Day 1: Arrivals into Entebbe International Airport (EBB) and overnight at a nearby hotel.

Day 2: Early this morning, we will visit the nearby Mabamba Swamp and take a boat ride through this classic papyrus swamp which is the best place in the world to see the monstrous Shoebill at close range. We will also search for the uncommon Weyn’s Weaver and Lesser Jacana, and maybe Blue Swallow nearby if any are around this season. Transferring northwards, stops will allow us to find the localised Marsh Widowbird before we reach Murchison Falls National Park in the late afternoon. From the top of the falls, we will look for Rock Pratincole as the spectacular volume of water surges over the edge and continues towards Lake Albert and the Nile. Night at Murchison Falls National Park at a comfortable lodge.

Day 3: Full day in this spectacular national park, where an early boat trip downstream should deliver excellent wildlife-watching opportunities. Dodging Nile Crocodile and Hippopotamus, we expect to find Saddle-billed Stork, Grey Crowned Crane, Knob-billed Duck, Senegal Thick-knee, Blue-headed Coucal, Red-throated Bee-eater, Carruthers’s Cisticola, and the beautiful Papyrus Gonolek. Then, game drives through the drier woodlands and savannahs will see us looking for near-endemics like Heuglin’s Spurfowl, the skulking Dusky Babbler, and Red-winged Grey Warbler. Several threatened vultures are quite commonplace here: White-backed, Rüppell’s, Lappet-faced, and White-headed. These drives will of course also produce great mammal encounters, with the likes of Rothschild’s Giraffe, African Savanna Elephant, African Buffalo, Defassa Waterbuck, and Uganda Kob. If we are lucky, we may even see a Leopard! 

We will also likely see Western Banded Snake Eagle, Bateleur, Martial Eagle, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, White-crested Turaco, Blue-naped Mousebird, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Double-toothed Barbet, and Black-billed Barbets. In the evening, we will go out in search of the incredible Pennant-winged Nightjar.

Day 4: Today, we will have a long travel day to Kibale National Park, making various stops along the way. These include the Buliisa Plains where we will be looking for White-rumped Seedeater, the scrubby hillsides of Butiaba Escarpment where we will search for the Foxy Cisticola, and several good sites for White-winged Swamp Warbler and Grey-headed Oliveback. We should reach the edge of Kibale National Park for some late afternoon birding, focusing on tracking down the much-wanted Lowland Masked Apalis and Joyful Greenbul. Night at Kibale National Park.

Day 5: This exciting day will start before dawn, as we will try to locate the sought-after Green-breasted Pitta, an elusive species that usually prefers to display at first light. Later, we will focus on the other main attraction of the area: Chimpanzees! Kibale National Park has certainly got to be the best place to see our closest relatives, and we have a very high chance of observing them in the wild thanks to our primate-tracking local guides. We may also see Central African Red Colobus, Mantled Guereza, Olive Baboon, Grey-cheeked Mangabey, L’Hoest’s Monkey, and Red-tailed Monkey. 

More widespread birds we may come across include Narina Trogon, Afep Pigeon, White-headed Woodhoopoe, Black Bee-eater, White-throated Bee-eater, Cassin’s Honeybird, Grey-throated Barbet, Yellow-billed Barbet, Buff-spotted Woodpecker, Yellow-crested Woodpecker, Petit’s Cuckooshrike, Western Oriole, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, Chestnut-winged Starling, Purple-headed Starling, Narrow-tailed Starling, Red-tailed Antthrush, Cassin’s Flycatcher, Brown-throated Alethe, Red-capped Robin-Chat, Superb Sunbird, Mountain Wagtail, Ross’s Turaco, and more. At night, we may also find African Wood Owl. Night at Kibale National Park.

Day 6: This morning, we will go for a walk in the nearby Bigodi Wetland. Here, we will be searching for the range-restricted Speckle-breasted Woodpecker, and with luck we may also locate the rare White-collared Oliveback. Later today, we will transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park and will enjoy some late afternoon birding around our luxurious accommodation overlooking the Kazinga Channel. Night at Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Day 7: The stunning Queen Elizabeth National Park is the highlight of many trips to Uganda, and we will spend the full day exploring the incredible wildlife that this reserve has to offer. Among the extensive savannas and acacia woodlands, we will be enjoying some further game drives in search of some globally rare birds such as African Crake, White-tailed Lark, and Black-rumped Buttonquail. 

