12 days of birding safari in Uganda, birding allows tour Uganda and enjoy birding watching in all major birding destinations in Uganda in detail. Standing with 1057 bird species, Uganda features 11% of the word’s bird species and 50% of Africa’s bird count
12 days Uganda birding safari takes you to Budongo forest with over 360 bird species including the endemic yellow tooted flycatcher and Illadopsis Puvelli, Murchison falls national park with 451 species of birds with the sight of the rare shoebill stork, Kibale national park with 375 species of birds with the endemic Kibale ground Trush, Bigodi wetland sanctuary with 138 species of birds luding the famous great blue Turacco, queen Elizabeth national park with over 600 species of birds making the habitant with many bird species in east Africa and second in Africa, Bwindi forest national park with 360 species of birds including the endemic African green broadbill, Entebbe botanical garden and famous Mabamba swamp. It is an adventure birding encounters for all seasoned worlds birders
Tour length: 12 days
Focus: birding and game viewing
Key species: Shoebill stork, orange weaver, papyrus gonolek, African finfoot, Red-faced barbet, Shelley’s Crimsonwing, African Green Broadbill, Handsome francolin, Kivu Ground thrush, Green Breasted pitta, African piculet among others and over 60 species of mammals like tree climbing lions, elephants, antelopes, buffaloes, hippos, leopards, hyenas, giraffes, gorillas, chimpanzee among others
Expected species of birds over 650 species and over 50 species of mammals, birding pace: moderate physical, Difficulty: moderate Group limit: maximum 8
Birding photography: Worthwhile
Detailed itinerary
ARRIVAL AT ENTEBBE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Today on arrival at Entebbe international airport our guide from African skimmer tours will be eagerly waiting to pick you and transfer you at booked hotel according to arrival time you will go for birding along the botanical garden to look for bird species like orange weaver, Bat Hawk, Black Headed Gonolek, Egyptian goose, African wood owl, verreaux’s eagle owl, freckled nightjar, great blue turacco, grey parrot, Red headed love bird, Red shouldered cuckoo shrike, Red chested sunbird, Olive bellied sunbird, copper sunbird, weyns’s weaver, Northern browned throated weaver, pink-backed pelican, cattle egrets, common squacco, heron, striated heron,hamerkop, African bellied stork, sacred ibis,hadada ibis, African fish eagle,palm nut vulture, African goshawk, common kestrel, Black crake, Grey crowned crane, black winged stilt, common sandpiper, wood sandpiper, green sandpiper, grey headed gull, gull billed tern, African green pigeon, eastern grey plantain eater,diedrik cuckoo, klaas’scuckoo, African emerald cuckoo, yellowbill,pied kingfisher, woodland kingfisher, malachite kingfisher,Broad biled roller, black and white casqued hornbill, yellow rumpet tinkerbird, double toothed barbet among others
Dinner and overnight. Stay at lakes heights hotel
MORNING BIRDING MABAMBA SWAMP AND TRANSFER MASINDI TOWN
Your tour guide will transfer you to Mamba swamp near Entebbe airport. Mambaba is one of Uganda’s 33 important birding areas since 2006 aramsar listed mambaba wetland has international wetland the boat tour in Mambaba swamp takes approximately 3 hours on traditional conoe boat that are used to move along the narrow channels of the great wetland. Have the a mazing birding experience, sighting the elusive shoebill stork and more water birds over 320 species birds which includes papyrus gonolk, blue cheeked bee eater, blue breasted bee eater, African pygmy goose,yellow bellied dark, white whistling duck, hottentot teal,little bittern, intermediate egret,black headed heron, purple heron,yellow billed stork,saddle billed stork, white face whistling duck, black shouldered kite, osprey, hooded vulture, African marsh harrier,lizard buzzard, purple swamphen, black crake, common moorhen, caspain tern, little stint, grey headed gull, long tailed commorant, gull billied tern among others and later you will transfer to Masindi town with en-route lunch and relaxation after proceed with the journey
