Duration
16-Day
Mabamba Swamp, Uganda
Come to discover Uganda's birding paradise! During this birding safari, birding is conducted by visiting the IBAs with a specialized birding guide. Look for top ticks like the Great shoebill stork, African green broadbill, Papyrus gonolek, Nkulengu rail, Puvel's illadopsis, Handsome francolin, Dusky crimsonwing, African finfoot, Standard winged night jar, and short-tailed warbler. Combined with birding is classic safari chimpanzee and gorilla trekking experience.
Plan snapshot
Duration
16-Day
Route
Entebbe to Entebbe
Via Entebbe Airport (Entebbe), Mabamba Swamp, Lake Mburo NP
Country & park
Uganda / Mabamba Swamp
Style
Mid-range safari
Group size
1-12 travelers
Starts
Any day if available
Minimum age
18 years
Activities
game drives, gorilla trekking, chimpanzee trekking, specialized birding (with a professional birding guide), nature hikes/walks & boat trip
Accommodation
Papyrus Guest House - Mid-range guest house in Entebbe (City) – Dinner Included
Meals
Dinner Included; All Meals Included
Pickup
Airport transfer included
Booking
Request quote
Currency
USD
Rates
USD
Before booking
Quote flow
This mid-range tour uses lodges and tented camps.
This tour will be organized exclusively for you and won't be shared with others.
If availability permits, this tour can start on any day.
You can request minor changes to the accommodations and destinations of this tour.
Solo travelers cannot book this private tour.
The minimum age for this tour is 18 years.
Day 1
Mid-range guest house in Entebbe (City) – Dinner Included
Dinner Included
Day 2
Mid-range lodge just outside Lake Mburo NP – All Meals Included
All Meals Included
Day 3-4
Mid-range resort at Lake Bunyonyi – All Meals Included
All Meals Included
Day 5
Mid-range tented camp just outside Ruhija (Bwindi Impenetrable NP) – All Meals Included
All Meals Included
Day 6
Budget lodge just outside Buhoma (Bwindi Impenetrable NP) – All Meals Included
All Meals Included
Day 7
Mid-range lodge just outside Ishasha Sector (Queen Elizabeth NP) – All Meals Included
All Meals Included
Day 8-9
Mid-range lodge just outside Kyambura Gorge (Chimps) – All Meals Included
All Meals Included
Day 10-11
Mid-range lodge just outside Kibale NP (Chimps) – All Meals Included
All Meals Included
Day 12-13
Budget lodge just outside Murchison Falls NP – All Meals Included
All Meals Included
Day 14
Budget lodge inside Murchison Falls NP – All Meals Included
All Meals Included
Day 15
Budget guest house in Ziwa Rhino Ranch – All Meals Included
All Meals Included
Day 16
(No accommodation)
Breakfast & Lunch Included
Tour step
You'll be collected from the airport. Accommodation before the tour starts can be arranged for an extra cost.
Day 1
Upon arrival at Entebbe Airport, you'll meet our tour guide and transfer to our Hotel for an overnight stay. If you arrive before the afternoon, you could go birding in Entebbe botanical garden for the Orange weaver, golden-backed weaver, and other master builders of the Ploceidae family, superb sunbird, green hylia, and bat hawk. Several garden birds exploit this transitional habitat. You can, however, decide to have a relaxing moment at the lodge as you prepare for the next day. Your dinner and overnight stay will be at the lodge. Mid-range guest house located in Entebbe (City) Dinner (Breakfast & lunch not included) Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 2
You'll have an early transfer between 7 am and 8:30 am. After breakfast, you'll transfer by ferry to the IBA wetland swamp of Mabamba en route to Lake Mburo, the ‘Zebra magnet’. The highlight at Mabamba Swamp is a search for the prehistoric-looking Great shoebill stork. Here, you'll also find some aquatic birds and marsh Harriers, if time allow search for the beautiful painted Pygmy goose. You'll then stop over and take photo poses at the equator. You'll reach Lake Mburo and drive out to the vast savannah dotted with acacia and shrubs, as you game drive in for a view of zebras, topis, warthogs, cape buffaloes, and impalas. In the afternoon, it is time for a boat-cruise on the lake, where the must-see is the African finfoot. As well as this, you'll see native birds along the banks, crocodiles, hippos yawning, and more birds during this 2-hour cruise. You'll retire for the long day at the lodge. Mid-range lodge located just outside Lake Mburo NP All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 3
You will get up early, focusing on the Rwizi track, it’s a dense population of some rare birds here, Tabora cisticola, Crested barbet, Red-headed weavers, cuckoo shrikes, with a chance to see leopards, zebras, waterbucks, birds, buffaloes in there day break jungle life! You'll have a transfer out of wildlife viewing to Mbarara for breakfast or brunch. Your target destination is the Switzerland of Africa. Then, you'll climb to a lake at 1800meters above sea level, Lake Bunyonyi. It has an area with superb, rich views with small resident and exotic bird species singing in this coolest area in Uganda, below 10 °C some nights! It’s also a rare Bilharzias-free lake (You can swim). Your dinner and overnight stay will be at the lodge. Mid-range resort located at Lake Bunyonyi All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 4
