Birding and chimpanzee tracking | 10 days birding and chimpanzees
Birding and chimpanzee tracking highlights
Arrival and departure: Entebbe
Day 1- arrival and botanical tour
Day 2- Mabamba transfer to Queen and evening drive
Day 3- queen birding & tree climbing lions
Day 4- birding and board cruise
Day 5- Kibale chimpanzee tracking and birding
Day 6- Semuliki
Day 7- Murchison- game drive and birding
Day 8- birding and boat cruise
Day 9- birding to the top of the falls
Day 10- departure
Birding and Chimpanzee tracking Overview
Birding and chimpanzee tracking in Uganda is one of the most excellent choices given the country having both vistas i.e. birds and chimpanzees in highest population against any other nations on the African continent.
- Shoebill stork, flamingos, Egyptian geese, Abyssinian ground hornbill etc.
- Chimpanzees and other primates
- Game drives
- Boat cruises
- River Nile
Detailed birding and chimpanzee tracking itinerary
Day 1 Entebbe Botanical gardens
On arrival you will be picked up by our guide for your birding and chimpanzee tracking and be led to a hotel or resort for a brief relaxing session and then after you will set out to the botanical gardens commonly known for for biking/ cycling safari, monkey feeding, birding and 500 plant species including both exotic and indigenous.
Accommodation: Two friends hotel (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Day 2 Mabamba & Transfer to Queen Elizabeth N.P
On this morning you will set off the mabamba swamp which is also Ramsar site to see the endangered shoebill stork. This tour is carried out on boats that move from the Lake Victoria shoes into the narrow water stretches of the swamp; a tour lasting for 3 hours. This will come with an opportunity to watch many other swamp endemics and water birds. After the shoebill tracking, you will embark on an amazing journey to queen Elizabeth national park.
Accommodation: Mweya safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Day 3-4 Queen Elizabeth N.P
The 3rd day will find you at queen Elizabeth national park; Africa’s second best birding destination with over 660 recorded resident bird species per square kilometer thus giving a non-stop birding experience. Uganda an outstanding birding haven of all forest, swamp, highland, grassland and Albertine endemics for example Albertine Rift Endemics such as the dwarf honey guide and purple-breasted sunbirds; 35 Congo-Guinea biome species found nowhere else in East Africa, including black dwarf hornbill, Nkulengu rail, Congo serpent eagle, Gabon woodpecker among others, the African big 5; elephant herds, lion prides, leopards, hippo herds, hyenas, wild dogs, chimpanzee tracking, crocodiles, crater lakes, raptors, sun birds and many more awaiting your memorable tour in this game park.
Kazinga channel
Kazinga channel (a 32 km river connecting between lakes Edward and George) for a morning boat cruise at queen Elizabeth national park. At this experience you will have a glance at the world’s largest concentration of hippos which are numbered above 5,000 at the Kazinga channel, Nile crocodiles, buffaloes, water birds and other land birds coming in to quench their thirst, elephants, lions and other land wild game like water bucks, giraffes, kobs, kudus among others also coming in onto the banks of the Kazinga channel to quench their thirst.
Accommodation: Mweya safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Day 5 Kibale N.P- chimpanzee tracking
The tracking session start at 08:00, 11:00 & 14:00 and takes 2-5 hours with a more than 90% chance of meeting the chimpanzees; other primates in the park include the L’hoest monkeys, colobus monkeys, blue monkey, olive baboon, red tailed monkey, vervet monkeys. Mammal species include leopards, lions, elephants, water bucks, warthogs, giant forest hog, sitatungas, hippos, buffaloes, hyenas, jackals, and other nocturnal species. More than 370 bird species of grassland, forest, swamp and Albertine rift region endemics, 350 tree species. Kibale national park is known for chimpanzee tracking and for having the highest population & concentration of chimpanzees in world numbering above 1,500 individuals in the park.
Accommodation: Kibale forest lodge or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Day 6 Semliki N.P- birding
Semuliki national park is also an intersection of the east African grasslands and the central African tropical forests thus harboring numerous tree species of the west and central African forests and bird species. The park has hot springs and 435 bird species, 11 primate species and 53 mammal species. 35 Congo-Guinea biome species found nowhere else in East Africa, including black dwarf hornbill, Nkulengu rail, Congo serpent eagle, Gabon, woodpecker etc. Mammal and primate species include; chimpanzee, blue monkey, black and white colobus, red colobus, olive baboons, vervet monkey, de brazza’s monkey, Mangabeys, stripped jackal, leopards, elephants, hippos, cape buffaloes, Uganda kobs, sitatungas, warthogs, nile crocodiles.
Accommodation: Semliki safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Today you will head out to sections of the Murchison falls national park to continue exploring this vast grassland, palms, acacia trees, swamps, savannah and its remarkable wild game. The park has more than 450 recorded resident bird species such as; among other hundreds of species making it one of the best birding destinations in Africa. Moreover are the glances at the park’s forest species while doing birding and chimpanzee tracking in the forested section of the park. You will be amazed with many elephant families and their playful young ones, lion families, rothschild’s giraffes, waterbucks, buffaloes, baboons, reptiles, numerous bird species among others.
With the world and the highest number of rothschild’s giraffes in the world, more than three- quarter of the total world population and numerous elephant and lion families, waterbucks, impalas, kobs, warthogs, hippos, buffaloes, crocodiles, leopards, hyenas, jackals among other mammals. After lunch you will then head to the banks of the river Nile for a boat cruise towards the face of the Murchison falls. While on the boat cruise, more sceneries of various water birds like the shoebills, raptors, geese among others, hippos and a great number of huge nile crocodiles and many more mammals that approach the river banks to quench their thirst like buffaloes, elephants and the scenes are endless.
Accommodation: Paraa safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Day 10 Entebbe & departure
On this day you will head to the Lake Victoria shores for relaxation as you wait for your departure fight.
Accommodation: N/A
Meals: Breakfast | lunch| Dinner
Inclusions
- Park entry fees
- Chimpanzee tracking permits
- Airport transfers
- Laundry
- Government taxes
- Driver and guide
- Transport 4×4 safari landcruiser
- All excursions in itinerary
Exclusions
- International flights
- Travel insurance
- Accommodation after the trip
- Any changes to the itinerary
- Extra luggage on domestic flights
- Visa fees & processing
- Tipping & gratitude
- Souvenirs & snacks
- Extra activities, meals, liquor/alcohol
- Anything not mentioned