13-Day Uganda Birding Tour—Ultimate African Avi-Safari

Habitat: Extensive papyrus swamp, open water channels, and floating water lily pads, transitioning into dry Acacia savannah, rocky ridges, and open wooded grasslands during the drive to western Uganda.

The Schedule: Early in the morning, we will head out and board a traditional wooden motorized canoe to navigate the narrow channels of Mabamba Swamp. Experienced local site guide will maneuver the watercraft silently through the papyrus stands to locate the prehistoric-looking Shoebill. After this marsh exploration, we will embark on a scenic overland drive across the equator line, heading southwest to Lake Mburo National Park, stopping along the way to scan dry roadside thickets and farm bushlands.

Target Species: Shoebill Stork, Lesser Jacana, African Pygmy-Goose, Papyrus Gonolek, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Swamp Flycatcher, Squacco Heron, Purple Heron, Long-toed Lapwing, Blue-headed Coucal, White-winged Warbler, and African Finfoot.

Accommodation: (Eagle’s Nest Mburo-Budget Level) | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Transfer time: Approx. 4 hours.

Habitat: Lakeside papyrus fringes, riverine woodlands, thorny Acacia savannah, and open wetlands, changing dramatically into steep, high-altitude montane rainforest as you climb into the Kigezi Highlands.

The Schedule: We have a quick breakfast and will spend the morning exploring the specialized swamp trails and acacia woodlands of Lake Mburo on a combined walking safari. The focus will be on scanning the quiet banks and overhanging branches for secretive waterbirds. By midday, we will be departing the savannah park and begin a scenic, winding mountain drive up to the high-altitude sector of Ruhija in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, watching the bird communities shift from savannah specialists to afro-montane endemics.

Target Species: African Finfoot, Red-faced Barbet, Tabora Cisticola, Green-capped Eremomela, Coqui Francolin, Brubru, Red-headed Weaver, African Wattled Lapwing, Crested Francolin, and Bateleur. 

Accommodation: (Broadbill Forest Camp-Budget Level) | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Transfer time: Approx. 5 hours.

Habitat: Ancient, high-altitude afro-montane rainforest, steep valleys with thick understory, and a specialized peat-bog papyrus swamp floor situated at roughly 2,300 meters above sea level.

The Schedule: A quick breakfast and we head out for Albertine Rift endemics. This is a physically demanding day featuring an intensive trek down the steep, forested slopes of Ruhija to the remote Mubwindi Swamp. You will hike along narrow, muddy forest trails under a dense canopy, stopping frequently to inspect multi-species bird flocks (bird parties) moving through the undergrowth. The trek requires patience and steady footing as you search for globally threatened Albertine Rift endemics before returning to the vehicle and transferring around the mountain to the lower-altitude Buhoma sector.

Target Species: African Green Broadbill, Grauer’s Broadbill, Grauer’s Rush Warbler, Archer’s Robin-Chat, Dwarf Honeyguide, Stripe-breasted Tit, Purple-breasted Sunbird, Regal Sunbird, Blue-headed Sunbird, Strange Weaver, Rwenzori Apalis, Mountain Masked Apalis, and Handsome Francolin.

Accommodation: (Buhoma Community Rest Camp-Budget level) | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Transfer Time: Approx. 2 hours to Buhoma.

Habitat: Primary sub-montane tropical rainforest, dense tangled vine undergrowth, steep ridges, and rushing mountain streams at the lower northern edge of the park.

The Schedule: Breakfast, and our morning begins at the park’s Visitors’ Information Center for a briefing before venturing into the dense jungle to track a habituated family of Mountain Gorillas. While the primary focus will be navigating the rough, trackless terrain alongside park rangers to spend an hour with the primates, you will keep your binoculars ready for canopy birds. In the late afternoon, we will embark on a dedicated birding walk along the Buhoma waterfall trail, focusing heavily on understory skulkers and forest floor specialists.

