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Combined Uganda birding safari with gorilla trek on 5 days wildlife adventure.

5 days birding safari with gorilla trek overview

Awesome 5 days/ 4nights Uganda birding safari with gorilla trekking experience, game drive trips in Uganda’s big parks show casing Albertine rift endemics, shoebills tracking, flamingos, Rwenzori turaco & Rwenzori region endemics, central African tropical bird endemics, lake Victoria shores, mtn. Rwenzori sceneries, hiking, photography among other activities.

The 5 days birding safari with gorilla trek highlights

Arrival and departure: Kigali- Entebbe

  • Day 1- arrival to Bunyonyi
  • Day 2- Gorilla trekking to Ishasha
  • Day 3- Queen Elizabeth game drives & boat cruise
  • Day 4- Semuliki to Kampala
  • Day 5- mabamba, botanical & departure
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Detailed birding safari with gorilla trek experience itinerary

Day 1 Lake Bunyonyi

On arrival in Kigali, you will be picked by our guide and taken embark on a journey to lake Bunyonyi; one of the most beautiful lakes in Africa. Some of the most amazing attributes of the lake are being the deepest crater lake in Africa, the 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, breathtaking sceneries of the volcano mountains ad slopes of Muhavura will leave you stunned at this beautiful lake and its surrounding.

Accommodation: Bird nest @ Bunyonyi resort (or a similar one)

Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner

Day 2 Bwindi Impenetrable & Ishasha

Arriving at the park headquarters, you will have a briefing on the gorilla behaviors, livelihoods and how to handle their reactions to the human presence. Tracking gorillas in the tropical montane forests will last between 30 to 3 hours before meeting the gorilla family you are assigned to and you will be allowed to follow and spend an hour with that gorilla family. 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 you will experience numerous bird species with particularly 23 Albertine endemics that are habitats to only the Albertine region.

Ishasha sector in Queen Elizabeth game park

Ishasha sector of the Queen Elizabeth national park is best known for its tree climbing lions along with many other wild game like elephants, buffaloes, leopards, lions, kobs, antelopes, wild dogs, hyenas, ostriches, waterbucks and glamour at some of the world’s most unique bird species given the park being the second best birding haven in Africa with over 660 recorded bird species as their home. Vast grassland and its plains will keep you amazed at the wonderful wild game and set up along with beautiful scenes of the Rwenzori mountains.

Accommodation: Buhoma safari lodge (or a similar one)

Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner

Day 3 Queen Elizabeth game park

Out into Queen Elizabeth game park for morning and evening game drives, you’ll head to various parts of the park for a lot of wonderful scenic views of the Rwenzori mountains and unique 660 recorded bird species that live in the park with immigrant bird species present from June to September from other parts of the world.

Uganda is an outstanding birding haven with 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 for example black dwarf hornbill, Nkulengu rail, Congo serpent eagle, Gabon woodpecker, Africa’s big 5; elephant herds, lion families, leopards, hippo herds, hyenas, wild dogs, kobs, water bucks, antelopes, baboons, monkeys, crocodiles, crater lakes, reptiles, raptors, sun birds and many more awaiting your memorable tour in this game park.

Kazinga channel boat cruises

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 birding safari with gorilla trek experience, you will have a glance at the world’s largest concentration of hippo pods which are numbered above 5,000 at the Kazinga channel, Nile crocodiles, buffaloes, flamingos, pelicans, 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 4 Semuliki national park

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.

Birdwatching at Semuliki game park

Semuliki game 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 Semuliki game park has 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. In the afternoon, you will continue with the birding experience enroute Kampala via Mubende.

Accommodation: Joyce hotel (or a similar one)

Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner

Day 5 Mabamba swamp & botanical gardens

Early in the morning after breakfast, you will set out to the Mabamba swamp which is also Ramsar site to see the endangered shoebill. Mabamba swamp 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 birding safari with gorilla trek will come with an opportunity to watch many other swamp endemics and water birds. Following shoebill tracking, 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. The length of this tour will depend on your departure time. After this tour you will rest while waiting for your departure flight.

Accommodation: N/A

Meals: Breakfast| Lunch| Dinner

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When is the best time for a Uganda birding safari with gorilla trek experience?

Wildlife tours on birding safari with gorilla trekking experiences in Uganda’s most popular game parks can best be done during the summer/ dry seasons of the country from June to September and December to February. Uganda gorilla trekking and birding safaris in the dry seasons are the best time given the fact that wild animals and birds are out of hiding freely roaming in the grassland plains and forests. Usually, its easy to find many animals and birds on the water body shores that come in to quench their thirst.

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