14 Days Uganda Birding Safari Experience
DESCRIPTION
PROGRAM
TRIP INCLUDES
DESCRIPTION
Our 14 days Uganda birding safari experience is combined with the unforgettable Mountain Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This is a perfectly drafted safari that offers a great opportunity to spot 1,073 bird species in Uganda which is about 11% of the world’s total bird species, we’ll visit many of Uganda’s birding spots including Semuliki National Park which is an extension of West African jungle that stretches from Equatorial Guinea through Congo, forming a home for some 46 special Guinea-Congo biome bird species. Kibale National Park is famous for its 375 bird species including the rare Great Breast Pitta. The gorilla trekking experience in Bwindi is also where you will see many of the rarest birds of Uganda on this African safari. The park host over 350 bird species of which 23 are endemic to the Albertine Rift valley Ecosystem including the near-mythical African Green Broadbill, Rwenzori turaco, Blue-headed Sunbird, Handsome Francolin, and Regal Sunbird. Lake Mburo National Park, a beautiful savannah park with over 350 bird species including the Red-faced Barbet, and the endemic African Finfoot, alongside canoe ride in Mabamba Swamp on the edge of Lake Victoria in search of the Shoebills. Key bird species include Nahan’s francolin, Masked Apalis, Western Nicator, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Brown Illadopsis, Blue-headed Sunbird, Crowned Eagle, Black Bee-eater, Ruwenzori Apalis, Northern bearded scrub-robin, Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, Dusky Crimsonwing, Black dwarf and Red-billed dwarf, Greenbuls Eastern bearded, Sassi’s olive and Simple greenbuls, Red-eyed Puffback, Yellow-throated Nictor, Grant’s bluebill, and Black-winged Oriole, Lowland akalat, the Western bronze-naped pigeon, Piping Hornbill, Rufous-sided broadbill, Yellow-throated Cuckoo, Xavier’s greenbul, Capuchin babbler, Red-billed helmet-shrike, Crested malimbe, Pale-fronted ant pecker, and many more.
Tour highlights
Birding Kirumia Trail in Semiliki National Park
Birding Sempaya Trail in Semiliki National Park
Nature Walk Tour to the Hotsprings
Game Viewing Drive in Semiliki National Park
Birding Sebitoli Sector in Kibale Forest National Park
Chimpanzee Trekking In Kibale Forest National Park
Birding Around Kanyanchu section in Kibale Forest National Park
Birding Nature Walk in Bigodi Wetland
Game Viewing In Queen Elizabeth National Park
Birding Buhoma Sector In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Mountain Gorilla Trekking In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Birding Ruhija Sector in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Birding Game Drive in Lake Mburo National Park
Game Viewing Drive in Lake Mburo National Park
Birding Nature Walk In Queen Elizabeth National Park
Equator line Experience in Uganda
PROGRAM
Day1
- Upon arrival at Entebbe Airport, you’ll meet our company representative who will welcome you to Uganda and transfer you to your hotel in Kampala or Entebbe. The Entebbe town is incredibly a birding destination, we’ll have an afternoon visit to the amazing landscaped Entebbe Botanical Gardens right on the shores of Lake Victoria. Our first birding here could include Orange Weaver, African fish eagle, Gray Parrot, Ross’s Turaco, Palm-nut Vulture, and Great blue turaco, a perfect introduction to the safari with easy birding in an open environment.
- Day2
- We have breakfast and embark on the transfer west towards Semuliki National park through Fort Portal-Bundibugyo to reach the park. This route has scenic views of Rwenzori mountain ranges plus plantations and vegetable markets. The Park contains about 441 bird species including, the Nkulengu rail, Congo serpent eagle, Blue-bellied malimbe, Gabon Woodpecker, Maxwell’s black weaver, Spotted-breasted ibis, Long-tailed Hawk, Black-wattled hornbill, Chestnut-flanked goshawk, White-crested Hornbill, Red-rumped tinkerbird, Spotted honeyguide, Lyre-tailed honeyguide, Black dwarf hornbill, Red-bill hornbill, Zenker’s honeyguide, Simple greenbul, Eastern bearded greenbul, Sassi’s olive greenbul, Yellow-throated nictor, African piculet, Palm swamp greenbul, Fiery breasted bush shrike, Lowland akalat, Grey ground thrush, and Red-eyed Puffback. In terms of mammals, Semuliki boasts over 53 like the Angola Colobus, African Civet, Little Collared Fruit Bat, Water Chevrotain, Pygmy Scaly-tailed Flying Squirrel, Mona monkey, Ugandan Grey-cheeked Mangabey, Bay Duiker.
