This 19-Day action-packed Uganda primates and birding safari takes you to Mabamba – a Ramsar site in search for the mythical shoebill.
Upon arrival in Uganda at Entebbe International Airport, located on a peninsula that juts out into Lake Victoria, Africa’s biggest fresh water lake, you will be welcomed and greeted by your driver/guide. He will be standing at the Arrivals Hall holding a placard with your name so you cannot miss him. You will then be transferred to the hotel/ guest house you have chosen and check-in for dinner and overnight stay. Your driver/ guide will brief you about your safari at some stage (either before dinner or first thing after breakfast the next day).
You are up early and have breakfast. After your breakfast, with packed lunch in your carry-on bag, head to Mabamba Bay. The word ‘Mabamba’ is a Luganda word translated as “a place of Lung Fish” in the local dialect. Declared a Ramsar Site in 2007, Mabamba Bay is a birding hotspot that stretches into Lake Victoria. It is one of the best places to see the rare Shoebill Stork! Among the 300 bird species recorded in Mabamba are the Blue Swallow, White-winged Tern, Gull-billed Tern in the migratory category. Papyrus endemics include Papyrus Gonolek, Papyrus Yellow Warbler among others. The Marshy Swamp is also a haven to spur-winged geese, yellow-billed ducks, and malachite kingfishers, African Jacana, Purple Heron and Squacco Heron, Weyn’s Weaver, Lesser Moorhen among others. On this visit, you employ a motorized canoe and navigate the narrow waterways in the swamp in search for the prolific birdlife that the marshes have become very famous for. When you return to Entebbe, head to the Entebbe Botanical Gardens expecting to see Great Blue turaco, Ross’s Turaco, Great Reed Warbler, Fain Tailed Widow bird, Woodland and Pygmy Kingfishers, Black Bishop, Grey Woodpecker, Olive, Olive bellied and Red chested Copper, Sunbirds and many more. Later, drive back to the guest house where you relax. From Mabamba go birding in the Entebbe Botanical Gardens. Look out for the Orange Weavers that build intricate nests, Vieillot’s Black Weaver, Red-chested sunbirds, the rare Verreeaux’s Eagle-Owl, Black-headed Herons and a lot more. Later, head back to the guest house/ hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
This morning, you are up at 6.30am and enjoy your breakfast. At 7.00am, be ready to commence the drive to the Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary. En-route, you can make a stop at the Kakooge Swamp and search for the Marsh Widowbird, Black Bishop. At Zziwa, you go on a trek to encounter the endangered white rhinoceros but the sanctuary is also prolific for birding (if you were not successful with the shoebill at Mabamba, the sanctuary’s marshes is a good second option). When you arrive at the Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary, a guide and armed rangers will take you on either a walking/by vehicle safari to look for the rhinos. Once you have spotted the rhinos, you will stay in their presence for a while. After the trek, you will stay and bird the sanctuary. Be on the look-out for a lot of African species including; Abdim’s Stork, African Black Crake, African Black-headed Oriole, African Crowned Eagle, African Darter, African Fish Eagle, African Green Pigeon, African Hawk Eagle, African Marsh Harrier and a lot more. To be at the Royal Mile early the next day, you will drive into Masindi town for overnight at Masindi Hotel.
