22-days Uganda Birding safaris with Simba African Expeditions will take you on an adventure in one of the world’s greatest birder’s Haven, Uganda! You will get to see various species of birds in the most beautiful parts of Uganda like Mabamba swamp, Mubwindi swamp, Semliki and so much more. One thing for sure is that we cannot guarantee you will get to see all the birds: it’s really by chance. But with an excellent and certified Birding guide from Simba African Expeditions, you will most definitely see most of the listed birds and even so much more as the wild is a very unpredictable place.
Highlights of 22-days Uganda Birding safaris
- Bird-watching Safari in Semliki National Park.
- Visiting Mabamba swamp Bay.
- Lake Mburo National Park tour.
- Queen Elizabeth National Park.
- Kibale Forest National Park.
- Service of English-speaking driver or guide.
- Travel in a customized safari vehicle.
- Airport transfers.
Detailed itinerary for 22 days Uganda Birding Safari
Day 1: Airport pick up from Entebbe.
Upon your arrival at Entebbe international airport, you will be welcomed by your driver / guide who will drive you to your booked hotel preferably in Entebbe for dinner and overnight stay. Meal plan: Half board
Day 2: Travel from Entebbe to Mabamba Swamp Bay
After your early morning breakfast, be ready with your packed lunch to be picked up by the driver/guide to begin your journey to Mabamba swamp, take plenty of water and when you feel ready to have your packed lunch during your guided birding experience, you can let the guide know and he will give you time to have your lunch.
Expect to see various birds on the way like the Red-headed Lovebird, Black-headed Oriole, and tawny flanked Prinia, African marsh Harrier, Black Bishop, Lizard Buzzard, Ruppell’s long-tailed Starling, and the Broad-billed Roller among others.
When you arrive at Mabamba, you will take a canoe ride to the swamp in search of the rear Shoe billed stork, you will stop to ha. Along with the Shoebill, you are likely to encounter the orange weavers, Malachite King Fisher, African and Lesser Jacana, Purple Heron, Purple Swamphen, Black Crake, and Weyns’s. After a full thrilling day with total adventure, you will return to your hotel for dinner and overnight. Meal board: Full board
Day 3: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park
You will have quite an early morning to begin your journey to Lake Mburo After breakfast and checking out of your hotel. You will have to begin the journey early so as to beat the traffic jam. Upon your arrival, you will check into your safari lodge and have lunch. After your lunch, you will head to the birding trail to look for these interesting little creatures.
You may expect to see: Emerald-spotted Wood-dove, Short-toed Snake-Eagle, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Double-toothed, Red-faced, Spot flanked and Crested barbets, African Snipe, Water Thick-knee, White-winged Tit, Brown-backed Scrub-robin, Broad-tailed Whydah, Brown Parrot and Coqui Francolin, Black-headed, Lesser-masked, Golden-backed, Red-headed and Little Weavers, African Fin foot. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight. Meal plan: Full board
Day 4: Birding along Lake Mburo and transfer to Bwindi-Mubwindi Swamp Ruhija
After your early morning breakfast, check out of your safari lodge and set out for 3 hours of more birding to try and look for the birds you didn’t get to see the previous day. You will then transfer to Bwindi– Ruhija. On your way, you will stop for lunch in Mbarara and get some time to relax and stretch your legs before continuing your drive to Bwindi. Upon your arrival, you will check into your safari lodge and later head out for an evening birding venture, trying to discover as many birds as you can.
You will then retire to your safari lodge for dinner and overnight. Be sure to get plenty of hours of rest for the next day. Birds to look out for include: Handsome Francolin, Green broadbill, the Grauer’s Rush Warbler, Archer’s Robin-Chat, Strange Weaver, Grey Cuckoo-shrike, Chestnut-throated, and Mountain masked Apalis, Yellow-streaked, Shelley’s, Red-tailed, Yellow-throated, Mountain and Honeyguide Greenbuls, Rwenzori Batis, Mountain Yellow Warbler, Great Blue, Black-billed and Rwenzori Turaco, Mountain Illadopsis, African Hill-Babbler, Purple-breasted, Regal, Rwenzori Double Collared and Blue-headed Sunbirds. Meal plan: Full board
Day 5: Birding Safaris – Ruhija / Mubwindi Swamp, transfer to Buhoma
You will wake up early and have your breakfast, check out of your safari lodge and be sure to carry your packed lunch before setting out of the lodge. Begin your guided birding experience by looking out for other birds that you may have missed the previous day. Take plenty of pictures and you will later stop to have your lunch before transferring to Buhoma for dinner and overnight. Upon your arrival, you will check into your safari lodge for dinner and overnight. Meal plan: full board
Day 6: Birding Safaris Buhoma, Birding full day.