- Day3
- We will start this day with an early morning breakfast, and embark on a full day birding exploration of the magical Kirumia trail. Look out for the African Piculet, Black-Faced Rufous Warbler, Lemon Billed Crombec, Long-Tailed Hawk, Red-Sided Broad Bill, Nkulengu Rail, Spot-Breasted Ibis, Yellow-Throated Cuckoo, Lyre Tailed Honeyguide, Grey Ground Thrush, Black-Throated Coucal, Blue-Billed Malimbe, Maxwell’s Black Weaver, Grant’s Bluebill, Hartlaub’s Duck and White-throated Blue Swallow, Maxwell’s Black Weaver, Grant’s Bluebill, Hartlaub’s Duck and White-Throated Blue Swallow are resident on Semuliki River.
- Day4
- After breakfast we will embark on another full-day birding adventure experience on either the main road Sempaya trail or the Kirumia trail, relying on the previous day’s results, here we expect to see red-tailed monkeys, black-and-white colobus monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys are common. Look out for the Piping Hornbill, black dwarf hornbill, White-crested Hornbill, Red-billed dwarf hornbill, Black-casqued wattled hornbill, Red-rumped tinkerbird, Yellow-throated tinkerbird, Blue-breasted kingfisher, Frasier’s an-thrush, and Honeyguide greenbul.
- Day5
- After Breakfast, we embark on the drive to Kibale National Park. Upon arrival have lunch and embark on our birding adventure in the Sebitoli Sector. We look out for specials like the Toro olive and Cameroon Sombre green bulls, African pita, Great blue turaco, Brown and scaly breasted illadopsis, Velvet-mantled Drongo, Pink-footed Puff Back, Bocage’s Bush-shrike, African black duck, Brown-capped Weaver, Green-throated Sunbird, Green-breasted Pitta, and Black-headed Sunbird just to mention but a few. We will also encounter a variety of monkeys including the Uganda red colobus, Uganda mangabey, Red-tailed monkeys, Blue monkeys and Vervet monkeys, Black-and-white colobus, and Chimpanzees are also frequently heard in Sebitoli.
- Day6
- We have our breakfast and then transfer to the Kanyanchu visitor’s center for a wonderful birding adventure. Look out for the rare Green-breasted Pitta, African pitta, African grey parrots, Great blue turaco, Abyssinian ground thrush, Afep pigeon, Black bee-eater, Black-capped Apalis, Black-eared ground thrush, Crowned eagle, Dusky Crimsonwing, Little greenbul, Masked Apalis, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Blue-headed bee-eater, Purple-breasted sunbird, Red-faced woodland warbler, Western nicator, White-naped pigeon and Ruwenzori Apalis, Scaly-breasted illadopsis, Yellow-rumped tinkerbird. You will also spot several primates including Uganda red colobus, Black-and-white colobus, L ’Hoest’s monkey, Red-tailed monkeys, Grey-cheeked mangabeys, Blue monkeys, and Olive baboons. After our birding encounter in Kibale, we embark on the birding experience in Bigodi Wetland where you will spot wildlife at close hand, including many of the 200 species of birds, eight primates species, and numerous butterflies, along with swamp vegetation.
- Day7
- We’ll have our breakfast and embark on a transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. We’ll spot a variety of birds along the way and scenic views of Rwenzori Mountains ranges. We’ll go through Queen Elizabeth National Park and we’ll adventure their scenic savannah landscape which is a home of 600 bird species and 95 species of mammal including Tree-climbing lions, Leopards, Spotted hyenas, elephants, buffalos, Uganda kobs, Topis, Chimpanzees, Bushbucks, Hippos, Defassa waterbucks, and Giant forest hogs. We’ll arrive in Bwindi in the evening for relaxation, dinner, and overnight stay.
- Day8
- We have our breakfast and embark on a search for the birdlife of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in the Buhoma sector, through the waterfall trail looking out for the Bar-tailed Trogon, Olive long-tailed cuckoo, Dusky tit, Northern Double-collared Sunbird, Kivu ground thrush, Black bee-eater, Handsome francolin, Banded Prinia, Equatorial akalat, Grey-chested iladopsis, Red-throated alethe, White-bellied crested flycatcher, Grauer’s swamp Warbler, White-bellied Robin-chat, White-eyed slaty flycatcher, Neumann’s warbler, Black-faced Prinia, Jameson’s antpecker, Black-faced rufous warbler, Willcock’s honeyguide, black-billed weaver, the enigmatic Chapin’s flycatcher, White-browed crombec, magpie mannikin and newly described Willard’s sooty boubou, Waller’s, Stuhlmann’s and narrow-tailed. Other wildlife species includes L’Hoest’s, blue and red-tailed monkeys Black-and-white colobus. We’ll retreat from the activity for relaxation dinner and overnight.
