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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
Day 6: Game drive and boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth 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.
Day 7: Travel to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
You will after breakfast move to the Ishasha sector of the Queen Elizabeth National Park famous for the tree climbing lions lounging in the tree branches while keeping a close eye on herds of Uganda kob, their favorite prey. It is also home to many buffaloes, elephants as well as rare shoebills.
You will have lunch at one of the Best of Uganda Wildlife Safari lodges in this part of the park and drive south to Bwindi impenetrable forest National Park. Enroute you will see the great countryside, and bamboo forest and have great views of the scenic landscape characteristic of the western rift valley. You will arrive in the late afternoon and retire to your booked lodge for dinner and overnight.
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.
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.
Day 10: Travel to Lake Mburo National Park via Igongo Cultural Centre.
You will have breakfast and travel to Lake Mburo National Park centered on a series of swamp-fringed lakes rich in bird life while its green acacia woodland harbors wildlife like the Zebra, Warthog, Elands, and Impala among others. Enroute, you will visit the Igongo Cultural Centre for lunch and to learn about the unique history and culture of the Ankole people who are pride in keeping cattle. You will be treated to some Best of Uganda Wildlife Safari traditional dances at this center after which you will be driven to the lodge of your booking for Dinner and overnight.
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.
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.
