UGANDA BIRDS AND GORILLAS
Day 1: Entebbe Birding Environments
Our birding safari guide will pick you from the hotel for an orientation of Uganda Birds species at Entebbe Botanical Gardens. Expect to see Brown throated waver, golden backed weaver, yellow backed weaver, grey headed gull, long tailed cormorant, common squacco heron, 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 caped warbler and many other species.
Dinner and overnight at Imperial Botanical Hotel/ Lake View Windsor Hotel (In Entebbe)/ Cassia Lodge/ Hotel Africana/ Tourist Hotel (In Kampala).
Day 2: The Lincoln Birding Trail
Early morning after breakfast, you will go birding at the Lincoln trail. This trail has over 170 species that have so far been recorded. Interested birders may be able to record over 110 species in a day. So far the local bird guides have recommended this trail as the best spot nearest to Kampala. While on this safari, watch out for white-headed barbet, red headed lovebird, double toothed barbet, brown twin spot, tambourine dove, black-headed bush shrike, scaly francolin, tropical boubou, and other various species. Dinner and overnight at Imperial Botanical Hotel/ Lake View Windsor Hotel (In Entebbe)/ Cassia Lodge/ Hotel Africana/ Tourist Hotel (In Kampala).
Day 3: Mabamba swamps & the rare Shoebill storks
After an early breakfast you will drive to Mabamba Important Bird Area the closest and best spot to watch a shoebill in the wild. You will have a stop in Mpigi Swamp for papyrus rarities. Watch out for the usual papyrus gonolek, white winged warbler, yellow backed weaver, northern brown-throated weaver and blue-headed coucal. Proceed to Mabamba wetland. Most bird watching in this area is done on the canoe. Look out for the majestic shy shoebill stork both in the sky exploring the heights and down in the marshy swamp, Watch out closely for 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 cistcola, goliath heron, black crake and many more. Return to your Hotel for Dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Queen Elizabeth National park
After breakfast early morning, you will depart Queen Elizabeth National Park as you watch birds enroute. Stop over in Mbarara town at Agip Motel for lunch. QNP has got over 606 bird species recorded. Keen birders may be interested to know that a single day’s record can yield to 300 species out of 604 in the Park, one of the highest in the whole world. Major species seen here include pelicans, skimmers, kingfishers, thick-knees, storks, martins, swallows, weavers, raptors, canaries, kites and grassland specialties. Dinner and overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge/ Jacana Safari Lodge.
Day 5: The Open Savannas of Queen Elizabeth Park
Early morning following breakfast, you will go birding on the open savanna. Return to the hotel for lunch, relax and chart the break away or if you wish you may have a short dip in the luxurious swimming pool. Afternoon enjoy birding along Kazinga channel on boat. 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 overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge/ Jacana Safari Lodge.
Day 6: Bwindi Impenetrable National park
After an early breakfast, you will go birding around the hotel and there after check out at 10:00am for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Enjoy your picnic lunch as you bird enroute. You will get to the park in the evening and have a typical African welcome from the locals at the park and park wardens. Dinner and night sleep at Buhoma community camps in the rather quite jungle close to the home of the forest giant mountain gorillas/ Gorilla Resort Beach.
Day 7: Birds of the Gorilla Park
You will be woken up by the early sweet melodies of the snow capped robin chat and the grey capped warbler. Listen to the luehder’s bush shrike as you enjoy your breakfast. On the lucky day, you will have a chance to see the grey green bush shrike, black bee-eater, Narina’s trogon during breakfast. After breakfast carry picnic lunch for the whole day birding in the only natural tropical forest in the area. This forest has over 345 bird species recorded. These include red throated alethe, equatorial akalat, Forest robin, montane oriole, grey throated barbet, hairy breasted barbet, African broad bill, black bee eater, pale breasted illadopsis, Narinas trogon, Pettit’s cuckoo shrike, black faced rufous warbler, Kivu ground thrush, short tailed warbler, Red fronted antpecker, Oriole finch and other forest “residents”. This forest receives rainfall almost throughout the year.
Dinner and overnight at Gorilla Resort Beach/ Buhoma community camp.
Day 8: Mountain Gorilla Tracking in the Bwindi Gorilla park
In the morning after breakfast, you transfer to the park headquarters and get ready to go for gorilla tracking in the forest. Many birders who have been to this forest show interest in tracking these cousins of human beings in their jungle homes. This is an optional day for gorilla tracking. Carry your picnic lunch and enjoy the forest giants.
Dinner and overnight at Gorilla resort/ Buhoma community camp.
Day 9 &10: The Ruhija Environments & Bwindi Swamp
Depart at the crack of dawn for a 50km drive to the highest peak of Ruhija forest. Several checks at the rare bird spots may produce rare species such as white starred robin, grey cuckoo shrike, strange weaver, banded prinia, brown chested alethe, slender billed greenbull, yellow streaked greenbull, white browned crombec, mountain illadopsis, Luehder’s bush shrike, grey bush shrike, grey green bush shrike; all these and many others are among the 345 species recorded in this park. You will also do some birding at Bwindi swamp. One has to be prepared to walk on steep mountains. You drop from 2400m to 2050m above sea level. Birding in the bamboo zone is good for handsome francolin, archers robin chat, stripe breasted tit, purple breasted sunbird, mountain greenbull, duikers, wallers, chestnut winged starling, dusky crimsonwing, mountain illadopsis, mountain yellow warbler to mention a few. Birders who come with camping equipment can camp at Ruhija campground.
Day 11:Lake Mburo National Park
After breakfast travel eastwards through the terraced mountains of Kabale also known as the “little Switzerland of Africa” to the open plains and rocky hillsides of Ankole. Your drive will have several stopovers to catch up with the barefaced go away bird, wattled lapwing, southern red bishop, varied sunbird, African harrier hawk, larks and many more species. Enjoy the graceful long horned Ankole cattle as you bird and the spectacular scenery of Lake Mburo National Park.
Dinner and overnight at Mantana Luxury tented camp.
Day 12: Accacia Associated Birds of Lake Mburo
Wake up to the sweet songs of the morning dove, deidrick cuckoo, grey-capped warbler, black-headed weaver and ring necked dove. Leave at dawn to get the African fin foot 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, helmet guinea fowl, coqui francolin, rufous napped lark, vultures, eagles, kites and many more. Remember this is the only park with elands, zebras and impalas in the whole region. Return to the camp for lunch, relax and chat the evening away. (Evening birding can be arranged for the nightjars) Dinner and overnight at Mantana luxury tented camp.
Day 13:The Equator & the Royal Drum makers
After morning game drive, proceed to Kampala. Stopover for lunch in Masaka. After lunch proceed to Kampala, you will have a stop at the Equator and take some photographs, proceed and make another stopover at the Mpambire drum makers. Arrive early enough for shopping in Kampala.
Dinner and overnight at Imperial Botanical Hotel/ Cassia Lodge/ Hotel Africana/ Tourist Hotel.
