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23-day Uganda/Rwanda birding tour – masses of birds, primates, spectacular scenery, and more
Also 5-day pre-tour: Fox’s Weaver and Kidepo Valley National Park
Shoebill is one of the first birds we look for after our arrival in Entebbe (photo by Masa Wang)
Uganda is only half the size of Kenya and yet has almost the same number of bird species (about 1000!). This is an impressive tally, since many people regard Kenya as Africa’s greatest birding destination – but per unit area Uganda is actually twice as bird-diverse! During our 23-day birding adventure, we look for the over 20 Albertine Rift endemics inhabiting Uganda and Rwanda, spectacular birds such as African Green Broadbill, African Grey Parrot and Shoebill and literally hundreds of other bird species. In addition, we also look for Gorilla, Chimpanzee, tree-climbing lions and a plethora of other spectacular mammals. Uganda and Rwanda are both very beautiful and incredibly diverse countries (all packed into a small area), with the source of the White Nile on Lake Victoria (Africa’s largest lake), to snow-capped Mountains, to tropical lowland jungle, to typical African savannah and even desert.
Silverback, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Photo by Masa Wang)
Day-by-day Itinerary:
Please note that the itinerary might change due to various factors such as availability of accommodation, updated information, road or weather conditions. The itinerary below is therefore only a guide, and cannot be guaranteed.
Pre-trip, 5-9 June 2012 (similar dates in 2013):
Day 1: We arrive in Entebbe and fly to the remote and marvelously beautiful Kidepo Valley National Park in the extreme north of Uganda. O/N Apoka Lodge
Day2: A full day of birding and game drives in Uganda’s most remote – and beautiful to the few people making the journey there - national park. We’ll look for a rich diversity of birds and other African wildlife, in addition to looking for some localized specials such as Black-breasted Barbet and Karamoja Apalis. O/N Apoka Lodge
Day3: Game drives/birding. Overnight Apoka Lodge.
Day 4: we will look for Uganda’s only true endemic, Fox’s Weaver, along with a host of other birds which we should find as a by-product of searching for this one.
Day5: Fly back to Kajjansi Airstrip in Entebbe. O/N Boma Guest House.
Ross’s Turaco is quite easy to find in Uganda, as are Great Blue, White-crested and a suite of other AWESOME turacos (Photo by Masa Wang)
Main Tour, 10 June – 2 July 2012 (similar dates in 2013):
Day 1: Arrive in Entebbe. This is a travel day, but time permitting we can do some birding around the garden city of Entebbe, away from the hustle and bustle of Kampala. Entebbe is on the shores of Africa’s greatest lake, and it’s hardly a bad place to spend a few hours - birding the grounds of the hotel, the beautiful botanical gardens and other sites. The town has many specials including African Hobby Falcon, gorgeous Black-headed Gonolek, Broad-billed Roller, a plethora of weavers and a host of others. You will already start getting a good sampling of Uganda’s massive bird diversity. O/N Boma Guest House.
Day 2: We embark on a morning boat trip on Mabamba Swamp, which is the world’s most famous site for SHOEBILL. We should also see a great variety of other birds on the lake, including Lesser Jacana, several water-associated weavers and Red-chested Sunbird (also usually near water). Then we head towards Masindi, hoping to find Orange Weaver, Great Blue Turaco, Ross’s Turaco, Eastern Grey Plaintain-eater and masses of others en route. Close to Masindi we will look for a host of spectacular birds such as Brown Twinspot, White-crested Turaco and tons of others. O/N Masindi Hotel.
Day 3: We’ll spend a whole day birding the fantastic Royal Mile of the Budongo Forest, where a suite of forest kingfishers including Chocolate-backed, Blue-breasted, African Dwarf, African Pygmy and Shining Blue await us. Small groups of Chestnut-capped Flycatcher flit in the canopy and Nahan’s Francolin skulks on the forest floor. Forest Flycatcher, numerous greenbuls and a stack of other tantalizing forest birds await us. On our 2010 trip, we stumbled across Chimpanzees here, but we are more likely to find other primates today (chimps usually wait until Kibale). O/N Masindi Hotel.
