22-day Uganda Rwanda Birding Safari

22-day Uganda Rwanda Birding Safari: Africa’s vast biodiversity and varied environments make it a birdwatcher’s paradise. Situated in the centre of the continent, Uganda and Rwanda present an alluring combination of wildlife, verdant scenery, and dynamic customs. These nations provide wonderful experiences for both inquisitive travellers and ardent birdwatchers.
A geological wonder in time and space, the Albertine Rift supports distinct habitats and cradles the Great Rift Valley. The Albertine Rift, which crosses the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda, is a hotspot for endemic species.
Even if seeing gorillas is the main attraction, don’t forget about the local birds. Here, more than seven hundred bird species flourish, among them the famous Shoebill Stork and the Albertine Rift endemics. From savannas and wetlands to misty highland forests, Uganda and Rwanda offer a variety of birding and other Wildlife environs.

Rare birds can be found in Bwindi, which is home to half of the world’s mountain gorillas. Imagine yourself trekking through thick undergrowth, catching glimpses of the Bar-tailed Trogon and the Grauer’s (African Green) Broadbill through your binoculars.
The elegant Grauer’s Swamp (Rush) Warbler lurks among the bamboo thickets

A birdwatcher’s paradise is found in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, which is home to wetlands, savannas, and forests. Arise early to witness the symphony of the dawn, with African Shoebills stalking the shallows and Malachite Kingfishers darting over the Kazinga Channel. Perched atop acacia trees, martial eagles scan their territory.

In Rwanda’s Nyungwe National Park, montane rainforests are home to Albertine endemics such as the Rwenzori Turaco. Just picture the excitement of seeing a handsome Spurfowl or a Rwenzori Batis. For amazing vistas of the forest, including the sound of rustling leaves and far-off bird sounds, don’t miss the optional canopy walk.

Mountain gorillas, a diverse array of birds, and stunning scenery can all be found in harmony in Uganda and Rwanda. These nations offer a remarkable feather symphony, perfect for adventurous birdwatchers or anybody looking for breathtaking experiences.

Detailed Itinerary of the 22-day Uganda Rwanda Birding Safari

Day 1: Arrival and Birding Entebbe Botanical Gardens

Once at the Papyrus Guesthouse after arriving at Entebbe International Airport, spend the evening relaxing and birdwatching at the botanical gardens next to Lake Victoria. Huge trees that are sometimes decorated with flowers and hanging creepers dominate the landscape. Black Bishop, Fan-tailed Widowbird, Gabar Goshawk, Lizard Buzzard, Bat Hawk, African Harrier-hawk, Yellow-billed Kite, Congo Pied, Crowned, and Black-and-white-casqued Hornbills, Giant, Pied and Woodland Kingfishers, Little and Orange Weavers, Great and Long-tailed Cormorants, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Rüppell’s Glossy Starling, African Grey Parrot, Great Blue and Ross’s Turacos and many more birds are expected to be seen here. Following all of these thrills, we will head back to the lodge for dinner and the night.

Day 2: Birding Mabamba and Transfer to Mbale

On this day of the 22-day Uganda Rwanda Birding Safari, we will travel to the Mabamba Bay Swamp after an early breakfast. We’ll take a boat out onto the lake, where the recognisable Shoebill will be our primary objective. If we are successful early on, we will bird the marsh’s edges, where we may see African and Western Marsh Harriers, African Fish Eagle, African Swamphen, African and Lesser Jacanas, Long-toed Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Papyrus Gonolek, White-winged Swamp-warbler, Malachite Kingfisher, Northern Brown-throated and Weyns’s Weavers, while around the cultivations, we will likely see Northern Black-flycatcher, White-browed and Red-backed Scrub-robin, Sooty Chat, Whinchat, Yellow-throated Longclaw,  Brown-crowned Tchagra, Baglafecht and Vieillot’s Black Weavers, Red-chested Sunbird, Red-eyed Dove, and African Pipit. We will travel to Mbale for an overnight as we get closer for Uganda’s only endemic bird, the Fox’s Weaver.

