Birding and Wildlife Safari

Two Countries. Thirteen Days. A Lifetime of Memories.

Explore Africa’s finest birding sanctuaries and wildlife corridors from the mist-shrouded jungles of Uganda to the sun-bleached plains of Tanzania’s legendary Serengeti.

Why This Safari?

Some journeys change you. The 13-Day Uganda and Tanzania Birding and Wildlife Safari by Otter African Safaris is one of them. Designed for passionate birdwatchers, curious naturalists, and seasoned wildlife enthusiasts, this meticulously curated itinerary weaves together two of East Africa’s most biodiverse nations into a single, seamless adventure.

Uganda alone hosts over 1,060 recorded bird species, more than the entire continent of North America. Tanzania adds another layer entirely, with the Serengeti’s open skies and the Ngorongoro’s volcanic caldera delivering some of the most dramatic wildlife theatre on Earth. Together, they form an unbeatable duo.

Best time to travel: June–September and December–February for optimal birding and dry-season game viewing.

Day 1: Arrival in Entebbe, Uganda

Your East African odyssey begins at Entebbe International Airport, where an Otter African Safaris representative meets you with a warm welcome and transfers you to your lakeside lodge on the shores of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, shimmering like hammered bronze in the late afternoon sun.

This evening is yours to unwind, sip a sundowner, and let the anticipation build. Listen closely: the distinctive call of the African Fish Eagle drifting across the water is your first hint of the extraordinary birding days ahead.

Day 2: Entebbe Botanical Gardens & Mabamba Swamp The Shoebill Awaits

Rise early for a magical morning in the Entebbe Botanical Gardens, a lush, forest-draped oasis that has served as a filming location and a haven for dozens of species. Here, the Grey Parrot, African Green Pigeon, and Woodland Kingfisher flit between ancient trees as the morning mist lifts.

The real headline, however, comes in the afternoon: a boat excursion into Mabamba Swamp on Lake Victoria, one of the most reliable sites in all of Africa to encounter the Shoebill Stork. Standing over a metre tall, with a prehistoric, boat-shaped bill that has barely changed in millions of years, this extraordinary bird makes a face-to-face encounter one of birding’s great bucket-list moments. Your expert guide will also scan the papyrus fringes for Papyrus Gonolek, African Pygmy Goose, and Blue-breasted Bee-eater.

Day 3: Transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Today’s journey transports you from the lakeside serenity of Entebbe into the dramatic highland terrain of southwestern Uganda. 

By late afternoon, you arrive at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site so ancient its trees predate the last Ice Age. The atmosphere shifts immediately: cooler air, cathedral-dense canopy, and the soft percussion of birdsong from all directions. Settle in at your forest-edge lodge as your guide briefs you on tomorrow’s extraordinary encounter.

Day 4: Mountain Gorilla Trekking A Moment That Defies Words

This is, for many travellers, the single most profound wildlife experience of their lives. Then, without warning, you find them. A silverback reclines against a mossy trunk. A juvenile tumbles playfully over its mother. Young males wrestle in the undergrowth. Time stops. The forest breathes.

Day 5: Bwindi Forest Birding Albertine Rift Endemics

With the gorilla trekking experience still glowing in memory, Day 5 is dedicated entirely to Bwindi’s extraordinary avifauna. 

Your guide leads you along forest trails and stream edges in search of the African Green Broadbill, a compact, emerald-green gem so perfectly camouflaged it often takes a trained eye to spot. Also on the list: Shelley’s Crimsonwing, Short-tailed Warbler, Lagden’s Bush Shrike, and the stunning Handsome Francolin. 

Day 6: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park

Leaving Bwindi’s cool mountain air, you descend through the rift escarpment toward the vast savannahs of Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda’s most visited wildlife reserve, set on the floor of the Western Rift Valley between two great lakes. The park’s wetlands and lake shores teem with birds: African Skimmer, African Jacana, the iconic Malachite Kingfisher, and hundreds more.

