For more information (including and easy to print itinerary), contact us at 1-888-203-7464 or by email at info@pibird.com To learn about our other great trips, click here. |
| Partnership for International Birding: Full Itinerary for Uganda Day 1: Arrival and Flight Suggestions On your arrival into Uganda (Day 1), you will be met by Johnnie (in nearly every situation) when you arrive to Entebbe airport. Most flights arrive late at night. Day 2: Mabamba Early breakfast and then with packed lunch proceed to Mabamba Wetlands where you will be paddled in a canoe through the swamp, looking for the mighty Shoebill and other birds like Pink-backed Pelican, Long-tailed Cormorant, Squacco Heron, Yellow- billed Duck, Malachite Kingfisher, Long-toed Plover, Blue-headed Coucal, Blue- breasted Bee-eater etc, bird your way back to Entebbe looking out for birds like Grey Kestrel, African Green Pigeon, Great Blue Turaco, Ross’s Turaco, Swifts, Sunbirds, Weavers, Finches among others. Day 3: Drive to Murchison Falls National Park Leave after breakfast and proceed to Murchison falls national park. Lunch will be at Masindi Hotel. After lunch, continue with the drive to Paraa via the top of the falls. Have a short walk around the top of the falls down to the river’s edge and see the waters narrow as they are forced through a rocky cleft and plunge down 35 meters in a majestic cascade. Continue with the drive to accommodation. Look out for birds like Raptors, Rock Pratincole, Red-throated Bee-eater, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Grey- backed Fiscal, Piapiac, Starlings, Weavers, Finches, Waxbills among others. Day 4: Murchison Falls National Park After an early breakfast, proceed for a game drive getting back in time for lunch. After lunch, transfer to Paraa northern bank for the boat trip up to the bottom of the Falls, and it is possible to view hundreds of hippos, crocodiles, and a variety of bird life. Look out for birds like Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Black-headed Plover, Rock Pratincole, Swallow-tailed Bee-Eater, Red-throated Bee-eater, Black-billed Barbet, Spotted Morning Thrush, Speckle fronted Weaver, White-browed Sparrow Weaver and more. Look out for mammals like the graceful Rothchild Giraffe, Jackson’s Hartebeest, Uganda Kob, Defassa Waterbuck, Buffaloes, Elephants, Warthog, Hippos, Oribi and when lucky a leopard and Lion among others. Itinerary for 18 Day Trip in continued below to under the Martial Eagle. |
| Day 5: Transfer back to Masindi via the escarpment After breakfast with your packed lunch, proceed for the drive back to Masindi driving through the rift valley escarpment where you will have good views of Lake Albert. Bird the escarpment before proceeding to Busingiro Forest Centre time permitting. Bird around the vicinity and the road. Drive through to Masindi where you will be spending your nights. Look out for birds like Striped Kingfisher, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Black-billed Barbet, Cliff Chat, Spotted Morning Thrush, Northern Crombec, Red-faced Crombec, Green- backed Eremomela, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Rattling Cisticola, Foxy Cistcola, Red-winged Grey Warbler, Black-headed Batis, Western Violet-backed Sunbird, Red-winged Pytilia, Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver, Black-faced Waxbill among others. Day 6: Nov. 6 in 2011: Bird the Royal Mile After an early breakfast with your packed lunch, proceed to bird the Royal mile. Look out for species like the African Crowned Eagle, Hugli’s Francolin, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, Dwarf Kingfisher, White-thighed Hornbill, a selection of Tinkerbirds and Barbets, Yellow-crested Woodpecker, Brown- eared Woodpecker, Greenbuls, Fire-crested Alethe, Red-tailed Ant- thrush, Lemon-bellied Crombec, Rufus-crowned Eremomela, Whistling Cisticola, Black-throated Apalis, Black-capped Apalis, Grey-throated Flycatcher, Forest Flycatcher, Ituri Batis, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Western Black- headed Oriole, Purple headed Starling, Brown Twinspot among others. Primates like Blue Monkey, Red-tailed Monkey, Black and white Colobus Monkey among others. Day 7: Birding to Kibale After breakfast, drive south to Kibale in the Toro Kingdom birding en-route. Look out for birds like Western banded Snake Eagle, Striped Kingfisher, Great blue Turaco, Lizard Buzzard, Lesser Striped Swallow, Joyful Greenbul, Chubb’s Cisticola, Masked Apalis, Cassin’s Grey Flycatcher, Whinchat, Stonechat, Green- headed Sunbird, Common Fiscal among others. Dinner and overnight at Day 8: Nov. 8 in 2011: Bird Kibale National Park (Kanyanchu) After breakfast, proceed to bird the vicinity of Kanyanchu and the road. Look out for species like Yellow-billed Barbet, African Emerald Cuckoo, Black-billed Turaco, Narina Trogon, Blue- shouldered Robin-chat, Sabine’s