Birding, Gorillas and Wildlife of Uganda - 14 Days VSU 991

Day 1. Entebbe
On arrival at Entebbe airport, your guide from Travel Hemispheres will warmly welcome you and later be transferred to Hotel International Muyenga or Holiday Express in Kampala city for the over night.

Day 2. Mabamba Swamp
After early breakfast you will set off on the southward road to Mabamba Wetland. This is the nearest site for the Shoebill, Lesser Jacana, Blue Swallow, Black-Shouldered Nightjar, Afep Pigeon, Blue Breasted Bee-Eater, Papyrus Gonolek, White Winged Warbler. Spend the whole day birding in this wetland and the surrounding areas, have a picnic lunch there returning to Kampala in the evening and over night at Hotel International in Muyenga or Holiday Inn or Masaka Town

Day 3. Kampala - Lake Mburo
After breakfast depart Kampala for Lake Mburo National Park, having a stop- over to look at the Royal Drum makers where a century technology has been passed from generation to generation, cross the Equator and be in both hemispheres at once. Arrive in the Park in the afternoon. Lake Mburo National Park is occupied by savannah grassland punctuated with many lakes surrounded by swamps. This one place you can view Eland, Antelope, as well as Zebra, Topi, Impala, and several Acacia –associated birds. The five lakes within the park attract Hippos, Crocodiles and a variety of water birds, while fringing swamps hide secretive papyrus specialists such as the Sitatunga Antelope and Red, Black and Yellow Papyrus Gonalek. Have an evening game drive and over night at Rwonyo Camp .

Day 4. Lake Mburo National Park
Wake up early to catch up with early risers for bird watching while on a game drive & get a chance to see species like the Brown Chested Plover, Red Faced Barbet, Southern Ground Hornbill, Papyrus Yellow Warbler, Yellow Billed Oxpecker, African Finfoot, Black Collard Barbet etc. You will carry out an afternoon boat ride on lake Mburo and later another evening walk and overnight at Rwonyo Lake Mburo camp.

Day 5. Lake Mburo National Park - Bwindi
After breakfast, have a game drive while leaving the park and continue through the terraced hills of Kigezi birding en route to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park best known for Gorillas. Have lunch stop at lake Bunyonyi and you will be at arriving at Bwindi in the evening (Ruhija sector) Overnight at the Guest House .

This is a Montane Forest with patches of bamboo, Montane Marshes and Medium altitude forests. The most common species include Rufous-chested sparrowhawk, Black Goshwak, Mountain Buzzard, Ayre’s Hawk-Eagle, Scaly Francolin, African Pigeon, Lemon Dove Brown-necked Parrot, Black-billed and Great Blue Turacos, Black Dusky Long-tailed, Barred Long-tailed and African Emerrald Cuckoos, Fraser’s Eagle Owl, Horus Swift, Narina and Bar-tailed Trogons, Blue breasted Kingfisher, Black and cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters,Blue throated Roller, White-headed Wood hoopoe, Black and White-casqued and white-thighedHornbills, Grey-throated Honey-guide, Tullberg’s, Elliot’sand Olive Woodpeckers,Crested flycatchers, etc.

The most important bird area in Bwindi is around Ruhija and the lowland forest around Buhoma. Most of the Albertine Rift endemics occur around Ruhija Rutenga and Mubwindi swamp. Overnight at Ruhiija Guest House .

Day 6. Bwindi National Park
Whole day bird watching in Bwindi Forest, go to Mubwindi Swamp and later transfer to Buhoma birding en route, then overnight at Community Bandas or camp site.

Day 7. Bwindi –Gorilla Tracking (optional)
This day you will go for gorilla tracking taking different trials in the park. These gentle giants move in families . You will track either family as your permits states. You will enjoy our next of kin at close view while the young ones play in the branches of trees. This morning you will report at the Park Office at 7:00 am to get ready for the Gorilla tracking. Take with you lunch boxes and all the necessary gear to track the rare Mountain Gorilla, perhaps one of the most exciting wildlife experience. There are now only 600 left in the world! The tracking may take between 2 hours to a whole day depending on the movement of these gentle giants. Park Guides will interpret the flora and fauna and the lifestyle of the Gorillas. If you will not track gorillas relax at the Camp or take a forest nature walk that will lead you to the Muyenga Waterfalls and a chance to see Primates such as the Gray Cheeked Mangabey Blue monkeys and others species or visit the community walk get acquitted with the people that stay at the fringes of Bwindi forest. Spend the night at Community Bandas or camp Lodge.

Day 8. Bwindi – Queen Elizabeth National Park
This morning you will depart for birding in Ishasha sector (this part depends on the state of the road because of being seasonal) the southern part of Queen Elizabeth and carry out a game drive your chance may yield climbing lions as you transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park home of a total of 600 different bird species. There are also good chances of seeing Elephants and Hippos here.

