Classic Uganda Birding Safari

Your guide picks you early this morning from Entebbe and drive to Mabamba wetland.

 Mabamba bay is about 50km west of Entebbe area on the shores of Lake Victoria. It comprises of an extensive marsh with a labyrinth of channels and lagoons, classified as an IBA (Important Bird Area) and home to the Shoebills, Uganda's most famous bird. We paddle through the man-made channels in the marsh on a canoe looking for the shoebill. Other interesting species include Lesser Jacana, Malachite Kingfisher, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Blue-headed Coucal, Papyrus Gonolek, White-winged Warbler, Wyen’s weaver etc.
We shall be here till late morning hours and later transfer to L. Mburo National Park while birding on the way. We have a chance for an optional evening drive in the park.

Lunch stop will be at the Equator.

Early arrivals will give a chance to bird around the lodge – very reliable location for the rare Re-faced Barbet

Morning bird walk in the woods, and later transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable NP.

We shall start early for a walk in the park; Most sought-after species here include Tabora Cisticola, Red-faced Barbet, Crested Barbet, Black-collared barbet, bronze-winged courser/violet-tipped courser, Brown-chested Lapwing, Chinspot Batis, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, etc. Possible animals encounters include; buffalos, warthogs, Giraffe, Impala, Topi, Eland, bushbuck, waterbuck etc.
we shall do an early lunch at the lodge and later start driving to Ruhiija – Bwindi Forest. For early arrival here, we shall spend the last hours of the evening on the community trail in Bwindi Forest

Birding Ruhija- Mubwindi swamp

After breakfast, we shall carry our picnic lunch and head for a whole day birding following the famous trail through the forest up to Mubwindi Swamp. The 4km trail to Mubwindi Swamp drops from 2350m to 2050m ASL and is the best place for some of the most difficult to find of all the Albertine Rift Endemics including; the rare and localized Grauer's Rush Warbler, African Green Broadbill, the beautiful Regal Sunbird, and Archer's Robin Chat. Mubwindi Swamp is home to Dwarf Honeyguide, Stripe-breasted Tit, Rwenzori Apalis, African/Rwenzori Hill Babbler and Carruthers' Cisticola. Other key species here include Fraser's Eagle-Owl, Purple-breasted Sunbird, Blue-headed Sunbird, Eastern Mountain-Greenbul, Strange Weaver, Black-headed Waxbill, Bar-tailed Trogon, White-headed Wood-hoopoe, Waller's Starling, Stuhlmann's Starling, Ludher's Bush-shrike, Handsome Francolin and Montane Nightjar.

Early morning breakfast and later transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park and concentrate in the open savannah of Ishasha sector for the whole morning and in the afternoon.

We shall later drive to the northern part of the park and stay at Bush Lodge.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is yet another area with some of the highest biodiversity ratings than any National Game Reserve in the world. Its varied habitats of open savannahs, acacia woodlands, tropical rain forests, dense papyrus swamps and lakes, make it one of the richest parks in Africa. Game in the park includes Elephant, buffalo, waterbuck, bushbuck, a profusion of Hippos, the elusive Giant Forest Hog and handsome Uganda Kob; with occasional Lion and Leopard. The park boosts of over 612 bird species recorded.
We start very early after breakfast and drive to the Kasenyi trail.

Along the Kazinga Channel, there are chances of spotting the African Skimmers, snowy-capped robin chat, spoonbills, kittliz plover, flamingos, crowned plovers and many other shorebirds both migratory and resident.

We spend most of the morning in the savanna and later in the afternoon, we do a boat ride along the famous Kazinga Channel

We shall drive to Fort Portal after here.

Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary is a community owned and managed nature reserve. A 4km trail has been created in the wetland adjacent to the forest. The habitat here consists of a swamp surrounded by low, scrubby secondary forest and cultivation. Key species include among others; White-spotted flufftail, Green-backed Twinspot, Cabanis's and Joyful Greenbuls, Scaly Illadopsis, Olive-green Camaroptera, white-winged warbler, white-chinned Prinia, Blue-shouldered Robinchat, Lesser honeyguide, Uganda Spotted and speckle-breasted Woodpecker. There are over 5species of primates that can be encountered here.
We spend the whole morning here and later transfer to Hoima town

We shall drive while birding. We shall do the Butiaba escarpment, bird all the way to the park cross then Nile and bird all the way to Pakwach through the northern sector of the park.

We spend the whole morning birding the northern bank of the river up to the delta. There are chances of occasion encounters of Lion and Leopard. Afternoon boat along the Nile up to the bottom of the falls, from here we drive to Masindi Town

We drive while birding on the way. Stop over at the Luwero wetlands to look for the rare Hartlaub’s Marsh widowbird. We shall have time to do our final touches of birding at Entebbe Botanical Gardens before departure.

Situated on the northern shores of Lake Victoria, EBG is a beautiful place with colorful butterflies, birds and primates in an area of 40.7ha. The gardens house a collection of species of plants of the tropical, sub-tropical and temperate zones, besides several shrubs and other plants which regenerated naturally over the years. The habitat has attracted a diverse array of birds – 206 species (both forest and shorebirds) and monkeys; Black and White Colobus and Vervet Monkeys.
The bird walk is more leisurely and relaxed: Some of the species we are likely to see here include Harrier Hawk, Lizard Buzzard, Northern Brown-throated weaver, brown-throated Wattle-eye, Yellow-throated Leaflove, African Grey Parrot, Golden-backed, Yellow-backed and Orange Weavers, Ross's Turaco, Crowned, African Pied and Back-and-white Casqued Hornbills, Olive-bellied, Collared and Marica Sunbirds, Green Crombec, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Heuglin's Robinchat, Red-cheeked Cordon-blue, Grey-headed Negro-finch etc.