This morning, after your breakfast, exit the rhino sanctuary headed to the ‘Royal Mile’ – Budongo Forest. You make a stop at Bwijanga. Here, the objectives are the Fan-tailed Grassbird, Brown Twinspot, Compact Weaver and Fawn-breasted Waxbill. You then make a stop for Cabani’s Bunting. From Bwijanga, you continue to Budongo Forest to bird the ‘Royal Mile’. The Royal Mile is found in the 793 square kilometre Budongo Forest Reserve that lies at the edge of the Albertine Rift and is part of the Murchison Falls National Park conservation area. Named for its popularity as a traditional leisure stop-over for Uganda’s royalty, the Royal Mile is a superb birding spot with many west and central African species, as well as a variety of sought-after key species. Key objectives at Royal Mile include: Crested Guinea fowl, Nahan’s Partridge, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, Shining-blue KF, Yellow-throated Tinkerbird, Ituri Batis, Rufous Flycatcher Thrush, Brown-backed Scrub Robin, African Forest Flycatcher, Grey-throated Tit Flycatcher, YB Forest Robin, Little Green Sunbird, Blue-throated Brown Sunbird, Black Bishop, Compact weaver, Brown Twinspot, Green Twinspot, Cabani’s Bunting, Red-winged Pytilia. After birding the Royal Mile, return to Masindi Hotel – Uganda’s oldest hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
Game in Murchison Falls National Park is among the best in Uganda, garnished with wonderful birdlife that makes the park a wildlife and birders’ paradise. Among the many bird species you should expect include; the Secretary Bird, the Giant pied Malachite, the African Pygmy Kingfishers, House Martin, African Rock Martin, Lesser Stripped Swallow, Ethiopian Swallow, Angola Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Rufous-chested Swallow and a lot more. The park is home to 76 mammal species including herds of buffalo, elephants that are scattered in the savannah woodland areas. The park is also home to a good number of camouflage leopards as well as a good number of lion prides. The park is also known for the endangered Rothschild’s Giraffe. On the Nile’s banks and in the pools, you find hippos and crocodiles. Today, you are up at 6.00am, have breakfast and head out for a game drive for a chance to view the glorious day-break from across the open savannah, birds and dotted woodland as well as riverine vegetation along the Nile. You explore the area and are in search for game ranging from lion, buffalo, elephant, giraffes, antelope and a lot more. At between 12.30pm, you will return to the lodge for lunch. After lunch, at 2.00pm, you will head out for the boat launch to the bottom of the powerful Murchison Falls. This three-hour boat cruise climaxes at the edge of the rift valley escarpment at which point you will get off the boat and trek to the top of the falls (wear sports shoes while on the boat for ease of trekking to the top). Having worked up a sweat, once at the top, get bathed in the misty spray that the Nile create as it forces itself into the 7-metre cleft to create the famous Murchison Falls. Your guide will be waiting up top to transfer you back to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Today we will depart with packed lunches towards the northern sectors of the park where the best birding and most of the game in this park is to be found. The wide expanse of grasslands and whistling acacias to the north of the Nile holds a number of typical dry savanna birds such as the majestic-looking Secretary bird, black-chested snake eagle, tawny and martial eagle, shikra, dark chanting goshawk, harlequin quail, Heuglin’s francolin, helmeted guinea fowl, collared pratincole, black-headed lapwing, swallow-tailed and northern carmine bee-eaters to mention some. Driving along the Niles edge, you should be able to view intermediate egrets, goliath and purple herons, woolly-necked and yellow-billed storks, hamerkop, Egyptian and spur-winged geese, osprey, African fish eagle, black crake, African swamphen, the majestic Grey-crowned Crane (Uganda’s national bird), Senegal thick-knee, long-toed and spur-winged lapwings, African jacana, malachite and giant kingfishers and the dainty wire-tailed swallow. Colonies of colorful red-throated bee-eater or loquacious pied kingfisher populate the river banks.
Mammals that we will see include lions, leopard, giraffe, African buffalo, Uganda kob, oribi, waterbuck, hartebeest, buffalo, bushbuck, warthog, bush pig, spotted hyena, black-backed jackal and bat-eared fox. If we are lucky we may see groups of the shy patas monkey. Later, return to Pakuba Safari Lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Depart Murchison Falls after an early breakfast, headed to Fort Portal town in the viscinity of both Semliki and Kibale National Parks. You can stop several times for possibly encountered species or at specific stops to scout out the area for specific species. This area is where Semliki & Kibale Forest National Parks are situated; the drive is almost 8 hours over a dirt road that is under construction in some parts – so be ready to experience what we call ‘the African massage’. Given that you could bird en-route, you arrive in Fort Portal in the early evening and check-in at a town hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
This morning, you are up at 6.00am and enjoy your breakfast. At 6.30am, you make the drive to Semuliki National Park. Birdlife is very spectacular in Semuliki National Park with 441 species recorded here. Focus will be on the Kirumya, Hot Springs and Red Monkey trail the whole of today. Objectives today include the Western Bronze napped Pigeon, Bate’s Nightjar, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoos, Buff-spotted Flufftail, Nkulengu Rail, Little White-crested Hornbills, White-bellied Shining-blue Kingfishers, Red-rumped, Yellow-throated Tinkerbirds, Zenker’s Honeyguide, Willcocks H, African Piculet, African Hobby, Rufous-sided Broadbill, Lowland Sooty Boubou, Velvet-mantled Drongo, Western Crested F, Dusky crested F, Yellow-throated Nicator, Leaf-love, Sassi’s (buscar), Yellow-eyed Bristlebill, Capuchin Babbler, Narrow-tailed S, Rufous-flycatcher Thrush, Black-eared Ground-Thrush, Forest Scrub Robin, YB Forest Robin, Green-headed, Blue-throated Brown Sunbirds, Grant´s Bluebill, Fawn-breasted, Black-rumped Waxbills y Green Twinspot. After a day spent birding, at 17.00Hrs, you will make the drive to Kibale Forest National Park. On arrival, you check-in at the lodge you have chosen for dinner and overnight stay.
