Our 7 days short Uganda birding safari is a 6 nights/7 days short birding safari in Uganda that brings you the best of Uganda’s birding destinations/hotspots near Kampala.
On this 7 days short Uganda birding safari tour, we’ll explore the Entebbe Botanic gardens which provide a perfect introduction to the birds of Uganda including Verreaux’s eagle, Palm-nut vultures, and Great blue-turaco; Uganda Wildlife Education Center which is home to more than 170 species of birds; Heritage trail and Lutembe Bay an Important Bird Area and a Ramsar with over 108 bird species of which 26 are Palearctic migrants. The swamp hosts more than half of the global population of the migratory White-winged black terns.
We’ll continue to Mabamba Swamp, also a Ramsar site (wetland of international importance) and an Important Bird Area on Lake Victoria shore for a chance to catch a rare glimpse of the incredible, prehistoric-like Shoebill. Finally, before our 7 days short Uganda birding safari draws to a close, we’ll visit Mabira Forest Reserve a natural evergreen rainforest with 315 Uganda birds (species) including the Nahan’s Francolin which is an IUCN Red list’ endangered species, Cassin’s Hawk-eagle, White-spotted Flufftail, Afep Pigeon, and Grey Parrot.
This amazing 7 days short birding safari in Uganda tour will end with Lake Mburo National Park where we’ll do birding and game viewing. The park is home to 350 bird species including the Red-faced Barbet, only seen here, and the endemic African Finfoot. There are also over 68 bird species including Burchell’s zebras, Rothschild’s giraffes, Impalas, Topis, Elands, Defassa waterbucks, and Cape buffalos plus more. This Uganda safari tour starts and ends in Entebbe/Kampala city.
If you would like to customize this 7 days birding Uganda safari tour to suit your budget and interest − please let us know.
Birding in Uganda’s top bird watching sites near Kampala city
Canoe ride in Mabamba Swamp in search of the iconic shoebills
Birding walk in Lake Mburo National Park
Game drives in Lake Mburo National Park
Boat ride on Lake Mburo
Photo shoots at Uganda Equator
Day 1, 2 & 3: Entebbe− UWEC, Heritage Trail & Mabamba Bay Swamp
Day 4: Mabira Forest Reserve
Day 5 & 6: Lake Mburo National Park
Day 7: Kampala
Day 1: Birding at Uganda Wildlife Education Centre and Entebbe Botanical Gardens.
Day 2: Birding along the Heritage Trail and Lutembe Bay.
Day 3: Birding in Mabamba Bay Swamp
Day 4: Transfer to Mabira Forest Reserve and Do Birding Upon Arrival.
Day 5: Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park
Day 6: Birding in Lake Mburo National Park & afternoon boat ride on Lake Mburo
Day 7: Game viewing & birding along the Lakeside track and transfer back to Kampala
We’ll take breakfast at around 7.00 am and then go birding to the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) formerly known as the Zoo. UWEC is situated on the shore of Lake Victoria. UWEC was opened in 1952 by the Colonial Government as a reception center for wild were found sick, injured, orphaned, and those confiscated from illegal trade. In the early 1960s, its role was changed to a zoo. In May 1994 a proposal was made by the New York Zoological Society now the World Conservation Society, to turn it into a conservation education Center for conservation awareness purposes; thus the name, Uganda Wildlife Education Centre.
Bird species to look here for include the Peacock, Common ostrich, Grey-crowned cranes (Uganda’s national bird), African fish eagle, Palm-nut Vulture, African grey parrot, Pink-backed Pelicans, White-chinned Prinia, Olive-bellied Sunbird, Northern Crombec, Little grey Greenbul, Grey Woodpecker, Northern Puffback, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Double-toothed Barbet, Speckled Tinkerbird, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird and Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Eastern grey plantain-Eater, Orange weaver, Black-headed Weaver, Grosbeak Weaver, Black-headed Gonolek, Long-tailed Cormorant, White-throated Greenbul, Woodland Kingfisher, Giant Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Stripped Kingfisher, Hammerkop, Egyptian goose, African Firefinch, Pied Crow and many more.
We will proceed to Entebbe Botanical Gardens for another birding experience. Along with a bounty of more common species, our first birds here could include Orange Weaver, Palm-nut vulture, African fish eagle, Gray Parrot, Ross’s Turaco, and Great blue turaco. We will have our lunch and relax as we move forward to the evening visit to the sewage lagoons.
The highlight of the day: – Birding in Uganda Wildlife Education Centre.
Accommodation:-
Luxury: – Serena Lake Victoria Resort/Protea Hotel Entebbe
Midrange: – 2 Friends Beach Hotel Entebbe/Lake Heights Hotel Entebbe/Boma Hotel Entebbe
Budget: – Acacia Boutique Hotel/Airport Guesthouse Entebbe
Meal Plan: – Lunch & Dinner
Drive Distance & time: – Approx. 4 km or 20-30 min
Activities & services of the day:-
Optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:-
We’ll start our day with breakfast at around 7.00 am in the hotel and then embark on a 10 minutes drive (approx.) to the Heritage trail. Here, will undertake a 4 hours of birding encounters looking for species like Brown Crowned Tchagra, Violet-backed Starlings, Short Toed Snake Eagle, Mustached Warbler, Black Cuckoo Shrike, Yellow bill, Brown Twinspot, Southern Banded Snake Eagle, Great sparrow hawk, and Red-Shouldered Cuckoo Shrike plus much more.
