Day 1: Arrival, Entebbe Botanical Gardens
Airport pickup and an afternoon of birding at the Botanical Gardens on the Lake Victoria shore, a gentle introduction covering a wide range of common species before the specialist targets begin.
Day 2: Mabamba Swamp
A full day by canoe in the papyrus channels of Mabamba Swamp, Uganda's most reliable site for shoebill stork, with a success rate well above 80 percent for patient visitors, plus a wide range of other wetland species.
Day 3: Transfer to Lake Mburo
A drive west with roadside birding stops, arriving at Lake Mburo National Park for an introductory afternoon walk.
Day 4: Lake Mburo woodland and boat birding
A full day working the park's acacia woodland for barbets and raptors, plus a boat session for African finfoot and papyrus specialists.
Day 5: Transfer to Mgahinga
A drive further south-west to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, with forest birding on the lower slopes for Rwenzori Turaco and Kivu Ground Thrush.
Day 6: Echuya Forest and Ruhija
A transfer to Bwindi's Ruhija sector via Echuya Forest Reserve, a reliable site for Regal Sunbird and Rwenzori Batis among the mid-altitude forest specialists.
Day 7: Mubwindi Swamp
A full-day trek into Mubwindi Swamp, rated among Africa's best birding sites, targeting Grauer's Broadbill and Grauer's Swamp Warbler alongside a long list of Albertine Rift endemics.
Day 8: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth
A drive north with birding stops through changing habitat, arriving at Queen Elizabeth National Park by the afternoon.
Day 9: Kazinga Channel and Kasenyi plains
A morning Kazinga Channel cruise for a dense concentration of waterbirds, then an afternoon drive across the Kasenyi plains for open-country species.
Day 10: Ishasha sector birding
A day trip south to the Ishasha sector, both for its tree-climbing lions and for riverine forest species along the Ishasha River.
Day 11: Transfer to Kibale
A drive north-east to Kibale Forest, arriving in time for an afternoon forest walk targeting Green-breasted Pitta, one of the region's most sought-after and elusive species.
Day 12: Kibale forest birding
A full day on Kibale's forest trails, alongside chimpanzees and twelve other primate species, for a long list of Guinea-Congo forest biome birds.
Day 13: Transfer to Semuliki
A drop down into the Rift Valley floor to Semuliki National Park, a genuine extension of the Congo Basin's lowland rainforest bird community into Uganda.
Day 14: Semuliki forest and Sempaya hot springs
A full day on Semuliki's trails around the Sempaya hot springs, targeting species found nowhere else in East Africa outside this pocket of lowland forest.
Day 15: Transfer to the Rwenzori foothills
Back up onto the plateau and into the lower Rwenzori foothills for forest and montane species distinct from both Semuliki and Bwindi.
Day 16: Rwenzori foothill birding
A full day on Rwenzori's lower trails, among 217 recorded bird species and 17 Albertine Rift endemics within the wider national park.
Day 17: Transfer to Murchison Falls
A long transfer north to Murchison Falls National Park, with birding stops along the way as habitat shifts from highland to savannah.
Day 18: Murchison Falls delta birding
A boat trip into the Victoria Nile Delta, where the river fans into papyrus channels favoured by a second population of shoebill, alongside a strong run of raptors and waterbirds.
Day 19: Murchison Falls savannah birding
A final full day across the northern savannah, among the park's more than 460 recorded species, with a boat cruise to the base of the falls to close.
Day 20: Return toward Entebbe
The drive south with a final birding stop if time allows, arriving in Entebbe for the evening.
Day 21: Departure
A final transfer to Entebbe International Airport for the flight home.
