From 31st August 2024 to 13th September 2024 (USD 3,890 Per Person)
Day 1-31st Aug. 2024: Arrival at Entebbe Airport | Transfer to your Hotel | Birding in the Botanical Gardens
Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport, you will be received by a representative from our company who will be your driver guide for this 14 day Uganda birding safari. Meet and greet with a short briefing your guide will transfer you to your accommodation in Entebbe. In case time allows depending on your time of arrival, we will go birding to the botanical gardens for the Orange weaver, golden backed weaver and other master builders of the Ploceidae family, superb sunbird, green hylia, bat hawk. And several garden birds exploiting this transitional habitat. You will later return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.
Day 2- 1st Sept. 2024: Birding at Mabamba Wetlands | Transfer to Masindi
After an early morning breakfast at your hotel, check-out and head over to Mabamba Swamp for the great shoebill stork, where we shall be using a canoe on the mabamba wetlands to get to see this unique bird. Besides the Shoebill stork you could see several aquatic birds, African marsh Harriers, key species like the lesser Jacana and Rufous bellied Heron. If time allows search for the beautiful painted Pygmy goose and White backed ducks.
You will later transfer towards Masindi as we bird along the way, with a stopover at the Luwero swamp and evening birding in the woodland before Masindi for Bruce’s pigeon, Bronze tailed starling, White crested Turaco, Hartlaubs Marsh widow bird, Brown babblers and Purple starling. Later in the evening check-in to our hotel in Masindi for dinner and Overnight.
Day 3- 2nd Sept. 2024: Birding through Royal Mile | Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park.
After an early morning breakfast at our hotel, checkout and head for the Royal Mile forest birding. We bird the rank grass for Brown Twinspot, Grey headed Oliveback and Cabanis Bunting to the dazzling forestry track rated as one of the premier forest birding sites in Africa. We will make an acquaintance with the first of many central African forest birds.
Birding for The Top 5 of the Royal Mile like Rufous Crowned Eremomela, Ituribatis, Nahan’s francolin, Chocolate backed Kingfishers and Illadopses singing from the undergrowth and we will walk through mixed-species flocks of Spotted Greenbuls. Transfer out through the grasslands trying the Namaqua dove and White rumped seed eater,towards the escarpment for the Cliff chat and Foxy cisticola plus the view of the blue mountains of Congo, Red winged Pytilliaand Brown Rumped Buntings are a focus here. We later proceed to Murchison Falls National Park for dinner and overnight.
Day 4- 3rd Sept. 2024: Top of the Falls, Game Drive and Birding in Murchison Falls National Park
After an early morning breakfast at your lodge, we will go birding the northern bank in search for the early morning risers, You will continue to top of the falls and will be able to sight Rock Pratincole. Northern crombecs, White crested Helmet shrikes and the falls itself and continue out.
Game drive Nile river Bank to the broad savannah for the most likelihood Big cats hunting, Elephants, Giraffes, Buffalos, plus more as the checklist of mammals reaches 76 We continue browsing the drive circuits to the Delta point for a cocktail of Birds and mammals, birding along the tracks yields Red necked Falcons, Shelleys Sparrow, Verreaux owl, Carmine bee Eaters, Swallow tailed bee eaters and trying the Dusky babbler,Chestnut Crowned and White browed Sparrow weavers as we try the Denhams Bustard. We later return to our lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 5- 4th Sept. 2024: Transfer to Kibale National Park
After a relaxed breakfast at your lodge, checkout and we embark on your transfer to Kibale National park with a stop over at the forest edge near Sebitoli as we try searching for the white naped pigeons, Afep pigeons and Masked Apalis before continuing through Kibale forest the second forest on this birding safari.
Here we expect many interesting birds as well as Colored aviation creatures, various bird species like the Native Great blue Turaco, Cassin’s flycatcher and Narrow tailed starlings.
Day 6- 5th Sept. 2024: Chimpanzee Tracking | Birding in Kibale | Fort Portal
You will have an early breakfast at your lodge with your packed lunch checkout to proceed to the park offices for a briefing about the does and don’ts during the chimpanzee tracking experince. You will later head into the forest with a ranger assigned to you who will lead and once you sight the chimps, you will spend a maximum of an hour with them before you embark on your way back to reunite with your driver guide who will embark on our transfer out to Semuliki national park, local markets and drive further north-west wards in the Rwenzori ranges (Longest in Africa). Transfer through Fort Portal and arrive to the open area scanning for the fierybreasted bush shrike and western banded snake eagles. Proceed to Fortportal for dinner and overnight.
Day 7- 6th Sept. 2024: Birding in Semuliki National Park
After breakfast at your hotel, proceed for a full day birding in Semuliki. It’s a full day experience starting early for the region endemic as possibly Ugandas number 1 birding hotspot in Uganda, with most Congo-forest species stretching to this furthest eastern end.
