8 Days Uganda Birding & Wildlife Safari
8 Days Uganda Birding & Wildlife Safari
8 Days Uganda Birding & Wildlife Safari : Start in Entebbe and end in Kampala! With our 8 Days Birding and Wildlife Safari in Uganda, you will visit top bird watching destinations in Uganda as well as view a variety of wildlife animals in our top savannah national parks in the country. Some of the places you will be visiting during this 8 days Uganda safari include Bigodi Swamp, Murchison Falls national park, Kibale National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Summary for 8 Days Uganda Birding & Wildlife Safari.
Day 1: Arrival at Entebbe and Transfer to Hotel
Day 2: Morning Birding in Mabamba Swamp & Transfer to Kampala City
Day 3: Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park.
Day 4: Birding in Murchison Falls National Park (Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise)
Day 5: Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park
Day 6: Chimpanzee Tracking and Birding in Bigodi Swamp.
Day 7: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Day 8: Morning Game Drive and Transfer Back to Kampala.
Detailed Itinerary for 8 Days Uganda Birding & Wildlife Safari.
Day 1: Arrival at Entebbe and Transfer to Hotel
Depending on when your flight lands at Entebbe International Airport, meet up with your guide/driver and transfer to your hotel in Entebbe. After having your lunch, you can head out for a short tour of Entebbe city where you will visit interesting sites like the zoo, Kitoro market, and some shopping malls within the city. Dinner and overnight at Protea Hotel/ 2Friends Hotel.
Day 2: Morning Birding in Mabamba Swamp & Transfer to Kampala City
Morning Birding in Mabamba: Wake up in the morning and have your breakfast. Drive to Mabamba swamp for the Shoebill Stork and other water birds like the African and Lesser Jacana, Allen’s and Purple Gallinule, Yellow Billed Duck, Purple and common Squacco Heron, Northern Brown Throated Weaver, Malachite Kingfisher.
Transfer to Kampala: After lunch, you will drive to Kampala city, have lunch and after head for an evening birding safari around Kampala. You will have a chance to visit any of the cultural sites like the independence square, independence monument, the museum, the Bahai temple, Namugongo Martyrs and many more. Dinner and overnight stay at Forest Cottages/ Serena Hotel.
Day 3: Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park
Transfer to Murchison Falls: After breakfast you will drive northwards through the Luwero triangle to Murchison Falls national park with a stopover for lunch probably in Masindi. This park is the largest protected area in Uganda and bisected by the Victoria Nile. Murchison falls has about three different eco systems namely; savannah which is woodland and grassland, riverine, tropical forest and woodland together with many water ecosystems. The park has a variety of wildlife which includes among others the Lions, Leopards, Reedbucks, Elephants, Giraffes, Buffaloes, Hartebeest, Oribis, Uganda Kobs, Chimpanzees and many bird species including the rare Shoebill. Dinner and overnight at Paara Safari Lodge/ Pakuba Safari Lodge/ Heritage Safari Lodge.
Day 4: Birding in Murchison Falls National Park (Morning Game Drive and Afternoon Boat Cruise)
Birding in Murchison Falls: After breakfast, you will get out on a morning game drive to view a variety of bird species in the park. Look out for bird species such as; the Red-throated and Northern Carmine Bee-eater and mammals such as Rothschild’s Giraffe, Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Waterbuck and many others will be viewed. After lunch, you will head out on and an afternoon boat cruise where you will have an opportunity to view birds like the Saddle-billed, Yellow Billed and African Open Billed Stork, African Finfoot, Hauglins Falcon, Senegal Thick-knee, Rock Pratincole, Giant, Woodland, Grey Headed, Malchite, Pygmy and striped Kingfishers among other. On the game drive we look out for Heuglin’s Francolins Black Billed Barbet, Northern and Red Faced Barbet, Swallow-tailed and Blue-breasted and Northern Carmine Bee-eaters, Abyssinian Rollers, the giant Abyssinian Ground Hornbills, Black Winged and Northern Red Bishops. The Pata Monkey will be the primate to look our for on this day. Dinner and overnight same as previous night.