- Day9
- The trek to spot the Mountain Gorillas starts with a briefing from an expert local ranger guide. After the briefing, you’re put into a group of 8, assigned to the gorilla family. Our guides will cut a route via the undergrowth. The trek is relatively tiresome as it goes for about 2-8 hours hiking on the terrain in order to find the mountain gorillas’ family. After spotting the gorillas you will be allowed one hour in their presence. You will enjoy this unforgettable experience as you stand just a few meters from these gentle giants of the forest watching them feed, play, and gloom. After this activity, you will relax at your lodge and later dinner and overnight stay.
- Day10
- After a relaxed breakfast, we embark on birding in the Ruhija sector of Bwindi. We’ll spend the whole day birding this route to take advantage of the amazing birding. In scrubby areas, we’ll look out for Ross’s Turaco, Red-throated Wryneck, Copper and Variable Sunbirds, Black-necked and Holub’s Golden Weavers, Yellow Bishop Brown-backed Scrub-Robin, and Black-throated Seed-eater, Black sparrow hawk, Western bronze-napped pigeon, Pettit’s cuckoo-shrike, White-chinned Prinia, Mountain Wagtail, Pink-footed puff back, Cinnamon-chested bee-eater, Yellow-crowned Canary, Cassin’s honeybird, the rare tiny Sunbird and the Dapper brown-capped weaver and Yellow-bellied and, Thick-billed Seedeater and African Stonechat, Black-crowned Waxbills Chubb’s Cisticola Doherty’s Bush-shrike. Retire for dinner and overnight.
- Day11
- We’ll have our breakfast at our lodge and then say goodbye to Bwindi. We head northeast through the magical Kigezi rolling Highlands towards Lake Mburo National Park. We’ll of course be on the search for any missed bird species. These may include Cinnamon Bracken-Warbler, Handsome Francolin, Mountain Yellow Warbler, and the highland Kandt’s Waxbill. We’ll make a lunch stop at Igongo Cultural Center in Mbarara town after which you continue to Lake Mburo National Park arriving in the afternoon. Lake Mburo National Park is a superb wetland and Acacia savanna vegetation that is a famous spot for serious birders. The park is a home to more than 350 bird species including the African finfoot, Abyssinian ground hornbill, Brown Parrot, Red-faced Barbet, Barefaced go-away bird, Blue-naped mousebird, Nubian Woodpecker, Papyrus canary, Black-billed Barbet, Papyrus gonolek, White-winged Warbler, Shoebill, Tabora cisticola, Green-capped eremomela, Spot-flanked barbet, White-backed night-heron, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Yellow-throated leaflove, Giant kingfishers, Coqui francolin, Black-bellied bustard, Red-headed lovebird, Green wood-hoopoe, Lilac-breasted, and broad-billed rollers, Narina trogon, Trilling cisticola, Southern red bishop, African scops owl, Verreaux’s eagle-owl Pennant-winged nightjars. There are also over 68 mammal species including the zebra, Rothschild’s giraffe, Cape buffalo, Oribi, Defassa Waterbuck, Impala, Eland antelope, Hippos, Spotted Hyaena, and Topi.
- Day12
- After breakfast, we undertake a 4-5 hours birding adventure in Lake Mburo Park and transfer back to Kampala with a stopover at the Uganda Equator crossing Kayabwe for amazing photo shoots and water experiments, and lunch before we proceed to Kampala. Arrive in Kampala in the evening for relaxation dinner and overnight stay.
- Day13
- After breakfast, we depart Kampala for birding Mabamba Swamp, a Ramsar site, and an Important Bird Area on the shores of Lake Victoria. It’s a star attraction for the unique Shoebill stork. Upon reaching the swamp, we’ll embark on a canoe ride in search for the rare Shoebill, Africa Pygmy goose, Blue-breasted bee-eater, Gull-bellied tern, Lesser jacana, Carruther’s cisticola, Papyrus gonolek and White-winged Warbler Golden-backed, Slender-billed, Northern Brown-throated, Grosbeak and Weyn’s Weaver Vieillot’s, Orange, Black-headed.You will retreat from the activity for relaxation, diner, and overnight.
- Day14
One of our staff will transfer you to Entebbe International Airport for your flight.
TRIP INCLUDES
Price Includes:
- Full time English professional safari driver guide
- 4×4 safari van/ 4×4 Safari land cruiser with
- Full board accommodation
- Gorilla trekking permit fees
- Boat cruise fees
- Wi-Fi Internet on board the safari vehicle
- Bottled water
Price Excludes:
- International &domestic flight fees
- Visa fees
- Laundry services
- Items of personal nature
- Gratuities and tips
- Other beverages/ drinks
- Other extras not mentioned in the itinerary above
GALLERY / PHOTOS
