Day 1: Arrival at Entebbe Airport
Upon your arrival in Entebbe, a company representative will warmly welcome you and transfer you to your hotel for an overnight stay to begin the Ultimate Uganda Birding Safari.
Optional Activity: Bird watching at Entebbe Botanical Gardens offers a tranquil experience along the scenic shores of Lake Victoria. Located just 34 km from Kampala, this lush sanctuary is home to a diverse collection of indigenous trees, exotic plant species, and abundant birdlife.
Meal Plan: Dinner | Accommodation: Papyrus Guest House | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 2: To Murchison Falls National Park- Top of the Falls
After an early breakfast at 7:00 am, begin your journey north to the captivating Murchison Falls National Park. Along the way, stop over for lunch en route and visit the Top of the Falls before proceeding to your place of stay and relaxation.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Fort Murchison | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 3: Birding in Budongo Forest and the Royal Mile.
This day will be fully dedicated to birding in Budongo Forest Reserve. With 360 different species, Budongo is famous for its biodiversity in birds and is home to the rare Puvel’s illadopsis, which is an endemic species to this area.
Other species include the Yellow-footed Flycatcher, Chocolate-backed Kingfishers, Chestnut-crowned Eremomela, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, Yellow-browed Camaroptera, Black-headed Paradise Flycatcher, Little Green Sunbird, Grey-headed Sunbird, Slender-billed Greenbul, Green Crombec, and Forest Robin.
Birding at the Royal Mile offers chances to spot the Ituri species like the African Pygmy, Ituri Batis, Lemon-bellied Crombec, Chestnut Capped Flycatcher, Blue-breasted, and African Dwarf among others.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Fort Murchison | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 4: Murchison Falls – Fort Portal
After breakfast, transfer to Murchison Falls National Park with lunch en route, arriving in the evening for relaxation in Kibale National Park.
You may spot black-and-white colobus monkeys, baboons, and more primates hiding in trees along the road. You will have lunch in Fort Portal Town, this area is famed for the fabled mountains of the moon and many tea plantations.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Turaco Treetops | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 5: Birding in Semuliki Park, Sempaya & Ntandi Area
Start the day in the lowland rainforest heading to the hot springs area where the patch of forest is home to White-crested Hornbill, White-spotted Flufftails, Black-casqued Hornbills, African Green Pigeons, Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle, Orange-cheeked Waxbill, White-napped Pigeon, among others.
There are more than 441 species of birds recorded in this protected area, including many West African forest species and 9 hornbill species. As you proceed deeper into the forest, look out for the Red Rumped Tinkerbird and Palm Greenbul, which are endemics.
Other species include the Yellow-throated Cuckoo, Yellow-footed Flycatchers, Chestnut-breasted Nigrita, Red-tailed Leaflove and Banded Prinia, Black-bellied Seedcracker, Shining-blue Kingfisher, and Hartlaub’s Duck, among others.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Turaco Treetops | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 6: Kirumia River Trail -Birding
Kirumia River is another top birding spot, along the 13 km walking trail, look out for the White-bellied Kingfisher, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, Lyre-tailed Honeyguide, Congo Serpent Eagle, Grey-throated Rail, Nkulengu Rail, Long-tailed Hawk, Spot-breasted Ibis, Yellow-throated Nicator, Northern Red-chested Owlet, Western Bronze-napped Pigeon, Black-collared Lovebird, Zenker’s Honeyguide, White-throated Blue Swallow, Bate’s Nightjar, Yellow-throated Cuckoo, and Orange-tufted Sunbird.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Turaco Treetops Lodge | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 7: Kibale Forest and Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary
After breakfast, proceed to the Kasenyi Track, which is a hotspot for lion sightings, often seen hunting the large herds of Uganda kob that roam the area. Look out for herds of elephants and buffalo, leopards, warthogs, topis, and waterbucks, which are excellent photographic opportunities.
Later, check out and journey to the Ishasha Sector, the southern part of the park, arriving in time for a relaxing lunch. In the afternoon, set off on an exciting game drive, keeping an eye out for the famous tree-climbing lions.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Turaco Treetops Lodge | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 8: Kibale Forest – Queen Elizabeth Park
Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park, arriving in time for lunch at the camp on this 15-day Birding Safari in Uganda. Later in the evening, you will have an evening game drive in the park in search of the first wildlife, including warthogs, buffalo, waterbucks, and elephants. Classified as an Important Birding Area (IBA) by Birding International, Queen Elizabeth NP is home to over 600 species.
This is the greatest of any East African national park and a phenomenal number for such a small area. The park’s confluence of savanna and forest, linking to the expansive forests of DR Congo, allows visitors to spot East as well as Central African species.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Bush Lodge | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 9: Maramagambo Forest & Boat Cruise
After breakfast, we start early for a birding session in Maramagambo Forest. We will have birding from the lodge towards the Maramagambo forest. Look out for the Whinchat, Common Redstart, White-fronted Black Chat, Sooty Chat, Cameroon Sombre Greenbul, Yellow-throated Greenbul, Black, White-breasted, and Red-shouldered Cuckoo Shrikes.
The Black and Penduline Tits, Nubian Woodpecker, White-tailed and Red-tailed Ant-thrushes, Brown Illadopsis, Shining-blue Kingfisher, Brown-eared Woodpeckers, Least Honeyguide, Grey Greenbul, Brown-chested Alethe, and many others.
After lunch, take a boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel, a natural channel between Lake Edward and Lake George.
