-breasted Cuckooshrike, Northern Pied Babbler, Racket-tailed Roller, Rufous-Bellied (Cinnamon-breasted) Tit, African Penduline Tit, Yellow-collared Lovebird, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Zanzibar Red-Bishop
Highlight mammals and reptiles
Leopard, African Lion, Cheetah, Savannah Elephant, Maasai Giraffe, Cape Buffalo, Common Hippopotamus, Common Zebra, Common Eland, Common Impala, Bat-eared Fox, Nile Crocodile
Habitats covered
Savannah, Miombo Woodland, Eastern Arc Mountains, Wetland
Photographic opportunities
Excellent
Special moments
Tanzania Endemic Birds’ Species, Africa’s Big 5, Eastern Arc Mountains
