After a short transfer from the airport, we settle into our hotel in Entebbe. A town of 70,000 people, about an hour outside of the much larger capital city of Kampala (over 1.5 million), we’ll overnight here, tucked right into the northern edge of Lake Victoria. This is the largest lake in Africa and the largest tropical lake in the world. Just to our northeast 40 miles at the town of Jinja is the headwaters of the Nile, the longest river in the world. Flights into Entebbe tend to arrive late at night or in the morning (usually between 11pm to 7am). Plan your flight to arrive this day. If you arrive early in the morning you can rest and relax, and often see quite a nice array of birds right from around the hotel. We’ll have our first meeting and a welcome dinner this day. Meet in the hotel restaurant at 630pm. Night in Entebbe.

After an early breakfast, we head out for the fabled Mabamba Swamp, about 50 km west of Kampala. At the swamp here, much of our birding is by canoe, piloted by expert local guides. We’ll keep a keen eye out for the Shoebill, both in the sky and down amid the marsh vegetation. Sometimes they are found quite easily, and other times…. well, we’ll need some luck. Regardless, as we go there is a lot of other stuff to see, including birds like Swamp Flycatcher, African Swamphen, African Rail, African Jacana, Squacco Heron, Winding Cisticola, Goliath Heron (the world’s largest), and the fidgety Black Crake. With a little help from the birding gods we might also encounter the elusive Lesser Jacana, African Pygmy-Goose, or Blue-breasted Bee-eater, all while Malachite and Pied kingfishers abound.

In the afternoon, we’ll visit the Entebbe Botanical Garden, a short distance from our hotel, but with remarkably good birding. Night in Entebbe.

With the goal of getting out and away from the Kampala traffic, we’ll move out early and begin our drive to Masindi. Typically this is about a 4.5 hour drive. Once clear of Kampala, we’ll find spots to stop, stretch out legs and even see some birds too. There are agricultural areas that will have birds of interest that could include various raptors, and wet areas with patches of papyrus could hold specialties, including cryptic White-winged Swamp Warbler, Carruthers’s Cisticola and maybe even that tricky Papyrus Gonolek. Night in Masindi.

Budongo’s famous Royal Mile will be our focus this morning and where we spend the bulk of our time. An old and wide forestry track, this is considered by many as the country’s premier forest birding site, and it is perhaps the best place in Uganda for Nahan’s Francolin, Cassin’s Spinetail, and Chestnut-capped Flycatcher. We’ll hope for success with them and should also find plenty of confusing forest Greenbuls to test us too, with Spotted, Xavier’s, White-throated, Red-tailed and Honeyguide Greenbuls all possible. Canopy flocks may contain Yellow-mantled Weaver, Rufous Thrush and Uganda Woodland-Warbler. The undergrowth here along the track holds some serious skulkers too. Hopefully we’ll see a few of these too, including sleuths such as Scaly-breasted, Brown and Pale-breasted Illadopses, Fire-crested Alethe, Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat, Rufous Flycatcher-Thrush, Red-tailed Ant-Thrush, Yellow-browed Camaroptera, Yellow Longbill, and Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher. And we need to keep an eye skyward too through any openings in the forest canopy in case a Cassin’s Hawk Eagle or Crowned Eagle glides into view. The area around the park Headquarters is the only site in East Africa for the elusive canopy dwelling Ituri Batis, a bird for which few photos or recordings exist. Always the birding here is rewarding. Night again at Hotel Masindi.

We’ll take stock of what we’ve seen around Masindi and perhaps hit a spot near town, but the goal today is to transfer to Murchison Falls National Park and to begin to explore the park. The nation’s largest national park (over 1500 square miles), it is divided into halves by the Victoria Nile, and is of course well known as the site for the magnificent Murchison Falls. At the falls itself are birds like Rock Pratincole and Black-headed Lapwing, and then out in the open savanna areas are a multitude of animals such as the endangered Rothschild’s giraffe, warthog, African Elephant, lion and much more. We’ll bird our way into the park, stopping for wildlife, and eventually end up at our lodge, on the eastern bank of the Albert Nile. There we are surrounded by birds and wildlife, with sweeping views of the park, while based a luxurious safari lodge. Night in Murchison Falls National Park.