Habitat: Lowland Forest, moist thickets open woodland and grassland Savannah, permanent and seasonal swamps, lakes and rivers.
Key species: African Skimmer, Black Rumped Button Quail, Verreaux's Eagle Owl, Red Footed Falcon, Lesser Flamingoes, Gray Capped Warbler, White's and Abdim's Storks (in season), Amur Falcon, Ovampo Sparrowhawk, Wooly-necked and Saddle-billed Storks, and numerous classes of Raptors, Vultures and Plovers etc Birding in the evening and over night at Mweya Safari Lodge or the Institute of Ecology. (BLD)

Day 9. Queen Elizabeth Park
Whole day in the Queen Elizabeth National Park bird watching while on a game drive both in the morning and in the afternoon while on boat cruise. Return to the lodge for lunches and overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge or Institute of Ecology.

Its little wonder that Queen Elizabeth boasts one of the highest bio diversity ratings of any game park or reserve in the world, and has been designated by UNESCO as one of the worlds highest Biosphere area. This park discerns open Savannah to Rain Forest, dense Papyrus Swamps and brooding crater lakes to the vastness of Lake Edward. There are almost 100 mammal species that include Lions, Hippos, Buffaloes, Leopard, Spotted Hyena, Elephants and the elusive Giant Forest Hog in this park. The Primates include Chimps, Black and White Colobus Monkeys, Blue, Black faced Red Colobus, and Red tailed monkeys and Olive Baboons.

Reptiles are the amazing huge rock-Python, Puffadders, Spitting Cobras, Gabon Rippers, Green Mambas, Turtles etc. All these are regularly sighted around the tourist village on the Mweya Peninsula and all this makes a superb safari territory. Over night at Mweya Safari Lodge or the Institute of Ecology.

Day 10. Queen Elizabeth National Park
A trip along the channel on this day will give you wildlife yield of Hippos huff and spray mere feet away from the boat, Buffalo linger in the shallows, and a tremendous variety of birds grace the grasses on the channel’s edge. These may include the Great White and Pink-backed Pelicans, Great and Long-tailed Cormorants, Open-billed Stork, African Jacana, Malachite and Pied Kingfishers. There is also a Bird Observatory here, which was set up with the aim of studying both migratory and resident birds. Since its inception in 1997 more new species have been identified, including Uganda's first record of the Bar-tailed Godwit. Have a game drive and over night at Mweya Safari Lodge or the Institute of Ecology .

Day 11. Queen Elizabeth National Park – Kibale National Park
After breakfast, you will transfer to Kibale Forest National Park; bird watching en route arriving in the evening and over night at Rwenzori View Guesthouse or Crater Valley Kilbale (CVK). Kibale Forest has a total of 335 bird species and has tall evergreen forest with terrace canopies, with grassland, and vast swamps that harbor different aviary species. The main key species here are; White Collard Olive back, Leaf Love, African Broadbill, Willcock's Honeyguide, Green Breasted Pitta, African Pitta, Gray Winged Robin, Red Winged Francolin, Joyful Greenbul, White Bellied Crested Flycatcher, Uganda Woodland Warbler, Abyssinian Ground Thrush, Red Chested Fluftail, Gray Winged Robin, White Napped Pigeon, Chestnut Winged Starling etc.

Day 12. Kibale Forest
Early morning wake up and get a chance to see other species like the Grey-Throated Flycatcher, Masked and Black-Capped Apalis', Chestnut-Winged Starling, Orange -Tufted & Tiny Sunbirds and a good infrastructure & variety of interesting activities which makes this a worthwhile destination. There are network of forest trails that run out from the visitor centre, allowing you to search for a number of species that shun the vicinity of the main road. Birding in the Forest interior can be frustrating, how ever, as many species are very shy and difficult to see in the under growth. Or you will carry out a chimp tracking in the forest.

You will visit Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, a superb community development fringing the Park. We will be able to see the fruiting trees, which attract Narina Trogon, Pied Hornbill, Yellow Spotted, Hairy Breasted and Yellow-billed Barbets, back to the Ndali Lodge or Crater Valley Kibale Lodge(CVK) or Toro Resort in the evening for the overnight stay.

Day 13. Kibale Forest – Kampala
After breakfast drive to Kampala via Mubende. Birding will be carried out en-route as roads tears through forests and swamps. Arrive Kampala in the evening and check in at Hotel International or Serena Hotel.

Day 14. Airport Transfer
If time allows you can carry out shopping and be conducted on city tour before transfer to the airport for departure.

Accommodation:
Accommodation available can be grouped as Upmarket, Medium class and Low budget accommodation facilities. We have used medium and low cost Budget facilities. Upmarket WILL be provided on request. However in few cases, upmarket facilities have been included in medium packages and where medium facilities are not available we have used low cost.

Please note the safari cost include:

• Meals and accommodation
• Full time experienced birding safari guides with all their associated expenses,
• Park entry fees, game drives, boat/ launch trips, forest guiding walks, all activities while on safari and all the applicable Government Taxes.
• 4x4 wheel drive vehicle with gas and driver/guide
• One Chimp permit per person - Kibale
  
  Excluded are:

• Gorilla tracking is optional in birding safaris, to track you will add gorilla permit fee $360 per person to top up on total cost by each client that will be viewing gorillas
• Drinks, bar bills, phone calls, personal insurance and any other services of a personal nature like laundry etc.
  
  (Gorilla tracking is optional in birding safaris, to track you will add gorilla permit fee $360 per person to top on total cost by clients that will be viewing gorillas)