This is a relaxation day with a shortlist of activities, such as canoeing and visiting village islands. Optional: Hiking on the Bushara trail for close up with the resident birds that give the still lake its name, such as Tropical boubou and the loud-calling Chubbs cisticola. Another possibility is a visit to Nyombe swamp for the swamp hens, papyrus yellow warbler, and resident and exotic bird species singing. You'll have a relaxed stay at the lodge. Mid-range resort located at Lake Bunyonyi All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 5
After an early breakfast, you'll descend and ascend through the magical cultivated hills. It’s a beautiful drive through the neck of the impenetrable forest, it gets you to a point of over 2650 meters above sea level, with the mist where the gorillas live in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. As you check out some soaring buzzards, flocks of Stuhlmann's starlings with their Arial displays. You'll assemble to head for the Mubwindi Swamp for the highest concentration of the Albertin endemics, aiming to grip the African green broadbill, Fraser's eagle owl, black-billed turaco, and Rwenzori batis. In the evening, you could track the calls of the Rwenzori nightjar. This Impenetrable forest is full of birds, butterfly and plant species, plus forest hog, forest elephants, Statungas, and duikers. Your dinner and overnight stay will be at the lodge. Mid-range tented camp located just outside Ruhija (Bwindi Impenetrable NP) All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 6
After an early breakfast, you'll proceed to the briefing point before entering the impenetrable forest to find these amazing jungle dwellers. An hour with the gorillas is allowed after the trek. You can take as many snapshots as possible. You'll relax a bit at the lodge before entering the forest once again for an afternoon drive descending through the impenetrable forest for the dusky crimson wings, African swallows, the rare mountain wagtail and black-billed weaver as you head to Buhoma for an evening walk to the waterfalls and enjoy a relaxed yet profitable birding in Bwindi on our favourite trail. You'll retire at the lodge. Budget lodge located just outside Buhoma (Bwindi Impenetrable NP) All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 7
You'll go through Ishasha for the savannah birds, the top vulture of the region, Lappet faced vulture, Africa`s most spirited eagle, the Marshal eagle, larks, and try to check on the rare Dusky blue flycatcher on the River Ishasha, and a bonus to get the Lions high in the Fig tree branches. You'll have an evening search for the resident Greyish eagle owl and Verreaux eagle owls. After wildlife viewing, you'll rush out to the northern sector of the park to the lodge. Your dinner and overnight stay will be at the lodge. Mid-range lodge located just outside Ishasha Sector (Queen Elizabeth NP) All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 8
You'll explore Queen Elizabeth National Park in the cool morning with keen birding and game viewing. You'll do an early game drive that exposes you to diverse animals, elephants, buffalo, lions, leopards, and more in the evening. Warthogs, Hunchback carnivals like hyenas, and many more species can be spotted along the circuits. There is a rich birdlife, especially our version of storks in the wetland spots, as you reach the flamingoes in the salt lakes. At 3 pm, you'll go for the 2-hour boat cruise on the famous Kazinga Channel, a 36 km-long channel linking Lake George and Lake Edward. Here, you see hippos, the National Geographic Society Nile crocodile gaping along the banks, and warthogs. Pumba from the award-winning Lion King is a hallmark sign in this animal home. With your binoculars along the peninsula, you have a magnificent view of birds and animals like the ever-playful African elephants in waters. You'll retire to the lodge. Mid-range lodge located just outside Kyambura Gorge (Chimps) All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 9
This morning, you'll bird to Maramagambo Forest following the main trail. You'll visit the Blue Lake and Bat Cave, where you can expect to see African rock python that found refuge in the cave, and feasts on the Bats for breakfast, lunch, and supper! Special birds of this Forest include Narina Trogon, Rufous Flycatcher Thrush; White tailed Ant-thrush, Black Bee-eater, Grey-headed Kingfisher, and White-breasted Negrofinch. If need be, you will visit the spectacular Kyambura Gorge. You'll retire to the long day at the hotel. Mid-range lodge located just outside Kyambura Gorge (Chimps) All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 10