Today you are up at 6.00am. Enjoy breakfast at 6.30am and be ready to depart for Kanyachu – the park HQ by 7.30am. At Kanyachu, registration and a briefing will be conducted before you commence your chimp trek. This park is reputed for having the greatest variety and highest concentration of primates in East Africa. On the guided nature walk, you are in search of the wild chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys and many others. Once you locate the chimpanzees, you will spend a full hour with them at close quarters. After the mandatory 1 hour is finished, your guides/rangers will lead you back to the park headquarters where you find your guide. With another bird guide, you will continue to bird in the park. Birdlife in Kibale is prolific, with approximately 400 species recorded for the area. Objectives include; the Afep Pigeon, Green-breasted Pitta, Velvet-mantled Drongo, Masked Apalis, Pale-throated Greenbul, Narrow-tailed Starling, BB Scrub-robin, Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher.
Again, you are in for more monkey business! After breakfast, your return to Kibale Forest National Park, reputed for having the greatest variety and highest concentration of primates in East Africa. You will go on a guided nature walk in the tropical rain forest in search of the wild chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys and many others. The guides and rangers will provide detailed explanations, not only on primates, but also on all the forest fauna and flora and will ensure that your walk is both informative and enjoyable. Once you locate the chimpanzees, you will have a full hour with them at close quarters. No trek is ever the same so this second trek will give you the opportunity to see them from a totally new perspective. After the mandatory 1-hour is finished, your guides/rangers will lead you back to the park headquarters where you will meet your driver/guide and return to the lodge for a hot lunch. After lunch, you can choose to visit the Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary – a swamp in the tropical jungle, filled with natural wonders that have amazed and delighted thousands each year as they trek through this Jungle Swamp. It hosts wildlife including primates, butterflies and birds including the large Blue Turaco. Even more than that the incredible plants, trees, palms, Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary has become a must visit place near Kibale Forest. Objectives to look out for in the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary include; Shining-Blue KF, White-winged Swamp Warbler, Compact Weaver. Other specials here include the Crested Guinea-fowl, Great blue Turaco, Grey parrot, African pitas, African crowned eagles and black bee-eaters.
This morning, as you transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Par, you can visit the crater lakes region near Kibale Forest National Park – an area that has good scenery. You bird en-route, arriving in Queen and checking in at the Bush Lodge. You enjoy lunch and take a boat on the Kazinga Channel – a natural channel that links lakes Edward and George. On the boat, look out for the African Skimmer, Malachite and Pied Kingfishers, White-winged Terns, Swamp Fly-catchers, Grey-capped Warbler, Grey-headed Kingfisher, African Jacana, Common Squacco Heron, African Skimmer, African Fish Eagle, Egyptian Goose, Papyrus Canary, Great White and pink-backed Pelicans, just to mention a few. After the boat cruise, return to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
You are up at leisure and enjoy your breakfast. At 9.00am, you leave Mweya (northern sector of the park) and head south to the Ishasha sector. The drive, which will serve as another game drive will last between 2-3 hours. Have your eyes peeled for more game! On arrival in the Ishasha sector, you search for the famous and unique tree-climbing lions. If it is a hot day, chances are good to find them atop the sycamore fig trees or the acacia trees that dominate this part of the park. There are about 4 Prides of lions in the area numbering more than 40 in total. Look out for the males with their black mane, which is a notable attribute. Also, there are about 1000+ elephants present in the sector and you normally see large numbers. There are Topi and Uganda Kob antelopes in large numbers. The drive is a fantastic opportunity to take lots of pictures. After this drive, you exit the park and complete your transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. You arrive in the late afternoon or early evening and check-in at the lodge you have chosen for dinner and overnight stay.