With a full day to explore the park, we’ll visit Murchison Falls, and do game drives cross-secting a variety of habitats. We’ll try and connect with lions, leopard, and other big mammals while also keeping an alert eye out for birds such as Martial eagle, Red-throated and Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters, the massive Abyssinian Ground-Hornbill, Red-necked Falcon, while enjoying the large number of personable Piapiacs. The rare and local Dusky Babbler is also sometimes found lurking in the dense riverine scrub. Night again in Murchison Falls National Park.

Largely a travel day, after a leisurely breakfast we drive to Kibale which is about a 5-hour drive. We’ll break up the drive with a couple brief spots but aim to arrive into Fort Portal outside of Kibale, in the mid-late afternoon. Kibale National Park is among the last expanses of woodland to contain both lowland and montane forest, and it’s the best safari destination for chimpanzee tracking in East Africa. It contains one of the loveliest and most varied tracts of all tropical forests in Uganda, and hosts 13 species of primates, including the chimpanzee. With near 1500 chimpanzees it provides a haven for Uganda’s largest population of this endangered primate. But also impressive are the other primates we might see here. The rare and striking L’hoest’s monkey is at times spotted here, and East Africa’s largest population of threatened Red Colobus resides here too. Other primates could include the Black-and-white Colobus, Blue Monkey, Grey-cheeked Mangabey, Red-tailed Monkey, the mischievous Olive Baboon, and even Galago, and East African Potto.

The park boasts 325 bird species, including 6 that are endemic to the Albertine Rift: the Black-capped Apalis, Blue-headed Sunbird, Collared Apalis, Dusky Crimsonwing, Purple-breasted Sunbird and Red-faced Woodland-Warbler. With great luck, we might also find an African or Green-breasted pitta, while Black Bee-eater, Yellow-spotted Nicator, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Little Greenbul, Black-eared Ground-Thrush, Brown-chested Alethe, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Abyssinian Ground-Thrush, and Crowned Eagle are all in the mix too. Night at the Chimpanzee Guest House.

Today we rise early, and after breakfast head into Kibale (often pronounced Che-bah-lay) National Park where at visitor center we receive a short briefing on the plan for our chimp-tracking excursion. We’ll spend time searching for our closest relative, and hope to be able to commune with them as they just go about their daily business. The tracking may last just two or as many as 4 hours depending on conditions and where the Chimps are and how easy they are to reach. After lunch, in the afternoon we will work back along the main road, and then depending on the weather, we may also bird Bigodi wetland which can hold riverine forest birds. Kibale National Park is a good site for a number of birds that are hard to find elsewhere including Speckle-breasted Woodpecker, Cabanis's Greenbul and Joyful Greenbul as well as White-spotted Flufftail, Dusky and Olive Long-tailed Cuckoos, Lesser Honeyguide, Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat, White-chinned Prinia, Grey Apalis, Olive-green Camaroptera and White-collared Oliveback. Night again at the Chimpanzee Guest House.

After a bit of birding around Kibale, we drive 2.5 hours to Kasese. From their we catch a flight to Kihihi and after touching down there drive on one hour to our home for the next three nights. Situated in the town of Buhoma at the edge of Bwindi National Park, we’ll explore the park over the next few days while staying at the Ride-4-a-Woman Guesthouse. Beginning in 2009, Evelyn Habasa and her husband, Denis Rubalema, started Ride-4-a-Woman with the goal to support local women struggling with issues associated with HIV and domestic violence. Originally, they rented bicycles, and so it was called “Ride-4-a-Woman”. The name stuck as the organization grew, and today over 300 women from 11 villages work here, making use of the resources. Women learn how sew and weave, making products to sell, they are trained in local traditions of dance and music, as well as in hospitality, and some are involved in a microfinance program. It is an amazing and leading example of an organization making an enormous impact. We are lucky to be able to support the work here, and to make an impact ourselves through our stay. A fantastic retreat in every respect, Ride-4-a-Woman offer local women a place to stay, eat, and earn a wage as they learn new skills. It offers us a way to connect with the community and has great potential for those looking to bring home gifts to friends and family. The staff is wonderfully hospitable, and it’s a great base to explore magical Bwindi.

