$2,228 pp (USD)
2 travelers on Start dateArrival
Arrival
Day 1
Arrival in Entebbe – Birding around Lake Victoria
Arrival in Entebbe – Birding around Lake Victoria
Your birdwatching adventure begins on arrival at Entebbe International Airport, where you are warmly welcomed by your professional birding guide from Naleyo Tours & Travel. After a short safari briefing, you transfer to your comfortable lodge on the shores of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake and an important birding habitat.
Depending on arrival time, enjoy relaxed afternoon birding around the Entebbe Peninsula, including the botanical gardens and lakeshore areas. This area offers an excellent introduction to Uganda’s birdlife, with chances to spot African fish eagle, great blue turaco, pied kingfisher, grey-headed gull, long-tailed cormorant, black-headed weaver, and various herons and egrets. Flowering trees attract colorful sunbirds, while the lake edges host numerous waterbirds.
This easy first day allows time to recover from travel while beginning your bird list. Your guide assists with identification, calls, and photography tips before returning to your lodge.
- Main Destination:
- Entebbe (City)
- Accommodation:
- 2 Friends Beach Hotel
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 2
Mabamba Swamp – Shoebill Tracking Experience
Mabamba Swamp – Shoebill Tracking Experience
After an early breakfast, depart for Mabamba Swamp, Uganda’s most famous birding site and the best place in East Africa to search for the legendary shoebill stork. A short drive brings you to the landing site, where you board a motorized canoe with experienced local bird guides.
Gliding quietly through papyrus channels, you scan the swamp for a wide range of wetland species, including African jacana, papyrus gonolek, blue-breasted bee-eater, malachite kingfisher, saddle-billed stork, and lesser jacana. The main highlight is patiently searching for the shoebill, often seen standing motionless as it hunts lungfish. Encounters are usually unhurried, allowing excellent viewing and photography while maintaining minimal disturbance.
After several rewarding hours in the swamp, return to Entebbe for lunch. In the afternoon, enjoy optional birding around nearby wetlands or at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, known for forest-edge species, raptors, and waterbirds.
- Main Destination:
- Mabamba Swamp
- Accommodation:
- 2 Friends Beach Hotel
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 3
Entebbe to Lake Mburo National Park – Savannah Birding
Entebbe to Lake Mburo National Park – Savannah Birding
After breakfast, depart Entebbe and drive southwest to Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda’s smallest savannah park but one of its richest birding areas. The scenic journey passes through rolling countryside, villages, and farmland, with birding stops along the way to spot roadside and open-country species.
Arrive in Lake Mburo in the early afternoon and enjoy lunch at your lodge before heading out for an afternoon game drive and birding session. The park’s acacia woodland and open savannah host a different range of birds from the forests, including bare-faced go-away bird, red-faced and black-collared barbets, African scops owl (often seen roosting), and various raptors soaring overhead.
Birdwatching is combined with wildlife viewing, with chances to see zebras, impalas, elands, buffalo, and other plains game. As the light softens toward evening, photography conditions improve and nocturnal species begin to stir. Return to the lodge at sunset for dinner and overnight.
- Main Destination:
- Lake Mburo National Park
- Accommodation:
- Rwakobo Rock Lodge
Wildlife in Lake Mburo NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 4
Lake Mburo NP - Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (Albertine Rift Birding)
Lake Mburo NP - Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (Albertine Rift Birding)
After an early breakfast, enjoy a guided morning bird walk in Lake mburo NP, taking advantage of peak bird activity in the cool hours. This walk allows close encounters with savannah and woodland species such as red-faced and black-collared barbets, bare-faced go-away bird, emerald-spotted wood dove, and several sunbirds feeding in flowering acacias. Raptors are often seen overhead, and your guide assists with call identification and behavior spotting.
After the walk, begin the scenic drive southwest toward Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, passing rolling hills, farmland, and rural villages. Birding stops are made along the way as the landscape changes with increasing altitude. On arrival in the Buhoma sector of Bwindi in the afternoon, check in at your midrange lodge located along the forest edge.
Later, enjoy a relaxed forest-edge birding walk, with chances to see great blue turaco, black bee-eater, grey-winged robin-chat, and western green tinkerbird.
- Main Destination:
- Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Gorillas)
- Accommodation:
- Buhoma Gorilla Camp
Wildlife in Bwindi Impenetrable NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 5
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest – Full-Day Birding (Albertine Rift Endemics)
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest – Full-Day Birding (Albertine Rift Endemics)
Today is dedicated to intensive birdwatching in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, one of Africa’s most rewarding birding destinations. After an early breakfast, enter the forest with an expert local bird guide who specializes in Albertine Rift species and forest habitats.
Bwindi hosts over 350 bird species, including many endemics and near-endemics. This day focuses on key target species such as African green broadbill, handsome francolin, Rwenzori turaco, regal sunbird, blue-headed sunbird, and Grauer’s rush warbler in suitable wet areas. Birding here is slow and methodical, relying on patience, quiet movement, and careful listening, as many species are first detected by call.
After a picnic lunch or forest rest stop, continue birding along different trails to increase species diversity. Afternoon activity often improves along forest edges as light softens. Your guide records sightings throughout the day, helping build a detailed and rewarding bird list.
- Main Destination:
- Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Gorillas)
- Accommodation:
- Buhoma Gorilla Camp
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 6
Bwindi - Kibale Forest National Park – Bigodi Wetland Birding
Bwindi - Kibale Forest National Park – Bigodi Wetland Birding
After breakfast, depart Bwindi and drive north toward Kibale Forest National Park, passing scenic tea plantations, crater lakes, and forested hills. Birding stops are made along the way to search for roadside and farmland species.
Arrive near Kibale Forest in the early afternoon and enjoy lunch at your lodge before visiting Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, a community-managed conservation area well known for excellent birding. Boardwalk trails pass through papyrus swamp, grassland, and forest-edge habitats that support a rich variety of species.
Birds commonly seen include great blue turaco, papyrus gonolek, white-winged warbler, speckled tinkerbird, and several kingfishers. The area also hosts butterflies and occasional primates, adding interest to the walk. Local guides share insights into the wetland’s ecology and community conservation efforts.
As afternoon light softens, bird activity increases, offering good photography opportunities.
- Main Destination:
- Kibale National Park (Chimps)
- Accommodation:
- Isunga Lodge
Wildlife in Kibale NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 7
Kibale Forest Birding - Entebbe (Departure)
Kibale Forest Birding - Entebbe (Departure)
Your final day begins with an early morning birding session inside or along the edges of Kibale Forest National Park, focusing on forest canopy and understory species that are most active at dawn. Kibale hosts approximately 375 bird species, making it one of Uganda’s richest forest birding sites. Target species may include the green-breasted pitta, yellow-spotted nicator, grey-throated flycatcher, and various forest hornbills and sunbirds.
The morning walk is unhurried, allowing time for careful observation and photography. Your guide assists with final identifications and ensures that any missed species from earlier sessions are targeted where possible.
- Main Destination:
- Entebbe (City)
- Accommodation:
- No accommodation (End of tour)
- Meals & Drinks:
