Terrain Safaris, Uganda – East Africa

Quick Facts

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1 — Arrival in Entebbe

• Arrival at Entebbe International Airport; met by guide/driver, brief tour orientation
• Transfer to hotel, lunch
• Optional afternoon birding at Entebbe Botanical Gardens (subject to flight timing)
• Accommodation: 2 Friends Beach Hotel, Entebbe

Day 2 — Transfer to Semuliki National Park

• Scenic drive to Semuliki with birding stopovers en route; lunch on the road
• Afternoon check-in and birding along the park boundary road
• Target species: Orange-cheeked Waxbill, Magpie Mannikin, Grant’s Bluebill, Black-bellied Seed-eater, African Dusky/Grey-throated/Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher, Dusky Tit, Capuchin Babbler, Yellow-bellied & Jameson’s Wattle-eye, Ituri Batis, White-browed Crombec, Abyssinian & Oberlaender’s Ground Thrush, Swamp Palm Bulbul, Leaf-love
• Accommodation: Bumaga Camp, Semuliki National Park

Day 3 — Full-Day Birding: Kirumya Trail, Semuliki NP

• Full day along the Kirumya Trail — the eastern limit of several Guinea-Congo biome species (rubber boots recommended in wet season)
• Target species:
  • Hornbills: Red-billed Dwarf, Black-casqued Wattled, Black Dwarf, Piping, White-thighed, White-crested
  • Kingfishers: Shining-blue, White-bellied, Chocolate-backed, African Dwarf, African Pygmy
  • Forest specials: African Piculet, Forest Robin, Zenker’s Honeyguide, Black-throated Coucal, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, Nkulengu Rail, Rufous-sided Broadbill
  • Cuckoos & pigeons: African Emerald, Dusky/Barred Long-tailed, Yellow-throated & African Cuckoo, White-naped & Western Bronze-naped Pigeon
  • Game birds & raptors: Nahan’s & Forest Francolin, Long-tailed Hawk, Chestnut-flanked Goshawk, Rufous-breasted & Red-thighed Sparrowhawk, Hartlaub’s Duck
  • Songbirds: Brown-chested & Fire-crested Alethe, Woodhouse’s Antpecker, Red-bellied & Blue-billed Malimbe, Forest Scrub-Robin, Green-tailed Bristlebill, Pale-fronted & Chestnut-breasted Negrofinch, Black-winged Oriole, Spot-breasted & African Green Ibis
• Accommodation: Bumaga Camp, Semuliki National Park

Day 4 — Birding the Sebitoli Sector, Kibale National Park

• Early start, packed lunch, drive/bird toward Sebitoli (Kibale’s premier birding sector)
• Target species: Cabanis’s, Joyful, Toro Olive, Cameroon Sombre, White-throated & Yellow-whiskered Greenbul; Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo; Black-faced Rufous Warbler; Superb, Little Green, Grey-headed, Green-throated, Blue-throated & Tiny Sunbird; African Black Duck; Green Twinspot; Brown & Scaly-breasted Illadopsis; Blue-shouldered & Red-capped Robin-chat; Dark-backed Weaver; Velvet-mantled Drongo; Bocage’s Bush-shrike; Pink-footed Puffback; Lühder’s Bush-shrike; possible Green-breasted Pitta and African Pitta
• Continue to the Rwenzori foothills
• Accommodation: Ruboni Community Camp, Rwenzori Foothills

Day 5 — Full-Day Birding: Rwenzori Mountains National Park

• Full day (packed lunch) in this UNESCO World Heritage montane park
• Target species: Purple-breasted Sunbird; Abyssinian, Red-faced, Shelley’s & Dusky Crimsonwing; Green-backed & Dusky Twinspot; White-collared Oliveback; Yellow-bellied Waxbill; Woodhouse’s Antpecker; Stripe-breasted Tit; Forest Flycatcher; Grey Apalis; Mountain Buzzard; Ayres’s & Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle; Olive-green & Yellow-browed Camaroptera
• Accommodation: Ruboni Community Camp, Rwenzori Foothills

