18 DAYS MULTI – HABITAT BIRDING

Day 1:
Arrival and transfer to Entebbe Botanical Resort Hotel or Sophie’s Motel, (Early arrivals will enjoy birding at Entebbe Botanical Gardens)

Here you will have good hours of birding on the best trails around Kampala, with over 150 species of birds! Look out for the Bare faced-go away bird, Great Blue and Ross’s Turacos, Red Chested, Klaas’s and Diederik’s Cuckoo, Great Reed Warbler, Fan Tailed Widow bird, Striped, Malachite, Giant, Woodland and Pygmy Kingfishers, Black Bishop, Grey Woodpecker, Olive, Olive bellied, Red chested, Olive etc Sunbirds, Northern Brown Throated, Black Headed, Slender Billed, Golden Backed and many other weavers and many more. A picnic Lunch in the gardens is worthy while, relax while birding and later in the afternoon return to your hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 2: Birding to Mabamba 
Early breakfast and transfer to Mabamba Swamp 50 kms west of Kampala. Bird enroute to the swamps lookout for papyrus specialties such as the Papyrus Gonolek, White winged warbler, Nothern brown Throated, Weyns, Orange, Black Headed weaver to mention but a few. Move to Mabamba swamps most of the birding here is done canoeing as we look out for the exceptional Shoebill Stork, African Water rail, Allen's & Purple Gallinule (swamp hen) Squacco, Goliath, Purple, Grey Herons, a variety of Egrets, ducks etc. There are also chances of encountering the elusive Sitatunga Antelope adapted to swampy habitats.

Day 3:
Depart for Murchison Falls National Park with a stopover for lunch at Masindi Hotel. On this route, birding is at different spots looking for specials like the Puvel’s illadopsis, red tailed ant thrush, Rufous sided broadbill, yellow and grey longbills. We check in at either at Red Chilli Camp or Paraa Safari Lodge for dinner

Day 4
Early morning birding with a picnic lunch. and afternoon/evening birding across the Nile to the top of the Murchison Falls. We stay at the same lodge. B/L/D. Key species include, Shoebill, Secretary bird, Bat Hawk, Red-necked Falcon, White-crested Turacco, Bruce's Pigeon, Pel's Fish-owl, Standard-winged, Pennant-winged and Long-tailed Nightjars, Stanley’s Bustard, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Rock Pratincole, and much more B/L/D

Day 5:
Early morning birding to the north of the river. We have lunch at the hotel then later go for the Launch cruise to the bottom of the falls. We stay at the same Lodge. B/L/D

Day 6:
With q picnic lunch, we bird to Budongo forest through the Escarpment overlooking Lake Albert which is wonderful. Specials include: Brown rumped bunting, Cliff chat, black billed wood dove, vinaceous dove, Fox’s cisticola, grey headed bush shrike, black billed barbet, grey headed oliveback, black bellied firefinch, madagascar heron, lesser masked weaver, , etc. We check in at Masindi Hotel. B/L/D
Day 7:
With a picnic lunch bird the Royal Mile for the whole day. Key species at Budongo Royal Mile include: Nahan's Francolin. Brown-backed Scrub-robin, Brown Twinsport, Black-bellied Firefinch, Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Barbet, Spotted and Slender-billed Greenbul, Black-capped Apalis and many other forest species. We stay at Masindi Hotel. B/L/D

Day 8:
Depart southwards to Kibale forest National Park with evening birding at Sebitoli section of the forest. This is home to Cabanis and joyful green bul, Green and brown twinspot, Uganda spotted wood pecker, papyrus canary, brown illadopsis, etc. We stay at Ataco Country Resort or Rwenzori View Guest House.

Day 9:
Today we will spend our full day at the Kibale NP with activities mainly being birding and Chimp tracking. After breakfast, we assemble at the chimp tracking briefing ground, where we will learn all the required procedures. It is not strenuous, but can sometimes take longer depending on our luck. Lunch will be organized according to the trend of the day's activities, either picnic lunch or a hot menu lunch.  
 Kibale Conservation Area holds a good list of both special primates and birds. These include Chimpanzee, Red Colobus Monkey, Grey-cheeked Mangabeys, Red-tailed Monkey and Galagos. The forest is also home to the Scaly Francolin, Marsh Tchagra, Black-bellied Seedcracker, Green-backed Twinspot, Bicoloured Mannikin, White-naped Pigeon, Afep Pigeon, Narina's Trogon, Joyful Greenbul, Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo, Black Bee-eater, Blue-headed Coucal, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Scaly-throated Honeyguide and Black-faced Rufous Warbler. Back to Ataco Country Resort or Rwenzori View Guest House, for diner and overnight stay.