Day 3: Birding around Lake Bisinia all-day

After breakfast, we will bird all day around Lake Bisinia, looking for Uganda’s only endemic bird, the Fox’s Weaver and various other birds, such as the Karamoja Apalis, Foxy Cisticola, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Parasitic Weaver among others

Day 4: Birding to Murchison Falls National Park

We will go to Murchison Falls National Park after an early breakfast, possibly making a few stops along the way to see the Abyssinian Roller, Greater Spotted Cuckoo, Piapiac, Yellow-throated Leaflove, Northern Fiscal, Grey-backed Shrike, and Marsh Widowbird in most of the large mashes along the way. We will take a boat ride out on the Nile after lunch, where there is a small colony of Shoebills that live in papyrus and can occasionally be approached up close, as well as various other species such as the Goliath Heron, Saddle-billed Stork, Pel’s Fishing Owl, Rock Pranticole, African Skimmers and African Darter. We will reach the breathtaking summit of Murchison Falls to cap off the day. Dinner and overnight at Pakuba Game Lodge

Day 5: Morning Game Drive and transfer to Masindi

On this day of the 22-day Uganda Rwanda Birding Safari, the ‘big five’ animals and numerous bird species, such as the Dark-chanting Goshawk, the Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, the highly endemic Dusky Babbler, the Martial Eagle, the Red-winged Grey Warbler,  the Black-billed Barbet, the Gambaga Flycatcher, the Northern Red Bishop, the Black-headed Lapwing and the Red-necked Falcon, the White-browed Sparrow-weaver, and the Senegal Thick-knee, will be the targets of our game drive in the park following another early breakfast. After the drive, we’re going to have dinner and overnight in Masindi.

Day 6: Birding Budongo Forest

Following an early breakfast, we will travel to Budongo Forest in search of a variety of species, including Rufous-sided Broadbill, Nahan’s Francolin, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Brown Illadopsis, Puvel’s Illadopsis, Dusky Crested Flycatcher, Fraser’s Forest-flycatcher, Brown-chested and Fire-crested Alethe, Toro Olive Greenbul, Black-capped and Buff-throated Apalis, Grey Longbill, Western Nicator, Forest Robin, Brown Twinspot, Little, White-throated and Xavier’s Greenbul, Grey-headed and White-breasted Nigritas, Ituri Batis, and many more species. Before heading back to Masindi for dinner and overnight

Day 7: Transfer to Fort Portal Tourist city

Since today will primarily be spent travelling, we will leave early in the morning to travel to Fort Portal, birding along the way, where we will spend the night.

Day 8:  Birding to Semuliki National Park

After breakfast, we depart for Semliki National Park early in the morning after breakfast. There, we see a variety of species such as Long-tailed Hawk, Nkulengu Rail, Bronze-naped Pigeon, hornbills, such as African Pied, African Dwarf, Black, White-crested, and White-thighed, Spot-breasted Ibis, along with Hartlaub’s Duck, Spot-breasted Ibis, Zenker’s Honeyguide, Yellow-throated Cuckoo, African Dwarf-kingfisher, Blue-breasted, Chocolate-backed, and White-bellied Kingfishers, African Piculet, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, Gabon Woodpecker, African Pitta, Yellow-throated Nicator, Yellow-eyed Bristlebill, and Swamp Greenbul, African Paradise-flycatcher, Fiery-breasted Bushshrike, Lowland Sooty Boubou, Black-winged and Western Orioles, Yellow-browed Camaroptera, Grant’s Bluebill, Black-bellied Seedcracker, Orange-checked and Fawn-breasted Waxbills, Blue-billed and Red-bellied Malimbes among others Dinner and overnight in Fort Portal

Day 9: Birding to Kibale Forest National Park

Following our early breakfast on this 9th day of the 22-day Uganda Rwanda Birding Safari, we will bird the escarpment, where we will search for numerous species before continuing to Kibale National Park. These species include Nubian Woodpecker, White-crested Turaco, Black-billed Barbet, Grey-headed and Stripe-breasted Kingfishers, Blue-cheeked, Little and Red-throated Bee-eaters, African Grey Hornbill, Mocking Cliff-chat, Spotted Morning-thrush, Silverbird, Foxy and Short-winged (Siffling) Cisticolas, White-crested Turaco, Orange (Sulphur)-breasted Bush-shrike, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Grey-headed Batis and many more. Dinner and overnight at Chimpanzee Forest Lodge

Day 10: Birding Kibale Forest

After an early morning breakfast, We enter the lush Kibale forest in search of the elusive Green-breasted Pitta. Other birds that we might spot are the following: Purple-headed Starling, Velvet-mantled Drongo, Masked Apalis, Red-tailed Bristlebill, White-tailed Ant-thrush, Mountain Wagtail, Cassin’s Flycatcher, Red-bellied Paradise-flycatcher, Grey Tit-flycatcher, Jameson’s Wattle-eye, and Dark-backed Weaver, Black Bee-eater, White-naped Pigeon, Great Blue and Ross’s Turacos, among others. Dinner and overnight at Chimpanzee Forest Lodge

