5 days Kibale birding combined with wildlife safari will take you to Kibale National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park. Kibale National Park is not only the world’s primate capital but also a birders’ paradise harboring to about 372 bird species including the rare green breasted pitta that is only found in this area. Expect to encounter several bird species around the Ndali Kasenda crater region and Bigodi wetland sanctuary referred to as the home to the great blue turaco and boasts a rich biodiversity of over 200 bird species, primate species and plant types. Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda’s most popular tourist destination that boasts with over 95 mammal species and 600 bird species that you will encounter during your game drive and the Kazinga channel launch cruise. This 5 days Kibale birding combined with Queen Elizabeth wildlife safari will expose you to Uganda’s important birding area.
You will be picked up from your location by a driver guide from Glory summit tours and travel and immediately set off for Kibale National Park with a stopover in Fort Portal for your lunch. After lunch you will proceed for birdwatching around Kibale’s crater lakes for example Lake Nyabikere, Lake Nkuruba, Lake Nyinambuga, Nyamirima crater and many more as you look out for several bird species for example western tinker bird, long-tailed cuckoo, dusky crimsoning, collared Apalis, little greenbul, brown-chested alethe and many more. You will further be driven to your reserved lodge where you will check-in for relaxation, dinner and an overnight.
Wake up to a hefty breakfast and report to the park headquarters for a briefing about chimpanzee trekking after which you will be led by ranger guides into the Park’s rainforests to embark on the search of a habituated troop of chimpanzees. This lasts for about 1 to 4 hours after which an hour is allowed with the chimpanzees while you watch them go by their daily duties. Several other primates and bird species will be spotted before you return to your lodge to have lunch. After lunch you will head off for a nature walk in Bigodi wetland where you will spot several bird species like the great blue turaco, black-crowned waxbill, western nicator, superb sunbird, shrike flycatcher, hairy-breasted barbet, bush shrike, black bishop and many more. This jungle swamp is also a home to many primate species and mammals that you will encounter before you return to your lodge to have dinner and an overnight.
Have your breakfast in the early morning and checkout to be driven to Queen Elizabeth National Park with a stopover at the Equator line in Kikorongo after which you will proceed to arrive at your booked lodge to check-in and have lunch. After lunch you will head off for a game drive through the Park’s savannah plains where you will spot several animals for example large herds of buffaloes, elephants, waterbucks, Uganda kobs, lions, hyenas, bushbucks, oribis and many more. Several savannah bird species will be seen for example helmeted Guinee fowl, palm nut vultures, African white-backed vultures, hooded vultures to mention but a few. Get back to your lodge for dinner and an overnight.
Enjoy your morning breakfast and return to the Park’s plains for game viewing to spot other wildlife that you could have missed out in the previous game drive such as the nocturnal animals as they rush back to their hide outs such as hippopotamuses, civets, spotted hyenas, serval cats and other wildlife like buffaloes, elephants, warthogs, waterbucks, topis, lions and many more. Return to your lodge to have lunch after which you will head off for a launch cruise along the Kazinga channel which is a highlight of the Park’s wildlife and birdlife. Animals that will be seen include hippopotamuses, crocodiles, elephants, buffaloes, antelopes and many more. Bird species that can be spotted along the Kazinga channel include pin-tailed whydah, yellow-backed weaver, grey-capped warbler, little bee-eater, blue-napped mouse bird and many more. Return to your lodge to have dinner and an overnight.
Having had your breakfast, checkout and meet your driver guide to be driven back to Kampala with a stopover in Mbarara for your lunch. After your lunch you will proceed to Kayabwe where you will make a stopover to have an equator line experience as you take photos at the equator monument and purchase some souvenirs from craft shops around. You will continue with your drive to Kampala where you will be dropped off to your preferred location or to the airport for your outbound flight back home.