Day 10:
Leave for Semliki Forest with A picnic lunch for a whole day birding. This forest is a moist semi-deciduous forest that is home to Spot-breasted Ibis, Northern Bearded Scrub-robin, Capuchin Babbler, Lyre-tailed Honeyguide, Yellow-throated Green Cuckoo, White-bellied Kingfisher, Maxwell's Black Weaver, Black-winged Oriole, Congo serpent eagle, Grey throated rail, and worthy noting is that this is home to some of the regional endemics and West African Species. B/L/D

Day 11 & 12: (Birding Queen Elizabeth National Park)
Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park, birding en route. Check in at Mweya Safari Lodge, an idyllic location set in its own grounds, where we stay for two nights. The famous boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel is among the most productive birding excursions on earth!

Early morning birding towards the famous Kasenyi Track, winding through grassland dotted with trees and nearby crater lakes. Our main aim is to locate Lions and other mammals including Hartebeest, Water buck, Buffalo, Uganda Kob, Oribi, Waterbuck, Bushbuck and family groups of African Elephants. Along the road we may find Scaly Francolin, Red-necked Spurfowl, several lapwings, Goliath Heron. Raptors include Martial Eagle, Banded Snake Eagles and Bateleur. In the afternoon we embark on a boat trip down the Kazinga Channel which is an incredible area for waterbirds i.e. Pink-backed Pelican, Malachite Kingfisher, Saddle-billed Stork, African Spoonbill, Yellow-billed Stork, Water Thick-knee, African Skimmer and over-summering Palearctic shorebirds. In the evening before dinner we may have an optional night drive with in the peninsular searching for Gabon and Slender-tailed Nightjars, Thicknees and owls. B/L/D

Day 13:
With a packed lunch we transfer southwest birding to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. We bird through the seasonal Ishasha road – an area known for climbing lions. We check in at Lake Kitandara where we shall have our dinner

Day 14:
With a picnic lunch join the forest for whole day birding. Walking along forest trails is a wonderful natural experience with hundreds of colourful butterflies and areas of streams and tumbling waterfalls. Bwindi is the Bird watchers paradise! It holds 348 species of birds and Contains 90% of all Albertine rift Endemic such as; the Short-tailed, Rusty-faced woodland and Grauer's Rush Warblers, Bar-tailed Trogon, Wilcock's Honey-guide, Yellow-eyed black Fly-catcher, Kivu Ground Thrush, Dusky Crimson Wing, White-tailed Blue Monarch among others, difficult or impossible to see in any other part of East Africa. An experienced bird watcher can identify up to 100 species in a day.  Stay at. B/L/D.

Day 15:
Whole day Gorilla tracking, it depends on the movements of the Gorillas in search for food. Walking varies from 20 minutes to a whole day. The exercise requires enough energy to go up and down the mountains including steep slopes. The activity is very captivating; it involves walking in the wilderness in search of these great apes. It can be a challenging activity; therefore physical fitness must be ensured. B/L/D

Day 16:
We transfer to Mbarara birding enroute, where we shall be viewing the Handsome Francolin on the always foraging, we should expect many other species reaching in Mbarara in the late afternoon or early evening and we check in at Arch Hotel or Agip Motel for diner and over night stay.

Day 17:
After breakfast, we drive to Lake Mburo National Park. A game drive to the park headquarters will be rewarding since it might enable us to see the zebras grazing alongside the Ankole long Horned Cattle, topis, elephants, elands, impalas, buffaloes etc. After the game drive, shall proceed to Kampala where we shall enjoy our lunch at he equator, we shall have another stop over at the Mpambire drum making centre then continue to Kampala where we shall check in at Sheraton or Africana Hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 18
Departure