Day 11: Birding Bigodi Swamp and Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park

After breakfast, we will go birdwatching in Bigodi Swamp, close to Kibale Forest National Park, which is run by the local community. We will search for a variety of species here, including the African Goshawk, White-spotted Flufftail, Red-headed Malimbe, Red-faced and Winding Cisticolas, White-collared Oliveback, Blue-throated Roller, Double-toothed, Grey-throated, and Yellow-billed Barbets, Blue-headed and White-browed Coucals, Snowy-crowned Robin-chat, Black-crowned Waxbill, Magpie Mannikin, and numerous others. Before heading to Queen Elizabeth National Park, we will have a nice lunch at the lodge again. Dinner and overnight at Buffalo Safar Lodge

Day 12: Birding Queen Elizabeth National Park

We will proceed on a game drive after an early breakfast, initially searching for the “big cats,” which are cheaters, African lions and leopards. The park is renowned for its abundance of other creatures, so we may anticipate seeing a wide range of species, such as the warthog, the Savanna elephant, the Cape Buffalo, the Uganda subspecies of kob, and the Waterbuck of the defassa subspecies. As we observe the animals, we can anticipate seeing a wide variety of raptors, such as the white-backed and white-headed Vultures, Rüppell’s Vulture, African Hobby, African and Ayres’s Hawk-eagles, Lappet-faced, Palm-nut, Common (Steppe) Buzzard, European Honey-buzzard, Grey Kestrel, and African Hobby, as the day draws warmer.

Though there are many other species in the park, we will be on the lookout for the following too: Rufous-naped Lark, Fork-tailed Drongo, Black-headed Gonolek, Southern Red Bishop, Fan-tailed Widowbird, Pin-tailed Whydah, Black-rumped and Small Buttonquails, Black-bellied Bustard, Senegal and Wattled Lapwings, European, Madagascar, and White-throated Bee-eaters.

We plan to take a boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel after lunch, where we hope to spot a variety of aquatic birds, such as Water Thick-Knee,  African Spoonbill, Hamerkop, Pink-backed Pelican, Saddle-billed and Yellow-billed Storks, Black-winged Stilt, Great White Pelican, Water Thick-knee, Giant Kingfisher, African Skimmer, Grey-hooded Gull, Swamp Flycatcher and Pied Kingfisher. We will go on a night wildlife drive shortly after dinner to see nocturnal creatures and birds such as the  Pennant-winged, and Swamp Nightjars. African Wood-owl, Leopard, Genet, and Verreaux’s Eagle-owl. Dinner and overnight at Buffalo Safari Lodge.

Day 13: Transfer to the Buhoma Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

As we go to Buhoma and check into Ride for a Woman Lodge, one of the community lodges in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, we will go birdwatching along the way after our early breakfast on this day of the 21-day Uganda Rwanda Birding Safari. With its ideal location and pleasant views of the park, we may stroll around the park headquarters offices after settling into our lodgings.

Day 14: Birding Buhoma

We will spend the entire day birding the Buhoma sector, starting with the waterfall trail after breakfast and carrying our package lunches, looking for several endemic species of the Albertine Rift, such as the dwarf honeyguide, Neumann’s Warbler, Red-throated Alethe, Abyssinian (Kivu) and Oberländer’s Ground-thrushes, Albertine and Willard’s Sooty Boubous, and Blue-headed and Purple-breasted Sunbirds. The following birds are possible sightings during the day: Black-throated and Grey Apalis, Black-faced Rufous-warbler, African Crowned Eagle, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Red-chested Owlet, Bar-tailed Trogon, Speckled, Yellow-rumped, and Yellow-throated Tinkerbirds, Yellow-spotted Barbet, Cassin’s Hawk-eagle, Great Sparrowhawk, and Black-tailed, Dusky, and Olive Long-tailed Cuckoos, Narrow-tailed, Slender-billed and Stuhlmann’s Starlings, Northern Double-collared, Blue-throated Brown and Bronze Sunbirds, Lesser and Willcocks’s Honeyguides, Cabanis’s, Shelley’s and Slender-billed Greenbuls, African Dusky, Dusky-blue and Sooty Flycatchers, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, Grey-throated Tit-flycatcher, African and Black-and-White Shrike-flycatchers, Black-tailed Orioles, Oriole Finch, African and White-tailed Blue-flycatchers, Petit’s Cuckooshrike, among others. You will be transferred back to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Day 15: Optional gorilla trekking or birding Buhoma

You can either go gorilla tracking after an early-morning breakfast or spend the entire day birdwatching in the forest, looking for species that we might still need. Gorilla trekking is an additional fee that requires reservations well in advance due to space limitations. If you choose to go gorilla trekking, you will be brought to the park headquarters for a brief orientation. We will all get together in the late afternoon to bird the farms in quest of Red-chested Flufftail and other interesting species. Both groups will carry packed lunches.