Having had some time to rest the previous day, we will have quite an early morning. After your breakfast, you will set out for your birding activity with your packed lunch, juice and plenty of water because you will be doing a lot of walking. You will then set out to look for different birds for the full day in hope of a high chance of seeing most or all of them. You will return to your lodge in the late evening for dinner and overnight.
Birds you may see include: Dusky and Cassin’s Grey Flycatcher, Stripe Breasted Tit, Cinnamon-chested, White-throated and Black bee-eater Many colored Bush-shrike, Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle Olive and Western Bronze Naped Pigeon, White-bellied, Red-caped and Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat, Bar-tailed Trogon, Red Chested Owlet, Neumann’s and Black-faced Rufous Warbler, White-Tailed Flycatcher, Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo, Pale breasted Illadopsis, Red-throated and Fire-crested Alethea, Collared, Yellow-breasted and Black-throated Apalis, Baglafecht, Yellow-mantled, Black-billed and Brown-capped Weavers, Narrow-tailed and Stuhlmann’s Starlings, Rufous-chested Fluff-tail, and the Bat Hawk. Meal plan: full board
Day 7: Full-day birding safaris in Buhoma
Wake up with an adventurous spirit ready to explore Buhoma and possibly see more bird species. After your breakfast, you will set into the forest to follow the birding trails to look for the birds you didn’t get to see the previous day. You will be shocked to make even more discoveries. Return to your lodge to have a warm delicious meal before continuing with your birding adventure till late evening when you will retire to your lodge for dinner and overnight. Meal plan: full board
Day 8: Transfer from Buhoma to Queen Elizabeth National Park
After breakfast, you will check out of your safari lodge and transfer to the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, (Ishasha sector) and check into your safari lodge upon arrival. Get a few hours of relaxation before your lunch. After lunch, a lazy afternoon is encouraged to revive your body from all the exhaustion before getting into more birding the next day. Dinner and overnight at your booked safari lodge. Meal plan: Full Board
Day 9: Full-day birding safaris in Ishasha – Queen Elizabeth National Park
After your early morning breakfast, carry your packed lunch, and plenty of water to set out for your birding adventure to look for more birds that you may not have seen the previous day. This experience will take a full day of searching for a long list of birds in this part and later in the evening, you will retire for your dinner and overnight.
Queen Elizabeth is famous for: the Brown Chested Lapwing, Violet-backed and Wattled Starling, Garden, Broad-tailed, Brown and Western Banded Snake-Eagles, Black and Black-Shouldered Kite, Black-chested Snake-Eagle, African Marsh, Montagu’s and Pallid Harriers, Black-Bellied Bustard, Temminck’s Courser, Levaillant’s, Black-chested, Diederik and Klaas’s Cuckoo, Black and White-browed Coucal, Blue-naped and Speckled Mousebird, Rufous-naped and Flappet Lark, Plain-backed and Grassland Pipit, Buff-bellied, Wing-snapping and Croaking Cisticola, Fork-tailed Drongo, Grey-caped Warbler, African White-backed, Ruppell’s Griffon and Lappet-faced Vultures,Grey-backed and Common Fiscal, Black-headed and Papyrus Gonolek, Malachite, Woodland and Pied Kingfisher, Pink-back and Great White Pelican,Yellow-billed, African Open-billed, Saddle-billed Stork, African Spoonbill, Lesser Flamingo, Curlew Sandpiper, African Skimmer, Red-Headed Bluebill, Benald’s Flycatcher, Red Caped Robin-Chat, and Red-Tailed Bristal bill.
Day 10: Full day birding in queen Elizabeth Queen
You will wake up pretty early to catch the early morning birds. After your breakfast, you will head out in search of birds you didn’t see the previous day. We will carefully take our time and look for different bird species. You will then have a lunch break to go have a warm meal at the lodge and return yet to look for more birds around the Ishasha region. You will retire late evening for dinner at your lodge and overnight.
Day 11: Transfer to Kibale national park
You will wake up early for your breakfast, check out of your safari lodge and begin your journey to Kibale Forest National Park from Queen Elizabeth. Along the way you may be lucky to spot some of the following birds: Orange-cheeked Waxbill, Pale-fronted, and Chestnut-breasted Nigrofinch, Woodhouse’s Antpecker, Northern Bearded Scrub-Robin, Diederik and Claas’s Cuckoo, Lead-coloured, Cassin’s and Dusky Blue Flycatcher, Mountain Wagtail, Booted Eagle, Red-thighed Sparrowhawk, Cabanis’s, Toro Olive, Litlle Grey and Xavier’s Greenbul.
Day 12: Birding safaris in Kibale National Park full day
Wake up to a delicious early morning breakfast and later set out for birding in the forest of Kibale for the whole day in search of Kibale forest birds. You will stop to have your packed lunch and you will continue looking for more birds till late evening when you will retire for dinner and overnight at your safari lodge. Expect to see: Green-breasted Pitta, Afep Pigeon, Buff-spotted, Cardinal Woodpecker, White-tailed Ant-thrush, Green-backed Twin spot, White-spotted Flufftail, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Grey-winged, Red-capped Robin-Chat, African Crowned Eagle, African Broadbill, Lesser, Willcock’s, Thick-billed Honeyguide, Chestnut-winged, Gross- Splendid and Purple-headed Starling, Dark-backed Weaver, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, Red-headed Bluebill, Red-chested Owlet and Scaly Illadopsis. Meal plan: full board
Day 13: Birding safaris in Kibale forest National Park
Wake up to yet another beautiful day in Kibale Forest ready for another fun birding experience. After your breakfast, you will set out into the forest to explore more bird species. Return to your lodge for lunch and later birding till late evening. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight. Meal plan: Full board
Day 14: Transfer from Kibale to Semliki National Park
Your day will begin pretty early with some delicious breakfast and a large, packed lunch to get you going through the day. You will check out of your safari lodge and embark on your journey to search for more birds, the fun thing is you will be looking for birds but may get to see some monkeys too. Have a few good hours of birding before continuing to Semliki after your lunch. Upon your arrival at Semliki, you will check into your lodge for dinner and overnight. Meal plan: full board
Day 15: Birding in Semliki, full day.
Wake up with a new twist of adventure in this Unique Park with such beautiful scenery. After your breakfast, you will set out to look for the little creatures of this park. You will return to your lodge for lunch and head out for more birding. And later in the evening after a full day’s birding adventure, you will return to your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Expect to see: African Piculet, Lyre-tailed, Spotted and Zenker’s Honeyguide, Yellow-throated Cuckoo, Yellow-throated Nicator, Long-tailed Hawk, Capuchin Babbler, Icterine Greenbul, Forest Scrub Robin, Nkurengu Rail, Shining-blue and White-bellied Kingfisher, Oberlaender’s Ground Thrush, Red-billed Helmet-shrike, Swamp-palm Bulbul, Orange-tufted Sunbird, White-crested, Red-billed Dwarf, Black Dwarf, Black-casqued Wattled, White-thighed and Piping Hornbills. Meal plan: Full Board
Day 16: Full day Birding safaris, Semliki National Park
Wake up to a delicious breakfast and set out for another full-day birding adventure in Semliki. Get to enjoy the beauty of the hot springs as you look out for more birds. Return to your lodge for a warm fresh lunch before setting out again to view more birds. Meal plan: full board
Day 17: Transfer to Masindi
Start your journey to Masindi after your heavy breakfast. It’s quite a long journey, you will stop to have your lunch on the way before reaching Masindi to check into your booked safari lodge for your dinner and overnight. Meal plan: full board
Day 18: Transfer to queens Mile for full day birding safaris to Budongo
After your early morning breakfast, we will set out with packed lunch to look for more birds in this area and later after your lunch break, you will continue on your bird search and hopefully by late evening you would have seen most if not all. You will then drive to Budongo and check into your booked safari lodge for dinner and overnight after a full day’s birding.