Day 4: We begin the day birding a different part of the Budongo Forest called Kanyio Pabidi, which is the best site for the localized Puvel’s Illadopsis, and is also good for other forest birds such as Black-billed Turaco, Crested Francolin and (as always!) many others. We eventually head for Murchison Falls National Park, which is a world apart from the forests and swamps we will have birded thus far. This is now an arid area and we’ll look for dry land specials such as Vinaceous Dove, the beautiful and cheerful Spotted Morning Thrush, fabulous Red-throated Bee-eater, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, striking Silverbird, Beautiful Sunbird (an apt name), Eastern Chanting Goshawk and loads of others – this is easy birding in dry woodlands and savannah. While at Murchison Falls, we’ll also spend an evening looking for hunting Bat Hawk above the spectacular Murchison Falls where the mighty Nile roars through an incredibly narrow gorge - and we’ll also look for nightjars including the fabulous Pennant-winged. O/N Sambiya Lodge.
Northern Carmine Bee-eaters are common along the Nile (Photo by Masa Wang)
Day 5: We’ll take a boat across the Nile and then do a game and birding drive onto the Nile Delta, continuing our search for dry land birds such as Beautiful Sunbird, Black-headed Lapwing and a rich assemblage of others. We can also expect big and small animals such as Elephant, Nile Crocodile and many others. O/N Sambiya Lodge.
Beautiful Sunbird is a good name for a stunning bird (Photo by Masa Wang)
Day 6: Time permitting we can do a cruise on the Nile below Murchison Falls – here we can expect to see lots of waterbirds and big mammals. We then return to Masindi via the scenic Butiaba Escarpment and other sites. We’ll look for Foxy Cisticola, Red-winged Grey-warbler and forest birds we may have missed previously – maybe Rufous-crowned Eremomela, White-headed Woodhoopoe, White-spotted Flufftail and other excellent birds - who knows? O/N Masindi Hotel.
Day 7: We travel via Sebitoli to the incredible Kibale Forest National Park where we’ll track Chimpanzees, look for Green-breasted Pitta, White-naped Pigeon and a plethora of other sought-after birds. This is also the richest site in Africa for primates and we are never disappointed – L’hoest’s Monkey, Dwarf Galago and many others are possible. O/N Primate Lodge.
Day 8: A whole day in the spectacular Kibale Forest. O/N Primate Lodge.
Day 9: We head to the massive Queen Elizabeth National Park, where we expect to see big and small mammals (which might include Lion, with lots of luck Leopard and a host of other African megafauna) and masses of savannah birds such as bee-eaters, longclaws, larks, babblers (usually three species), lapwings, Black-chinned Quail-finch, Small Button-quail and (as always…) many others. We’ll do a boat ride on the Kazinga Channel which allows close views of many waterbirds as well as game. A special mammal we hope to locate today is Giant Forest Hog. Queen Elizabeth is an awesomely scenic park, with two of the great lakes, crater lakes and much else. O/N Mweya Lodge.
Day 10: We travel to Lake Mburo via the Ishasha section of Queen Elizabeth National Park, which is where the famous tree-climbing lions lurk, as well as a host of what are likely to be new trip birds such as Brown-chested Lapwing and many others. Overnight at Mantana Tented Camp.
Day 11: We’ll do game/birding drives and a boat ride on Lake Mburo. We hope to see animals such as Burchell’s Zebra, as well as awesome birds such as African Finfoot, Malagasy Pond Heron, White-backed Night-heron, Red-headed Lovebird and a host of others (as always!). Red-faced Barbet is one of our main target birds. In the evening we’ll look for nightjars and owls. Overnight at Mantana Tented Camp.