After, we drive to Lutembe Beach for lunch. After lunch, we board a boat in search of several fantastic birds of Lutembe Bay Wetland, which is a Ramsar Site (wetland of international importance). This site is notable for seasonal Palaearctic (26 species) migrants. These include an average of 1,048,602 White-winged black terns, a figure representing more than half of the global population.
There are over 108 species of waterbirds recorded at the site including the globally vulnerable Shoebill (occasional), Madagascar squacco heron, and the papyrus yellow warbler; the near-threatened Papyrus gonolek, Great snipe, African skimmer, and Pallid harrier, and 24 regionally threatened species such as the Northern brown-throated weaver, Great cormorant, Slender-billed gull and (as mentioned above) quite a lot of White-winged black terns. Relax for relaxation dinner and overnight.
The highlight of the day: – Birding in Lutembe Bay Swamp
Accommodation:-
Luxury: – Serena Lake Victoria Resort/Protea Hotel Entebbe
Midrange: – 2 Friends Beach Hotel Entebbe/Lake Heights Hotel Entebbe/Boma Hotel Entebbe
Budget: – Acacia Boutique Hotel/Airport Guesthouse Entebbe
Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Drive time: – Approx. 10 minutes
Activities & services of the day:-
Optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:-
This day of our 7 days short Uganda birding safari will commence with an early breakfast at around 6.00 am. We’ll then embark on the birding journey to the Mabamba swamp, a Ramsar site, and an Important Bird Area on the shore of Lake Victoria. The drive from Entebbe to Mabamba takes about one hour depending on the number of stops birding.
On reaching the swamp, we’ll undertake a canoe ride in search of the Shoebill one of the weirdest on Earth. This huge grey bird has one of the biggest bills of all the birds on planet earth. This huge, bulbous bill, which is straw-colored with erratic greyish markings, is 5 inches wide, about 10 inches long, and looks like a shoe (thus, the name). The beak is complete with a terrifyingly sharp hook, meant to capture lungfish, snakes, Nile monitor lizards, and baby crocodiles.
We’ll also see a variety of other special birds including Africa Pygmy goose, Lesser jacana, Gull-bellied tern, Blue-breasted bee-eater, Carruther’s cisticola, Papyrus gonolek, White-winged Warbler, Blue swallow, Pallid harrier, Swamp flycatcher, Palm-nut vulture, Carruther’s cisticola, and Viellot’s, Grosbeak, Black-headed, Northern brown-throated, and Clarke’s weavers. We may have the opportunity to encounter the elusive swamp-dwelling Sitatunga Antelope.
Have a picnic lunch and continue birding the evening. Return to hotel for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.
The highlight of the day: – Canoe ride in Mabamba Swamp in search of the incredible Shoebill.
Accommodation:-
Luxury: – Serena Lake Victoria Resort/Protea Hotel Entebbe
Midrange: – 2 Friends Beach Hotel Entebbe/Lake Heights Hotel Entebbe/Boma Hotel Entebbe
Budget: – Acacia Boutique Hotel/Airport Guesthouse Entebbe
Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Drive Distance & time: – Approx. 40km or 1 hour
Activities & services of the day:-
After breakfast at around 6.00 at the hotel, we will head east to the Mabira Forest Reserve along Jinja road. We drive through the striking rural Uganda rural landscape with lush green cover, towns, and markets where you will see people going on with their daily life.
The huge and beautiful Mabira Forest covers 306km2 and is the most significant forest reserve closest to Kampala city. Mabira boats 315 bird species with 74 of the 144 species of the Guinea-Congo Forests biome that occur in Uganda. We will search for several rarities such as the pretty Tit Hylia which is known to exist in only two places in East Africa, the localized Forest wood-hoopoe, African pitta, Purple-throated cuckoo-shrike, Red-tailed leaflove, Weyn’s weaver, and Nahan’s francolin which is an IUCN Red list’ endangered species are regularly seen.
We’ll also look for Great blue Turaco, Africa Grey Parrot, Yellow and Grey Longbills, Purple-throated cuckoo shrikes, Illadopsises, Jameson’s wattle eyes, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, Black-shouldered Nightjar, Sabine’s Spinetail, Yellow-spotted Barbet, African Shrike-flycatcher, Forest Robin, Fire-crested Alethe and Black-and-white Casqued Hornbill,
We settle for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.
The highlight of the day: – An exciting birding nature in Mabira Forest Reserve in search of rare bird species such as Tit Hylia.
