8 Days Murchison Falls and Budongo Forest Birding Safari

The luxury/ mid-range birding trip takes you Ziwa Rhino sanctuary, Budongo Forest Reserve, Murchison Falls National Parks and Entebbe Botanical Gardens.

Safari Highlights
Game drives-2, Boat cruises-2, Forest walks-2

Equipment to bring
Pair of Binoculars, Field Guides, Telescope, Camera, 300+ mm lens, Tripod/Monopod, Water proof protection for your equipment, spare batteries and a charger.

Snap Uganda gives one set of complimentary photographic accessories that include a trip/monopod, gimbal, cotton carrier and beanbag for each trip.

Overview
Despite being a land locked country, Uganda hosts about 50% of Africa’s bird species and about 11% of the global bird population with about 1080 bird species recorded. This earns the country a reputation as a “Birders paradise”. The 8 days birding trip will be to Uganda’s largest conservation area and oldest national park (Murchison Falls National Park) with a record of over 420 bird species, Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary with over 300 bird species, Budongo Forest with about 360 species and then Entebbe botanical gardens.

Safari Summary
Day 1 -Arrival and Pick up
Day 2 – Transfer to Ziwa and Evening birding in Budongo Forest.
Day 3- Birding in Budongo forest
Day 4 –Morning Birding and transfer to Murchison Falls national park
Day 5- Whole day birding in Murchison falls national park (Morning game drive and boat trip to the bottom of the falls)
Day 6– Morning boat cruise to the Delta and evening game drive
Day 7- Murchison falls national park to Kampala
Day 8- Birding at Botanical gardens and Departure.

Detailed Programme

Day 1 -Arrival and Pick up
You arrive at Entebbe International Airport and a representative from Snap Uganda Tours will meet you and drive you to Sheraton Kampala Hotel (luxury) {1hr} or to Kaazi Beach Resort (mid-range). Please feel free to ask questions about Uganda along the way.

Meal Plan. D, B
Dinner and overnight at Sheraton Kampala Hotel- Luxury
Dinner and overnight at Kaazi Beach Resort – Mid-range

Day 2 – Transfer to Ziwa and transfer to Budongo Forest
In the morning, wake up early at 6am have a quick breakfast and drive to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in Nakasongola 176km from Kampala or about 2 and 30hr drive. The sanctuary contains over 300 bird species! There are four bird trails within the sanctuary which cover woodlands, swamp and savannah.

You will probably get to see some of the other game on the sanctuary while doing your bird walk. One of the most sought after birds to be seen in Uganda is the Shoebill. This is one of the only places that you are almost always guaranteed to see it. The best sighting has been 11 in one trip. The species to expect include the Nubian Wood pecker, Abdim’s Stork, Blue spotted Dove, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Booted Eagle, African Black Crake, Broad billed Roller, African Black-headed Oriole, Bronze Manikin, African Blue Flycatcher, Brown-backed Scrub Robin, African Broad Bill, Brown-crowned Tchagra, African Citril, Brown Parrot, African Crowned Eagle, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, African Darter, Buff-spotted Flufftail, African Fish Eagle, Cardinal Woodpecker, African Golden-breasted Bunting, Cattle Egret, African Golden Oriole, Chinspot Batis, African Goshawk, Common Bulbul, African Green Pigeon, Common Chat, Common Fiscal Shrike, African Grey Hornbill among others.

Meal Plan. D, B
Dinner and overnight at – Luxury
Dinner and overnight at Budongo Eco lodge – Mid-range

Day 3 – Birding in Budongo forest
After breakfast, we travel to Budongo in search of forest birds. Budongo Forest Reserve is one of the most important birding areas in Uganda. It lies on the escarpment North-East of Lake Albert. It consists of a medium-altitude moist semi-deciduous forest (covering 42,800ha), with areas of Savanna and Woodland.

The forest has a prolific bird life of about 360 species with two species not found anywhere else in Uganda. Expect species like Sabine’s Spinetail, Cassin’s Spinetail (rare), Pygmy Crakes, Kingfishers( Chocolate-backed, Blue-breasted, Dwarf), White-spotted Flufftail, Ituri Batis, Puvell’s Illadopsis, Brown Twinspot, Cameroon Sombre Greenbul, Cassin’s Hawk-eagle, Crowned Eagle, Yellow-crested Woodpecker, Forest Robin, Little Green Sunbird, Grey-headed Sunbird, Olive Green Carmaroptera, Blue-throated Roller, African Pied , Piping, Black and White Casqued Hornbills, Speckled Tinkerbird, Yellow-spotted Barbet, Cassin’s Honeyguide, African Shrike Flycatcher, Jameson’s Wattle-eye, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Yellow-browed Carmaroptera and many others.

Meal Plan. D, B
Dinner and overnight at – Luxury
Dinner and overnight at Budongo Eco lodge – Mid-range

Day 4 – Morning birding and transfer to Murchison Falls National Park (Evening birding in the park)
Wake up early at 6am have quick cup of tea and pack breakfast and move around the forest edges as we bird and try out the birds we may have missed the previous day and after go back to the lodge for lunch. In the afternoon drive to Murchison falls national park. The park lies at the northern end of the Albertine Rift Valley, where the sweeping Bunyoro escarpment tumbles into vast, palm-dotted savanna. The park hosts 76 mammal and 451 bird species respectively and is the largest conservation area in the country.

