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Tour At-A-Glance;
Length: 11 days
Best time of year:All year round.
Key Sites:Buhoma, Ruhiija, Nkuringo and Bishaaga.
Targets:Mountain Gorillas.
Overview
This Safari is specifically designed for birders who are interested in tracking mountain gorillas in Uganda plus exploring endemic bird species of the Albertine Rift and Highland areas. Trekking up the hillside to view a family of gorillas nestled in casual, frolicking play is a fascinating, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Considerations:
Many of the high-altitude areas we'll visit on this trip will be chilly (10-18 degrees C, 50-65 degrees F). The terrain is rugged and walkways can be very slippery. We advise our clients to carry warm layered clothing, rain gear and hiking shoes (jungle boots) to negotiate the slippery surfaces.
ITINERARY:
Day 1: Arrival.
You will be met by our representative and transferred to the hotel for overnight stay. Stay in Entebbe Resort Beach Hotel, Lindsay Cottages or Sophie's Motel.
Day 2: Birding Safari to Mabamba and Transfer to Lake Mburo National Park.
Start early after breakfast and proceed to Mabamba or Kamengo Wetland to search for the Shoebill. Other birds include Papyrus Gonolek, Great Blue Turacco, Hadada Ibis, Red-headed Lovebird, Blue Swallow, Hermakop, Long-toed Lapwing, Pigmy Goose, Yellow-billed Duck, Winding Cisticola, and Blue-breasted Kingfisher.
Proceed to Lake Mburo National Park. Evening birding in the park is very productive. Specialty birds include Red-faced Barbet, Tabora cisticola, Bare-faced Go away Bird, Green-backed woodpecker, Coqui Francolin, Lilac-breasted Roller, Black-headed Oriole, White-backed Scrub Robin, Bateleur, Ruppel's Long-tailed Starling, Common Bulbul, Brown Parrot, White-backed and Ruppel's Griffon Vultures, Grey Hornbill, White-browed Coucal, White-headed, Black-lored, Spot-flanked Barbets, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Fork-tailed Drongo, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Mariqua Sunbird, Tropical Boubou, African Moustached and Arrow-marked Babblers, Common Scimitar bill, Sulphur-breasted Bush Shrike, Black-headed Gonolek, Northern Brubru, Trilling and Tabora Cisticolas, White-winged Tit, Chinspot Batis, Red-headed Weaver, Double-toothed Barbet, Green-capped Eremomela, Golden-breasted Bunting, and Buff-bellied Warbler.
Stay in Mihingo Lodge, Arcadia Cottages or Mantana Tented Camp.
Day 3: Birding Safari to Kisoro.
There will be a full day's transfer to Kisoro. Stay in Tourist Hotel or any other choice of accommodation.
Day 4: Birding Safari to Mgahinga.
Mgahinga is Uganda's smallest and arguably most scenic national park situated in the extreme southwestern corner of the country. With more than 115 recorded bird species, including some Albertine rift endemics, we shall traverse a variety of montane habitats as we explore treasures of this park along the excellent Gorge trail, which loops half way up Mt. Sabinyo.
From Ntebeko Camp, the trail winds up through former farmland where regenerating vegetation has a semi natural health character. Dusky Turtle Dove, Cape Robin-chat, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Bronze Sunbird, Black-headed Waxbill and Streaky Seedeater favour the scrubby vegetation in this area. As we enter the bamboo belt at about 2500m, we may encounter the Handsome Francolin, Kivu Ground Thrush and Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, White Starred Robin, Greater Double collard Sunbird, Rwenzori Turcaco, Rwenzori Batis, Shelly's Dusky Crimsonwing, Archer's Robin Chat, Olive Pigeon, Black headed waxibill, Western Green Tinkerbird, Malachite Sunbird, Cape Robin, and many others . Between the bamboo zone and the edge of the forest, we shall cross several hundred metres of open heath with the appearance of alpine moorland. The flowering red-hot Pokers attract both Malachite and Scarlet-tufted Sunbirds.
Stay at the same accommodation facility as the previous night.
Day 5-6: Birding and Gorilla Safari to Bwindi Ruhiija.