You are up early (6.00am) and enjoy your breakfast. After, transfer to the Buhoma gate of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park where rangers of Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) will take you through some formalities and a briefing on what to expect when you go to trek the Mountain Gorillas. The northern sector (Buhoma) of the park is gentler in elevation but the trek will be as equally exciting! With a packed lunch in your carry-on, you will be allocated the Gorilla family you will be tracking this morning. Once the briefing is complete, you will commence your first gorilla trek in a part of Bwindi that is generally greener and denser than in the south. When you finally locate the family that you are tracking, take in everything as you watch the gorillas feed and generally go through their day. Take lots of pictures (and a selfie if you happen to have a gorilla in your selfie frame) and a video as the one-hour will be over before you know it. It is an extraordinary feeling sitting in the dense rainforest with the knowledge that you are in the presence of the few remaining wild mountain gorillas. After the mandatory one hour is up, the rangers will lead you back to the trail-head where you will find your driver/guide. You head back to the lodge and enjoy a hot lunch. After lunch, you go birding in the Buhoma sector of the park – along the main trail. The objectives for birds in the Buhoma include; the Crested Guinea-fowl, Western Bronze-napped pigeon, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo, Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle, Willcock’s Honeyguide, Willard’s Sooty Boubou, Velvet-mantle Drongo, Narrow-tailed Starling, Grey-throated Tit Flycatcher, Chapin’s Flycatcher, Little Green Sunbird, Blue-headed Sunbird, Purple-breasted Sunbird, Jameson’s Antpecker, Western Citril and a lot more. Later, return to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay at your lodge.
What to bring for gorilla tracking/trekking: light hiking boots, light rain jacket, daypack, 2 litres of water, gardening gloves, binoculars, camera, long trousers either jeans/khakis, long-sleeved shirt, wide-brimmed hat, sun glasses, insect repellent and an energy bar.
You are up early and make the transfer to the Ruhija sector of Bwindi. You will spend the day in the Mubwindi Swamp – a famous swamp in pursuit of the toughest endemics of this marsh. Mubwindi swamp is well known for being Africa’s number one birding spot according to the African Birding Club. Objectives include; Handsome Francolin, Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo, Cassin’s HE, Dwarf Honeyguide, Thick-billed Honeyguide, Grauer’s Broadbill, Rwenzori Batis, Lagden’s Bushrike, Albertine Sooty Boubou, Dohertys Bushrike, Stripe-breasted Tit and the Grauer’s Swamp (Rush)Warbler. Up in the trees and through the undergrowth, look out for Grey-chested Illadopsis, Mountain Illadopsis, Oriole Finch, African Hill Babbler, Chestnut-throated Apalis, African Yellow-white-eye, African Water Rail, Red-chested Flufftail, Carruthers Cisticola, Equatorial Akalat and a lot more birds. Spending the day in Mubwindi is certainly one of the highlights of any birding trips to Uganda. The walk to get to Mubwindi is physically demanding but, taken slowly it is quite manageable and the rewards are bountiful in terms of your bird checklist.
After breakfast, you bird towards Kisoro in the viscinity of Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. You will make a stopover at a nearby swamp towards Echuya forest mostly to look out for the Little Rush Warbler plus the Grauer’s Rush Warbler – one of the rare Bradypterus Warblers within the Albertine rift zones. You continue birding to Ruhija with numerous stopovers expecting birds like the Augur and Mountain Buzzard, Yellow Bellied Waxbill, Dusky Crimsonwing, Dusky Twinspot, Common Stonechat among others birds. Towards the camp headquarters, you look out for the Handsome Francolin, Olive Pigeon, Western Green Tinkerbird, Archer’s Robin-Chat, Chestnut Throated Apalis, White-browed Crombec, Stripe-breasted and Dusky Tit, Rwenzori Batis, Doherty’s Bush-shrike, Black-headed Waxbil among others. In Kisoro, you will check-in at the guest house you have chosen for overnight stay.
