This 8-Day bird watching safari takes you to three of Uganda’s Important Bird Areas – critical for the conservation of birds and their habitats namely – Mabamba Bay, Budongo Forest Reserve and Murchison Falls National Park.
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 will not 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 (20%), White-winged Tern, Gull-billed Tern in the migratory category. Papyrus endemics include Papyrus Gonolek (28%), 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 (38%), Lesser Moorhen (12%) among others. On this visit, you employ a motorized canoe and navigate the narrow waterways and lagoons in the marshes in search for the prolific birdlife that this swamp has 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 bellied and Red chested Copper, Sunbirds and many more. 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 witness the remarkable efforts of conservationists to protect and rehabilitate the majestic white rhinos. Once abundant in Uganda’s wild places, white rhinos faced a dire threat from poaching and were wiped out. The sanctuary is a project aimed at their rebirth and so far it is a success. You will stretch your legs on a nature walk to go find the rhinos in the company of a guide and armed ranger. Once you encounter these endangered White rhinos, view them at close quarters (as close as the rangers will allow) and can take photos and videos to your fill. You are able to walk from one group of rhinos to the next in the open spaces of the sanctuary. The sanctuary is also prolific for birding (if you were not successful with the shoebill at Mabamba, the sanctuary’s marshes are a good second option). After the rhino 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, head 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, transfer to Masindi town and check-in at Masindi Hotel – Uganda’s oldest hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
After breakfast with your packed lunch bird as you proceed for the drive to Budongo Forest driving through the rift valley escarpment where you will have good views of Lake Albert. Bird the escarpment before proceeding to Busingiro Forest Centre. Bird around the vicinity and the road. Drive through to Masindi Hotel where you will be spending your two nights. Look out for birds like Striped Kingfisher, Red-chested Cuckoo, Foxy Cistcola, Red-winged Grey Warbler, Black-headed Batis, Cliff Chat, Green-backed Eremomela, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Green-headed Sunbird, Red-winged Pytilia, Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, Dwarf Kingfisher, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Jameson’s Wattle eye, Yellow-crested Woodpecker among other birds.
Optional Activity: Chimpanzee trek
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 you will depart with packed lunches towards the northern sector 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 you 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 you are lucky, you may see groups of the shy patas monkey. Later, return to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Optional Activity: Night Game Drive
Today will be the final day of this short birding excursion. After breakfast, check-out and commence the drive back to Entebbe – birding where possible on the way back. In Entebbe, you are dropped off in time for you to check-in for your onward flight home. In case your flight departs a little later, a day room will be booked for you at one of our partner guest houses for you to refresh, re-pack and relax. Later, you are dropped off at the airport in time for you to check-in for your onward flight home.
This 8-Day bird watching safari takes you to three of Uganda’s Important Bird Areas – critical for the conservation of birds and their habitats namely – Mabamba Bay, Budongo Forest Reserve and Murchison Falls National Park. Mabamba Bay with its network of water-ways and lagoons is home to 260 recorded bird species with seven of the 12 Lake Victoria basin biome species that occur in Uganda being available. Notable among them is the pre-historic Shoebill Stork, which is the major draw for a lot of birding enthusiasts. Mabamba has also become a stronghold for the migrant Blue Swallow with excellent sightings recorded every year.
Budongo forest covers an area of 79,300 hectares, making it Uganda’s biggest forest reserve and the second most important bird areas after Semuliki National Park. It is home to 360 recorded bird species, 24 species of mammals – nine of them being primates including a habituated chimpanzee troupe. There is prolific birdlife with two species not found anywhere in East Africa. Murchison Falls National Park is ranked in 9th position among Africa’s birding spots. It is the largest national park in Uganda and protects a variety of Uganda’s savannah birds.
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