Uganda Birding Safari
UGANDA BIRDING SAFARI
Trip duration
11 days/ 10 nights
The Uganda Birding Safari can be combined with the Tanzania Birding Safari; to form our famous Best of Uganda and Tanzania Birding & Wildlife Safari.
Please click here to read a sample tour report.
DAY 1: ARRIVAL AND POSSIBLE WALK AT ENTEBBE BOTANICAL GARDENS
On the Uganda Birding Safari, we shall arrive via Entebbe, where our team will be ready to receive us. We shall then transfer to our hotel, located nearby.
If time allows, and depending on how tired we are from the flights, we may choose to enjoy a short bird walk at the Entebbe Botanical Gardens. This will help us kick-start our Uganda Birding Safari adventures.
Night in Entebbe.
DAY 2: MABAMBA SWAMP TO LAKE MBURO
On this day, our Uganda Birding Safari takes a trip to the famous Mabamba Swamp, a nice place to search for the Shoebill. Here we shall enjoy a boat trip, in a traditional canoe. The swamp is very productive and holds a huge variety of birds’ species. We may also be lucky to find the rare Sitatunga Antelope.
In the afternoon, we shall drive to Lake Mburo; as we enjoy more birding on the way. On this day, we shall also get to cross the Uganda section of the Equator on our way. On arrival, we shall start picking our first birds of this vast area until sunset.
Night at Lake Mburo.
DAY 3: LAKE MBURO NATIONAL PARK
We shall enjoy game drives the entire morning as we score more birds that we may have missed the previous day. Nice mammals will also be abundant including Burchellʼs Zebra, Oribi, Cape Buffalo, Uganda Topi, Nile Hippo, Cape Eland, Vervet (Tantalus) Monkey, Olive Baboon and Impala. This will add a great number of mammal species to our Uganda Birding Safari. We shall later enjoy a boat ride here to score more birds across the water. We may also find some Nile Crocodiles here, as they reside around the lake shore.
Night at Lake Mburo.
DAY 4: BWINDI NATIONAL PARK- RUHIJA
We shall cruise through the vast farmlands and bushes that pattern our drive south to Bwindi. We may be lucky to come across the famous Ankole cattle, with their very evident and long horns. We shall then carry on to the upper region of the famous Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
This mighty forest provides a home for many birds, including a great number of Albertine Rift Endemic species. This area is often a highlight on our Uganda Birding Safari. We shall start picking these species this afternoon, on the higher slopes of Ruhija.
Nights in Ruhija.
DAY 5: BWINDI NATIONAL PARK- RUHIJA TO BUHOMA
On this day we shall enjoy birding from Ruhija to the nearby Buhoma area, through “the neck” region. The roadside birding here can be phenomenal; and we shall stop for any bird parties.
We shall then continue our birding at Buhoma in the afternoon, seeking birds species that prefer the lower forest.
Night in Buhoma.
DAY 6: BWINDI NATIONAL PARK- BUHOMA (OPTIONAL GORILLA TREKKING)
We shall continue our birding on the lower Bwindi Forest at Buhoma; where we shall have a chance to score more species and add to our already growing list. We may also add some more mammals such as L’Hoest’s Monkey, Carruther’s Mountain Squirrel and Boehm’s Squirrel.
Those who would like to enjoy tracking the amazing Mountain Gorillas will have the opportunity on this day. This is usually a big highlight for our Uganda Birding Safaris. The trek may take between two to eight hours, depending on how far the apes have travelled during the previous night.
Those who choose to enjoy birding all day will continue exploring the trails around Buhoma, seeking the local specials.
In the afternoon, we shall continue birding as one group.
Night in Buhoma.
DAY 7: TO QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
We shall start the day early and head towards the Ishasha region in southern Queen Elizabeth National Park; for our next leg of the Uganda Birding Safari. This area is famous for the local tree-climbing Lions. We may be lucky to find these beautiful cats among an array of other big game and birds. Later, we shall arrive at the main Queen Elizabeth National Park area, where more birds and mammals await us. Mammals to expect here include Uganda Kob, Nile Hippo, Lake Chad Buffalo, African Elephant, Leopard and Spotted Hyena.
Night at Queen Elizabeth National Park.
