Uganda is home to over 1,050 bird species, which can be found across various habitats, from forests, swamps and agricultural lands to lakes and savannahs. These superb and diverse birding safaris in Uganda feature some of the wealthiest areas in Uganda for birds, appealing in particular to those who dream of seeing the amazing Shoebill, the exciting forest species of the ‘Albertine Rift’ and, of course, the incomparable Gorillas and Chimpanzees trekking.
Flight from Johannesburg to Entebbe Airport. At Entebbe, you will be welcomed by our friendly safari team and transferred to your hotel. Enjoy a 2-hour sunset cruise on Lake Victoria.
Stay: 2 Friends Beach Hotel
Room: Pool view room
Meals: Dinner & breakfast
After an early morning breakfast, drive to Mabamba Swamps. Upon arrival in Mabamba Swamp, you’ll meet your local guide. The canoe trip through the papyrus swamp will take you to the unscathed attractiveness of the wetlands, where you will have the highest chance of seeing Shoebill and other papyrus specialist birds like Saddle-billed Stork, Malachite Kingfisher, African Jacana, and other swamp specialities.
Stay: 2 Friends Beach Hotel
Room: Pool view room
Meals: Dinner & breakfast
After a relaxing breakfast, we depart from Entebbe and head west to Fort Portal, with lunch en route at a local restaurant. Fort Portal rests in the shadow of the fabled “Mountains of the Moon” (Rwenzori mountains) and is famous for its many tea plantations. From this lovely town, we continue to Kibale Forest National Park.
Stay: Turaco Treetops
Room: Cottage
Meals: Lunch, dinner & breakfast
Today, the forest opens its doors for an exhilarating chimpanzee trekking experience in Uganda. Kibale Forest is known for having the greatest variety and the highest concentration of primates in East Africa. Enjoy a guided nature walk in the tropical rainforest, searching for the chimpanzee, red-tailed monkey, black and white colobus monkey, and many others. Upon sighting the chimpanzees, you will spend an unforgettable hour with them as they go about their daily life - feeding, playing, grooming, caring for their young, howling and screeching, all in their natural habitat. Return to the lodge for lunch. Enjoy an afternoon at leisure or visit one of the many wetlands in Uganda, the Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary, for a nature walk. The sanctuary features 8 primate species, numerous other fascinating mammals, over 200 bird species, many reptiles, and uncounted varieties of trees, shrubs, and vines.
Stay: Turaco Treetops
Room: Cottage
Meals: Lunch, dinner & breakfast
Proceed to the Semliki National Park in the Albertine Rift Valley, where we will continue birding. This is the only park in Uganda composed primarily of tropical lowland forests. The forest is very dense and flat, startlingly contrasting the rugged Rwenzori Mountains nearby. The Semliki River attracts many animals. The park is home to 8 primate species, 441 birds, and 300 butterfly species. Elephants, buffalo, leopards, civets, bush babies, and flying squirrels are also found. Birds love the riverine and grasslands on the park's eastern side. There are various uncommon species, such as the 46 Guinea-Congo biome species found nowhere else in East Africa. At the same time, another 35 can be seen in only two to three other areas in Uganda.
Stay: Semliki Safari Lodge
Room: Tent
Meals: Lunch, dinner & breakfast
Enjoy a boat trip on Lake Albert to view the endangered Shoebill. It is one of the most diverse habitats in Africa, with beautiful examples of Riparian forests, gallery rain forests, Borassus palm forests, and short and high grass savannas. The lake is superb. There are sand cliffs where brightly coloured colonies of red-throated bee-eaters dart in and out of their burrows, there are waterfalls several kilometres up the lake which provide a great picnic spot, and several fishing villages along the way, virtually untouched by the 'western world'. After the boat cruise, we continue to search for more birds following the Kirumira trail (the most popular trail in the park for its richness in diversity of bird species) or in the Semliki forest. Drive back to the lodge late afternoon through the Borassus palm forest and the acacia savannah, which reveals different species of raptors and passerines. Following dinner, we will go on a night drive looking for nocturnal birds.
Stay: Semliki Safari Lodge
Room: Tent
Meals: Lunch, dinner & breakfast
Drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park (following the mystical Rwenzori Mountain range for most of the journey) and delight in an en-route game drive to the lodge, where you will have lunch. Enjoy an afternoon game drive around the Mweya Peninsular and the Kasenyi, the mating ground of the Ugandan kobs. Search for lions, elephants, buffaloes, and other wild animals in their natural habitat, or simply relax around the pool.