Red-faced Barbet is an extremely localized bird on a global scale - which we look for at Mburo (Photo by Masa Wang)
Day 12: As if the rest of the trip has not been exciting and awesome, we now head to the Albertine Rift which is just full of endemic birds, fabulous scenery and sprawling forests – Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is to many people the highlight of any visit to Uganda, despite all the other marvelous places sampled in this mega-diverse little country. We head to one of Africa’s most incredible forest birding sites (no exaggeration!), Bwindi National Park, where we’ll bird Ruhizha, Buhoma, “the Neck” and other famous sites, plus we’ll also do gorilla tracking (optional). Overnight Engagi Lodge.
Day 13: Gorilla tracking/birding at Buhoma, Bwindi. O/N Engagi Lodge.
Day 14: Continued birding at Buhoma for species such as Short-tailed Warbler (quite a skulker), Sooty Flycatcher, Black-faced Rufous-warbler, Red-throated Alethe, Purple-breasted Sunbird, Bar-tailed Trogon, Bocage’s Bush-shrike and many, many others. Anyone who has not been to the Albertine Rift will get life-bird after life-bird – it really is a centre of endemism. O/N Engagi Lodge.
Day 15: We drive through the national park to the high altitudes of Ruhija - via “the Neck" - birding en route. We hope to find further Albertine Rift endemics and other specials, such as Chapin’s Flycatcher, Black Bee-eater, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Strange Weaver, Rwenzori Apalis, the bizarre Grauer’s Warbler with its fascinating and quite attractive call, Regal Sunbird, Rwenzori Double-collared Sunbird, Mountain Masked Apalis, Rwenzori Hill-babbler, Stripe-breasted Tit and a long list of others. O/N Gorilla Lodge.
Day 16: We spend the whole day doing a strenuous walk to Mubwindi Swamp, where we’ll look for AFRICAN GREEN BROADBILL (with luck we’ll find it at a nest), Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher, Blue-headed Sunbird, Archer’s Robin-chat, White-headed Woodhoopoe, Banded Prinia, Oriole Finch and last but not least Grauer’s Rush Warbler which is amazingly localized but not too tough to find once in its incredibly limited habitat. O/N Gorilla Lodge.
Day 17: We visit Mgahinga Gorilla Reserve which is our best bet for Shelley’s Crimsonwing (one of four crimsonwing species we have a chance at here in the Albertine Rift!), Rwenzori Turaco and other super birds tough to find in other parts of Uganda. We travel via Ichuya Forest today. O/N Travelers Rest Hotel.
Day 18: Mgahinga birding, then to Kigali, Rwanda. O/N Mary Colline.
Our Uganda/Rwanda trip is brilliant for birds as well as mammals, both big and small – like these gregarious Banded Mongooses (Photo by Masa Wang)
Day 19: Genocide tour, then drive to Nyungwe National Park for further Albertine Rift endemic birding. Here we may find species not occurring in Uganda, such as Red-collared Mountain-babbler. O/N Gisakura GH.
Day 20: Whole day birding Nyungwe National Park (Winka). O/N Gisakura GH.
Day 21: Another whole day birding in the splendid Nyungwe NP. O/N Gisakura Guest House.
Day 22: Drive to Akagera National Park, birding this spectacular site in the afternoon. O/N Akagera Lodge.
Day23: Game drives, birding, lunch, then fly out of Kigali Airport.
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We easily find Black-headed Gonolek (photo by Masa Wang) through much of Uganda, but it’s even more stunning relative, Papyrus Gonolek, means stopping at stakeouts, where we also look for several other papyrus endemics
Please ask us for trip report, bird list and mammal list from a previous trip
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Itinerary:
Duration: 21 days
Limit: 4-6 participants
Date: June of each year (also any other date required)
Start: Entebbe
End: Entebbe
Price: TBA
Price_Includes:
Meals
Accommodation on full board basis
Park entrance fees
Boat cruises
Guiding fees & ranger guides fees
Vehicle hire with fuel and driver guide
Guided nature walks
Gorilla permit
Chimp tracking
Forest walk fees
Swamp walk fees
Price_Excludes:
International flights
Airport transfers
Pre and Post tour accommodation
Personal Insurance
Alcoholic Beverages
Between meal snacks
Gratuities
Laundry Service
Personal expenses such as gifts
Anything not included in the itinerary
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