You are up at 6.00am for a quick breakfast and are transferred to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. After the formalities, you embark on the search for the Golden Monkeys – a trek that could last from about an hour to three hours. When you get into their presence, you will know it – the forest comes alive with monkeys everywhere. You are in their presence for 1 hour. Usually, the single hour is over and you come back to the trail-head. The endangered Golden Monkey is endemic to the Albertine rift and Mgahinga National Park offers a rare chance to track them high in the dense bamboo forests. After your encounter with the Golden Monkeys, return to the trail head where you will be joined by a bird/guide and will spend the rest of the day birding. You take the gorge trail that loops half way up Mt. Sabinyo, through a variety of montane habitats, harbouring the Dusky Turtle Dove, Rwenzori Turaco, Cape Robin-Chat, Kivu Ground Thrush, White-eyed Slaty and White Tailed Blue Flycatcher, Olive Wood-pecker, White-starred Robin, Mountain Yellow Warbler, White-napped Raven, Lagden’s Bush-Shrike, Yellow-crowned Canary, Streaky and Thick Billed Seedeater on our birding today we shall have a bigger focus on the shy Shelly’s Crimson-wing among other birds. Later in the day, return to your lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
You are up as the sun rises and make the short transfer to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Today, you take different birding trails as instructed by your bird guide and still look out for the following birds; White-necked raven, Black kite, Pin-tailed whydah, Double-collared sunbird, Speckled mouse bird, Paradise flycatcher, Ibis, Whydah, Speckled Mouse birds, Fire Finch Stonechat, Grey Capped Warbler, Waxbills, Yellow-Vented Bulbul, Alpine chat, Archer’s robin-chat, Blue-headed Coucal, Dusky crimson wing, Kivu ground-thrush, Olive pigeon, Olive woodpecker and many more. Late in the afternoon at about 4.00pm, commence the drive to the picturesque Lake Bunyonyi. On arrival, check-in at the resort you have chosen for dinner and overnight stay.
You are up at leisure and enjoy your breakfast. At 9.00am, depart Lake Bunyonyi and head to Lake Mburo National Park. This small park is the only park in Uganda with Eland, Impala antelopes and Burchell Zebras. The scenery of rolling hills, lakes, swamps make Africa real, it is where the Tanzanian Savannah meets Uganda in a most scenic fashion. You arrive and check-in at Mihingo Lodge or Similar and enjoy lunch. After lunch, you head out to bird on the lake in a boat. Along the bank, you will see lots of animals coming to water especially during the dry season. There are hippos, crocodiles, buffaloes, antelopes and zebras. Also, three kinds of otters are found in the lake itself. When it comes to birds you can see Malachite Kingfishers, Pied Kingfishers, African Fish Eagles, Ruffous Long-tailed Starlings, Blue-headed Weavers, Green-necked Doves, Hammerkops, Pelicans, Herons, Cormorants and more. Following the boat cruise, return to the lodge and relax. At about 6.30pm, you will head back to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
You are up at 6.00am and head out for a bush walk/ game walk – accompanied by an armed ranger while you spot buffalo, zebra, Impala, Eland, Topi and a lot more game and birds. After this morning’s activity, you will return to the lodge for breakfast, take a shower, check-out and commence the transfer to Entebbe. Check-out of the lodge at 9.00am and commence your drive to Entebbe with a stop at the Equator crossing in Kayabwe along the Kampala-Masaka road. You can take fun pictures at the Equator crossing, buy a souvenir for your Uganda safari and have a hot lunch. After your lunch, you will continue onto Entebbe – arriving in the late afternoon (we recommend you book a flight that departs Entebbe after 6.00pm). You are then dropped off at the airport in time for you to check-in for your onward flight back home.
We hope you will have enjoyed your Uganda Great Apes safari and that the trip will have met and exceeded your expectations and hope to see you again next time.
This 19-Day action-packed Uganda primates and birding safari takes you to Mabamba – a Ramsar site in search for the mythical shoebill. From here continue to Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary, on-wards to Budongo Forest where you bird the ‘Royal Mile’ with an overnight at Uganda’s first hotel. You then bird to Murchison Falls National Park where you also go on a boat safari to the bottom of the powerful falls, bird towards the Albert delta. From here, you head to Kibale Forest National Park, considered the primate capital of the world, Queen Elizabeth National Park – one of Uganda’s major savannah game park, where you could find the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha. From Queen Elizabeth National Park, you will continue onto the home of the gentle giants (Mountain Gorillas) – Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. After your date with the gentle giants, you will head to Lake Mburo National Park. You bird Lake Mburo on boat and land and can conclude with a bush walk before heading to Entebbe to end what we believe will have been a wonderful safari with memories galore.