Stay: Mweya Safari Lodge
Room: Standard room
Meals: Lunch, dinner & breakfast
The day begins early, and we start with a morning game drive. The park's diverse ecosystem of grassy plains, tropical forests, rivers, swamps, lakes, and volcanic craters is home to abundant wildlife. Look out for buffaloes, lions, elephants, and other wildlife in their natural habitat. Join us for an afternoon boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel, a natural waterway between Lake Edward and Lake George. This promises to be one of the highlights of your safari, as you will be spoiled with spectacular views of abundant birdlife, elephants, buffaloes, and hundreds of hippos cooling off at the shores. Game drives follow the boat cruise in the Kasenyi Plains area, where you will see Ugandan kobs, lions, elephants, buffaloes, and more.
Stay: Mweya Safari Lodge
Room: Standard room
Meals: Lunch, dinner & breakfast
After an early game drive, we head towards Bwindi, driving through the Ishasha Sector, famous for its tree-climbing lions. While experiencing the verdant countryside, you will pass traditional homesteads and enjoy panoramic views of the Rwenzori Mountains. In the afternoon, we will reach Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, home of the endangered mountain gorillas.
Stay: Haven Lodge
Room: Standard room
Meals: Lunch, dinner &breakfast
Early morning departure from the lodge to the trailhead at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for your mountain gorilla trekking experience. After a comprehensive briefing about the aspects of gorilla behaviour, details about the gorilla family you’ll be trekking, and safety precautions, your adventure will start! Gorilla trekking can be strenuous, and a certain level of fitness is required. Coming face-to-face with a mountain gorilla is one of the most memorable wildlife encounters in Africa, if not the world. This is adequate time for photography and observing these great primates in their natural habitat. Afterward, you will return to the base where your driver will be waiting to transfer you to the lodge to enjoy leisure time or partake in the Batwa Experience (the cost will be for your account and is not included in your package). Known as the “Keepers of the forest” the enchanting Batwa pygmies of Bwindi are a hunter-gatherer tribe that has lived side-by-side with the wildlife of these parks for hundreds of years. The Batwa Experience is a hands-on historical and cultural encounter during which the Batwa demonstrate and describe their traditional way of life as hunter-gatherers.
Stay: Haven Lodge
Room: standard room
Meals: Lunch, dinner & breakfast
Enjoy the morning at leisure, before your transfer to the Kihihi airstrip (about 1 hour from the lodge) for your flight to Entebbe Airport for your onward flight home.
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Valid until: 31 Dec ‘26
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INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS FROM SOUTH AFRICA:
International flights from Johannesburg are available on Air Uganda.
GORILLA PERMITS:
A vast wetland area on the northern shores of Lake Victoria, west of Entebbe, covering approximately 16,500 hectares. Designated as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, it is one of the best places in Africa to see the rare shoebill stork. The swamps also support a rich diversity of birdlife, including papyrus gonolek, malachite kingfisher, and African jacana. Canoe excursions through the papyrus channels offer excellent birdwatching and chances to spot sitatunga antelope and other wetland species.
A 220 km² tract of the Congo Basin’s easternmost extension, protecting one of Africa’s oldest rainforests in Uganda’s Semliki Valley. Semliki NP is a birding haven with 441 recorded species (including many Guinea-Congo biome species found nowhere else in East Africa) and is home to 8 species of primates, forest elephants, buffalo and the fascinating hot springs at Sempaya. Culturally, it’s also notable for the local Batwa pygmy community, original inhabitants of the forest.
Uganda’s most visited park, Queen Elizabeth NP stretches from Lake George to Lake Edward and includes diverse ecosystems (savannah, bushland, wetlands and rainforest) over ~1,978 km². It boasts 95 mammal species – notably tree-climbing lions in the Ishasha sector, large herds of Uganda kob, elephants, hippos and more – and over 600 bird species. Popular activities include game drives on the Kasenyi plains, boat cruises on the Kazinga Channel (to see hippos and waterbirds), and chimpanzee tracking in the Kyambura Gorge.
A lush 795 km² tropical rainforest in western Uganda, regarded as the best place in Africa to track wild chimpanzees. Kibale NP boasts one of the highest diversities and densities of primates in the world – 13 species including over 800 chimps, plus red colobus, L’Hoest’s monkey and more. The park’s varied habitats (lowland and montane rainforest, swamps) also support over 300 bird species and other mammals, all accessible via guided forest walks.
A 331 km² primeval rainforest in southwest Uganda, famous as a refuge for roughly half of the world’s mountain gorillas (several gorilla groups are habituated for visits). This UNESCO World Heritage Site is exceptionally biodiverse – the “Impenetrable Forest” lives up to its name with dense jungles harboring over 1,000 flowering plant species, 120 mammal species (from elephants and duikers to chimpanzees), and 350+ bird species, offering one of Africa’s richest ecosystems in a compact area.
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