Day 6 — Transfer to Bwindi via Ishasha (Queen Elizabeth NP)

• Drive via Ishasha sector, known for tree-climbing lions
• Afternoon birding on the Munyaga Trail on arrival in Bwindi
• Target species: Sulphur-breasted & Lagden’s Bush-shrike; White-headed Barbet; Yellow-fronted Canary; Yellow-bellied Waxbill; African Golden Oriole; Petit’s & Grey Cuckoo-shrike; Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle; Red-chested Owlet; Cinnamon-chested & Black Bee-eater; Western Bronze-naped Pigeon; Tullberg’s & Elliot’s Woodpecker; African & African Green Broadbill; Olive Thrush; White-tailed Ant-Thrush; Grauer’s Rush Warbler; Short-tailed & Neumann’s Warbler; Red-faced Woodland Warbler; Western Green Tinkerbird; Archer’s Ground Robin; Toro Olive & Ansorge’s Greenbul; Equatorial Akalat; White-bellied Robin-Chat
• Accommodation: Buhoma Gorilla Friends Camp, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Day 7 — Full-Day Birding: Waterfall Trail, Buhoma Sector (Bwindi)

• Bwindi holds 23+ Albertine Rift endemics and 350+ recorded species
• Target species:
  • Endemics: Black-faced Rufous Warbler, Grauer’s Warbler, Neumann’s Warbler, Red-throated Alethe, Rwenzori Batis, Rwenzori Double-collared Sunbird
  • Apalis/Warblers: Black-faced, Black-throated & Mountain Masked Apalis; Banded Prinia
  • Sunbirds: Blue-throated Brown, Northern Double-collared, Regal, Blue-headed
  • Illadopsis/Babblers: Pale-breasted & Mountain Illadopsis, African Hill Babbler
  • Tits/Puffbacks: Dusky Tit, Stripe-breasted Tit, Pink-footed & Northern Puffback
  • Shrikes/Boubous: Mackinnon’s Fiscal, Albertine Sooty Boubou, Willard’s Sooty Boubou, Many-colored, Doherty’s, Grey-headed & Bocage’s Bush-shrike
  • Weavers/Starlings: Brown-capped, Black-billed & Strange Weaver; Stuhlmann’s, Narrow-tailed & Waller’s Starling
  • Flycatchers/Chats: White-bellied Crested Flycatcher, Chapin’s Flycatcher, Dusky-blue Flycatcher, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher, Ashy Flycatcher, White-bellied Robin-chat, Equatorial Akalat
• Accommodation: Buhoma Gorilla Friends Camp, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Day 8 — Mountain Gorilla Trekking (Bwindi)

• Early breakfast, registration and briefing with Uganda Wildlife Authority
• Trek duration 3–8 hours depending on gorilla family location; one hour with the gorillas once found
• Sector assigned based on permit availability (Bwindi has four trekking sectors; Buhoma is HQ)
• Accommodation: Buhoma Gorilla Friends Camp, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Day 9 — Birding Transfer to Ruhija Sector (Bwindi)

• Transfer through “The Neck” — a rich corridor for endemics and forest specialists
• Target species: Mountain Wagtail; Cassin’s Grey Flycatcher; African Black Duck; Red-tailed, Shelley’s, Yellow-streaked, Mountain & Honeyguide Greenbul; Grey-throated Barbet; Fine-banded Woodpecker; Common, Mountain & Augur Buzzard; Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle; Bar-tailed & Narina Trogon; Black-billed Turaco; Black & Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater; Many-colored, Doherty’s & Grey-headed Bush-shrike; Tree Pipit; Chin-spot Batis; Dwarf Honeyguide; Western Bronze-naped Pigeon; Grey Apalis; Red-throated Alethe; African Shrike-flycatcher; Oriole Finch; Red-headed Malimbe; Dusky Twinspot
• Accommodation: Trekkers’ Tavern Cottages, Ruhija, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Day 10 — Full-Day Birding: Mubwindi Swamp Trail (Ruhija Sector)