Bwindi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to approximately half of the world’s population of Mountain Gorillas. A vast reserve, it offers not only ample habitat for about 400 Mountain Gorillas, it also provides arguably the most productive montane forest birding in Africa, supporting 23 of Uganda's 24 Albertine Rift endemic bird species. These can be tricky to find and we will not see all 23, but we’ll work the woodlands and should see a decent chunk of them. Once part of a much larger forest that included the Virunga Volcanoes in neighboring Rwanda, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is now an ecological island, set within a sea of agricultural fields and farmland, making it all the more important from a conservation perspective.

Some special birds here we could see might include: Black-faced Rufous-Warbler, Grauer’s Warbler, Banded Prinia, Black-faced Apalis, Red-throated Alethe, Yellow-eyed Black-Flycatcher, Chapin’s Flycatcher, Rwenzori Batis, Black-and-white Shrike Flycatcher, Oriole Finch, Mountain Buzzard, Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle, Handsome Francolin, Black-billed Turaco, Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo, Scarce Swift, Red-chested Owlet, Tullberg’s Woodpecker, Elliot’s Woodpecker, African Broadbill, African Green Broadbill, Lagden’s Bush Shrike, Petit’s Cuckooshrike, Archer’s Ground Robin, Toro Olive-Greenbul, Ansorge’s Greenbul, Equatorial Akalat, Grauer’s Rush Warbler, Neumann’s Warbler, and Red-faced Woodland Warbler. Night at Ride-4-a-Woman Guesthouse.

Today is a big day, and for some will be the most anticipated day of the whole trip. After breakfast, we gather at the park office for the briefing on how to manage ourselves while tracking Mountain Gorillas. Gorilla tracking is like nothing else. It can be straightforward and exhilarating, or an all-day affair that’s pretty exhausting. In terms of the time involved it could take anywhere from 1 hour to 8 hours. The hiking typically is not for the faint of heart either. More to the point, it is not for anyone who is not reasonably fit and accustomed to moving about briskly at a moderately high elevation on a potentially slippery and uneven landscape. The hiking is typically involved and quite strenuous for even relatively fit guests. For some, the hiking is not really a suitable endeavor, and if any wish to opt out there is still some birding that can be done nearby. For those who feel it is within their capabilities, we will walk out into the wilderness in search of these gentle giants. Eight people are permitted per troop per day. On rare occasions the Gorillas prove elusive or even end up too far to find. Usually though they are found within an hour or two by our tracker guides and then it is a matter of getting to where they are before they move. Once there, it is an incredible and unforgettable experience to stare in to the eyes of these magnificent animals and to watch them as they play and go about their routines. Indeed a “once in a lifetime” experience. Each encounter with the gorillas is different, but typically we enjoy close views of feeding adults, and get to see them grooming and resting, as the youngsters frolic and swing from vines nearby in a delightful, playful display. Night again at Ride-4-a-Woman Guesthouse

Hopefully today we continue to bask in the glory of the previous day’s gorilla sightings, and it is not inconceivable we could still bump into more today (though unlikely). Instead, today our focus is on the birds we mentioned above, and also possibly others such as Dusky Tit, Kivu Ground-Thrush, or Gray-green Bushshrike. The various high exposed perches that poke up above the open forest are favored spots for African Goshawk, or could hold a dazzling Black Bee-eater, a Blue-throated Roller, a Sooty Flycatcher or forest starlings such as Waller's, Stuhlmann's or Narrow-tailed. 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 African Broadbill, while the mid-story and canopy might yield Elliot's or Tullberg's woodpeckers, or Cabanis's, Shelley's and Ansorge's greenbuls, the odd Grauer's Warbler or White-browed Crombec. The rare Jameson's Antpecker is possible here too, and at times has been seen probing away under moss on dead branches or gleaning warbler-like in the canopy. Overhead, a keen eye might spot Scarce Swifts as they forage above the forest. Birding here around the village of Buhoma is a magical experience. Some days it is downright dizzying with busy birds. Other wildlife we might be fortunate enough to encounter here include the rather large Yellow-backed Duiker, Black-and-white Colobus, and L'Hoest's, Blue and Red-tailed monkeys, and several species of squirrels such as Fire-footed Rope, Carruthers' Mountain, Ruwenzori Sun and Red-legged Sun Squirrel. Night again at Ride-4-a-Woman Guesthouse.