Target Species: Mountain Gorilla, Short-tailed Warbler, Kivu Ground Thrush, Bar-tailed Trogon, Black Bee-eater, Red-throated Alethe, Equatorial Akalat, White-bellied Robin-Chat, Oriole Finch, Ansorge’s Greenbul, White-tailed Blue Flycatcher, and Neumann’s Warbler. 

Accommodation: (Buhoma Community Rest Camp-Budget level) | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Transfer Time: n/a.

Habitat: Lowland forest edge giving way to dry, expansive acacia savannah, riverine gallery forests along the Ishasha River, and open short-grass plains dotted with candelabra euphorbia trees.

The Schedule: Leaving the rainforest behind, we will drive north through the famous Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. This game drive serves a dual purpose: scanning the massive fig trees for Ishasha’s famous tree-climbing lions, and scanning the wide-open skies and dead snags for predatory raptors. We will spend the day driving through savannah tracks, eventually crossing into the Maramagambo Forest area to check in at the lodge in the northern sector of the park by evening.

Target Species: Martial Eagle, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Long-crested Eagle, African Cuckoo-Hawk, White-backed Vulture, Lappet-faced Vulture, Black-chested Snake-Eagle, Brown Snake-Eagle, Grey Kestrel, Helmeted Guineafowl, and Flappet Lark.

Accommodation: (Enshama Game Lodge-Budget Level) | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Transfer Time: Approx. 5 hours.

Habitat: Open water channel, muddy banks, lakeside cliffs, short-grass savannah plains, and natural saline crater lakes.

The Schedule: This morning we will starts with a sunrise game drive across the Kasenyi Plains to bird the open grasslands, where ground-dwelling birds and grassland raptors congregate around large herds of Uganda Kob. In the afternoon, we will switch to a boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel. This water safari brings you within feet of riverbanks crowded with hippos, crocodiles, elephants, and thousands of resident and migratory waterbirds resting on the mudflats. After an extensive day of sighting, we shall retreat for dinner and overnight.

Target Species: African Skimmer, Pink-backed Pelican, Great White Pelican, Saddle-billed Stork, Yellow-billed Stork, African Spoonbill, Goliath Heron, Kittlitz’s Plover, Caspian Plover, Temminck’s Courser, Red-necked Spurfowl, Black-headed Gonolek, and Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture.

Accommodation: (Enshama Game Lodge-Budget Level) | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Transfer Time: n/a.

Habitat: Medium-altitude moist evergreen rainforest, mature canopy trees, dense secondary growth forest edges, and a community-managed papyrus swamp and boardwalk system.

The Schedule: A quick breakfast and we will depart Queen Elizabeth National Park early and drive north to Kibale Forest National Park. Enter the forest and bird until lunch time. The afternoon will be spent on a walking tour through the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary. Navigating via wooden boardwalks and dirt paths around the swamp edge, we will seek out colorful turacos and various forest-edge birds, while encountering multiple species of diurnal primates like the Red Colobus and Grey-cheeked Mangabey.

Target Species: Great Blue Turaco, White-spotted Flufftail, Papyrus Gonolek, Western Nicator, Superb Sunbird, Joyful Greenbul, Hairy-breasted Barbet, Yellow-spotted Barbet, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, and Speckled Tinkerbird.

Accommodation: (Chimpanzee Capital Safari Lodge-Budget Level) | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Transfer time: Approx. 2 hours.

Habitat: Humid, primary tropical rainforest floor, dense leaf litter, shaded understory, and high forest canopy fruit trees.

The Schedule: This day features an ultra-early, pre-dawn entry into the deep interior of Kibale Forest. Walking quietly over the damp leaf litter before sunrise, you will sit silently near known display territories to listen for the distinctive call of the elusive, ground-dwelling Green-breasted Pitta. Once the sun rises, the focus will shift to joining a tracking group to locate a community of wild Chimpanzees, spending the remainder of the morning observing them as they feed in the canopy and socialize on the forest floor. We return for lunch and a little repose before heading down to the crater lakes, where we will bird till late. Return for dinner and overnight.