• 4 km trail descending from 2,350m to 2,050m, ending at the swamp — one of the Albertine Rift’s premier birding sites
• Target species: Grauer’s Warbler, Grauer’s Broadbill, Grauer’s Rush Warbler, Grauer’s Scrub Warbler; Regal, Blue-headed & Purple-breasted Sunbird; Archer’s Robin-chat; Stripe-breasted Tit; Rwenzori Apalis; African/Rwenzori Hill Babbler; Handsome Francolin; African Black & Scarce Swift; Dwarf Honeyguide; Lühder’s Bush-shrike; Fraser’s Eagle-Owl; White-headed Woodhoopoe; Carruthers’ Cisticola; Eastern Mountain Greenbul; Strange Weaver; Black-headed Waxbill; Bar-tailed Trogon; Stuhlmann’s & Waller’s Starling; Montane Nightjar
• Accommodation: Trekkers’ Tavern Cottages, Ruhija, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Day 11 — Birding Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park

• Drive through the terraced hills of Kabale and the Mbarara landscape; lunch in Mbarara
• Enter Lake Mburo in the late afternoon; mini game drive/birding en route
• Accommodation: Rwakobo Rock, Lake Mburo National Park

Day 12 — Birding & Boat Cruise, Lake Mburo National Park

• Morning game drive and birding across acacia woodland, savannah, wetland and rocky outcrop habitats
• Afternoon boat cruise on Lake Mburo for aquatic and shoreline species
• Target species: Red-faced Barbet, Crested Barbet, Red-headed Weaver, Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove, Scaly-throated Honeyguide, Lilac-breasted Roller, Long-tailed Cisticola; Short-toed & Brown Snake-Eagle; Black-crowned & White-backed Night-Heron; African Finfoot (highlight), Papyrus Gonolek, Brown-chested Lapwing; Coqui Francolin
• Accommodation: Rwakobo Rock, Lake Mburo National Park

Day 13 — Nature Walk & Departure

• Early morning nature walk/birding along the Lake Mburo shoreline
• Possible mammal sightings: Zebra, Impala, Klipspringer, Buffalo, Topi, Warthog, Reedbuck, occasionally Leopard
• Breakfast, check-out, transfer to Entebbe International Airport for departure flight

Tour Highlights

• Birding across Uganda’s top avifaunal regions: Semuliki, Kibale, Rwenzori Mountains, Bwindi, and Lake Mburo
• Exceptional Albertine Rift Endemics, including Grauer’s Broadbill, Regal Sunbird, and Rwenzori Apalis
• Once-in-a-lifetime Mountain Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
• Diverse habitats: lowland rainforest, montane forest, wetlands, acacia woodland, savannah
• Boat cruise on Lake Mburo for aquatic and shoreline birds
• Game viewing: tree-climbing lions, zebra, topi, buffalo
• Comfortable eco-lodges and community camps throughout

Target Bird Families & Specialties: Hornbills, Kingfishers, Greenbuls, Broadbills, Apalises, Sunbirds, Flycatchers, Cuckoos, Francolins Notable Rarities: African Finfoot, Papyrus Gonolek, Nkulengu Rail, Shelley’s Crimsonwing, Forest Scrub-Robin

Accommodation Summary

What’s Included / Not Included

Included:

• Transport
• Private guide
• Accommodation
• All meals
• Selected drinks
• Entrance fees
• Park fees
• Gorilla trekking permits

Not Included:

• International flights
• Uganda visa costs
• Medical & travel insurance
• Additional drinks beyond those specified
• Gratuities
• Laundry
• Personal expenses
• Other/optional activities

Tour operated by Terrain Safaris, Uganda – East Africa.