13-Day Wildlife & Birding Tour of Uganda

Keep your eyes peeled for the vibrant feathers of the green-breasted pitta, the crooked smiles of shoebills and the majestic crests of the gray-crowned cranes, Uganda’s national bird. What’s more, Lake Mburo is the only place in Africa where you can easily see the aquatic African finfoot. Uganda is the perfect wildlife-watching destination for ornithologists and birding enthusiasts. Start designing your dream birding itinerary for Uganda today, with the help of our Africa travel specialists. 

Day 1: Arrival in Uganda

You will be met at the airport by our Best of Uganda Wildlife Safari guide who will transfer you to the hotel reserved for you in Entebbe. Dinner and overnight will be at this hotel.

Luxury Lodge: Serena Hotel/ Imperial Hotel 
Moderate:  Emin Pasha Hotel/ Speke Resort Hotel
Budget facility: Acardia Cottages/ Namirembe Guest house
Meal Plan: Half Board Basis

Day 2: Travel to Murchison Falls National Park (5-6hrs)

You will have an early breakfast and drive to Murchison Falls National Park via the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary where you will have the opportunity to trek the Rhinos. The sanctuary houses Uganda’s Rhino reintroduction project. There are 9 white rhinos and tracking is done on foot for 1 and half hours. You will continue to Masindi Town for lunch and later drive to Murchison Falls National Park. This Best of Uganda Wildlife Safari route journey takes 6-7 hours.

You will have dinner and overnight at the lodge of your booking.

Day 3 Travel to Nyamisia Plateau

You will have an early start (6.30 am) and set off for a sunrise Best of Uganda Wildlife Safari game drive in the Nyamsika plateau to see the Cape buffaloes, Rothschild’s giraffes, Uganda kob, hartebeest, and waterbucks. You may also spot oribi, bushbuck, Bohor reedbuck, shy sitatunga, bush duiker, warthog, and bush pig plus large carnivores including lions, leopards, and spotted hyenas. Chimpanzees and olive baboons head the list of six species of primates found in the park.

Crocodiles and hippos will be seen along the banks of the Nile River. Some of the more common birds that can be seen include goliath heron, Egyptian geese, pelican, bee-eaters, kingfishers, hornbill, cormorant, saddle-bill stork, and the rare shoebill stork. You will return to your lodge for a late breakfast and some relaxation before you set off in the afternoon for a boat cruise on the placid Victoria Nile, upstream, to the base of the falls.

En-route you will see hippos, crocodiles, waterbuck, and a wide variety of birds like the unusual shoebill stork. The boat stops just tens of meters from the “Devil’s Cauldron” for pictures to be taken of the photogenic and majestic Murchison Falls.

  • Luxury: Paraa Safari Lodge/ Nile Safari Lodge
  • Mid-range: Fort Murchison (in rooms)/ Murchison River Lodge
  • Budget: Fort Murchison in tents/ Murchison River Lodge in tents / Red Chili
  • Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 4: Visit the top of the fall and travel to Kibale Forest National Park

You will after your breakfast visit the “top of the thunderous Murchison falls”, where you will observe the River Nile squeezing itself into a 7-meter gorge before tumbling 40 meters down in a thunderous explosion and then flowing down into a very peaceful river whose water banks are swarmed with a profusion of water and land animals as well as birds.

You will set off on a 6-hour journey to Kibale Forest National Park.  The drive is through beautiful countryside dotted with traditional homesteads, crop gardens, and plantations as well as trading centers and towns. You will have lunch enroute and arrive in the late afternoon. You will have dinner and overnight at the lodge of your booking

  1. Luxury: Ndali Lodge/Primate Lodge/Kibale Forest/Kyaninga Lodge                                                  
  2. Moderate: Mountains of the moon/Kibale Forest Camp
  3. Budget: Rwenzori Travelers/Kibale Forest Camp/Chimpanzee Forest Guest House
  4. Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5: Chimp tracking and nature walk in Kibale Forest

After breakfast, you will report to the Kanyanchu Tourist Centre at 08.00 am for a briefing on the rules of chimpanzee tracking. Kibale Forest National Park has the greatest variety and highest concentration of primates in East Africa. The most famous of its 13 species is the Chimpanzee, a very delightful ape.

The trek takes 2-3 hours and it will provide you with the opportunity to see a variety of other primates and animals as well as birds, and a variety of butterflies.  Return to the reserved Best of Uganda Wildlife Safari lodge for lunch and in the afternoon go for a nature walk in the Bigodi Wetland to see a variety of birds and monkey species. You will have dinner and overnight at your lodge.

  • Luxury: Ndali Lodge/Primate Lodge/Kibale Forest/Kyaninga Lodge.                                                    
  • Moderate: Mountains of the moon/Kibale Forest Camp.
  • Budget: Rwenzori Travelers/Kibale Forest Camp/Chimpanzee Forest Guest House.
  • Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 6: Game drive and boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Today, after your early morning breakfast, you will leave your hotel for a chimpanzee tracking in Nyungwe National Park Rwanda experience. Nyungwe forest is well known for having 13 species of primates and was transformed into a park for briefing and chimpanzee trekking. You will be entitled to one hour stay on finding the chimpanzees. After doing the chimpanzee trek, head for lunch at the hotel. 

After lunch you head to Nyungwe National Park for a canopy walk and return in the afternoon for dinner and overnight stay.

