Perfect 24 days/ 3 weeks Uganda birding expedition tour & wildlife safari
Uganda birding expedition tour overview
Uganda birding expedition tour/ safari experience gets you to sceneries of more than 1,000+ bird species in the pearl of Africa’s biggest national game parks. The biggest and unique birds are the shoebill storks, gray crowned crane, secretary birds, Albertine rift endemics, Rwenzori region endemics, savannah grassland endemics, swamp & riverine endemics, sun birds, central African tropical forest endemics at Semuliki among many others.
Bird watching tours along with other activities like game drives, hiking, photography, scenery watching, chimpanzee tracking, mountain gorilla trekking, golden monkeys, Africa’s big 5– lions, elephants, leopards, rhinos, buffaloes guarantying an all inclusive Africa wildlife & wilderness experience packages.
Arrival and departure: Entebbe
- Day 1- arrival, rest & Kampala city tour
- Day 2- Shoebill birding at Mabamba
- Day 3- birding & walking safari at Mburo
- Day 4- birding to l. Bunyonyi
- Day 5- birding at lake Bunyonyi
- Day 6- golden monkey tracking & birding at Mgahinga
- Day 7- gorilla trekking & birding Bwindi
- Day 8- birding & tree climbing lions at Ishasha sector
- Day 9- birding & game drives at Queen Elizabeth N.P
- Day 10- birding & boat cruise at Kazinga channel
- Day 11- chimp tracking, primates & birding at Kibale
- Day 12- chimp tracking & birding Kibale
- Day 13- swamp birding & nature walks at Bigodi
- Day 14- Semuliki birding, primates & hot springs
- Day 15- birding & forest walk at Semuliki
- Day 16- chimps, forest walk & birding at Murchison
- Day 17- birding & Murchison game drives
- Day 18- birding & hiking to top of Murchison water falls
- Day 19- birding & river Nile boat cruise
- Day 20- birding at Kidepo
- Day 21- birding & game drives at Kidepo
- Day 22- birding to Ziwa rhino sanctuary
- Day 23- birding & rhino tracking at Ziwa
- Day 24- botanical birding and departure
Detailed Uganda birding expedition tour itinerary
Day 1 Kampala city tour
Kampala and its streets tour will get you to various historical administrative, economic and cultural sites and centers in the city have affected the development of Uganda as a country like Kasubi tombs, Rubaga cathedral, Namirembe cathedral, Gaddafi mosque, Baha’i temple etc. Food and commodity markets around Kampala are so interesting and have a great reflection of how the county’s population survives; these will get you have some taste on fresh fruits, vegetables grown in the country and street food delicacies like Rolex. Thereafter on that evening, you will have a nightlife experience in the bars and lounges of Kampala city till resting time as you wait for the next day.
Accommodation: Lake Victoria Serena hotel (or a simila one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
On this day you will set out to the Mabamba swamp which is also Ramsar site to see the endangered shoebill. 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. After this exciting tour you continue with your journey to lake Mburo national park.
Accommodation: Mihingo lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Commonly known for its high zebra population, Lake Mburo national park offers a wide range of touring options from boat rides, horseback riding safaris, walking safaris, night & day safari game drives, biking/cycling safaris and community walks. The park has 70 mammals and 332 recorded bird species and is richly gifted with various acacia and papyrus endemics such as the shoebill, papyrus gonolek, pied kingfisher, red faced barbet, malachite kingfisher, saddle-billed stork, blue headed coucal, yellow-breasted apalis, yellow-rumped tinkerbird, bare-faced go-away-bird, greater painted-snipe, brown-chested lapwing, speckled moosebird, with other acacia species wide spread elsewhere in the park.
Mammals include burchell’s zebras, Nubian giraffes, hippos, leopards, buffaloes, topi, elands, antelopes, warthogs, bushbucks, stripped jackals, reedbucks, olive baboons, sitatungas, bush pigs, hyenas, impalas, crocodiles, reptiles among others. Following the 2 days staycation at lake Mburo game park, you will continue birding enroute to lake Bunyonyi crater lake.
Accommodation: Mihingo lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
On this day at lake Bunyonyi; one of the most beautiful lakes and the deepest crater lake in Africa with 29 islands located in its waters which toured by use of a boat/canoe and safe waters with no crocodiles and hippos. The lake harbors over 200 bird species with the gray crowned crane being one of the most remarkable birds, Pied kingfisher, Malachite kingfisher, Cinnamon-chested Bee eater, Bronzy sun bird, Pied wagtail, Grey shrike, Grey crowned crested crane, Hadada ibis, Swamp fly catcher, Black heron, Great cormorant, Fan-tailed widow bird, Streaky seed eater, Speckled mouse bird along with breathtaking sceneries of the volcano mountains will leave you stunned at this beautiful lake and its surrounding.