Expect to see some of these: Yellow and Grey Long bills, Green Crombec, Chestnut-caped and Forest Flycatcher, African Shrike Flycatcher, Spotted Greenbul, Brown-eared Woodpecker, Yellow-browed Camaroptera, Blue-breasted, African Dwarf, Chocolate-backed and Pygmy Kingfisher, Crowned Eagle, Yellow-spotted, Fairy-breasted and Yellow-billed Barbets, and Jameson’s Wattle-eye. Meal plan: full board
Day 19: Full day birding in Budongo (Murchison Falls National Park)
Wake up to a delicious breakfast and prepare for yet another birding adventure in Budongo forest. You will have your packed lunch on you for a lunch break later. Enjoy a full day of birding in this beautiful forest and later in the evening, you will transfer to Murchison falls and check into your booked lodge for dinner and overnight.
Expect to see quite a number of birds including Scaly-breasted, Brown and Pavel’s Illadopsis, Rufous-sided Broadbill, Fire-Crested and Brown-cheated Aleth, Green Hylia, Black-throated and Buff-throated Apalis, Sooty Flycatcher, Collared, Superb and Green Sunbird, Sabine’s and Cassin’s Spine tail, Chestnut Wattle-eye and Cameroon Sombre Greenbul among others. We later drive on to Paraa and check in to the service of Red Chili Rest Camp for dinner and overnight. Meal plan: full board
Day 20: Game drive, Birding boat cruise and Visit to the top of falls.
After your early morning breakfast, we will set out for a game drive that will involve bird watching as well. Expect to see Oxpeckers and Cattle egrets, especially around the African water Buffalo and lots of Savannah birds. Return to your lodge for lunch and later have an afternoon boat cruise on the Victoria Nile, giving you a great opportunity to view lots of aquatic birds and enjoy the beautiful scenery they create when in large numbers on the water banks. Get a brilliant view of the magnificent Murchison falls as you hike to the top, take plenty of pictures and look out to identify more birds. Your driver will then drive you back to your lodge for dinner and overnight. Meal plan: full board
Day 21: Transfer to Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary, birding and overnight in Kampala
We will have quite an early morning. Wake up and have your breakfast, check out of your safari lodge and we will head to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for Rhino tracking and birding. Get some time with Uganda’s most endangered species as you identify different birds. You will have a delicious hot meal here before we continue on our drive to Kampala.
Upon your arrival in Kampala, you will check into the Sheraton hotel Uganda. Uganda’s five-star hotel is right in the middle of the city with a beautiful view of Kampala, creating a great experience of Kampala nightlife with excellent service that will have you pampered from the previous day’s exhaustion.
Day 22: Entebbe drop off
After your breakfast, depending on the flight schedule, we can visit various craft markets, have a little city tour, have lunch and drive to Entebbe international airport in order for you to catch your flight back home. Meal plan: Half board
What to bring for 22 days Uganda Birding safaris
- Birding instruments.
- Good camera.
- Warm and summer clothes because it gets cold in the western part of Uganda where you will be for the biggest part of this safari.
22-days Uganda Birding safaris include:
- Airport transfer pick up and drop off.
- Visit Uganda Wildlife Education Center (UWEC).
- Private Safari Vehicle.
- Driver allowance.
- English Speaking Guide / Driver.
- All activities mentioned.
- Entrance fees at Uganda Wildlife Education Center (UWEC).
- Pure Bottle drinking water.
However, 22-days Uganda Birding exclude:
- Airfare.
- Ugandan Visa.
- Luxury drinks.
- Laundry.
- Gratitude to the local porter.
- Personal insurance.
- Personal shopping bills and cigarettes.
- Any other item not mentioned above.