Arrive at Entebbe International Airport and meet up with Rafiki Safaris's team. Depending on time and stamina levels, we can transfer to your accommodation and rest and/or visit the nearby Entebbe Botanical Gardens (an excellent birding spot to get started on arrival). The Entebbe Botanical Gardens established in 1898 are situated on the northern shores of Lake Victoria virtually on the equator. With an annual rainfall of 60" and at an altitude of 3750', the gardens cover just 100 acres, but have easy trails offering some quite special birds. We will look especially for Palm-nut Vulture, Open-billed Stork, Scaly Francolin, Tambourine Dove, Giant Kingfisher, Great Blue & Ross's Turacos, White-headed & Double-toothed Barbets, Red-headed Lovebird, Broad-billed Roller, Pied & Black-and-white Casqued Hornbills, Verreaux's Eagle-Owl, Angola Swallow, Splendid Glossy Starling, Black-headed Gonolek, Red-chested Sunbird, Grey-capped Warbler, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Brown Twinspot, Black-headed Bush-shrike and, Slender-billed weaver, Orange Weaver, etc.

Activities Included

Early breakfast, then out to nearby Mabamba Wetlands on the shores of Lake Victoria. This is one of the few remaining swamps in the country protected by the local communities – an extensive papyrus swamp with its labyrinth of channels and lagoons, classified as an Important Bird Area, and home to several pairs of Shoebills, Uganda’s most famous avian resident. This charismatic monotypic species is certainly amongst the most sought-after birds in Africa, and we’ll make special efforts today to find it by paddling through the channels by boat. There will of course be a good selection of classic East African water birds, including Pink-backed Pelican, Long-tailed Cormorant, Goliath Heron, African Open-billed, Saddle-billed, and Marabou Storks, Hammerkop, White-faced Whistling-Duck, Yellow-billed Duck, African Fish-Eagle, African Marsh-Harrier, African Water Rail, Purple Swamphen, Allen's Gallinule, African Jacana, Long-toed and Spur-winged Plovers. Apart from the numerous water birds, we are likely to see a nice variety of open country and water edge species, perhaps including Speckled Pigeon, African Green Pigeon, Eastern Plantain-eater, Malachite, Giant, and Pied Kingfishers, Blue-headed Coucal, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Crowned Hornbill, Angola and Rufous-chested Swallows, Winding Cisticola, Greater and Lesser Swamp-Warblers, Swamp Flycatcher, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Papyrus Gonolek, Slender-billed, Northern Brown-throated, and Golden-backed Weavers, and Papyrus Canary. In the afternoon, we head westwards to our first of many national parks, Mburo Lake. This park has varied habitats from open Acacia woodlands, to a number of papyrus-lined lakes and swamps.

Activities Included

Lake Mburo National Park contains multiple habitats, and our time will be divided between birding an extensive area of wetland and the lake, 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 acacia grassland particularly along the Zebra Track, is worth exploring for species such as Coqui Francolin, Red-necked Spurfowl, Blackbellied Bustard, Temminck’s Courser, and African Wattled Lapwing, and it is here where small numbers of the migratory Brown-chested Lapwing can be regularly observed. After dusk, we’ll have the opportunity to do some spot lighting along the entrance road, which may produce some interesting nocturnal species, such as the African Scops Owl, Verreux’s Eagle-Owl, and Black-shouldered, Fiery-necked, and Pennant-winged Nightjars. If it can be arranged, a night game drive may be possible. Mammals will be 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, Eland, Hippopotamus, Giraffe, Leopard, Lion, Topi, all found out in the open, park-like woodland, Klipspringer, Bushbuck, Waterbuck, Olive Baboon, Black face Monkey, Dwarf Mongoose, Banded Mongoose and many others.

Activities Included

On this day, we set off early, with packed lunch, to the park headquarters for a briefing prior to Gorilla Tracking. This is the most exciting lifetime experience of all time. The gorillas are gentle animals and it is an unforgettable experience to photograph them as they interact. It is a wonderful experience to stare in to the eyes of these gentle giants; watch them in awe as they play and go about their daily activities. It is indeed a “once in a lifetime” experience that you must never miss. Each encounter is different and has its own rewards; you are likely to enjoy the close view of adults feeding, grooming and resting as the youngster’s frolic and swing from vines in a delightfully playful display. We will also look for other primates like the L’ Hoest Monkey, Black and White Colobus; Red tailed, and Blue monkeys. Mammals include the Rwenzori Duiker, Yellow back duiker, Caruthers squirrel, Bohm’s and Alexander squirrels, and many other species.

Today, we shall start early after breakfast and drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Our route to the park will be determined by road conditions,either passing through the Ishasha sector, well-known for its climbing lions, or alternatively drive through the beautiful sceneries of Rukungiri district. The park, which is named after Queen Elizabeth who visited it in 1954, is the second largest national park in Uganda, and ranks highest with respect to overall diversity, with a species list exceeding 600. The park has a mosaic of habitats from moist forest at Maramagambo to wild savannah excellent for Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Hyenas, Ugandan Kobs, Side-striped Jackal, Baboons, Giant Hogs, just to name a few. While at the park we’ll partake in a game drive, and one of the big highlights of this area will be the boat ride on the Kazinga Channel, which is one of the best and thrilling in Africa. This trip is one of the better places to look for African Skimmers, which are sometimes present, while just some of the many species possible include Great White and Pink-backed Pelicans, Grey, Purple and Goliath Herons, Saddle-billed and Yellow-billed Storks, Sacred and Glossy Ibises, African Spoonbill, Egyptian Goose, Black Crake, African Jacana, Black-winged Stilt, Water Thick-knee, Spur-winged, African Wattled, Kittlitz’s, and Three-banded Plovers, Collared Pratincole, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Brown-throated Sand Martin, Greater and Lesser Swamp Warblers, Carruthers’s Cisticola, and Papyrus Gonolek.

Activities Included

After breakfast, we will drive to Kibale forest arriving in Fort Portal in the late afternoon. Kibale forest national park is 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. It hosts 13 species of primates including the chimpanzee. It has 1450 chimpanzees and these represent Uganda’s largest population of this endangered primate. It is also home to the rare L’hoest’s monkey and East Africa’s largest population of the threatened red colobus monkey. Other primates that you may see include the black and white colobus, blue monkey, grey cheeked Mangabey, red tailed monkey, olive baboon, bush baby and pottos. Kibale forest cover predominates in the northern and central parts of the park. Kibale is highest at the park’s northern tip which stands at 1590m above sea level. After an early breakfast on Day 8, we drive to Kibale National Park visitor center for briefing and chimp tracking. The activity may last from a few hours to several hours. Kibale forest is home to 13 primates of Uganda.Birding in the afternoon along the main road may be productive. Depending on the weather predictions, birding Bigodi wetland is also productive with 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'sGreenbul and Joyful Greenbul as well as White-spotted Fluff tail, Dusky and Olive Long tailed Cuckoo, Lesser Honey guide, Blue-shouldered Robin Chat, White-chinned Prinia, Grey Apalis, Olive-green Camaroptera and White-collared Olive back.

On this day you will return to Kampala.Check in to your accommodation.

Activities Included

On this day,depending on your flight home,you will have a chance to tour a selection of cultural,religious and historical sites in Kampala city.