Day 5: Transfer to Kibale Forest National Park
Transfer to Kibale National Park: The drive today is long, you shall only have a few birding stops. You will pass through Hoima where there are a few papyrus swamps which are great habitats for birds like the White-winged Warbler and Papyrus Gonolek can be found, while the surrounding scrub may harbor, Double-toothed Barbet, Black-bellied Seed cracker and Gray-headed Olive back. Dinner and overnight at Primate Lodge/ Kyanginga Lodge.
Day 6: Chimpanzee Tracking and Birding in Bigodi Swamp .
Chimpanzee Tracking: Kibale forest is home to 13 species of primates and there. This is where we have bigger chances of Chimpanzee tracking. Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale national park starts as early as 8am and can take between 4 to 6 hours with an hour to spend with the chimps once you have located them. You can have your packed lunch in case you carried some from your lodge or drive back to your lodge for lunch.
Birding in Bigodi Swamp: After lunch, you can drive to Bigodi Swamp for an afternoon of birding. The forest is also very rewarding and you could encounter White-naped Pigeon, African Gray Parrot, Black Bee-eater, Hairy-breasted, Yellow Spotted and Yellow Billed Barbet, Chestnut-winged and Purple-headed, Waller’s and Narrow Tailed Starlings, Blue-throated Brown and Superb Sunbirds, White-collared Olive back among others. Dinner and overnight same as previous night.
Day 7: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Transfer to Queen Elizabeth: In the morning after having your breakfast, you will drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park. It is the second largest national park in Uganda, with its varied habitats this park boats of 652 recorded species of birds. Enjoy bird watching enroute to the park where you can search for bird species such as; the African Mustached and Broad Tailed Warbler, Black and Senegal Coucal, Brown Backed and White Browed Scrub Robin, Hollub’s Golden Weaver, Common Quail and many more species.
Afternoon Boat Cruise: In the afternoon we take a two hours launch cruise along the Kazinga Channel. This is a natural channel joining Lakes George and Edward, and is one of the most productive birding cruises on the planet. Schools of hippos, huge families of buffalos, elephants and other Antelopes come to take water in the hot dry afternoons. Lots of birds are found here including the African Skimmers, African Spoonbill, Striated Heron, African Spoonbill, African Crake, many migrants including the Grey Plover, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull and many more, Water Thick-knee, Three-banded Plover, Marsh, Green, Wood and Common Sandpiper, Grey-headed Gull, Plain Martin, Lesser Swamp-Warbler, Collard Pratincole, Yellow-billed Ox-pecker to mention but a few. Dinner and overnight stay Elephant Hub/ Mweya Safari Lodge.
Day 8: Morning Game Drive and Transfer Back to Kampala
Morning Game Drive: After having your breakfast, you will head out on a morning game drive where you will look out for any bird species that you may not have seen during your stay in the park. You will do bird watching in Ishasha sector of the park the Red Backed Shrike, Red-necked Spur fowl, Arrow-marked and Sharpe’s Babbler, White-backed, Rupell’s Grifon, Palm Nut and Hooded Vulture, Violet-backed Starling, Brown, Black-Chested and Western banded Snake-Eagle, Holub’s Golden-backed Weaver, Greater and Lesser Honey guide, Trilling, Stout, Wing-Snapping and Croaking Cisticola, Grassland Pipit, Cardinal Woodpecker, African Wattled Lapwing, Pintail Snipe, Common Drongo, Blue-naped Mousebird, Double Toothed, White Headed Barbet and Spot Flanked, Yellow Fronted Tinkerbird, African Cuckoo Hawk and many more savannah genus.
Transfer Back to Kampala: Have lunch enroute to Kampala with a stopover at the equator monuments in Kayabwe for a few pictures. Upon your arrival in Kampala, have your driver drop you off at any hotel of your choice in Kampala city or directly at Entebbe Airport where you will board your night flight back home. End of Tour.