MORNING IN BUDONGO FOREST AND LATER TRANSFER TO MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK
After breakfast at exactly 06:30 am, you will start your full day birding in royal mile located about 35km north of Masindi town, this section of Budongo forest is attached to Murchison falls national park which is Uganda’s largest protected national park, with river Nile crossing royal mile which has become best birding destination in Uganda
This royal mile is referred to as the country’s premier forest birding locality home and number of species such as western black headed oriole and purple headed starling banded, snake eagle, crowned and African pied hornbill and bat hawk seen at dust, white tingled hornbill, yellow billed barbets, the chocolate backed kingfisher, blue Breasted and Africa dwarf kingfisher, ituri bats, African shrike flycatcher, African cuckoo, common cuckoo, Red chested cuckoo, black cuckoo, olive long tailed cuckoo, yellow ,throated cuckoo, narina trogon, blue throated roller, African pied hornbill , crowned hornbill, black dwarf hornbill, speckled tinker bird, hairy barbet, willcock’s honey guide, cassin’s honey guide,buff spotted woodpecker, brown eared woodpecker, cardinal woodpecker, Elliot woodpecker, yellow crested woodpecker, rufous sided woodpecker, green breasted pitta, red rumped swallow, rufous chested swallow, Moscow swallow, lesser striped swallow, angola swallow, wire tailed swallow, black saw wing, little grey greenbull, icterine greenbull, xaviers greenbull, leaf love, joyful greenbull. Red tailed bristlebill,brown chested alethe, fire crested alethe, Uganda woodland wabler, green hylia, lemon bellied crombec, grey longbill, rofous crowned eremomela,chestnut capped flycatcher,puvel’s illadopsis,superb sunbird, red headed malimbe, crested malimbe and many others . You will have picnic lunch in the forest and evening transfer to Murchison falls national park and stay Pakuba safari lodge.
MORNING BIRDING AND AFTERNOON BOAT CRUISE
Murchison falls National Park is best known for the most powerful waterfall in the world. Every second the equivalent of 200 bathturbs full of water is forced through gorge less than 7 paces wide. Murchison falls is Uganda’s largest park, the wild and beautiful Murchison falls national park offers breathtaking scenery of palm doted, swamps, river line, woodland and forest, east Africa most dramatic waterfalls and remarkable diversity of wildlife, superb birding spots which is named as birders pride, it also gives an opportunity to see wide range of common birds but special like saddle billied stork in open savanna perhaps it’s because of wide selection of unique bird species , that Murchison falls national park earns 4.4 stars out of 5 among the best birding destinations in Uganda and Africa at large.
Morning birding and game drive to look for wildlife mammals like lions, elephants, solitary cape buffaloes, leopards, giraffes, hyenas, Uganda kobs, bushbucks, waterbucks among others and birding in search for, The Giant, Pied, Malachite, Stripped, Chestnut-bellied, Blue-breasted, Woodland and the African Pygmy Kingfishers, House Martin, African Rock Martin, Lesser Stripped Swallow, Ethiopian Swallow, Angola Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Rufous- chested Swallow, -(Lesser Kestrel, Black-winged Pratincole, and Shoebill) Nightingale, Rock Thrush, Pied Wheatear, Whinchat, Common
Redstart, White-fronted Black Chat, Sooty Chat, Isabelline Wheatear, Common Bulbul, Cameroon Sombre Greenbul, Yellow-throated Greenbul, the Black, White-breasted, We also take a boat on the Victoria Nile for water birds like the elusive Shoebill Stork, Little Grebe, Great White and the Pink-backed Pelicans, Red-knobbed Coot, African Water Rail, Allen’s Gallinule, Black Crake, African
Crake, Black-crowned Crane, Southern Pochard, The Egyptian, African Pygmy, and the Spur-winged Gooses, Saddle-billed stork Open-billed stork Abdim’s, White, Yellow-billed, Marabou, and the Wooly-necked stork and among others
Stay at pakuba safari lodge.
