Next dates

Day 1: International arrivals into Entebbe today and overnight at a nearby hotel.

Day 2: Early this morning we will visit the nearby Mabamba Swamp and take a boat ride through the typical papyrus swamp that inhabited by the incomparable Shoebill. We have here our best chance to locate this highly-desired species and which belongs to its own family. We may have a chance to see the uncommon Weyn’s Weaver, another range-restricted species that occur in the area, as well as the scarce Lesser Jacana. Time permitting, we may stop nearby for Blue Swallow. We will then transfer northwards to Murchison Falls National Park. On the way we will be passing by the capital city of Kampala and we will come across a marshy area, where we will search for the localized Marsh Widowbird. Driving next into Murchison Falls National Park we will reach in the late afternoon to the stunning views from the top of the falls, which the impressive Victoria Nile drops and continue its way to Lake Albert. While watching the spectacular amount of water falling down, we will be looking around for the Rock Pratincole before making our way to our comfortable lodge.

Day 3: We will spend the full day exploring the spectacular national park. A boat ride downstream along the Nile to the delta should deliver excellent opportunities to watch the wildlife. While some impressive Nile Crocodiles and numerous Hippopotamuses should be easily seen along our navigation, we may have another chance to come across the Shoebill. Also here, we are likely to find many other new species such as African Darter, Goliath Heron, Little Bittern, Saddle-billed Stork, Spur-winged and Egyptian Geese, Knob-billed Duck, Black Crake, Grey Crowned Crane, African Jacana, Senegal Thick-knee, Spur-winged Lapwing, Blue-headed Coucal, Red-throated Bee-eater, Carruthers’s Cisticola and the beautiful Papyrus Gonolek. We will also explore the park by having exciting game drives in various drier habitats through woodlands, typical savannas and grasslands overlooking the Nile, and inhabited by numerous animals such as Rothschild’s Giraffes, African Savanna Elephant, Lake Chad Buffalo, Defassa Waterbuck, Uganda Kob, while even Leopards are sometimes seen. Of the avian specialties, we will focus on the skulking Dusky Babbler and the Heuglin’s Spurfowl, along with a whole host of more widespread species including the stunning Northern Carmine Bee-eater, together with White-backed, Rüppell’s, Lappet-faced and White-headed Vultures, Brown and Western Banded Snake Eagles, Bateleur, Martial Eagle, Crested and Heuglin’s Francolins, Helmeted Guineafowl, Black-billed Wood Dove, White-crested Turaco, Senegal Coucal, Blue-naped Mousebird, Blue-breasted and Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Double-toothed and Black-billed Barbets. In the evening, we go out spotlighting along the park roads in the hope to find the incredible Pennant-winged Nightjar.

Day 4: We will head off Murchison Falls National Park and will have a long travel day to Kibale National Park. On the way, we will have various stops, first at the very much inhabited Buliisa Plains where we will be looking for White-rumped Seedeater, and then on the scrubby hillsides of Butiaba Escarpment where we will search for the Foxy Cisticola. Further along the way, we will look for White-winged Swamp Warbler and Grey-headed Oliveback. We should reach the edge of Kibale National Park just in time for some late afternoon birding and we will track down the much-wanted Lowland Masked Apalis and Joyful Greenbul.

Day 5:  This exciting day will start before dawn as we will try to locate the sought-after Green-breasted Pitta, an elusive species that usually prefers to display at first lights. Later we will focus to THE main attraction of the area: Chimpanzees! Kibale National Park has certainly got to be the best place to see our closest relatives and there is yet a very high-rate chance of watching them. We will be looking at other primates that inhabits the forests namely Central African Red and Guereza Colobuses, Olive Baboon, Grey-cheeked Mangabey, L’Hoest’s and Red-tailed Monkey. Among the bird species we may come across include Narina Trogon, Afep Pigeon, White-headed Wood Hoopoe, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, stunning Black and White-throated Bee-eaters, Cassin’s Honeybird, Grey-throated and Yellow-billed Barbets, Buff-spotted and Yellow-crested Woodpecker, Petit’s Cuckooshrike, Western Oriole, Velvet-mantled Drongo, Red-billed Paradise Flycatcher, Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, Chestnut-winged, Purple-headed and Narrow-tailed Starling, Red-tailed Ant Thrush, Ashy, Cassin’s  and African Dusky Flycatcher, Brown-throated Alethe, Red-capped Robin-Chat, Superb Sunbird, Mountain Wagtail, Ross’s Turaco and more. At night, we may also find African Wood Owl.

Day 6: This morning we will go for a walk in the nearby Bigodi Wetland, a usually very productive birding area hold by a community-operated reserve, being from papyrus swamp, riparian woodland, and various cultivations. Here we will be searching for the range-restricted Speckle-breasted Woodpecker and with luck, we may locate the rare White-collared Oliveback. Later today, we will transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park and will enjoy some late afternoon birding around our luxurious accommodation overlooking the Kazinga Channel.

Day 7: The stunning Queen Elizabeth National Park is often considered as a main highlight of any trips in Uganda, and we will spend the full day exploring the incredible wildlife that this reserve has to offer. Among the extensive savannahs and acacias woodlands, we will be enjoying some further game drives in search of some African rare birds such as African Crake, White-tailed Lark and Black-rumped Buttonquail, as well as a variety of other species like Red-necked Spurfowl, Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl, African Hoopoe, Common Scimitarbill, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Greater and Lesser Honeyguides, Rufous-naped Lark, Red-breasted Swallow, Arrow-marked and Black-lored Babblers, Trilling, Wing-snapping and Stout Cisticolas, Orange-breasted (or Sulphur-breasted) Bushshrike, Purple-banded Sunbird, Lesser Masked and Spectacled Weavers, Southern Red Bishop, Fan-tailed and White-winged Widowbirds, Green-winged Pytilia, Brimstone Canary and Golden-breasted Bunting. Mammals are much in evidence here with Common Warthog, Giant Hog, Defassa Waterbuck, Lake Chad Buffalo, Scrub Hare, Marsh Mongoose, Banded Mongoose, Spotted Hyaena and Lion. We even have another opportunity of encountering a Leopard. An evening boat ride on the Kazinga Channel will offer excellent opportunities for other waterside birds and mammals.