Today, you'll have a chance of birding the main road or one of the trails in the forest. You might come across the African Emerald Cuckoo, Purple-headed Starling, Black-billed Turaco, Yellow-billed Barbet, Grey-throated Barbet, Blue-throated Roller, Narrow-tailed Starling, Western Black-headed Oriole, Yellow-throated, and Yellow-rumped Tinkerbirds. Your dinner and overnight stay will be at the lodge. Mid-range lodge located just outside Kibale NP (Chimps) All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 11
You'll assemble for a briefing and thereafter enter the forest to look for chimps. The activity takes 1 to 5 hours. In the afternoon, you may choose to go to Bigodi Wetland or take one of the trails in the park to look for the stunning Green-breasted Pitta, Fire-crested Alethe, Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, colourful butterflies, and other species of primates. You'll relax at the lodge as you wait to be served a hot dinner. Mid-range lodge located just outside Kibale NP (Chimps) All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 12
Today, you'll drive through the oil city via the Great Rift Valley escarpment with great views of Lake Albert and the Bule mountains of DR Congo. You'll enjoy a couple of fruits during the drive. The pressure and fatigue are lessened with stopovers at sceneries like a typical African village setup in the far countryside, which offer you chances of stretching along the Forest reserves for Cuckoos, bee eaters, and garden birds to boost our big list as you check in late afternoon and enjoy the lodge's serene environs. You'll proceed through Murchison Falls National Park via the Bugungu gate untill your arrive at your hotel. You'll check in and enjoy a lazy evening. Budget lodge located just outside Murchison Falls NP All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 13
After breakfast, you'll enjoy a morning game drive and lunch at Red Chili. At 2-5 pm, you'll enjoy a 3-hour boat ride to the base of the Falls, where you get to see hippos (You won't see more hippos yawning, grooming in their pods anywhere else than here)! Nile Crocodiles, elephants, and a variety of beautiful bird species along the banks. The top birds here are the Red throated bee eater with its beautiful displays on the river bank, high cliffs, the Rock Pranticole on the rocky tops after the crocodile bar, black-headed batis, black-headed gonolek, Spotted Morning Thrush, beautiful Sunbird among the active. Just before dinner, you could try to check out the Spotted Eagle Owl cliffs. Your dinner and overnight stay will be at the lodge. Budget lodge located just outside Murchison Falls NP All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 14
After an early cup of tea/coffee at 6:00 amferry crossing, to the Game drive, Nile river Bank to the broad savannah for the most likely big cats hunting, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, and more, as the checklist of mammals reaches 76. You'll continue browsing the drive circuits to the delta point for a cocktail of birds and mammals. In the afternoon, you could take a hike along the top of the falls for Pels fishing owl, the bat hawk, as you buy time to see ifyou can see the long-tailed night jars, standard-winged night jars, and African scops owl, which are active after dark. The falls are a magnificent classic highlight on our 2nd day in this animal home, as an explosive dash of water at close range gushes through a narrow crevice. You'll retire to the day at the lodge. Budget lodge located inside Murchison Falls NP All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 15
After breakfast in the Kanio Pabidi Forest (Budongo Forest) and a forest walk focusing on some forest woodpeckers like the yellow-crested woodpecker, blue-throated roller, sabines spine tail, yellow-billed barbet, Puvell's illadopsis, forest flycatcher, honey guides, afep pigions, and rufous-sided broadbill among others. Enjoy your delicious lunch and after we transfer to Ziwa Rhino and wildlife ranch where we shall have our evening on foot rhino trekking and bird watching experience along the lugogo swamp. Retire the day at the guesthouse. Budget guest house located in Ziwa Rhino Ranch All meals included Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Day 16
With an early breakafst, we shall do a short bird watching experience at Ziwa rhino and wildlife ranch. This sanctuary is a premier Ugandan birding destination hosting over 300 species within its woodlands, savannas, and the Lugogo Swamp. The sanctuary is most famous for the elusive Shoebill Stork, frequently sighted via canoe rides, alongside the Grey-crowned Crane, African Fish Eagle, and various kingfishers. Afterwards, we shall start the drive to Entebbe as we have reached the end of your Uganda's bird watching paradise. Get ready to have your last lunch break before heading to the airport for checking in to your international departure. Breakfast & lunch (Dinner not included) Drinking water (Other drinks not included)
Tour step
Additional accommodation can be arranged for an extra cost. You'll be dropped off at the airport.