Spinetail, Chestnut Wattle eye, Narrow-tailed Staring among others. Primates like Red Colobus, Black and white Colobus, Grey-cheeked Mangabey, Olive Baboon, Red tailed Monkey and L’Hoest’s Monkey among others. Dinner and overnight at Chimpanzee Guest House. Full Board We will also include the Chimpanzee trek on this day. Day 9: Nov. 9 in 2011: Bird Bigodi and then transfer to Queen Elizebeth National Park (QENP) After breakfast, proceed to bird the Bigodi swamp, 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. Look out for species like White spotted Flufftail, Yellow-billed Barbet, African Emerald Cuckoo, Black-billed Turaco, Kingfishers, Lesser Striped Swallow, Cisiticolas, Shrikes, Starlings, Widowbird among others. Dinner and Overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge. Full Board iscal, Common Fiscal, Wattled Starling, Sharpe’s Starling, Baglafecht Weaver, and Fan-tailed Widowbird among others. QNEP is home to numerous of the large mammals of Africa. Itinerary for Uganda continued under the Luhder's Bush-shrike and more on QENP below. |
| Itinerary for Uganda : Continued QENP Day 10: Bird Queen Elizabeth National Park A cup of tea or coffee and a muffin at 6:15 am in the lounge and set off for a game drive/birding. Lunch at the Lodge and in the afternoon go for the boat trip on the Kazinga Channel, to see a variety of wildlife, hundreds of hippos, crocodile and bird life from a boat for two hours. Look out for birds like Pelicans, Green-backed Heron, Storks, African Spoonbill, Martial Eagle, Common button Quail, Kittlitz’s Plover, Senegal Plover, Wattle Plover, Larks, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Babblers, Sunbirds, Weavers, Widowbird among others. Look out for mammals like Uganda Kob, Bushbuck, Defassa Water buck, Buffaloes, Elephants, Warthog, when lucky a leopard, spotted Hyena and Lion among others. Day 11: Transfer to Bwindi After breakfast with your picnic lunch, leave Queen Elizabeth National Park and proceed to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest through Shahs sector arriving in the late afternoon. You will look out for mammals like Topi, Uganda Kob, and Buffaloes and when lucky, tree climbing Lions. Look out for birds like Raptors, Barbets, Chats, Cuckooshrikes, Sunbirds; Fork tailed Drongo, Larks, Pipits, Golden breasted Bunting, and Widowbird. Dinner and overnight at Engagi Lodge. Full Board Itinerary for Uganda continued with over 4 days at Bwindi National Park. Go to right hand column under the Papyrus Gonolek and start next at Day 7. |
| Itinerary for Uganda Continued Day 12: Birding Bwindi After an early breakfast, we find our way into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Bwindi is home to nearly two dozen species that are endemic to the Albertine Rift zone. Some species we hope to see are: Black Bee-Eater, Yellow Tinkerbird, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, Yellow-spotted Barbet, Elliot’s Woodpecker, African Broadbill, Ansorge’ sGreenbul, White-bellied Robin-Chat, Red-throated Alethe, Chapin’s Flycatcher, Red- faced Woodland Warbler, Grauer’s Warbler, Mountain Masked Apalis, Bocage’s Bush- shrike, Luhder’s Bush-shrike, Pink-footed Puffback, Petit’s Cuckooshrike,, Blue- throated Brown Sunbird, Purple-breasted Sunbird, Black-billed Weaver, and Brown- capped Weaver among others. In addition to a rich bird habitat, the park provides protection for numeorus butterfly and tree species. Much of this montane rift zone is over 6000 feet in elevation. Note on Bwindi and Mountain Gorilla Trek: Anyone interested in trying for the Mountain Gorilla will have to take a Trek with a National Park Guide. There is a separate cost for this, and you will have to sacrifice a day of bird watching. Opportunities for trying to see the Mountain Gorilla are on a lottery system. If you are interested in seeing the Mountain Gorilla, we will enter you in a lottery for both Bwindi days with the hope that you will get an opportunity to see this species. The launching point for this trek is very close to either of the lodges at which we are staying. We will have someone return you to the lodge after the trek (so you can easily rejoin the birding group and share your Mountain Gorilla adventure). Day 13: Bwindi Day Two After an early breakfast, we will re-enter the forest and track down some of the birds we didn’t encounter the previous day, such as White-tailed Ant-Thrush, Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, Mountain Illadopsis, Short-tailed Warbler, Dwarf Honeyguide and Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo . We should find mixed feeding flocks with several species seen in one tree or location. In addition to forest, Bwindi affords some marshland birding and a bamboo zone with its own avifauna. Before we leave Bwindi we hope to see: Stuhlmann’s Starling, African Cuckoo-Hawk, Archer’s Robin-Chat, Chubb’s Cisticola