TRANSFER TO KIBALE FOREST AND EVENING BIRDING IN KIBALE FOREST
We shall have early morning breakfast and check out to transfer to Kibale national park with more En-route birding along the way reaching by lunch time and check in to the booked lodge and have evening birding in kabala forest.Kibale forest is the second most birding activity by tourists that visit primate capital of the world and definitely birders paradise
Bird species found include white colored olive back, red tailed bristle bill, yellow billed barbet, white bellied fly catcher, and joyful green bull, black billed Turaco, blue shouldered robin chat, green breasted pitta, white spotted fluff tail, Narina trogon, blue breasted pitta ,western banded snake eagle, African green pigeon, brown parrot, black billed turraco, shining blue kingfisher, white headed wood hoope, grey throated barbet, yellow billed barbet, Nubian woodpecker, speckle breasted woodpecker, yellow crested woodpecker, grassland pipit,black cuckoo shrike, petit’s cuckoo shrike, slender billed green bull, little greenbull , redtailed greenbul, brown chested alethe , rufous flycatcher thrush,red faced cisticola, singing cisticola white chinned prinia, banded prinia , grey capped warbler, buff throated apalis, masked apalis among others . Stay at chimpanzee lodge
BIRDING KIBALE FOREST NATIONAL PARK TO LOOK GREEN-BREASTED PITTA AND CHIMPANZEE TRACKING AND AFTERNOON BIRDING BIGODI SWAMP
Wake up early in the morning and have breakfast, meet your guide driving to the briefing center. After you will led by ranger guides into the forest the birding and primate tracking experience , the park was gazeted in 1932 and formally established in 1993 to protect the large area of the forest managed has logged forest reserve. The park forms continuous with Queen Elizabeth national park.
The Kibale national park located in south western Uganda is a tropical rain forest that harbors are quite number /of wildlife species, that has attracted many tourists to come to Uganda, this national park has contributed widely in Uganda’s tourist/m industry because it harbors some endangered species that catch the travelers eyes. Chimpanzees are primates that shares about 90% of genetic material with the human being and have been habituated in Kibale national park, Uganda’s total has about 4950 chimpanzees and kibale national park holds 1500 chimpanzees.
bird species found include white colored olive back, red tailed bristle bill, yellow billed barbet, Red bellied flycatcher, and joyful green bull, black billed Turaco, blue shouldered robin chat, green breasted pitta, white spotted fluff tail. Common primates like chimpanzees are seen here. In the afternoon we go for swamp walk in Bigodi wetland. Stay at chimpanzee lodge.
TRANSFER TO QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
Wake up early morning after breakfast ,check out of the lodge and then transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park, birding along the way and make different stopovers en-route for birding and taking photos of memorials , In the afternoon we shall embark on birding along the Kazinga channel with the boat cruise home to over 58 species of water birds like African pied kingfisher, African skimmer birds, open billed stork, yellow billed stork and saddle billed stork, hammerkop, spoon billed stork, spur winged plover, black winged stilt, cormorants, cattle egrets, little egrets, Egyptian geese, African crake, Madagascar squacco heron, goliath heron, shoebile stork, lesser flamingoes, African fish eagle, lappet faced vulture, black chested snake eagle, short toed snake eagle, brown snake eagle , pallid harrier,gabar gashawk, martial eagle, bateleur, common baton quail, black bellied bustard, terminick’s couser ,collared particle, kitiliz,s plover, three banded plover, ruff, marsh sandpiper, common greenshank,ring necked dove, African mourning dove, African laughing dove, European roller, among others
Queen Elizabeth national park is known for its abundant wildlife including African elephants, African buffaloes, hippotoomus, Uganda kob, topi, waterbuck, warthog, giant forest horg, Nile crocodiles, leopards, spotted hyena, chimpanzees and lions. Queen Elizabeth is the home of flamingoes in Uganda, alkaline crater lakes in Uganda , lake Katwe lies inside queen Elizabeth national park at the floor of western rift valley in the south east of Rwenzori mountain and west side is Kazinga channel and the lake covers approximately 8quares miles
Overnight. Stay at engazi lodge
MORNING GAME DRIVE TRANSFER TO BUHOMA THROUGH ISHASHA.