Target Species: Chimpanzee, Green-breasted Pitta, African Pitta, Crowned Eagle, Black-eared Ground Thrush, Afep Pigeon, White-naped Pigeon, Purple-headed Starling, Chestnut-winged Starling, and Blue-throated Roller.

Accommodation: (Chimpanzee Capital Safari Lodge-Budget Level) | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Transfer time: n/a.

Habitat: Transitional forest-savanna woodlands, rural agricultural fields, and dry bush country.

Activity Description: Return to the Kibale forest floor at 5:30 AM for a second, dedicated backup attempt at the Green-breasted Pitta if it was missed on Day 09. Afterward, return to the lodge for a hearty breakfast, check out, and begin a long northbound transit day to Murchison Falls National Park. This drive cuts through remote agricultural landscapes and escarpment roads, allowing for sporadic roadside birding stops to scan telephone lines and open fields for raptors.

Target Species: Green-breasted Pitta (backup), Martial Eagle, Long-crested Eagle, Lizard Buzzard, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, and Western Banded Snake Eagle.

Accommodation: (Ikorom Safari Lodge-Budget Level) | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Transfer Time: Approx. 7 hours.

Habitat: Wide, slow-moving river channels, papyrus reed banks, sandbanks, open savannah grasslands, and tall Borassus palm forest stands.

The Schedule: This morning, we will embark on a private boat trip down the River Nile toward its delta at Lake Albert. The boat glides past papyrus banks and river sandbars, providing excellent photography angles for waterbirds and another solid opportunity for the Shoebill sighting. In the afternoon, we will cross the river for a standard vehicle safari across the northern track ridge, searching for specialized northern ground birds and savannah raptors as the sun goes down.

Target Species: Shoebill Stork, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Denham’s Bustard, Secretary Bird, Rock Pratincole, Red-throated Bee-eater, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Black-billed Barbet, Piapiac, Seneca Kingfisher, and Heuglin’s Francolin.

Accommodation: (Ikorom Safari Lodge-Budget Level) | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Transfer Time: Approx. 20-25 minutes to/from park gate.

Habitat: High-canopy primary tropical rainforest, wide forest road tracks (the “Royal Miles”), dense understory tangled growth, transitioning into protected woodland savannah thickets at Ziwa.

The Schedule: Following breakfast, we will head out and spend a good part of the day birding the famous “Royal Miles” in the Budongo Forest Reserve. This wide, flat forestry track offers a clear view of both the high canopy and the deep undergrowth, making it one of the premier forest birding locations in East Africa. We will walk slowly along the road, listening for mixed-species flocks and tracking micro-birds in the lower thickets. Afterward, we will drive off to the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for an evening stay.

Target Species: Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, African Dwarf Kingfisher, Ituri Batis, Lemon-bellied Crombec, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, Spotted Greenbul, White-thighed Hornbill, and Sabine’s Spinetail.

Accommodation: (Ziwa Guesthouse-Budget Level) | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Transfer Time: Approx. 3 hours.

Habitat: Deep papyrus marsh, open interior wetlands, surrounding wooded savannah bushlands, and urban garden verges on the approach to Entebbe.

The Schedule: On this final morning, we will take a specialized canoe trip into the Lugogo Swamp located within the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary borders. This marsh system offers a final look at rare waterbirds and skulking swamp specialists. Following the canoe trip, we will return to the vehicles for a drive back south to Entebbe, taking in our last roadside birding views before arriving at the airport for the evening departure flight. The End. Thank you for choosing and travelling with us (Home to Africa).

Target Species: Shoebill Stork, Papyrus Gonolek, White-winged Warbler, Caruthers’s Cisticola, African Marsh Harrier, Grey Crowned Crane, Woolly-necked Stork, Purple-banded Sunbird, and Meyer’s Parrot. 

Accommodation: Recommended on Request | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch | Transfer Time: Approx. 4 hours.