Meal plan (B, L, D)
Dinner and Overnight stay at Paraa Safari Lodge -Luxury
Dinner and Overnight stay at Murchison River Lodge- Mid-range

Day 5 and Day 6–Whole day birding in Murchison Falls National Park (Morning game drive and after lunch boat trip)
Wake up at 6:00 am ,have a quick cup of team and move with packed breakfast.
The morning birding drive will take you to the northern bank of the park. The park is divided into two by the Victoria Nile. During the game drives, expect a variety of savanna species while on the game drive which include House Martin, African Rock Martin, Lesser Striped Swallow, Ethiopian Swallow, Angola Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Rufous-chested Swallow, Nightingale, Rock Thrush, Pied Wheatear, Whinchat, Common Redstart, White-fronted Black Chat, Sooty Chat, Isabelline Wheatear, Common Bulbul, Cameroon Sombre Greenbul, Yellow-throated Greenbul, the Black, White-breasted, and Red-shouldered Cuckoo Shrikes, the Black and Penduline Tits, the Arrow-marked, Black-lored and Brown Babblers, Nubian Woodpecker, Cardinal Woodpecker, Brown-backed Woodpecker, Lesser Honeyguide, Scaly-throated Honeyguide, Black Scimitar bill, Green Wood Hoopoe, a number of Buzzards, Barbets, Rollers, Harriers, Vultures, Bee eaters and Eagles. Northern Carmine Bee- eater

Boat Cruise
After lunch, we will do a boat cruise to the bottom of the falls along River Nile. A boat cruise to the bottom of Murchison Falls is another rewarding experience to view wildlife and birds. Hippos, waterbucks, crocodiles, buffaloes and elephants can be seen along the banks of the Nile. Birds usually seen during the cruise include: Cormorants, African fish Eagles, Spur-winged goose, African darter, Giant Kingfisher, Red-throated Bee-eater, Water thick knee among the many. At night, we will do a night drive in search of birds that are active at night like Night Jars etc

Meal plan (B, L, D)
Dinner and Overnight stay at Paraa Safari Lodge -Luxury
Dinner and Overnight stay at Murchison River Lodge- Mid-range

Day 6 Morning boat cruise to the delta and evening game drive
Wake up at 6:00 am have a quick cup of tea and move with packed lunch. We will do a 5 hour boat cruise to the delta where you can see a variety of water birds. The delta is rich with birds like Grey crowned Crane and the famous Shoebill. In the evening we will do game drive and later a night hunt.

Meal plan (B, L, D)
Dinner and Overnight stay at Paraa Safari Lodge -Luxury
Dinner and Overnight stay at Murchison River Lodge- Mid-range

Day 7 – Murchison Falls National Park to Kampala
Wake up early in the morning have a cup of tea, check out of the lodge and drive back to Kampala. We shall have lunch en route. There are variety of birds to check out on the way back like the Long- crested Eagle, Black Kite, Village weavers, Bronze manikins, Red billed Firefinch, Gray-backed fiscals among others. We reach Kampala late afternoon and have time to relax at the hotel as we tick the checklists.

Meal Plan. (B, L, D)
Dinner and overnight at Sheraton Kampala Hotel- Luxury
Dinner and overnight at Kaazi Beach Resort – Mid-range

Day 8 – Birding at Botanical gardens and Departure
Wake up early in the morning have breakfast and drive to Entebbe Botanical gardens for birding. This is the only National Botanical Garden in Uganda. It was established in 1901 and is strategically located on the shores of Africa’s greatest Lake – Victoria. The place is just 34 km’s from Kampala.

The gardens host a variety of water, open country and woodland bird species among which include: the Pink-backed Pelican, Yellow-billed Stork, Eastern plantain-eater, Yellow White-eye, Purple-banded Sunbird, African Jacana, Lesser Jacana, Yellow-billed Duck, Glossy Ibis, African Open-bill, Malachite Kingfisher, Blue-checked Bee-eater, Common Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Black Crake, Long-tailed Cormorant, Crowned Hornbill, Vieillot’ Black Weaver, Woodland Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, the Africa and Red-billed Firefinch, Black-and-white-Casqued Hornbill, Senegal Coucal, Little Stint, Little Weaver, Striated Heron, Ruff, Gull-billed Tern, White-winged Tern, Klaas’s and Diederik Cuckoos, Green Crombec, Tambourine Dove, Little and Tooro Olive Greenbuls, Water Thick-knee, Madagascar Bee-eater, Egyptian Goose, Black-headed Weaver, Slender-billed Weaver, Yellow-backed Weaver, Black-headed Gonolek, Long-tailed Sterling, Grey-Headed Sparrow, Spur-winged Lapwing, Orange weaver and a variety of primates. Depending on your flight time, this will mark the end of the 8 days birding tour in Uganda. From the Botanical Gardens we drive you to the airport to catch your flight.
Meal Plan (B, L)

Tour Prices
This is a private Safari and can be booked by an individual or a group.

Cost Includes