Accommodation:-
Upmarket/Luxury: – Mabira Rain Forest Lodge
Budget / Basic: – Griffin Falls Camp
Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Drive Distance & time: – Approx. 99.9km or 2½-3 hours
Activities & services of the day:-
Optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:-
We will have our breakfast at around 6.00 am and then transfer to Lake Mburo National park in southwest Uganda. It’s about a 5-6 hours drive from Mabira covering approximately 320km distance. On the way, we’ll make a brief stop at the equator at Kayabwe for impressive photo shoots and water experiments that justify the geographical divide between the north and southern hemispheres.
We will then continue to the park, and do birding to the entrance of Nshara gate. Lake Mburo Park is home to 350 bird species and we’ll look for Emerald Spotted Wood Dove, Bare-faced Go-Away Bird, Green Wood Hoopoe, Crested Francolin, Common Scimitarbill, Spot-Flanked Barbet, Northern Black Tit, Lilac-breasted Roller, Trilling Cisticola, Greater Blue Eared Starling, Common Scimitarbill, African Grey Hornbill and Brown Parrot.
We will take our lunch at the lodge and then embark on a late afternoon game drive along the Zebra Track which may expose you to species like Coqui Francolin, Black Bellied Bustard, Temmricks Courser, African Wattled Plover, Rufous napped Rufous, Chested Swallow, and Flappet Lark, etc. You will also see a variety of mammals including Zebras, Buffalos, Impalas, Waterbucks, and many others.
The highlight of the day: – The Uganda Equator experience and birding at Lake Mburo entrance
Accommodation:-
Luxury/Upmarket: – Mihingo Safari Lodge/Matana Tented Camp
Mid-range/Moderate: – Rwakobo Rock/Emburara Farm Lodge/Arcadia Lodge Mburo
Budget/Basic: – Eagles Nest Mburo
Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Drive Distance & time: – Approx. 320km or 5 – 6 hours
Activities & services of the day:-
Optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:-
We have our breakfast at around 7.00 am and embark on a 5-6 hours birding adventure in Lake Mburo National Park. This 370km2 park is a superb wetland and Acacia savanna sanctuary that is a famous spot for serious birders. Together with 13 other lakes in the area, Lake Mburo forms part of a 50km-long wetland system linked by a swamp. Five of these lakes lie within the park’s borders.
We will explore the park on foot following the respective trails in the company of an armed ranger to save us from attacks of wild animals. We’ll explore the Miriti and Warukiri swamps, the Rubanga forest, and the salt lick. The Red-faced barbet, Tabora cisticola, Green-capped eremomela, Golden-tailed woodpecker, Spot-flanked barbet, and Grey penduline tit are localized species in Uganda that only occur in Lake Mburo Park.
Other specials species to look for include Papyrus gonolek, White-winged Warbler, African water rail, Grey Crowned Cranes, White-backed night-heron, Yellow-throated leaflove, Coqui francolin, Black-bellied bustard, African wattled plover, Brown parrot, Red-headed lovebird, Barefaced go-away-bird, Blue-naped mousebird, Green wood-hoopoe, Common scimitarbill, Narina trogon, Nubian Woodpecker, Trilling cisticola, Northern black flycatcher, Yellow-throated longclaw, Southern red bishop, and Abyssinian ground-hornbill. You’ll also see several of the park’s 68 mammal species including Plains Zebra, Rothschild’s giraffe, Cape buffalo, Eland antelopes, Impala, Topi, Oribi, and Defassa waterbuck.
We retire from the activity for relaxation and lunch. In the afternoon, we transfer to Rwonyo jetty for a 2-hour boat ride on Lake Mburo. This stunning boat ride will expose you to counts of Kingfishers, African fish eagle, Hammerkops, and the endemic African finfoot. You will also have a chance to see hippos and crocodiles. Retreat from the activity for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.
The highlight of the day: – The morning birding nature walk in Lake Mburo National Park
Accommodation:-
Luxury/Upmarket: – Mihingo Safari Lodge/Matana Tented Camp
Mid-range/Moderate: – Rwakobo Rock/Emburara Farm Lodge/Arcadia Lodge Mburo
Budget/Basic: – Eagles Nest Mburo
Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activities & services of the day:-
Optional activities you can choose on this day include:-
After breakfast at around 7.00 am, we’ll undertake a morning game drive along the Lakeside Track. This involves approaching swamps around Lake Mburo in search of White Winged Warbler, Papyrus Gonolek, Papyrus Yellow Warbler, Lesser and Greater Swamp Warbler and also the elusive Shoebill, the Blue-headed Coucal.
We will continue to the lakeside campground, as we look out for the African Darter, African Water Rail, African Finfoot, Spur-winged plovers, and many others. We’ll return in the midmorning for simple relaxation and proceed for a boat trip on Lake Mburo in search of papyrus species, the African Fish eagle, Hippos, Crocodiles are the extras expected.
After this exciting activity, we’ll set off for Kampala making at the Equator for souvenir purchase,s and continue to arrive in Kampala in the evening.
The highlight of the day: – The morning game drive in Lake Mburo National Park
Meal Plan: – Breakfast & Lunch
Activities & services of the day:-
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