Uganda has over 2,000 bird species, including many Albertine Rift endemic species. A 13 day trip to Uganda gives you ample opportunity to spot a wide variety of birdlife including Carmine Bee eater, Brown and Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, Forest Scrub-robin, Shoebill and many more. This trip takes you to: Murchison Falls National Park, Fort Portal – Kibale National Park, Semuliki National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Lake Bunyonyi
Day 1: Arrival at Entebbe airport
Day 2: Birding at Mabamba Swamp – near Entebbe
Day 3: Transfer to Lake Mburo
Day 4: Birdwatching at Lake Mburo
One of our company representatives will pick you from Entebbe International Airport and transfer you to your hotel or lodge in Kampala, Uganda’s capital.
After breakfast we drive to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, the proud home reserve of Uganda’s only wild white rhinos. Sadly, Uganda’s own rhino population became extinct in the 1980s but thanks to the sanctuary we have a healthy population of reintroduced rhinos. A guided nature walk and shoebill trekking are (Optional) activities. Ziwa is also a good destination for bird lovers. The sanctuary has 350 species of birds recorded, the list includes African Pygmy Kingfisher, black headed Gonolek, swamp flycatcher, African Green-pigeon, blue spotted wood-dove, Abdim’s stork and African black crake, Larfe monitor lizards and butterflies. We spend a whole day exploring the sanctuary for birds.
After breakfast on the final day we take a guided nature walk. Look out for African Darter, African Fish Eagle, Cardinal Woodpecker, Ross’s Turaco and also wildlife like reedbuck, velvet monkeys, black and white Columbus monkeys, hartebeest and the mongoose and various reptiles . After the walk we shall check out of the hotel and have lunch en route as we proceed to Murchison Falls National Park.
After an early morning tea or coffee, we will head off with our packed lunches depending on where we are staying, to Kaniyo Pabidi. Here we will spend the day birding and enjoying a nature walk and ‘botany ’. Birds you may see include Blue-breasted and African Dwarf Kingfisher, Puvell’s Illadopsis and Forest Robin. In the late afternoon, drive to the top of the Falls as we wind our day to look for the Bat Hawk and numerous species of Nightjar on your way back to your lodge.
After an early breakfast depart for a morning birding along the Buligi Circuit and the Delta area. Look out for the Shoebill in quieter areas of the Delta on the river’s edge. After lunch at the lodge take the launch cruise to the bottom of the Falls, looking out for Red-throated, Carmine, Little and Blue-breasted Bee eaters and Denham’s Bustard. Regular visitors to the riverbanks include elephants, giraffes and buffaloes. Hippos and Nile crocodiles are permanent residents.
After breakfast, you will transfer to Fort Portal along the rugged country side villages with a picnic lunch but most times we book to have a warm lunch enroute in these new oil haven zone for Uganda. Birding en route.
After an early breakfast, we shall drive to the birding site at Sebitoli, on the eastern edge of Kibale Forest, one of the best birding spots in the National Park. (Birding on the main road can also be very rewarding).
After lunch, drive to the other side of Kibale Forest to Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary. ‘Kibale specials’ include Joyful and Cabanis Greenbuls, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, Black-faced Rufous Warbler, Red-tailed Bristlebill, Bocage’s Bush-shrike, Toro Olive and Cameroon Sombre Greenbuls, Green Twinspot, Brown and Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, Ludher’s Bush-shrike, Green-breasted Pitta, Green-throated and Blue-throated Brown Sunbird, Green-headed Sunbird, Brown-capped Weaver, Velvet-mantled Drongo, Pink-footed Puff back.