Day 8: This morning we will drive through the Ishasha section of the park, famous for tree-climbing Lions. Afterwards, we continue our journey to the lower section of the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Day 9: The dense forest here is one of the most biologically diverse in Africa and goes by the nicely evocative name of the “Impenetrable Forest”, due to the steepness of the mountains. Fortunately, we will be able to see most of the specialties of this wonderful area by walking along the roads and nice trails. It is also world’s best-known areas for Mountain Gorilla trekking, and we will devote our morning to go in search of these marvelous creatures. In the afternoon we will start tracking down a selection of Albertine Rift endemics and other exciting species in the forest near to Buhoma.

Day 10: As on the afternoon of Day 9 we will spend most of the day looking for the key Albertine targets including Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Red-throated Alethe, Willard’s Sooty Boubou, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher and the skulking Neumann’s Warbler. Other good birds will be tracked down such as Black-billed Turaco, Equatorial Akalat, Ansorge’s Greenbul and African Broadbill.

Day 11: On our next journey we will leave from the lower section of Buhoma forests and transfer to the higher areas around Ruhija. As we progress up to our destination, we will make a few productive stops en route and expect to come across more higher-level specialties such as Dusky Twinspot, Handsome Spurfowl, Stripe-breasted Tit, Rwenzori Apalis, Albertine Sooty Boubou, Rwenzori Hill Babbler, Purple-breasted, Blue-headed and Regal Sunbirds, and Strange Weaver. At dusk we will be looking for the localised “Rwenzori” Montane Nightjar.

Day 12: The main reason for coming to Ruhija is to trek to the Mubwindi Swamp where some additional range-restricted species occur. The area around the swamp is a suitable habitat for the Grauer’s (or African Green) Braodbill, which is undoubtedly one of the rarest and least seen Albertine Rift endemics. While trying to locate it, we will be looking for more regional endemics including Grauer’s Swamp Warbler, Grauer’s Warbler, Grey-chested Babbler, Archer’s Ground robin, Rwenzori Batis Mountain Masked Apalis or anything we might have missed the previous day.

Day 13: Today we will head off early the Bwindi Impenetrable forests onto a long drive to our last destination at Lake Mburo National Park. We plan to arrive in good timing in the afternoon and get ready for our last “game drive” of this African adventure. We will search for Red-faced Barbet the prime target in the area, as well as the sought-after Brown-chested Lapwing. At night, spotlighting should deliver a nice set of nightjars, including Black-shouldered, Swamp, Square-tailed and even Pennant-winged Nightjar can be searched in case we have missed it at Murchison Falls NP.

Day 14: We will spend our last morning on a boat-ride on Lake Mburo chasing some last species. African Finfoot will be our prime target, along with White-backed Night Heron, and later we will transfer to Entebbe where our tour ends.

RWANDA EXTENSION

Day 1: We will take a flight to Kigali the capital of Rwanda and overnight.

Day 2: Known as the “Land of a Thousand Hills”, Rwanda’s incredible scenery, friendly people and extraordinary biodiversity certainly make one of the most remarkable countries in Africa. In the recent years the government has put some serious effort to develop ecotourism, and certainly the country has some great birding to deliver. Today we will transfer westwards to the spectacular Nyungwe National Park, and in the afternoon begin our exploration.

Day 3-4: Nyungwe National Park protects Africa’s oldest and most diverse forests and is home to a whole host of Albertine rift endemics, with even a greater diversity of these range-restricted species than any site in Uganda. During our two full days we will focus on finding the two key Albertine Rift endemics of Nyungwe Forest, which include the incredible Red-collared Babbler (Nyungwe is probably the only reliable and safe location to see this bird) plus the range-restricted Kungwe Apalis. As the ultra-rare Albertine Owlet and Shelley’s Crimsonwing have been recorded in the park, we will of course keep an eye for these mega rarities, although our chance of finding them are minimal.

We will also be searching for some Albertine Rift key species or other special birds, with many being much easier to find in this lovely forest than in Uganda, such as Handsome Francolin, Dwarf Honeyguide, Williard’s Sooty Boubou, White-browed Crombec, Rwenzori and Mountain Masked Apalises, Neumann’s Warbler, Red-throated Alethe, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher, Ruwenzori Double-collared, Blue-headed, Purple-breasted and Regal Sunbird, the local form of Abyssinian Ground Thrush, Ruwenzori Batis, Mountain Sooty Boubou, Mountain Oriole, White-tailed Blue Flycatcher, White-bellied Crested Flycatcher, Stripe-breasted Tit, Grauer’s Warbler, Chubb’s Cisticola, Black-faced Prinia, Mountain Illadopsis, Ruwenzori Hill Babbler, Archer’s Ground Robin, Equatorial Akalat, Strange Weaver, Dusky Crimsonwing alongside with two highly desired bushshrikes Lagden’s and Doherty’s. Ultimately, our birding will be focused on anything we might have missed during the main tour. At dusk we will be looking for the beautiful Red-chested Owlet and have another chance for “Rwenzori” Montane Nightjar.

Day 5: After some final birding at Nygungwe National Park we will return to Kigali, where our Rwanda extension ends.

Tour details