Accommodation: Bird’s nest @ Bunyonyi resort (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Continuing with Uganda birding expedition tour, you will hike the volcanic mountains of the Mgahinga to a height of 2,500 meters above sea level in the bamboo forests of the montane region where these unique primates reside. Golden monkeys with an orange-yellow like hair color that give them that distinguished golden look live in families of hundreds and have a very playful character, they will keep you so entertained. Along the hike, you will also observe other primates like the red tailed monkeys, white and black colobus monkeys, reptiles, Albertine rift endemics and many more bird species. You will take on forest tracks and routes to deeply tour the park’s animals, birds and reptiles along with magnificent sceneries.
Accommodation: Mgahinga lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Getting to find the mountain gorillas on a trek in Uganda is a 99% chance backed up by the gorilla population in this region. During this nature walk in the forest trails you will experience numerous bird species with particularly 23 Albertine endemics that are habitats to only the Albertine region some of which include; black bee-eater, regal sunbird, handsome spurfowl, giant kingfisher, bar-tailed trogon, mountain masked apalis, strange weaver, white tailed blue fly catcher, yellow-eyed black flycatcher, red-headed bluebill, yellow-chinned sunbird, purple-breasted sunbird, Chapin’s flycatcher, Rwenzori nightjar, blue-headed sunbird, pink-footed puff back, crowned hornbill, Shelley’s crimson wing, bushshrike, black-billed turaco, Doherty’s bushshrike, mountain oriole, cinnamon-chested bee-eater, brown-capped weaver, Waller’s starling, red-faced woodland warbler, African emerald cuckoo, dusky crimson wing, dwarf honeyguide etc.
Accommodation: Buhoma lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Queen Elizabeth national park; Africa’s second best birding destination with over 660 recorded resident bird species and immigrant species between June to September. Queen Elizabeth game park has the highest concentration of birds per square kilometer thus giving a non-stop bird spotting experience. Uganda an outstanding birding haven of all forest, swamp, highland, grassland and Albertine endemic such as these include 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, Flamingos, pelicans, cranes etc.
Kazinga channel & Ishasha sector
You will head out to the Kazinga channel (a river connecting lakes Edward and George) for a morning boat cruise through queen Elizabeth national park. At this Uganda birding expedition tour 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, lions, flamingos, water bucks, giraffes, kobs, kudus among others also coming in onto the banks of the Kazinga channel to quench their thirst. After the boat cruise, you will embark on a game drive around this channel and beyond into the vast savannah grassland to enjoy more game viewing, scenic views of ice capped mountain Rwenzori as you head to the Ishasha sector of the park that is famous for tree climbing lions.
Accommodation: Mweya safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Still on the Uganda birding expedition tour, you will have a forest walk will come across chimpanzees and other primate species along with numerous sceneries of more than 370 bird species of grassland, forest, swamp and Albertine rift region endemics, 350 tree species which include; black bee-eater, Abyssinian ground thrush, crowned eagle, black-eared ground thrush, blue-breasted kingfisher, white-winged swamp warbler, pin-tailed whydah, red-fronted tinkerbird, purple-breasted sunbird, little Greenbuls, blue-headed sunbird, dusky crimsonwing, African pitta, great blue turaco, green-breasted pitta, black-capped apalis, yellow-rumped tinckerbird, black-throated apalis, brown-chested alethe, masked apalis, red-faced barbet etc.
Bird watching with chimpanzee tracking experience
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. Chimpanzee tracking sessions 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. the Bigodi wetland sanctuary will guarantee you the best sights of swamp endemic species on a spectacular swamp walk.
Accommodation: Primates safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
This day will find you at one of the most gorgeous places in Africa for its remarkable features and as a landmark position between East and Central Africa thus having vegetation and forests of characteristics of both regions. Semuliki national park has hot springs that were a result of geological actions dating thousands of years back; these produce water of over 100°C producing white mist and smoke in the forests. It’s a common for visitors to buy raw eggs and boil them at the hot water point. Locals in the area also believe that the hot springs are a blessing and of supernatural healing as this hot water comes up from the ground among different rock layers filled with various minerals such as sulphur, zinc among that heal fungal and many other skin diseases.
Bird watching at Semuliki game park
Semuliki game park is also an intersection of the East Africa savannah grasslands and central African tropical forests thus harboring 435 bird species, 11 primate species and 53 mammal species. Some of these include 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; and other species with very limited ranges such as white-tailed hornbill, capuchin babbler, blue-headed crested flycatcher and the orange weaver. Mammal and primate species include; chimpanzeew, blue monkey, black and white colobus, red colobus, olive baboons, vervet monkey, de brazza’s monkey, Mangabeys, stripped jackal, leopards, elephants, hippos, cape buffaloes, kobs, sitatungas, warthogs etc.