The newly spotted resident on Uganda’s list Akun eagles owl, Blue billed malimbe, western bronze napped pigeon, Maxwell`s black weaver, Congo serpent eagle, red-billed dwarf hornbill, African Dwarf kingfisher, the rare Capuchin babbler, red -thighed and long-tailed hawk are some mega ticks we are hoping to grip to with the smallest relative of the woodpeckers the African piculet a great attraction for our stay. We will later return to our hotel in Fort Portal for dinner and overnight
Day 8- 7th Sept. 2024: Crater lakes birding towards Queen Elizabeth National Park | Afternoon boat cruise
After an early morning breakfast, proceed for birding in the crater lakes area to see more of the different bird species that include; Joyful greenbul, Mottled and Sabine’s Spinetails, Honey guide Greenbulls, Giant kingfishers and Ross’s turaco, all in the environs of the forest can be viewed on a lucky day. In the afternoon we go for a Boat cruise on the famous Kazinga channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
This is a 36kms channel linking Lake George and Lake Edward. Here we can see land and water Adapted Hippopotamuses Yawning and some slashing canines to each other and the National Geographical society Killing machine the Nile Crocodile gaping along the Bankslots of waders, Pelicans and different gulls. We will after the boat cruise proceed to our lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 9- 8th Sept. 2024: Game Drive while birding in Queen Elizabeth National Park | Transfer to Ishasha Sector
After an early breakfast at your lodge, proceed for birding in Queen Elizabeth National Park a park with over 606 bird species. We can take Kazinga channel bridge to try and find the Papyrus Gonolek, the African reed warbler, White winged warbler and Lesser Swamp Warbler. We go for an early game drive that exposes us to a diverse birding habitat. Later in the afternoon transfer to Ishasha trying the Siffling cisticola, Zebra Waxbill, Stout Cisticola, and more woodland birds..
Day 10- 9th Sept. 2024: Birding in Ishasha | Transfer to Bwindi
After breakfast checkout of your lodge and go for birding in Ishasha, the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, trying the Lappet faced Vulture, Marshal eagle and Blue quail. It’s a fantastic scenery to start the day on the plains of Queen Elizabeth and if we are lucky we could spot the tree-climbing lions the area is famous for.
We will later proceed to transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park after we have had our lunch. If we arrive early, we try the lower altitude birds here in the evening. Here we have chance to see Many-coloured Bush-shrike, White tailed anti-thrush, Grey winged robin Chat, the Stunning Blue-Shoulderd Robin chat, the stunning black billed weaver, Black faced rufous-warbler and Bar-tailed Trogon member (of the Uganda top ten). We will later return to our lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 11- 10th Sept. 2024: Gorilla Tracking and Birding at Lower Altitude Endemics in Bwindi Impenetrable
After an early breakfast, we will proceed to the park office for the briefing about the does and don’t during the gorilla tracking after which head into the forest and embark on finding the gorillas and upon sight of them, you will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them and then embark on your transfer back to your lodge to relax and have some refreshment.
After lunch you will go birding in the interior of the primary forest towards the water fall trail targeting highlights like the endemics newly described Willard’s sooty Boubou, Chapins flycatcher and trying the rare ground thrushes Abyssinian and Kivu as we hope for the Neumann’s Warbler. Lower altitude birds towards “the neck” for trying out the Motacila Clara, Cassin’s Grey Flycatcher, Dusky-blue Flycatcher, try to call out the African Black Ducks, Black- Rufous Warbler and Olive Sunbirds.
Day 12- 11th Sept. 2024: Birding at Mubwindi Swamp
After breakfast, you will go for Mubwindi swamp for bird expedition for even more incredible birding opportunities, venture to the Mubwindi Swamp Trail in Ruhija, where sightings of the endemic day aiming to grip on the Rwenzori Batis, Dusky Crimsonwing, Blue headed Sunbird, Regal Sunbird, African green broadbill, Grauer’s rush warbler, Dwarf honey guide, Stripe-breasted Tit, Archers Robin chat, Black billed Turaco plus White browed crombec, tullbergs woodpecker, soaring buzzards and flocks of Stuhlmanns starlings with there aerial displays. This Impenetrable Forest is full of flora and fauna.
Day 13- 12th Sept. 2024: Game Drive at Lake Mburo
After your breakfast you will embark on your transfer to L. Mburo, you will go birding towards Lake Mburo national park trying. Along the way we could see Greater Swamp Warblers or Papyrus Canary, till the woodlands of Lake Mburo.
You will have a game drive in the park in that you will be able to view different wildlife species like zebras, Giraffes, Impalas, elands, buffalos, oribi, Defassa waterbuck, leopard, Hippopotamuses , hyena, topi and reedbuck. You will also see lake at the park.
Day 14- 13th Sept. 2024: Woodland and savannah birding in Lake Mburo National park | Transfer back to Entebbe or Kampala
After an early morning breakfast, check out of your lodge and head for another birding experience in the park. Lake Mburo National Park is a woodland acacia park and every few years we get new birds from Tanzania as it shares the same ecosystem with the southern protected areas. Here we find Bearded Wood pecker, Black Collared Barbet, Red faced Barbet, Crested Barbet, Red headed Weavers, Tabora Cisticola, Cuckoo Shrikes, Pearl Spotted Owlet, the musical Sulphur breasted bush Shrike and Penduline Tits.
We later embark on our transfer back to Kampala or Entebbe and be dropped off at your hotel or airport depending on your program.