Today you will have relaxed breakfast and check out of the lodge to transfer to Bwindi impenetrable forest and do En-route birding and game drive through Ishasha sector having chances to see species like honey guides, Apalises, starlings, raptors, tinker birds, barbets, pipits, chats among others. Ishasha sector is famous beause of the unique tree climbing lions, Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth national park is nominated by candelabra trees with big branches that allows lions to hug up there and there are savanna word land trees like acacia trees. Ishasha sector is only part of Uganda where you can find tree climbing lions. The main reasons why the lions in ishasha climb trees is now clear basing number of researchers, the lion climb trees running away from hot grounds during dry season, the lion also climb trees, because they relax from their hunt.
Overnight at haven lodge Bwindi
GORILLA EXPERIENCE IN BWINDI
Bwindi impenetrable forest national was designated has national park in 1991 and 1994 it was listed UNESCO has world heritage site because of its ecological importance and 10sq/km area was incorporated into the park, Bwindi became popular to the world because of gorilla trekking. The forest habitant more than half of the world mountain gorilla population.
Mountain gorilla’s endangered species and the forest possess more than 360 of bird species and 24 species are endemic in the Albertan rift valley
Early morning after breakfast, transfer to the park visitation center for briefing by ranger guides on what to do while in the forest and after meeting with the gorillas and sometimes remember to go with packed lunch and drinking water on meeting with the gentle apes you will be allowed to stay with the gorillas for 1 hour learning the behaviors of the gorillas and later return to the lodge for relaxation and lunch after you can take for evening birding around the park headquarters. Stay at haven lodge Bwindi.
FULL DAY BIRDING IN BUHOMA
Today we have our early morning breakfast and meet our guide to transfer to the starting point of our birding trail lead by the ranger guides and the site guides that help us to locate different unique birds in the different trails as we look for species like thick-billed seedeater, African green broadbill, Oriole Finch, Mountain Buzzard, Brown capped weaver, Strange weaver, Montane Oriole, Narrow-tailed starling, western green tinker bird, Toro Olive- greenbul, white bellied robin chat, Olive thrush, red chested owlet , Red faced woodland , Grey cuckoo, african green broadbill, blue headed sunbird, handsome fracoline, neumann,s wabler, purple breasted sunbird, Regal sunbird, Rwenzori apalis, yellow strict greenbull, western green tinkerbird, shelley’s crimsonwing,many coloured bush shrike, mountain masked apalis, cinnamon chested bee eater among others stay at haven lodge Bwindi.
TRANSFER AND EVENING BOAT CRUISE ON LAKE MBURO.
Pick from the place of accommodation in the morning and transfers to Lake Mburo national park reaching the park by lunch time and check into the booked hotel for lunch and afternoon birding to look for water birds like hammerkop, saddle and yellow billed stork, African finfoot, stripped kingfisher, grey parrot, green hylia, golden backed weaver, crested barbet, abdmi,s stork, wolly necked stork, open billed stork, African fish eagle, scarly fracoline, red necked fracoline, coqui fracoline, crested fracoline, brown chested lapwing, Senegal lapwing, common scimtarbill, black collared barbet, white headed barbet, red faced barbet, double toothed barbet, sooty chat among others
Birding in lake mburo national park, the park is located in the western part of Uganda and the nearest from Kampala capital city of Uganda covering 370sq/km, the park is the smallest savannah in the, country. Lake Mburo boasts with very rich diversity of rolling hills, woodland forest, seasonal and permanent swamp, lakes, savannah vegetation and striking landscape. Lake Mburo national park boasts over 350 species of birds both migratory and resident birds found in the national park
MORNING GAME DRIVE AND TRANSFER TO ENTEBBE.
An early morning game drive in Lake Mburo national park to see zebras, elands, topi, waterbuck, and many more. common conspicuous birds seen include; crested francolin, emerald spotted wood dove , brown parrot, bare face go away bird, African grey hornbill, spot flanked barbet, Nubian woodpecker, trilling cisticola. African fin foot and many others. The woodland in the immediate vicinity of Rwonyo also supports many of these widespread species and then afternoon transfer to Kampala
END OF YOUR SAFARI
Thanks for traveling with African skimmer tours