Birding and Gorillas

Day by day itinerary for our 9 days Uganda safari:

DAY 1: ARRIVAL AT ENTEBBE AIRPORT

At Entebbe Airport you meet your safari guide who takes you to the hotel in Entebbe to relax and be ready to set off for the 8 days Birding Uganda safari the next morning.

Overnight Green Valley Hotel, Ggaba.

Green-Valley-Hotel-Ggaba

DAY 2: BIRDING TO QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK

After early morning breakfast at the Hotel, our travel journey will take us to Queen Elizabeth national park, bird watching enroute. This Uganda’s second largest safari park contains Africa’s best game populations as well as some of Uganda’s biggest birding list, an incredible bird list of 611 species.

Overnight Pumba Safari Cottages

Pumba Safari Cottages.

DAY 3: EARLY MORNING BIRDING SAFARI AND AFTERNOON BOAT-CRUISE

This morning we start early for a bird safari and game drive towards the Kasenyi trail after trying Uganda’s top bird in Queen Elizabeth, The Papyrus endemic Papyrus Gonolek. The drive leads us to the mating ground with grassy plains dotted with the cactus, to the fishing village with a variety of stork species including the Spectacular Saddle-billed, African Open Billed and Woolly necked Storks. Other species include the Bateleur, Grey Kestrel, Lappet-faced, White-backed, Palm-nut Vultures and the award winning ruppels vulture in soaring the highest among birds! African Crake, Black Coucal, Common button, Harlequin and Black-rumped Quails, Rufous-naped and Flappet Larks. Common mammals include African Buffalo, Uganda Kobs, leopard and many others. In the afternoon it is time for the boat-cruise on the Kazinga channel, a 36km channel connecting Lake George and Lake Edward, and a highlight during this 8 days Uganda birding safari. Along the banks you can see hippos, buffaloes and crocodiles.

Overnight Pumba Safari Cottages

DAY 4: BIRDING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN SECTOR OF QUEEN ELIZABETH NP

This morning, we shall bird towards Ishasha through the transitional habitat between Lake Edward and Maramagambo Forest. We will see a lot of colorful butterflies along the way. Special birds of this area include Yellow-bill, Pygmy Kingfisher, African mustached warbler, Batleur eagle, Black Bee-eater, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Greater honey guide and White-breasted Negrofinch. After this we continue birding to the Ishasha part of the park where we spend the night.

Overnight Topi Lodge

Topi Lodge

DAY 5: TRANSFER TO BWINDI IMPENETRABLE NATIONAL PARK AND A BIRDING WALK

After breakfast we leave the flat savanna behind and journey up to the home of the mountain gorillas through cultivated hills and villages to forest covered mountains. We take time to look for birds along the way and target to be at the lodge in time for lunch. In the afternoon we explore the birding possibilities. We could assemble to head for the Mubwindi swamp for the highest concentration of the Albertin endemics aiming to grip on the African green broadbill, Grey cuckoo-shrike, Stripe breasted tit, Chestnut throated apalis, montane oriole, Frasers eagle owl, black billed turaco and Rwenzori batis. This Impenetrable Forest is full of birds, butterflies and plant species plus forest hog; forest Elephants.

Overnight Broadbill Forest Camp

Broadbill Forest Camp

DAY 6: GORILLA TREKKING DAY

Your guide picks you at the hotel in the early morning to head for the chimps trekking in Kibale Forest. Kibale forest national park is a rainy forest and a home to over 1500 Chimpanzees. During your morning chimps trekking you will see them close and capture shots of our closest cousins in the Jungle in their frenzy exciting moods grooming! Besides the chimps 9 different species of Monkeys are found in this forest, for example red colobus, red tailed monkey and bush babies. After the trek we have lunch and go for crater exploration. This area has beautiful crater lakes, offering beautiful scenic views.

Overnight Isunga Lodge

Isunga Lodge

DAY 7: CHIMPS TREKKING IN KIBALE FOREST & CRATER EXPLORATION

After breakfast we drive over to the gorilla trekking starting point, a highlight during this 7 days Uganda birding safari with gorillas. Here you are briefed about the gorilla trekking rules while your guide takes care of the practicalities. You set off into the forest with a specialized guide who leads you to the point where the gorillas are. For one unforgettable hour you are in the area of the mountain Gorillas seeing them in their daily life, with a chance to spot some forest interior birds, tullberg woodpecker, the olive pigeons, stulmanns starlings, dusky crimsonwing. After trekking back to the starting point your guides picks you and takes you to Lake Bunyonyi enroute spotting the black headed, black crowned, yellow bellied waxbills, streaky sead eaters, white tailed blue flycatchers, This is a beautiful area famous for its small birds with the rare altitude spacialists like the white napped ravens and some other spices.

Overnight Lake Bunyonyi Eco resort

Lake Bunyonyi Eco Resort

DAY 8: TRANSFER TO LAKE MBURO NATIONAL PARK & GAME-DRIVE WITH BIRDING

Be woken up by a choir of birds before breakfast. We leave Lake Bunyonyi after breakfast driving to Lake Mburo national park where we have lunch at the lodge. In the afternoon we continue our 7 days birding Uganda safari by heading out for a game-drive with views of zebras and impalas as well as birding with chances of seeing yellow throated apalis, red faced barbet, coqui francolin, black cuckoo shrike, tabora cistcola, pale flycatcher, emerald spotted wood dove, african penduline tit and pearl spotted owlet.

Overnight Rwakobo Rock

Rwakobo Rock

DAY 9: SHOEBILL STORK AT MABAMBA SWAMP AND TRANSFER TO ENTEBBE FOR FLIGHT

This morning we visit Mabamba village and its adjacent swamp with chances of seeing the prehistorical looking Great shoebill stork. The road to Mabamba winds its way through areas of secondary forest and agricultural land attracting Red-headed Lovebird, African Crowned-Hornbills, and a range of sunbirds including the Green-headed, Green, Red-chested, Collared, Marico and Scarlet-chested and the African pied Wagtail is common along the road. After these last birding highlights we cross towards Entebbe international airport in time for an evening flight as we have reached the end of our 8 days Uganda birding safari.