Accommodation: Semuliki safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Safari game drives and bird watching in the Murchison falls national park as you continue exploring this vast grassland, palms, acacia trees, swamps, savannah and its remarkable wild game. Murchison game park has more than 450 recorded resident bird species such as; the Abyssinian ground hornbill, Denham’s bustard, long-tailed nightjar, black-headed lapwing, long-toed lapwing, black-billed barbet, Senegal thick-knee, yellow-fronted tinker bird, rock pratincole, speckle-fronted weaver, white-browed sparrow, eastern plantain-eater, African grey woodpecker, red throated bee-eater, grey-headed kingfisher, swamp flycatcher, standard-winged nightjar, giant kingfisher, silver bird, blue-headed Coucal, black-headed gonolek etc. hundreds of species making it one of a recommendable birding destinations in Africa.
Chimpanzee tracking & Murchison water falls
You will have more glance at the park’s forest species while doing 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. Later on you will have a trek up to view the magnificent Murchison falls from above and watch the strongest falls on the planet, gashing 3,000 cubic liters of water per second through an eight-meter corridor cascading down a 43-meter height into the “the devil’s caldron” forming a white mist and a signature rainbow producing a loud sound from the powerful force of the waters of the river Nile.
Boat cruises at the river Nile
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, you will have 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. You will also have a boat cruise to the Nile delta as it flows back to the albertine peninsular, an experience that obviously unmatchable as you watch the waters of the river Nile anchor the wild and its species.
Accommodation: Pakuba safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Kidepo national park on the Uganda birding expedition tour is one of the most typical of an African wilderness so vast and untampered with having savannah grasslands that tend to dry when it’s hot and all green when rains set in. the park has the second highest number of bird species in Uganda recorded at 475 species in the park such ostriches, secretary bird, raptors, red throated bee-eaters, Abyssinian ground hornbill, kori bustard, dark chanting goshawk, red and yellow barbet, purple heron, Clapperton’s francolin, Karamojong apalis, red billed ox-pecker, pygmy falcon, Ethiopian swallow, Jackson’s hornbills, golden pipit, chestnut weaver, rose ringed parakeet and Egyptian vultures, among others along with 83 mammal species such as elephants, zebras, buffaloes, rothschild’s giraffes, kobs, hartebeests, blue monkey, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, lions, wild dogs, jackals among others. You will wind up the day while driving out of the park head to Ziwa rhino sanctuary.
Accommodation: Apoka safari lodge (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
On this day early in the morning, you will start off with a walking safaris watching out for birds, rhinos and towards the Lugogo swamp areas. Ziwa rhino park has over 300 bird species of forest, woodland and swamp residence including the shoebill thus you will be granted another chance to see this spectacular bird, grey crowned crane, African fish eagle, African jacana, pied kingfisher, African grey hornbill, African pygmy kingfisher, marabou stork, white egrets, red-billed ox-peckers etc. Ziwa rhino sanctuary has more than 40 white southern rhinos, Rothschild’s giraffes, kobs, leopards, swamps with papyrus endemics like the shoebill, African wild cats, warthogs, reptiles among other species. In the late afternoon you will continue with your trip to Kampala.
Accommodation: Ziwa rhino wildlife ranch (or a similar one)
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
Day 24 Botanical gardens & departure
On the last day, you will head to the botanical gardens still along the shores of the lake. Walking tours at the cool 40.7 hectare botanical gardens along the shore of Lake Victoria. Botanical gardens are also common for biking/ cycling safari, monkey feeding, birding safari and 500 plant species including both foreign and indigenous. Botanical park has more than 400 recorded bird species that inhabit these gardens such as; blue headed Coucal, white egrets, red-chested cuckoo, black cuckoo, African cuckoo, laughing dove, rock pigeon, Egyptian goose, yellow-billed buck, red-billed duck, spur winged goose, white faced whistling duck, blue turaco etc. This Botanical park walk will be in timed along with your departure time ending your Uganda birding expedition tour.
Accommodation: N/A
Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner
When is the best time for a Uganda birding expedition tour?
The best time for a slow travel experience on an all inclusive Uganda birding expedition tour is during the country’s summer time/ dry months of June to September and December to March. Given Uganda’s location at the equator, the great balanced weather/ climate conditions in the country will are the most favorable on the continent guarantying swift safari experience when the trekking paths and roads are dry and maneuverable. Start planning both short and long Uganda birding experiences with travel experts at Travitude safari tours for the best memorable safaris.
Inclusions
- Park entry fees
- Gorilla trekking permits
- Golden monkey tracking permits
- Chimpanzee tracking permits
- All activities on the itinerary
- Government taxes
- Laundry
- Transport 4×4 safari landcruiser
- Airport transfers
- Bottled drinking water
- Driver & guide
Exclusions
- International flights
- Travel insurance
- Visa fees & processing
- Extra activities, meals, alcohol/ liquor off the itinerary
- Tipping & gratitude
- Souvenirs & snacks
- Any changes to the itinerary
- Accommodation after end of the trip
- Anything not mentioned
Your safari route map
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