and African Citril. Day 14: Bird as you transfer to Ruhija via the Neck After breakfast we’ll bird as we move southward to Ruhija via “the neck.” “The neck” is a narrow band of mid-elevation forest connecting the two ends of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. We’ll expect birds like Black Bee-eater, Red-throated Wryneck, Mountain Wagtail, Toro Olive-Greenbul, White-starred Robin, Olive Thrush, Cassin’s- grey Flycatcher, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Grauer’s Warbler, Chubb’s Cisticola, Banded Prinia, Mountain Masked Apalis, Chestnut-throated Apalis, Collared Apalis, Stripe-breasted Tit, Grey Cuckoo-shrike, Sharpe’s Starling, Regal Sunbird, Strange Weaver, Dusky Twinspot, Yellow Bishop, Black-throated Seedeater and more. A late evening drive along the road can often turn up Rwenzori Nightjar and several other nocturnal birds. Notes on Lodging: The group will stay at the newer Treker’s Lodge. However, for those wishing to save some money, it would be possible to stay at a nearby research station. However, lodging at the research station is very basic (with no running water). Day 15: Bird Mubwindi Swamp at Bwindi After breakfast, we’ll walk down to the Mubwindi Swamp, where you can find the Grauer’ s Rush Warbler, Archers Robin Chat and Western Bronze-naped Pigeon. We’ll be looking for other specialties including the Black-billed Turaco, Western Green Tinkerbird, Fine-banded Woodpecker, Mountain Greenbul, Yellow-streaked Greenbul, African Hill Babbler, Mountain Illadopsis, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher, Mountain Yellow Warbler, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Grauer’s Warbler, Chestnut-throated Apalis, Collared Apalis, Stripe-breasted Tit, Rwenzori Batis, Doherty’s Bush-shrike, Bar- tailed Trogon, Blue-headed Sunbird, Regal Sunbird and more. If we are very lucky, we may find African Green-Broadbill. Certainly one of the highlights of any birding trips in Uganda, this walk is physically challenging, but taken slowly it is quite manageable for many participants. The elevation change is about 1000 feet. For those not thinking the Mubwindi Swamp is suitable for the physical abilities, an alternative birding day with a National Park Guide will be arranged. Itinerary for Uganda continued as we go to Lake Mburo National Park (LMNP). Continued below under the African Paradise Flycatcher below. |
| Itinerary for Uganda: Continued Day 16: Bird to Lake Mburo National Park (LMNP) After an early breakfast, we will bird the National Park for a little bit more as we leave Ruhija and head to the Park border. Then we go onto Lake Mburo looking out for birds like Bateleur, Crested Francolin, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Brown Parrot, Bare- faced Go-away-bird, Blue-naped Mousebird, African Grey Hornbill, Spot-flanked Barbet, Yellow-breasted Apalis, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, Stripe-breasted Tit, Mountain Masked Apalis, Rwenzori Batis, Fork tailed Drongo, Black-crowned Waxbill, and Black- headed Waxbill among others. Lake Mburo National Park is located in southern Uganda, west of Lake Victoria. Day 17: Bird Lake Mburo National Park Whole day birding Lake Mburo National Park. Habitat here is acacia forest, lake and a large expanse of papyrus wetlands. The papyrus swamps are host to numerous species found in no other habitat. We’ll be looking for species like the Marsh Harrier, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Grey-crowned Crane, Marsh Tchagra, Papyrus Gonolek, Brown- backed Scrub Robin, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Red-faced Barbet, White-headed Saw-wing, Nubian Woodpecker, Diedrick and Klass’s Cuckoos, Long tailed Cisticola, Yellow-breasted Apalis and more. If we can fit in a boat trip on the lake African Finfoot is a distinct possibility. Before dinner, try for the African Scops Owl, Swamp Nightjar, Black-shouldered Nightjar and Freckled Nightjar. Look out mammals like the gorgeous Eland, Zebra, Impala, Buffalo, Reedbuck, Topi, Waterbuck Bushbuck, Hippos, Oribi, Bush-duiker and others. Day 18: Drive to Entebbe After breakfast and full morning of birding, we will spend the remainder of the day heading back towards the Entebbe Airport arriving by about 5 PM. As we head back to the airport, we will enjoy birding along the way and look out for birds like Lilac-breasted Roller, Broad-billed Roller, Striped Kingfisher, Blue-naped Mousebird, African Grey Hornbill, Spot-flanked Barbet, and Fork tailed Drongo. After another full day of birding, most participants will start the journey home later that evening flying from Entebbe aiport. Others will check into the hotel for another night’s stay (at an additional charge). |
Uganda Detailed Itinerary: 18 Day Trip
| Many itineraries are possible year round, but best times are June and into August, and then November and December. |