Park fees (For non-residents)
Gorilla permits(One per person, non-resident)
Chimp permits(One per person, non-resident)
All activities (Unless labeled as optional)
All accommodation (Unless listed as upgrade)
A professional driver/guide
All transportation (Unless labeled as optional)
All Taxes/VAT
Roundtrip airport transfer
Meals (As specified in the day-by-day section)
Drinking water (On all days)
International flights (From/to home)
Additional accommodation before and at the end of the tour
Tips (Tipping guideline US$10.00 pp per day)
Personal items (Souvenirs, travel insurance, visa fees, etc.)
Government imposed increase of taxes and/or park fees
Some meals (As specified in the day-by-day section)
Offered by
African Finfoot Safaris a leading safari company that tailor make safari routes of your own taste . We have intimate, current knowledge of the East African countries that you will visit and every element of your itinerary, from lodges to airlines to tour guides. We speak your language, and are passionate about Africa and sharing this beautiful place with you. We ensure Africa will seep into your soul. How do we make your African Safari so memorable? We are passionate about what we do.
Office In
Uganda
Size
5-10 employees (Founded in 2019)
Member Of
AUTO, USAGA, UTB & YAS
Tour Types
Custom mid-range tours that can start every day
Destinations
Congo (DRC), Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda
Traveler feedback
Overall
5.0/5Communication
5.0/5Accuracy
5.0/5Value
5.0/5Safety clarity
5.0/5Cultural value
5.0/5Our tour in Uganda was prepared professionally. Accommodation, food, car, Safari experiences was excellent. Guides well experienced to their work. Definitely recommended for individual tourists as well for groups.
Beata · Poland
We had a 10 days Trip with African Finfoot Safaris with their Guides and Drivers, Eddie and Abdu respectively. It was a blend of dental charity and adventure. Giving back to the underserved communities. I really appreciate the navigation, panctuality, eloquence and teamwork shown by Eddie and his team. We helped people together, the company even donated supplies to us. We visited the parks, enjoys the scenic views of nature with vast wildlife, cultural experiences and gorilla trekking in Bwindi national park and all the way through Kigali.
Sulaiman · Uganda
I had the most amazing experience with African Finfoot Safaris during my three-week trip to Uganda in December 2024 and January 2025. From the moment I arrived, I felt safe, welcomed, and well-cared for. My guide, Edrisa, was outstanding—professional, respectful, and incredibly friendly. He is a skilled driver, navigating all types of terrain with ease, and his deep knowledge of Uganda made the journey even more enriching. Edrisa is not only a guide but also a bridge to the local communities, offering activities that allow you to connect with the culture in meaningful ways. He is a fantastic conversationalist, flexible, and always willing to adapt to your needs. His ability to surprise us with little touches throughout the trip made the experience even more special. Whether it was recommending unique accommodations with breathtaking views or sharing insights into Ugandan culture, everything was meticulously planned yet flexible enough to enjoy on our own terms. Overall, this trip exceeded all my expectations, and I would wholeheartedly recommend African Finfoot Safaris for anyone looking for an unforgettable adventure in Uganda.
Marta · Spain
Our experience with African Finfoot Safaris has been one of the best we've ever lived in our long travellers life. It was a 5 days trip and there were just two of us: my wife and me. The highlights of the trip were the Gorilla and Chimps trekking, but we actually loved every single moment of our journey. Projecting and scheduling our trip with Edrisa, the owner of the agency, was just smooth and easy. Edrisa is very experienced, helpful, honest, clear and... kind! Trust him, every single suggestion and hint from him is just... gold. We had other experiences in the past with local agencies, and the one with African Finfoot Safaris has been absolutely the best. We had the luck to have Obed as our guide throughout the 5 days: he is very knowledgeable, patient, experienced, flexible and again... kind! In the end, we were blessed to meet a new precious friend in this short, intense and unforgettable week.
Stefano · Italy
Practical answers
Rates are per person and exclude the international flight from/to your home country.
This tour is offered in US dollars (USD).
This tour is unavailable for children.
If availability permits, this tour can start on any day.
You can request minor changes to the accommodations and destinations of this tour.
Papyrus Guest House - Mid-range guest house in Entebbe (City) – Dinner Included. Meals: Dinner Included
This tour starts and ends in Entebbe
A transfer from and back to the airport is included
Operator policy
This tour is offered by African Finfoot Safaris, not SafariBookings.
This operator reserves the right to change rates advertised on SafariBookings.
If you request changes to this tour, the advertised rates will likely change.
The exact order, contents and rates of this tour are subject to availability.
If an accommodation is fully booked, the operator will suggest a comparable alternative.
Gorilla tracking permits are subject to availability.
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