Birding Uganda Savannah & Forest Safari

Arrive at Entebbe International Airport, meet & greet by your driver/guide, and proceed to the accommodation, which is 7 minutes away. Depending on your time of arrival, we will head out to look for the Northern White-faced Owl before dinner.

Dinner and Overnight at Jet Villas Eco Lodge (Full Board) 

Early breakfast, then with a packed lunch, proceed to Mabamba Wetlands, where you will be driven in a motorised boat through the swamp, looking for the mighty Shoebill and other birds such as the Blue-breasted Bee-eater.

Bird your way back to Jinja, looking out for birds such as African Pied Hornbill, Eastern Plantain Eater, Red-headed Lovebird, Piapiac, Splendid Starling, Purple Starling, Orange Weaver, and Weyn’s Weaver, among others. 

We will then transfer to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, getting there in the evening just in time for a hot shower and dinner.

Dinner and overnight at Amuka Safari Lodge (Full Board).

Birds to look out for while tracking Rhinos include Black-crowned Night-Heron, Shoebill, Ducks, Raptors, African Green Pigeon, Cuckoos, African Scops-Owl, Nightjars, Greater Honeyguide, Woodpeckers, Cuckoo-shrikes, Chats, Crombecs, Cisticolas, Tits, Sunbirds, Shrikes, Orioles, Starlings, Weavers, Finches, among others.

Lunch, then transfer to Murchison Falls for an overnight.

 Dinner and overnight at Pakuba Safari Lodge (Full Board).

Have an early breakfast and proceed for a game drive to see a variety of wildlife. Lunch, then in the afternoon go for a boat trip up to the bottom of the Falls from which you will see hundreds of hippos, crocodiles, and a variety of bird life.

 Look out for birds like Heuglin’s Francolin, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Red-throated Bee-eater, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Vinaceous Dove, Black-billed Wood Dove, Piapiac, Cisticolas, White-shouldered Tit, Shelley’s Sparrow, White-browed Sparrow Weaver, Chestnut-crowned Sparrow Weaver, Northern Red Bishop, Bar-breasted Firefinch, Black-rumped Waxbill and more. 

You will then head back to the lodge for an evening game drive for another chance to look for the nocturnals.

Dinner and overnight at Pakuba Safari Lodge. (Full Board)

After breakfast, drive south to Kibale in the Toro Kingdom, birding en route. Look out for birds like African Pied Hornbill, Blue Malkoha, Speckled Tinkerbird, Yellow-throated Tinkerbird, Honeyguide Greenbul, Yellow-throated Leaflove, Brown-backed Scrub Robin, Green Hylia, Lowland Masked Apalis, Cassin’s Grey Flycatcher, Sooty Flycatcher, Black-&-white Shrike Flycatcher, Seimundi Sunbird, Grey-chinned Sunbird, Purple-headed Starling, Splendid Starling, Narrow-tailed Starling, White-breasted Nigrita, Black Bishop, Western Citril among others. 

Dinner and overnight at Chimpanzee Forest Lodge (Full Board).

Early breakfast and then proceed to bird Kibale Forest to look for the special Green-breasted Pitta.

Other birds to look out for include Red-chested Owlet, Narina Trogon, African Emerald Cuckoo, Grey Parrot, Sabine’s Spinetail, Black-billed Turaco, Yellow-billed Barbet, Red-tailed Ant Thrush, among others. 

Dinner and overnight at Chimpanzee Forest Lodge (Full Board).

After breakfast, proceed to bird the Bigodi Swamp, have lunch, and then bird as you head towards Queen Elizabeth National Park, driving along the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains, crossing the Equator.

Game drive en-route to accommodation where you will be spending your nights. The park, which is named after Queen Elizabeth who visited it in 1954, is the second largest national park in Uganda, and ranks highest with respect to overall diversity, with a bird species list exceeding 600.

The park has a mosaic of habitats from moist forest at Imaramagambo to wild savannah excellent for Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Hyenas, Ugandan Kobs, Baboons, Giant Hogs, and warthog, among others.

Look out for birds like White spotted Flufftail, Yellow-billed Barbet, African Emerald Cuckoo, Black-billed Turaco, Kingfishers, Lesser Striped Swallow, Cisiticolas, Shrikes, Starlings, Widowbirds among other birds.

Dinner and Overnight at Bush Lodge- Bandas (Full Board). 

Breakfast, then we will set off for a game drive with our packed lunches. In the afternoon, go for a boat trip on the Kazinga Channel to see a variety of wildlife, hundreds of hippos, crocodiles, and bird life from a boat for two hours.

Look out for birds like Pelicans, Green-backed Heron, Storks, African Spoonbill, Kittlitz’s Plover, Senegal Plover, Wattled Plover, Larks, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Babblers, Sunbirds, Weavers, and Widowbirds among others.

Look out for mammals like Uganda Kob, Bushbuck, Defassa Waterbuck, Buffaloes, Elephants, Warthog, when lucky, a leopard, spotted Hyena and Lion among others.

Dinner and overnight at Bush Lodge-Bandas. (Full Board).

After breakfast with your packed lunch, start your journey to Bwindi via Queen Elizabeth National Park and look out for some game like Uganda Kob, Deffassa Waterbuck, Buffalo, Elephant, Bushbuck, among others, by the roadside, getting to your next lodge in the evening.

Dinner and Overnight at Ride 4 A Woman (Full board).

Today we will be birding Bwindi Impenetrable forest looking for species like Bar-tailed Trogon, Black Bee-Eater, White-headed Wood-hoopoe, Tinkerbirds and Barbets, Woodpeckers, African Broadbill, assorted Greenbuls, White-bellied Robin-Chat, Red-throated Alethe, Chapin’s Flycatcher, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Black-faced Rufous Warbler, Grauer’s Warbler, Mountain Masked Apalis, Bocage’s Bush-shrike, Luhder’s Bush-shrike, Pink-footed Puffback, Petit’s Cuckooshrike, Starlings, Black-billed Weaver, Brown-capped weaver among other birds like the Red-chested owl. 

Dinner and Overnight at Ride 4 A Woman (Full Board)

Dinner and Overnight at Ride 4 A Woman (Full Board)

This morning, we’ll bird eastwards through the terraced mountains of Kigezi to the open plains and rocky hillsides of Ankole. We’ll have a few stops along the way to enjoy the scenery and birds. We’ll be able to get closer views of the fabulous Ankole long-horned cattle as we drive to Mbarara and onto Lake Mburo, where we’ll stay at Rwakobo Rock for two nights.

Birding here is a delightful experience, and often one of the highlights of a birding trip to Uganda. Look out for birds like Augur Buzzard, Crested Francolin, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Spot-flanked Barbet, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Lailac-breasted Roller, Black-headed Gonolek, Starlings, among other birds.

Dinner and Overnight at Rwakobo Rock (Full Board). 

Today we drive to Jet Villas Eco Lodge in Entebbe, where you will freshen up before heading to Entebbe International Airport in time for your departure flight.

Day Room use and Airport Link Guest House.