Here in the high-elevation bamboo forests, keep an eye out for African Black Duck and Mountain Wagtails in the small fast-flowing streams. Other local specialties include Mountain and Augur buzzards, Ayres's Hawk-Eagle, Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk, Brown-necked Parrot, Black-billed Turacco, Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo, White-headed Wood-hoopoe, Western Tinkerbird, Olive Woodpecker, Thick-billed, Least, and the elusive Dwarf honey-guides, Black Saw-wing, Gray Cuckoo-shrike, Eastern Mountain, Honeyguide, Red-tailed, Shelley's and Yellow-streaked Greenbuls, Olive Thrush, White-starred Robin, Stripe-breasted Tit, Mountain and the beautiful Gray-chested Illadopses, African Hill Babbler (the local form often treated as a full species, the Ruwenzori Hill Babbler), Black-faced, Ruwenzori, and Chestnut-throated Apalises, Red-faced Woodland-Warbler, White-tailed Blue-Flycatcher, Yellow-eyed Black-Flycatcher, Ruwenzori Batis, Mountain Sooty Boubou, the rare Lagden's Bushshrike, Sharpe's Starling, Black-tailed Oriole, Strange Weaver, and Oriole Finch.
Flowering trees attract the incredible Purple-breasted Sunbird as well as Blue-headed and Regal Sunbirds, all three being extremely beautiful Albertine Rift Endemics. Dusky, Red-faced and the elusive Shelley's Crimson-wings, amongst the most beautiful and sought-after of African seedeaters, are possible at Ruhizha.
Stay in Trekker's Tavern or Ruhija Campsite.
Day 7: Birding and Gorilla Safari to Buhoma.
Drive to Buhoma through the "Neck." Evening birding around the margins of the forest is productive. The park lies in the rugged Kigezi Highlands of southwestern Uganda, protecting a continuum of forest that ranges from montane to lowland areas. It is this altitudinal variation, combined with its location within the Albertine Rift that results in Bwindi Impenetrable being the richest forest in East Africa in terms of its trees, butterflies and birds.
Bwindi is also home to over 360 Mountain Gorillas - half of the world's population. The bird list for the park currently totals 347 species. The forest has 10 of the 26 globally threatened species in Uganda, five of which are vulnerable. It boasts of 24 of the 25 Albertine Rift endemics and some, such as African Green Broadbill, Chapin's Flycatcher and Shelley's Crimson-wing which have limited distributions elsewhere in their range.
Stay in Community Bandas, Gorilla Resort or Bwindi View Guest House or Engagi Lodge.
Day 8: Gorilla Tracking.
Today, after breakfast, we shall assemble for briefing before we head for the most exhilarating wildlife experience on this planet, the Gorilla trek. Although Gorilla tracking can be strenuous, gazing into the eyes of a Mountain Gorilla from a few feet away is nothing short of a life-changing experience. A single Mountain Gorilla survives per 10 million people on earth and to have the opportunity to meet these gentle giants and be part of their family group for an hour is a rare privilege. In all our Gorilla tours in both Rwanda and Uganda we put an emphasis on the community benefits to enhance the collaborative conservation of Gorillas in our community.
Day 9: Birding the Main Trail.
Today start after a warm breakfast and carry packed lunch for forest birding. One of Bwindi's star avian attractions is the diminutive, Pitta-like Neumann's Warbler, a vocal yet very secretive bird!
Other understory birds we hope to see include displaying African Broadbill, Pale-breasted and Mountain Illadopsis, African Hill-Babbler, Red-throated Alethe, Black-faced, Black-throated and Mountain Masked Apalises, Banded Prinia and the handsome Black-faced Rufous-Warbler. The mid-storey and canopy supports Elliot's and Tullberg's Woodpeckers, Cabanis', Toro Olive, Shelley's and Ansorge's Greenbuls, the strange Grauer's Warbler and White-browed Crombec, Yellow-eyed Black, Ashy, Dusky-blue, Chapin's and Cassin's Grey Flycatchers, Chin-spot and Rwenzori Batis, Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher, White-bellied Crested-flycatcher, Dusky Tit, Blue-throated Brown, Blue-headed, Northern Double-collared and Grey-headed Sunbirds, Mackinnon's Fiscal, Sooty Boubou, Pink-footed Puffback, Doherty's Bush-shrike. The rare Jameson's Ant-pecker may also been seen probing under moss on dead branches or gleaning warbler-like in the canopy along with Strange, Brown-capped and Black-billed Weavers. Overhead, Scarce Swifts forage over the forest. Birding at Buhoma is a truly magical experience. Other wildlife that we may be fortunate enough to find here include the huge Yellow-backed Duiker, Guereza Colobus, L'Hoest's, Blue and Red-tailed monkeys, Chimpanzee and several species of squirrels including Fire-footed Rope, Carruthers' Mountain, Ruwenzori Sun and Red-legged Sun Squirrel.
Day 10: Birding to Entebbe.
On this day, we set off very early to bird along the way from Kampala to Entebbe. Stay in Lake Victoria Hotel or Lindsay Cottages.
Day 11: Birding Botanical Gardens / Departure.
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Bird Uganda Safaris Ltd