After breakfast, it’s time to move on from magical Bwindi. It is tough to leave a place like this behind, but the good news is we are onward to Lake Mburo! This park has remarkably varied habitats, from open Acacia woodlands, to papyrus-lined lakes and swamps. Species we’ll search for as we travel through the woodland and in the immediate vicinity of Rwonyo (at lake Mburo), still within the park, include: Rufous-bellied Heron, Spur-winged Goose, Comb Duck, Black-chested Snake-Eagle, Lizard Buzzard, Palm-nut and White-backed Vultures, Wahlberg’s and Verreaux’s Eagles, Crested Francolin, Gray Crowned-Crane, African Finfoot, Senegal, Crowned, Wattled, and Brown-chested Lapwings, Emerald Spotted and Blue-spotted Wood Doves, Great Blue Turaco, Bare-faced Go-away Bird, Mottled Spinetail, Little, White-rumped and African Palm Swifts, Lilac-breasted and Broad-billed Rollers, Green Wood-Hoopoe, Common Scimitar-Bill, African Grey, Crowned, Black-and-white Casqued, and African Pied Hornbills, Red-shouldered Cuckoo-shrike, Northern (white-winged) Black Tit, Mariqua, Olive-bellied, and Red-chested Sunbirds, and more. If we are lucky, we might even see the nomadic Weyn’s Weaver. Night at Rwakobo Rock Lodge.

Lake Mburo National Park contains multiple habitats, and our time will be divided between birding an extensive area of wetland, some forested areas, and open country with numerous mammals. No fewer than 300 different bird species have been recorded in the park, an indication of the high diversity present here. The more open grassland north of the camp, particularly along the Zebra Track, is worth exploring for species such as Coqui Francolin, Red-necked Spurfowl, Black-bellied Bustard, Temminck’s Courser, and Wattled Lapwing. And, it is here where small numbers of the migratory Brown-chested Lapwing can be regularly observed sometimes.

Mammals are a large part of our visit to this park, and the many species we might see include the shy Oribi, graceful Impalas, and Common Zebras, all found out in the open, park-like woodland. At night we’ll look for African Scops-Owls and Black- shouldered Nightjar.

Lake Mburo National Park is a gem. Though the park is just 370 sq km in size, its landscapes are varied and even a short drive is alive with interesting and colorful birds and habitats. We will work our way through gallery forests, open savannah, acacia woodland, some rocky kopjes, both seasonal and permanent swamps, and the lake itself. A variety of vegetative habitats surround the open water of Lake Mburo. The lake’s western side is dominated by a grassy escarpment rising above a shoreline fringed with acacia forest and the closed canopy Rubanga forest. To the north and east, grassy valley floors, made seasonally lush and soggy by rain, drain between undulating hills. These seep through expanses of wetland into the lake. Rock kopjes are found along the eastern margins of the park. These varied habitats support an impressive variety of wildlife including 68 mammal species. These include some rarities. Lake Mburo is the only park in Uganda to contain Impala and the only one in the rift region to host Burchell’s Zebra and Eland. In Uganda, Topi are only found in Lake Mburo and Queen Elizabeth national parks. Common wildlife species include warthog, buffalo, oribi, Deffassa waterbuck and Reedbuck. Leopard and hyena are also present while hippo and crocodile are found in the lake.

Birds we may encounter on our journey around Lake Mburo include Emerald Spotted Wood-Dove, Bare-faced Go-away Bird, Blue-naped Mousebird, Lilac-breasted Roller, Green Wood-hoopoe, Common Scimitarbill, African Grey Hornbill, Spot-flanked Barbet, Nubian Woodpecker, Trilling Cisticola, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Northern Black Tit, Greater Blue-eared Starling, and Marico Sunbird. There will be a boat trip too looking for bird specialties including African Finfoot, and other mammals like Zebras, Impalas, Elands, Topi and Buffaloes in the Park. Stay at Rwaboko Rock Hotel.

Today we make our way back to where we started this trip, in Entebbe. We should arrive there early to mid-Afternoon and then have the rest of the afternoon to relax.