Our total bird list for the day is likely to be large, and may also include Verreaux’s Eagle Owl, Black-browed Babbler, Rufous-naped Lark, Trilling, Wing-snapping, and Stout Cisticolas, Orange-breasted Bushshrike, Purple-banded Sunbird, Fan-tailed Widowbird, White-winged Widowbird, Brimstone Canary, and Golden-breasted Bunting. Mammals are very much in evidence here, with Giant Hog, Defassa Waterbuck, Marsh Mongoose, Banded Mongoose, Spotted Hyaena, and African Lion. An evening boat ride on the Kazinga Channel will offer more excellent opportunities to study waterbirds and mammals. Night at Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Day 8: This morning, we will drive through the Ishasha section of the park (famous for tree-climbing lions), birding along the way. Afterwards, we continue to the lower section of the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, where we will spend the next three nights.

Day 9: The dense forest here is one of the most biologically diverse in Africa and goes by the evocative name of the “Impenetrable Forest”, due to the steepness of the mountains. Thankfully there are plenty of nice roads and trails for us to use! This is the best-known area for Mountain Gorilal trekking, and we will devote our morning to searching for these marvellous creatures with local trackers. In the afternoon, we will begin tracking down a selection of Albertine Rift endemics and other exciting species. Night at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Day 10: On our full day around Buhoma we will be in search of Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Red-throated Alethe, Willard’s Sooty Boubou, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher, and the skulking Neumann’s Warbler, all much sought-after Albertine Rift specialtes. Other birds to track down are Black-billed Turaco, Equatorial Akalat, Ansorge’s Greenbul, and African Broadbill. Night at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Day 11: For the next part of our journey, we will leave the lower section of the forest and transfer to the higher areas around Ruhija. As we progress up to our destination, we will make a few productive stops for higher-altitude specialties like Dusky Twinspot, Handsome Spurfowl, Stripe-breasted Tit, Rwenzori Apalis, Albertine Sooty Boubou, Rwenzori Hill Babbler, Purple-breasted, Blue-headed, and Regal Sunbirds, and Strange Weaver. At dusk, we will be looking for the localised “Rwenzori” Montane Nightjar. Night at Ruhija.

Day 12: The main reason for coming to Ruhija is to trek to the Mubwindi Swamp, where some additional range-restricted species occur. The area around the swamp is suitable habitat for the Grauer’s (or African Green) Broadbill, which is undoubtedly one of the rarest and least seen Albertine Rift endemics. While trying to locate it, we will be looking for more regional endemics such as Grauer’s Swamp Warbler, Grauer’s Warbler, Grey-chested Babbler, Archer’s Ground Robin, Rwenzori Batis, Mountain Masked Apalis, and anything we might have missed the previous day. Night at Ruhija.

Day 13: Today, we will head off early from the Bwindi Impenetrable forest and embark on a long drive to our last destination of the tour: Lake Mburo National Park. We plan to arrive in good time in the afternoon and get ready for our last “game drive” of this African adventure. We will search for Red-faced Barbet, the prime target in the area, as well as the sought-after Brown-chested Lapwing. At night, spotlighting should deliver a nice set of nightjars, including Black-shouldered, Swamp, Square-tailed, and even Pennant-winged Nightjar (in case we missed it at Murchison Falls NP). Night at Lake Mburo National Park.

Day 14: We will spend our last morning on a boat ride on Lake Mburo chasing some last species. African Finfoot will be our prime target, along with White-backed Night Heron. Later, we will transfer to Entebbe, where our tour ends.

NOTE: We are able to arrange an extension in Rwanda, but rapidly growing costs in the country do not make this a cheap undertaking. With three days of birding at Nyungwe National Park, you could expect to target the three key Albertine Rift endemics here: Red-collared Babbler, Rwenzori Turaco, and Kungwe Apalis. Several other specialties are easier to see here than in Uganda.