DAY 8: QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
We shall spend the day enjoying more game drives in this park. We hope to add more species that we missed the previous day. In the afternoon, we shall enjoy a boat cruise along the famous Kazinga Channel, which connects Lake Edward and Lake George. Here many birds will be present and we shall take time to enjoy them.
Night at Queen Elizabeth National Park.
DAY 9: TO KIBALE FOREST NATIONAL PARK
Leaving early, we shall head to Kibale Forest. We may still find some additional species as we exit the mighty Queen Elizabeth National Park. We shall stop on the way to enjoy any special birds we come across.
In the afternoon, we shall enjoy birding around Kibale Forest.
Night at Kibale.
DAY 10: KIBALE FOREST NATIONAL PARK (OPTIONAL CHIMPANZEE TREKKING)
We shall continue birding the forest trails as we add species we may have missed the previous day. We shall also visit several wetlands around the forest including Sebitoli Swamp and Bigodi Swamp.
For those who would like to enjoy tracking the amazing Chimpanzees; there will be an opportunity this afternoon. This is another major highlight on our Uganda Birding Safari.
After the Chimpanzee trek, we shall rejoin as one group and continue with our birding walks.
We may also be lucky to find other mammals as we walk in the forest, such as the Central African Red Colobus, Guereza Colobus, Red-tailed Monkey, L’Hoest’s Monkey and Grey-cheeked Mangabey.
Night at Kibale.
DAY 11: KIBALE FOREST NATIONAL PARK TO ENTEBBE
Continuing towards Entebbe, we shall keep an eye for more birds that we may not have seen on our Uganda Birding Safari. In the afternoon, we shall arrive in Entebbe. We shall then take our airport transfer for the evening flights home- marking the end to our lovely Uganda Birding Safari.
Highlight birds
Shoebill, White-bellied Robin-Chat, Abyssinian (Kivu) Ground Thrush, Equatorial Akalat, Grey-chested Babbler, Sooty Boubou/ Willard’s Bush-Shrike, Dusky Tit, African Broadbill, African Finfoot, Green-breasted Pitta, African Emerald Cuckoo, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, Chestnut Wattle-eye, Red-chested Owlet, Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher, African Shrike-flycatcher, Dusky-blue Flycatcher, Least Honeyguide, Yellow-spotted Barbet, Red-faced Barbet, Gray-throated Barbet, Hairy-breasted Barbet, Double-toothed Barbet, Yellow-billed Barbet, White-naped Pigeon, Afep Pigeon, Chestnut-winged Starling, Narrow-tailed Starling, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Black-billed Turaco, Ross’s Turaco, Bar-tailed Trogon, Narina Trogon, Blue-throated Roller, Little Grey Greenbul, Honeyguide Greenbul, Joyful Greenbul, Cameroon Sombre/ Plain Greenbul, Elliott’s Woodpecker, Speckle-breasted Woodpecker,
Black Bee-eater, African Grey Parrot, White-spotted Flufftail, Shining-blue Kingfisher, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Lühder’s Bush-shrike, Bocage’s Bush-shrike, Many-coloured Bush-shrike, Fire-crested Alethe, Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, Brown Illadopsis, Grey-winged Robin-Chat, Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, White-tailed Ant-Thrush, Red-tailed Ant-Thrush, Black-throated Apalis, Rwenzori Apalis, Mountain (Rwenzori) Masked Apalis, Short-tailed/ Neumann’s Warbler, Masked Apalis, Winding Cisticola, Trilling Cisticola, Croaking Cisticola, Stout Cisticola, White-chinned Prinia, Black-crowned Waxbill, White-collared Oliveback, Red-headed Bluebill, White-Breasted Negro-finch, Dark-backed Weaver, Tiny Sunbird, Green-throated Sunbird, Superb Sunbird, Blue-throated Brown Sunbird, Green Sunbird, Sabine’s Spinetail
Highlight mammals and others
Uganda Kob, Mountain Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Leopard, African Lion, Savannah Elephant, Nile Crocodile, Nile Hippo, Spotted Hyena, Burchell’s Zebra, Oribi, Cape Buffalo
Habitats covered
Savannah, Wetlands, Highland Forest, Equatorial Forest
Photographic opportunities
Excellent
Special moments
Gorilla Trekking, Chimpanzee Trekking, Equatorial Forest walk, Africa’s Big 5, Albertine Rift Endemic Birds, Boat Ride, Shoebill
