Explore Uganda with us
In 2015, Birding and Educational Tours initiated the collaboration with Venture Uganda, a tour company based in Kampala, to sell and market the tourism services in both countries, Rwanda and Uganda. Until now, we have runt a number of tours in tourism sites of Central and West of Uganda, mainly Mabamba Swamp and National parks of Lake Mburo, Kibale, Queen Elisabeth, Bwindi, Semuriki and Mgahinga.
From 22nd to 29th November 2024, we embarked on a FAM trip to discover the East and North part of Uganda. Our tour started from Kampala, the capital City of Uganda and our first destination was Jinja, a town on the shore of Lake Victoria City. In Jinja, you can visit the Owen Falls Dam and Bujagali Dam both span the Nile, enjoy the kayaking, Bungee jumping, community walks, quad biking, jet boating, horseback riding, cycling and birding along the shores of the river to see waterbirds.
We continued our trip in Mountain Elgon, a national park in North-East shared by Uganda and Kenya. When you visit this park, you have a variety of activities including an every morning running exercise from Sipi Center to Chema Hill in Kapchorwa center, mountain biking, a three to six days hiking of Mountain Elgon to enjoy a milder weather, walking in Budadiri village for different experiences like coffee processing, cultural dances and cooking the local dishes. With thick shrubs, Mountain Elgon forest has the special birds that you can’t miss when you are with a local bird guide among other Kalamoja Apalis, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Doherty’s and Lüdher’s Bush-shrike. The region has a variety of accommodations from budget to luxury and a minimum of 3 nights is recommended to understand the culture, nature and enjoy the pleasant climate.
After a night in Sipi, we continued our exploration trip at Pian Upe Game Reserve. On arrival, we visited the office and we learnt that the process to gazette this reserve to a national park is under process. Pian Upe is the second largest protected area in Uganda, after Murchison Falls National Park. On a short safaris we have seen Topi, Giraffe, Hartebeest, Cape Eland, Roan Antilope, Buffalo, Waterbuck, Zebra, etc. The ranger also mentioned the presence of Dik-dik, Aardvark, Uganda Kobs, Spotted Hyenas, Leopards, Civets, etc. We have seen also a number of birds among others the Common Ostrich and Abyssinian Ground-hornbill. The park is also home to Karamoja Aplais, Fox’s Weaver (endemic to Uganda) and when you drive along the wetland you can see the famous Shoebill Stork. When we headed to our accommodation in Moroto town, we drove along Kalamoja, a region with Kalamojong known as a group of agro-pastoral herders (similar to Massai in Kenya) and a particular culture that can attract tourist.
We continued our trip to Kidepo Valley National Park, a rugged savannah park in North of Uganda, bordering with Kenya. The park is known for its savannah habitat and valleys with exceptional animals that you can easily see when you are on a safari, from lodges or at the camping sites. We have seen herds of Buffaloes, Hartebeest, Uganda Cobs, Zebra, Oribi, etc. while Waterbuck, Warthogs and Jackals are always visiting Bandas at Apoka. Birdlife is also abundant in this park among others the Crested Francolin and Clapperton’s Spurfowl, White-headed Vulture. There is a variety of accommodations around the park from Luxury to budgets and camping sites in and around Kidepo.
After Kidepo Valley, we continued to Murchison Falls National Park, via Gulu region. We drove along the spectacular landscape of Kalamojongs where we crossed herds of traditional cattle! We continued to Echoli region as we are heading to the Nile River on the shore of Lake Albert. The park is the largest protected areas in Uganda and it is known for Murchison Falls, where the Victoria Nile River outpourings through a narrow gap over a massive drop. On our safaris we encountered a pride of lions (with cubs), a tower of Giraffe and herd of Buffaloes, Hartebeest, Uganda Cobs, Oribi, Waterbuck and Warthogs. The big game animals also include Elephants, Bushbuck, Cheetah, etc. Birdlife in this forest is spectacular; when you go along the river Nile, you have many chances to see the Shoebill Stork along with other waterbirds like Saddle-billed Stork, etc. You can also see land birds like Black-billed Barbet, European Wheatear, Lappet-faced and Ruppel’s Vultures, Martial Eagle. The southern part of Murchison is dominated by mahogany forest where you can trek Chimpanzees; this forest is the only known area in East African region to see the Yellow-footed Flycatcher. A variety of accommodation is well found in and around this park; from budget to luxury lodges.
On the end of the FAM trip, I can confirm that Uganda is really the Pearl of African with variety of habitat, abundant wildlife and diverse culture. From this FAM trip, we come up with a package of 15 days to cover only the eastern-north of Uganda and 30 days to cover East-North-West and central of Uganda. These packages are additional to our existing 10 days tour to the West of Uganda to see savannah animals and birds in Queen Elisabeth and Lake Mburo, Trekking Chimpanzees and Mountain Gorillas in Kibale and Bwindi NP respectively.
For your inquiries to discover wildlife, pleasant weather and diversity of culture of Uganda (and Rwanda), contact Birding and Educational Tours at info@birdingrwanda.com or rwandabirding@gmail.com or visit our website: www.birdingrwanda.com.