This cruise is a birders’ paradise, the shores of the channel offer a variety of habitats, each appealing to different species of bird species Greenshank, Common Ringed Plover, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, and Grey (Black-bellied) Plover, African Skimmers, Yellow-Billed Stork,
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Bush Lodge | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 10: Queen Elizabeth - Bwindi -Buhoma Sector
We drive through verdant countryside, you will pass traditional homesteads and enjoy panoramic views, arriving in Bwindi National Park, home of the endangered mountain gorillas, in time for lunch.
Bwindi offers some of the finest montane forest bird watching in Africa and is an unmissable destination for any birder visiting Uganda.
There are an estimated 350 bird species, with 23 endemics to the Albertine Rift and 14 recorded nowhere else in Uganda.
Globally threatened species such as the African Green Broadbill and Shelley’s Crimsonwing are also found here.
Other birds include the Handsome Francolin, Black-billed Turaco, African Broadbill, Black and Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters, Western Green Tinkerbird, Purple-breasted, Blue-headed, and Regal Sunbirds, Short-tailed and Black-faced Rufous Warblers, Mountain-masked and Collared Apalis, Mountain and Yellow-streaked Greenbul, and Many-colored Bush-Shrike, among others.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Haven Lodge | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 11: Munyanga Waterfall Trail – Ruhija Sector
After breakfast, embark on a thrilling 3-hour birding expedition along the Munyaga Waterfall Trail. Keep your eyes peeled for a diverse array of bird species, numbering between 40 to 50, such as Bee-Eaters, Bar-tailed Trogon, various Tinkerbirds, Wood-hoopoes, Barbets, Woodpeckers, African Broadbill, assorted Greenbuls, White-bellied Robin-Chat, Red-throated Alethe, and Brown-capped Weaver.
Other bird species include Chapin’s Flycatcher, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Black-faced Rufous Warbler, Pink-footed Puffback, Grauer’s Warbler, Short-tailed Warbler, Oberlander’s Ground Thrush, Mountain Masked Apalis, Bocage’s Bush-shrike, Luhder’s Bush-shrike, Petit’s Cuckoo-shrike, Starlings, Black-billed Weaver, and many others.
After this rewarding birding experience, enjoy lunch before continuing to the Ruhija Sector of Bwindi National Park.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Bakiga Lodge | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 12: Bwindi Forest – Ruhija Sector
Head for the Mubwindi swamp trail, birds in Ruhija include the Regal Sunbird, Archer’s Robin-Chat, Grauer’s Rush Warbler, African green broadbill, Caruthers cisticola, Handsome francolin, African Hill babbler, Banded Prinia, Shelley’s Crimsonwing, Bushrike, Collared Apalis, Rwenzori Turaco, Western Green Tinkerbird, Olive, Elliot’s, and Fine-banded Woodpecker, African Green-Broadbill, Mountain, Yellow-whiskered.
Other species include Yellow-streaked Greenbul, African Hill Babbler, Mountain Illadopsis, Grey Cuckoo Shrike Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Grauer’s Warbler, Mountain Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-throated Apalis, Collared Apalis, Stripe-breasted Tit, Rwenzori Batis, Montane Sooty Boubou, Blue-Headed Sunbird. Later, head back to camp.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Bakiga Lodge | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 13: Bwindi -Lake Mburo Park – Boat Cruise
After breakfast, we depart the impenetrable forest of Bwindi and head to Lake Mburo National Park on the 15-day Birding Safari in Uganda.
Lake Mburo alone is home to 350 species of birds, and some of the spots where you can find the birds include swampy valleys, the forest, along the boat cruise, and the viewing platform near the salt licks.
After checking in, head for a boat ride on Lake Mburo in the afternoon to check out some of the water bird species such as African Finfoot, Saddle-billed Stork, Long-toed Lapwing, Papyrus Gonolek, Rufous-bellied Herons, Papyrus yellow warbler, Malachite Kingfishers, and Giant Kingfisher, among others.
Later return to the lodge, and as you head back, you will have some birding as well, look out for the Long Willow Warbler and European Bee-eater.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Mpogo Safari Lodge | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 14: Kigambira Loop Birding – Entebbe
After breakfast, you will have a game drive while birding along the Kigambira loop. Looking out for the savanna and Acacia woodland species that include the Blue-napped Mousebirds, Spot-flanked Barbet, Nubian Woodpecker, Red-Faced Barbet, Red-Headed Lovebird, Lead Colored Flycatcher, African Marsh Harriers, Banded Snake Eagles, African Hawk Eagles, and many more. Return to the lodge for breakfast, depart the protected area, and drive back to Entebbe.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner | Accommodation: Papyrus Guest House | Comfort Level: Mid-range
Day 15: Mabamba Swamp- Departure
After breakfast, head to Mabamba Swamp, taking a canoe ride in search of the rare Shoebill Stork. The Mabamba Swamp is more renowned for its amazing bird record of about 260 bird species, and it’s a sanctuary to four threatened species, including the Papyrus Gonolek, Blue Swallow, Pallid Harrier, and White-Winged Warbler.
Look out for other bird species such as the Yellow-throated Greenbul, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Yellow-billed Tinkerbird, Yellow-billed Ducks, Yellow-backed Weaver, Yellow warbler, Yellow Wagtail, Yellow-Billed Stork, Yellow-billed duck, Yellow-billed Kite, Woodland Kingfisher, Wood Sandpiper, Winding Cisticola, White-winged Warbler, White-winged Black Terns, among others.
Depending on your flight departure, you will have lunch and continue to Entebbe airport for your international flight at the end of the 15-day Birding Safari in Uganda Tour.