Day 16: Birding to Ruhija via the neck

Following breakfast on this day of the 22-day Uganda Rwanda Birding Safari, we will bird through the “neck” to Ruhija, which is a part of Bwindi National Park. We anticipate seeing the following species here: Among the many birds that we may have missed in Buhoma are the Black and Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters, the African Black Duck, the Many-colored Bushshrike, the Rufous Flycatcher-thrush, the Olive-green Camaroptera, the Green and White-browed Crombecs, the Grey-chinned and Little Green Sunbirds, Jameson’s Antpecker and Handsome Spurfowl. We will travel on to Ruhija, but first, we will make a diversion along the ‘Kyogo’ route in search of the Dusky Twinspot, which is found in the cultivations and feeds there. We anticipate seeing more Albertine endemics, such as Rwenzori Batis, Rwenzori Apalis, Regal Sunbird, Grauer’s Swamp-warbler, Stripe-breasted Tit, and Dusky Crimsonwing, on the school walk during the late afternoon and evening birdwatching sessions. Sharpe’s Starling, Doherty’s and Lagden’s Bushshrikes, White-starred Robin, Mountain Yellow Warbler, Olive-breasted Greenbul, Rwnezori Hill-babbler, and many more species are among the others that we might observe. Dinner and overnight at Gorilla Mist Camp

Day 17: Full-day birding in Mubwindi Swamp

Birding in Mubwindi Swamp during the entire day of the 22-day Uganda Rwanda Birding Safari. We will be following a route to search for the rare and endemic Grauer’s Broadbill, which is native to the Albertine Rift. This marsh is what gave Bwindi National Park its name. Aside from the Albertine Rift endemics Handsome Spurfowl, Archers Robin-chat, Grauer’s Warbler, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher, and Strange Weaver, there will be plenty of other species to amuse us during the walk, which may be rather lengthy.

Other possible species include the Black Crake, African Rail, African Thrush, White-headed Woodhoopoe, Red-throated Alethe, Northern Puffback, Carruthers’s Cisticola, African Thrush, African Olive (Rameron) Pigeon, Olive Woodpecker, Narina Trogon, and White-bellied Crested-flycatcher, among others. Dinner and overnight at Gorilla Mist Camp

Day 18: Birding the Bamboo Zone and late drive in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

On day 18 of the 22-day Uganda Rwanda Birding Safari, we will search for the extremely specialised Bamboo Warbler in the early morning hours by birdwatching the main road, particularly the bamboo zone. There will be lots of chances during our hunt to spot species that we might have missed previously, and then we’ll head back to the lodge for a nice meal and some rest. We’re going to go back out later in the day to look for Montane (Rwenzori) Nightjar when dusk approaches. Additionally, we can come across some nocturnal creatures during the night trip, such as Galagos or Bush Babies and Serval cats. After this birding excursion, you will be transferred back to your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Day 19: Transfer to Rwanda Nyungwe Forest

Following breakfast, we will cross the border into Rwanda and travel south, stopping along the way to indulge in birdwatching. Dinner and overnight at Gishakura Guesthouse

Day 20 & 21: Birding Nyungwe Forest for the whole day

On this day of the 22 -day Uganda Rwanda Birding Safari, we’ll spend the entire day birdwatching in the breathtaking Nyungwe Forest after breakfast. Although this forest is home to the majority of the endemic birds of the Ugandan Albertine Rift, some of them are more visible or unique to this area. The Albertine Owlet, Rwenzori Turaco, Kungwe Apalis, Red-collared Babbler, Stuhlmann’s, and even the uncommon Rockefeller’s Sunbirds are the primary species we will be searching for in the forest; however, Ring-necked and Shelley’s Francolins are more common, and we will also get to see more of the other endemic species of the Albertine Rift. You will be transferred back to your lodge for dinner and overnight

Day 22: Transfer to Kigali International Airport and Departure

We will travel six hours to Kigali International Airport for immigration clearance and a flight back to your homes following an early breakfast. This will be the end of the 22-day Uganda Rwanda Birding Safari