Semuliki National Park is approximately 2 hours’ drive from Fort Portal and takes you through crater lakes, hillsides with tea plantations and down a winding escarpment road into the Rift Valley, the lowest point in Uganda at just over 600 m above sea level. It’s a great scenic drive,
After an early lunch drive from your lodge for a half day birdwatching on the Kirumira Trail, the most popular trail at this lowland forest. Semuliki National Park is unique. It is the only place in Uganda where you can see Congo biome species such as the Red-billed Dwarf, Black-casqued Wattled, Black Dwarf and White-crested, Piping and White-thighed Hornbills; Pygmy Kingfisher, African Piculet, Zenker’s Honeyguide, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, Fire-crested Alethe, Chestnut-flanked Sparrowhawk, Rufous-sided Broadbill, Nkulengu Rail, Red-bellied and Blue-billed Malimbes, Green-tailed Bristle bill, Long-tailed Hawk, Pale-fronted and Chestnut-breasted Negrofinches, Black-winged Oriole, and more.
Depending on the results of the previous day’s birding, the group may decide to revisit the Kirumira Trail or bird along the very rewarding main road (that skirts the National Park) and trails around Sempaya hot springs. Birding in Semliki Wildlife Reserve is a highly recommended option since it is the habitat for a wide range of savanna and lake-edge birds. Expect to see Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Madagascar Bee eater, Black-billed Barbet, African Hoopoe, various species of Vulture and Spotted Morning Thrush.
Enjoy a leisurely breakfast before checking out of your lodge and heading back up the escarpment, through Fort Portal, past the foothills of the Rwenzoris and south towards the Equator. Check into your lodge in time for lunch and set aside the afternoon for a boat ride on the Kazinga Channel, a birders’ paradise and a highlight of your African safari. Queen Elizabeth National Park has over 600 bird species. Birds to look out for include Great Snipe, African Fish Eagles, Pallid Harrier, Gull-billed Tern, Lesser Kestrel, Shoebill, Fawn-breasted Waxbill, Sulphur-breasted Bushshrike, dark capped yellow warbler, red headed bluebill and the Eurasian golden oriole. You can also expect to see a good number of hippos, elephants, Nile crocodiles, monitor lizards, Uganda Kob, waterbuck and warthogs.
After the launch cruise, we have the (option )of taking an early evening game drive in search of the lions that live on the plains of Kasenyi during the African sun set.
After breakfast, we will drive south to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (with a packed lunch) through the park’s southern sector of Ishasha, famous for occasional sightings of tree climbing lions.
The picturesque journey through the park also doubles as a game drive on which you might see elephants, antelope and hyena and Savannah birds.
Today you will have breakfast before sunrise and enjoy a full day birding exploration on the guided Munyanga river Trail. (Remember to order a packed lunch). Forest birding in Bwindi ranks as the best in Uganda and is highly rated in Africa. Bwindi is home to over 23 highly localized Albertine Rift endemic bird species.
Special birds include Black-faced Rufous Warbler, Handsome Francolin Red-throated Alethe, Black-faced and Black-throated Apalis, Rwenzori Batis, Mountain Masked Apalis, Grauer’s Warbler, Dusky-blue Flycatcher, Yellow-eyed Black-Flycatcher, Chapin’s Flycatcher, Ashy Flycatcher, Chin-spot Batis, Blue-headed Sunbird, Northern Double-collared Sunbird, Stuhlmann’s Starling, Olive Thrush, Grauer’s Rush-warbler, Neumann’s Warbler and Red faced Woodland-Warbler. Mid-afternoon, transfer to your next destination – Lake Bunyonyi.
After breakfast, explore the breathtaking scenery of Lake Bunyonyi “place of little birds”, the second deepest lake in East and Central Africa. The Grey crowned crane (Uganda’s emblem) is a popular sighting here White tailed blue monard, African Harrier Hawk, grey crowned cranes, Herons, egrets, the cardinal woodpecker, the levillant cuckoo, slender-billed baglafetch, weavers, levillant cuckoo . Each of the 29 scenic islands has a different mythical tale and these can be explored by canoe and on foot. Take part in an optional activity like a village tour, village hiking and canoeing
After breakfast, we will then depart for Kampala with lunch en route at mbarara cultural museum. After will proceed to the Uganda equator line for some shopping of souvenirs. We will then arrive in the evening. The tour will end when our driver returns you to your drop-off point.
