8 days birding safari is an introduction to bird watching in Uganda. If you are a keen birder, you need a minimum of 2 weeks to bird in Uganda. Uganda is among the best destinations suitable for bird watching, plus other wildlife species. With over 1100 bird species, Uganda is a must-visit for any birder. “Wherever there is a tree in Uganda, there is a bird.”
DETAILED 8 DAYS BIRDING IN UGANDA ITINERARY
DAY 1: ENTEBBE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Arrive at Entebbe Airport. Meet your local Shoebill Safaris guide and transfer to the Airport Guest House. Entebbe Airport, located along Lake Victoria, boasts a fresh and cool breeze from the lake and surrounding evergreen forests. A stroll to various sandy beaches is worth the effort. The main delicacy here is fish, fresh from the lake, straight to the pan. Early arrivals will be welcomed by an afternoon birding orientation at Entebbe Botanical Gardens.
Watch out for the brown-throated weaver, golden-backed weaver, yellow-backed weaver, long-tailed cormorant, yellow-billed duck, pied kingfisher, giant kingfisher, swamp flycatcher, broad-billed roller, black-and-white casqued hornbill, splendid glossy starling, black-headed gonolek, orange weaver, red-chested sunbird, slender-billed weaver, Ross’s turaco, pied hornbill, crowned hornbill, open-billed stork, great red warbler, sedge warbler, grey-capped warbler, and many other species. Dinner and overnight at Airport Guest House.
DAY 2: ENTEBBE AND ENVIRONS
After breakfast, we will go birding on the forest trail at Uganda Wildlife Education Center, Lincoln Trail, and the environs of Entebbe. Several tracks will yield several bird species. From these trails, you should be able to record over 100 bird species. Some of which include: Pink-backed Pelican, Gray Crowned Crane, African Fish Eagle, Ostrich, African Gray Parrot, White-headed Barbet, Red-headed Lovebird, Double-toothed Barbet, Brown Twin-spot, Tambourine Dove, Black-headed Bush Shrike, Scaly Francolin, Tropical Boubou, and many more. Dinner and overnight at Airport Guest House.
DAY 3: MABAMBA SWAMP Birding Experience
After an early cup of tea/coffee with a packed breakfast, we head to Mabamba Important Bird Area. Mabamba swamp is the closest place to Entebbe and Kampala where you can track the elusive, majestic, shy shoebills in their natural habitat. It’s a home to several other wetland bird species apart from the shoebill. We will spend the whole morning exploring the swamp. Look out for the shoebill in the sky, exploring the heights or down in the marshy swamps.
Other bird species found here are the swamp flycatcher, purple swamp hen, African water rail, common moorhen, lesser jacana, African jacana, African pygmy goose, white-faced whistling duck, squacco heron, blue-breasted bee-eater, winding cisticola, Goliath heron, black crake, Papyrus gonolek, white-winged warbler, yellow-backed weaver, northern brown-throated weaver, blue-headed coucal, and many more. Birding here is done on a boat/canoe. In the afternoon, we will bird Nkima Forest for more forest birds and return to the guest house in the evening. Dinner and overnight at Airport Guest House.
DAY 4: Transfer to QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
After breakfast, birding en route to Queen Elizabeth National Park. There are several bird stops that will yield a great number of bird species. Lunch break at Igongo Cultural Center. As you relax, take some time off to learn about the Ankole culture, especially the long-horned Ankole cattle. Thereafter, proceed to Queen Elizabeth, arriving in the evening. Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in the western part of Uganda and is nestled between Lake George and Lake Albert, with the Kazinga Channel crossing through.
About 618 different bird species have been recorded here. Queen Elizabeth also boasts of the famous tree-climbing lions of Ishasha, chimpanzee tracking at Kalinzu and Kyambura Gorge, and a boat cruise on Kazinga Channel. Other mammal species here include elephants, Uganda Kobs, bushbucks, hippos, buffalos, lions, leopards, and spotted hyenas, among others. Key bird species are kingfishers, martins, swallows, kites, skimmers, pelicans, and weavers. Dinner and an overnight at Munyanyange Caves Lodge.
DAY 5: Birding experience in QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
With a packed breakfast, we will go for early morning birding in the open savanna. Besides birding, you will spot some game along the tracks as well, making the tracks perfect for both birds and animals. Return to the hotel for lunch and relax and chat away, or if you wish, you may have a short dip in the luxurious swimming pool. Afternoon, enjoy birding along the Kazinga Channel on a boat.
The Kazinga Channel joins Lake Edward and Lake George, which gives it a wonderful site in a lovely environment with its various beautiful water birds along the channel. Dinner and an overnight at Munyanyange Caves Lodge.
DAY 6: Transfer from Queen Elizabeth to LAKE MBURO NATIONAL PARK
Breakfast and birding around the peninsula are quite productive. Check out and transfer to Lake Mburo National Park. Enjoy the free songs of the morning dove, Deidrick cuckoo, grey-capped warbler, and black-headed weaver. Your drive will be punctuated with several stopovers. Look out for bird species like the bare-faced go-away bird, crowned plover, wattled lapwing, southern red bishop, variable sunbird, African harrier hawk, larks, and many more. Dinner and overnight at Rwakobo Rock Lodge.
DAY 7: Birding in LAKE MBURO NATIONAL PARK
Leave at dawn to catch the African finfoot at Lake Mburo before it disappears into the papyrus beds floating on the lake. Look out for the brown-chested lapwing, lilac-breasted roller, black-bellied bustard, helmeted guinea fowl, coqui francolin, rufous-napped lark, vultures, eagles, kites, and many more. Lunch, and then we go for a boat trip on Lake Mburo, from which the park derives its name.
Lake Mburo is the closest park to Kampala, where you can see zebras. Other animal species include buffalo, giraffes, duikers, waterbucks, bushbucks, topis, hippos, leopards, and crocodiles. It is also a home to over 315 bird species and the best park to see acacia birds. Dinner and overnight at Rwakobo Rock Lodge.
DAY 8: Transfer back to Kampala/ENTEBBE
Breakfast and make a return journey back to Entebbe. Evening flight back home or overnight. We will have a stopover at the Equator for memorable photography, sip on a cup of Ugandan coffee, buy some souvenirs, and proceed.
8 days birding in Uganda safari INCLUDES |
8 days birding in Uganda Safari EXCLUDES |
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