Day One: Arrival in Uganda
Upon your arrival at Entebbe Airport, you will be met by your driver-guide and transported to your first accommodation. Here, you can relax from the long flight and adjust a little bit to Uganda, its climate, and its people. If you have enough time, you should visit Lake Victoria and have a look at the back-and-forth ferry at the harbor. For newcomers to Africa, it is fascinating to see how such a harbor functions.
Your program today includes:
* Pickup at Entebbe Airport and transfer to your accommodation
* A night’s stay in Entebbe
Day Two: Birding around Mabamba & the Botanical Garden
We will drive first thing to our boat station at Lake Victoria. In the dense papyrus swamp today, we want to find a bird that looks like a pelican, a flamingo, and a goose mixed into one unique creature – the shoebill!
In small boats, you will drive for about an hour to an untouched edge of the lake. In the past, shoebills were almost extinct. They were considered to bring bad luck, and whenever a shoebill was seen, the curious bird was killed. Since people can earn money by observing them, this view has changed and the number of these birds are increasing from year to year. With a little luck, you will observe one of the more relaxed birds, pursuing his exciting hunting behavior without disturbing him.
Larter, we will drive to the Botanical Garden of Entebbe. Here, the very old Tarzan movies were filmed, and it’s where we have our first contacts with hornbills, turacos, and grey parrots, as well as a variety of monkeys. The Botanical Garden is slated to become a building site, but we are advocating for its preservation; tourism helps to support our efforts.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
* Botanical Gardens and Shoebill search
*A night’s stay in Entebbe
Day Three: Birding in Mabira Central Forest Reserve
Today will find us in Jinja, the home of the source of the Nile River. There, we will visit Mabira Central Forest Reserve, one of Uganda’s largest remaining natural forests. Ecotourism, including birdwatching, is popular here, as it is incredibly biodiverse, with bird species alone clocking in at 315.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
* Birding in Mabira Forest
* A night’s stay in Jinja
Day Four: Boat trip to look for water birds
The source of the Nile River happens to be the largest tropical lake in the world, Lake Victoria, so it should come as no surprise that with all these wonderful habitat choices come an array of water birds in Jinja. Today, we will board a boat and spot as many as we can. These could possibly include Great Blue Turaco, Giant Kingfisher, African Open-billed Stork, and a variety of herons and egrets. After that, we will drive to our destination for tomorrow, the village of Sipi, where we will spend the night.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
* Boat ride on the river
* Transfer to Sipi
* A night’s stay in Sipi
Day Five: Morning & afternoon birding around the lodge
Your accommodation while in Sipi is located near Kapkwai Forest, which is part of Mount Elgon National Park, so we won’t have to travel far to take in the sights for the day. Kapkwai is home to a long list of bird species, including Alpine chat, grey cuckoo-shrike, Black-throated wattle eye, Lemon Dove, and Dusky-Turtle. The birds are found throughout the primary and secondary forests, as well as the bamboo zones, so we will use both the morning and afternoon to spot as many as we can.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
* Birding around the lodge
* A night’s stay in Sipi
Day Six: En route birding – Sipi to Moroto Road
Today, we will hit the road and take in the sights along the way as we drive from Sipi to Moroto via the Pian Upe Game Reserve. The journey is 6 hours in total, and the first leg to Pian Upe Game Reserve is about 4 hours. Pian Upe is the second largest conservation area in the country and is home to birds such as ostrich, Jackson’s hornbill, white headed buffalo weaver, and Hartlaub’s bustard. As we continue toward Moroto, the terrain gets more rocky and the species you encounter start to shift. This will be the site of our birding adventure tomorrow.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
* Transfers to Pian Upe and Moroto
* A night’s stay in Moroto
Day Seven: Birding around Moroto
Today, we will have the chance to take in all Moroto has to offer. Moroto is situated in the shadow of the 10,000-foot Mount Moroto and is surrounded by savannah plains, so the variety of bird species that call this place home is expansive. Possible birds to be spotted here include Violet-backed Starling, Foxy Cisticola, African Black-headed oriole, Northern White-faced owl, and a wide array of sunbird.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
* Birding in Moroto
* A night’s stay in Moroto
Day Eight: Birding in Kotido and transfer to Kabongo
Today, we will hit the road, first heading to Kotido. Approximately 107 kilometers northwest of Moroto, Kotido is known for its diverse birdlife, including Spur-winged Goose, Bruce’s Green-pigeon, and the Eastern Plantain-eater. After some birding there, we will continue on our way down Kabongo Road, which will lead us to Kabongo District—the home of Kidepo Valley National Park and the site of our evening’s accommodation.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
* Birding in Kotido
* Transfer to Kabongo
* A night’s stay in Kidepo Valley National Park
Day Nine: Birding throughout the day & game drive in Kidepo Valley National Park
Kidepo Valley National Park is widely held as one of Africa’s most breathtaking wilderness areas, and so today, to add to our birding experience, we will go for a game drive through the park. The park is home to more than 77 mammal species and an impressive 476 bird species, so it’s sure to be a memorable time full of various sightings.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
* Game drive and birding in Kidepo Valley National Park
* A night’s stay in Kidepo Valley National Park
Day Ten: Birding as we travel to Murchison Falls National Park via Gulu
Today, we will travel from Kidepo Valley National Park to Gulu, a town in northern Uganda. This is a 3–4-hour drive, during which you will take in local sites like manyattas (small, grass-thatched houses) and the rolling hills that separate the lands of the Acholi and the Karamojong. While in Gulu, you stand a chance of spotting birds like the Rock Pigeon, Red-eyed Dove, and Marabou Stork. We will then continue our day’s long travels to the largest national park in Uganda, Murchison Falls National Park, where we will spend the night tonight.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
* Birding in Gulu
* Transfer to Murchison Falls National Park
* A night’s stay in Murchison Falls National Park
Day Eleven: Game drive and birding all day in Murchison Falls National Park
Murchison Falls National Park is comprised of a variety of habitats that our fine feathered friends call home, including woodlands, savannah grasslands, and forests, so you should easily spot many of the approximately 451 recorded species in MFNP. You will have the whole day in which to do so, so you can expect to enjoy the likes of the Abyssinian ground hornbill, Goliath heron, Senegal thick-knee, and Black-headed lapwing.