Lodge: Emeraude Kivu Resort

Day 7: Travel to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

morning breakfast, you will have an early morning Game drive where you will see the lion, leopard, giant forest hog, Cape buffalo, elephant, defassa waterbuck, Uganda Kob, topi, and bushbuck among others. You will return to your lodge for lunch and in the afternoon go for a 2-hour boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel.

This is a 42kms channel that joins Lake Edward and Lake George. This planned Best of Uganda Wildlife Safari boat safari trip passes through possibly the highest concentration of hippos and offers an excellent platform for photography, bird watching, and game viewing. The prolific bird life is colorful, with well over 550 resident species. Dinner and overnight will be spent at your reserved lodge.

  • Luxury Lodge: Mweya Safari Lodge: Katara Lodge/ Jacana Lodge 
  • Mid-range moderate: Bush Lodge (in rooms) / Simba Safari Camp in rooms/ Buffalo Safari Resort/ Enganzi Lodge/ Ihamba Safari Lodge
  • Budget facility: Kazinga Channel View Lodge/ Simba Safari Camp in tents/ Bush Lodge in tents  
  • Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 8: Uganda Gorilla trekking in Bwindi

This is the Best of Uganda Wildlife Safari most exciting day you’ll have on this trip. Have an early morning breakfast and move to the Park headquarters to join other trackers in a briefing about the gorilla trekking rules at 7:45 am. You will trek through thick creepers and undergrowth with your guides to find the Gorillas, which can take you 2-8 hours. The steeply forested landscape is incredibly dense but crisscrossed by numerous animal trails allowing access by tourists. You will have one hour to stay with the Gorillas once sited before returning to your lodge to rest. You will have dinner and overnight at the lodge of your booking.

  • Lower Budget: Buhoma community Rest camp / Ruhija Gorilla Friends Camp / Travellers Rest Hotel Kisolo  / Gorilla Valley Lodge
  • Moderate: Gorilla Resort Bwindi /Gorilla Safari Lodge / Silver Back Lodge / Lake Kitandara Camp / Chameleon Hill Lodge / Lake Mutanda Resort.
  • Upmarket: Mahogany Springs Lodge / Buhoma Lodge / Rushanga Gorilla Satari Lodge.
  • Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 9: Relaxing day or another Gorilla trekking in Bwindi and transfer to Kisoro town

You can decide to have this Best of Uganda Wildlife Safari day to relax and chill back – recollect your previous gorilla encounter, share stories, and more. Or chose to take another chance at gorilla trekking after your morning breakfast and move to the Park headquarters to join other trackers at 7:45 am for a briefing about the gorilla trekking rules. You will trek through thick creepers and undergrowth with your guides to find the Gorillas, which can take you 2-8 hours depending on the location of the gorillas as they range freely in the impenetrable forest. You will have one hour to stay with these intelligent, majestic, and gentle giants that share over 90% of their genetic material with humans.

  • Luxury: Mihingo Lodge/ Mantana Lake Mburo Camp/ Arcadia Cottages
  • Moderate: Lake Mburo Safari Lodge/ Rakobo Rock
  • Budget: Eagles Nest Camp
  • Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 11: Nature walk and Game drive in the park and Boat cruise on Lake Mburo

You will after breakfast go for a tour of the park on foot with an experienced game ranger who will explain to you which animals have left behind footprints and droppings and how long ago. Mburo is one of the two parks in Uganda where it is permitted to go for a tour on foot. You will after the nature walk go for a game drive and return to the lodge for lunch. In the afternoon you will go for a 2-hour boat cruise that will get you quite close to the water animals including crocodiles, hippos, and a variety of birds. You will return to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

  • Luxury: Mihingo Lodge/ Mantana Lake Mburo Camp/ Arcadia Cottages
  • Moderate: Lake Mburo Safari Lodge/ Rakobo Rock
  • Budget: Eagles Nest Camp
  • Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 12: Travel to Kampala

After breakfast you will set off for Kampala. You will have a stopover at the Equator where you will have an opportunity to stand in two hemispheres at the same time and take some photos. The entire stretch of this journey will take 6-7 hours arriving in Kampala in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight will be at the hotel of your Best of Uganda Wildlife Safari booking.

Day 13: Visit the chimp sanctuary on Ngamba Island.

After breakfast you will set off for Kampala. You will have a stopover at the Equator where you will have an opportunity to stand in two hemispheres at the same time and take some photos. The entire stretch of this journey will take 6-7 hours arriving in Kampala in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight will be at the hotel of your Best of Uganda Wildlife Safari booking.

13-Day Wildlife & Birding Tour of Ugandar?

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Request a quote

Price: Due to the customizable nature of this trip and varying group sizes, all prices are given as quotations in consultation. please contact us with ideas what your safari might include and we'll prepare a quotation just for you!

Price per person includes

  • Park Entrance
  • Gorilla Permit
  • Chimpanzee Permit
  • Golden Monkey Permit
  • Round airport transfer
  • Professional driver guide
  • All taxes/VAT
  • All accommodations
  • Bottled drinking water
  • All meals
  • Park fees

Packing List

  • International flights from home back to home

  • Additional accommodation before and at the end of the tour

  • Personal items, souvenirs, visas and travel

  • Insurance

General Information

Hotels have Wi-fi, self contained rooms.

Meals served are of your choice (Starter, Main course & Dessert)

Transport

Insured Custom build safari vehicles (4WD Toyota Land Cruisers, Safari Van)