You will also go for a game drive to take in even more of what Murchison has to offer. The game drive lasts about three to four hours, depending on the sightings. With a little luck, you will see animals like giraffes, antelopes, and even lions and elephants. The park is the largest protected area in Uganda with the highest concentration of wildlife and is home to a large variety of vegetation as well.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
* Birding and game drive in Murchison Falls National Park
* A night’s stay in Murchison Falls National Park
Day Twelve: Morning drive, mid-morning boat trip, & transfer to the night’s accommodation
You will start the day with another drive-through safari in Murchison Falls National Park. This means that you will drive through the national park and if you see something by chance, you will of course stop. Again, you have the chance to see lions, leopards, buffalos, and more. With each safari you will become a more and more practiced observer, so you will notice that you already see many more animals than at the beginning of the trip.
Murchison Falls National Park still holds many surprises and spectacular wildlife sightings in store for you, so you continue with a leisurely boat trip to the Murchison Falls and marvel at the huge herds of buffalo and elephants on the shore. While you’re on the water, you of course stand a better chance of taking in some of the water birds found in MFNP as well, such as the African Darter, various Kingfishers, and a variety of herons and egrets.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
* Drive and boat trip in Murchison Falls National Park
* A night’s stay in Masindi
Day Thirteen: Chimpanzee trekking & birding along the Budongo Forest Royal Mile
Today, you will need to unpack your sturdy footwear as we head into the jungle. After a briefing by an experienced ranger, the chimpanzee trekking starts. Since the chimpanzees move freely in the jungles of Uganda, there are no fixed paths to them, so you will have to go through the undergrowth. The ranger goes with his machete and shows us how and where you should walk along. Depending on how far these Great Apes are from the starting point, our trekking is sometimes longer and sometimes shorter, but when they are finally in front of us, all the strains and efforts are forgotten. Chimpanzees are the apes that are genetically most similar to us humans, so their facial expressions and gestures will seem strangely familiar. Often, the older chimpanzees just lie comfortably on the ground, while the younger ones swing playfully through the treetops – a truly incredible experience.
Later, we will do some birding along the Budongo Forest Royal Mile, which is a mile-long stretch in the Budongo Forest Reserve known for its birdwatching opportunities, as well as its historical significance. Some birds you stand a chance of spotting here include the African Crowned Eagle, Nahan’s Francolin, White-spotted Fluff tail, and Sabine’s Spine tail.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
* Chimpanzee trekking
* Birding along the Budongo Forest Royal Mile
* A night’s stay in Masindi
Day 14: Rhino trekking & transfer to Entebbe Airport
On foot, you go together with trained guides on the search for the grey pachyderms, which are to be reintroduced into the wild in Uganda. The white rhinos are guarded around the clock by rangers to protect them from poachers, so they know approximately where the animals are. Nevertheless, it is exciting every time the giant creatures suddenly stand in front of you. Due to the poor eyesight of the rhinos, with a little luck you can get quite close to them and observe them wonderfully.
After this last adventure, we will transport you to Entebbe Airport for your return flight. We will bid you a fond farewell as you make your way home to sort through all the wonderful memories of birding your way through the Pearl of Africa.
Your program today includes:
* Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
* Rhino trekking
* Transfer to Entebbe Airport
Included services:
- Travel in four-wheel drive jeep with safari roof for the duration of the trip
- Qualified, English-speaking tour guide
- Accommodation (as described)
- Activities, national park fees, and entrance fees as per detailed program (including chimpanzee permit at $250)
- Meals as per detailed program
- Transportation to and from Entebbe Airport (Uganda)
- On-site support by TTN Safaris East Africa Ltd Agency
Services not included:
- Intercontinental flights
- Additional services flights: Rail & Fly ticket, seat, special meals, etc.
- Visa for Uganda
- Optional excursions and entrance fees
- Travel insurance
- Unforeseen increases in public fees e.g. for national park entrance
- Possibly required antigen or PCR tests (our tour guide will of course be happy to help you with organizing this)
- Personal expenses, tips for guides, souvenirs, etc.
Other
Changes that do not affect the character of the trip are not foreseen, but we reserve the right to make them as needed. Please keep in mind that you are traveling in East Africa, so you should take the detailed program as a suggestion, but not as a checklist of what must happen every day. The program can be rearranged, but the character of the trip will remain the same. If the trip is rearranged, it will be for the sake of preserving the high quality of the trip.