Day 7: Kazinga Channel Boat Safari & Kyambura Gorge

Morning dawns with a boat safari along the Kazinga Channel, a 40-kilometre natural waterway connecting Lake Edward and Lake George. Few wildlife experiences match drifting slowly past hippo pods barely metres from the boat, while Nile Crocodiles bask on sandy banks, and thousands of waterbirds, African Spoonbill, Yellow-billed Stork, Pink-backed Pelican, crowd the shallows. Your guide will record well over 100 species before breakfast ends.

The afternoon turns dramatic at Kyambura Gorge, a sunken rainforest carved deep into the surrounding savannah nicknamed the “Valley of Apes” for its habituated chimpanzee community. A guided trek descends into this verdant corridor for a compelling chimpanzee encounter and forest birding that contrasts magnificently with the open plains above.

Day 8: Fly to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa Changes Gear

After breakfast, a charter flight carries you east across the Great Rift Valley, over the shimmering lakes, and into Tanzania from one wildlife powerhouse into another. Below, the snows of Kilimanjaro eventually appear on the horizon, Africa’s highest peak presiding over the northern savannah like a sovereign.

You arrive in time for an afternoon game drive in Tarangire National Park, an often-overlooked gem whose elephant concentrations are among the highest anywhere on the continent during the dry season. Thousands of animals converge on the Tarangire River when all other water sources have dried, creating scenes of staggering biological intensity. Tarangire is also superb for the Yellow-collared Lovebird, Ashy Starling, and the increasingly rare Rufous-tailed Weaver.

Day 9: Tarangire National Park Full-Day Game Drive

A full day in Tarangire reveals why this park deserves far more attention than it typically receives. Thousands of Wildebeest and Zebra fill the golden-grass plains alongside Giraffe, Lion, Leopard, and the elegant Gerenuk, an antelope so long-necked it feeds standing upright on its hind legs, a behaviour that still astonishes even experienced safari guides.

For birders, the ancient Baobab trees are an attraction in themselves. These centuries-old giants host nesting Yellow-collared Lovebirds and Von der Decken’s Hornbills in their hollows, while the riverine forest edges reveal D’Arnaud’s Barbet, Red-and-yellow Barbet, and the iridescent Superb Starling in numbers that make every other starling seem ordinary.

Day 10: Ngorongoro Crater Earth’s Greatest Wildlife Spectacle

Nowhere on Earth concentrates wildlife quite like the Ngorongoro Crater. 

Descending into the crater by 4×4 vehicle, the scale is immediately humbling. Lion prides sprawl across open ground. Black Rhinoceros, one of Africa’s rarest sights, with fewer than 700 remaining, graze near wallowing hippos. Vast herds of Wildebeest flow like living rivers across the crater floor, followed closely by Spotted Hyena and Cheetah. In the alkaline soda lake at the centre, thousands of Lesser and Greater Flamingoes turn the shallows pink.

Day 11: Serengeti National Park The Kingdom of the Great Migration

The name Serengeti comes from the Maasai word Siringet, “the place where the land runs on forever,” and driving onto these plains for the first time, you understand exactly why. The landscape extends in every direction without interruption, broken only by scattered Kopje rock outcroppings where Lions survey their kingdom.

Depending on the season, you may witness part of the Great Migration, the largest overland animal movement on Earth, involving 1.5 million Wildebeest, 200,000 Zebra, and 500,000 Gazelle cycling ceaselessly across the ecosystem in search of fresh grass. Predator action in the Serengeti is unmatched: Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Wild Dog, and Hyena are encountered regularly, often hunting in daylight.

Birding here is equally spectacular: Martial Eagle soaring on thermals, Lilac-breasted Roller perched brilliantly on every second Acacia, and the extraordinary Ostrich sprinting across open ground. Over 500 bird species call the Serengeti home.

Day 12: Serengeti Full-Day Safari Morning Game Drive & Sundowner

Your final full day in the bush begins before sunrise, and there is no better time. The Serengeti wakes with a theatre of sound: lion roars rumbling across the plains, hyenas calling at the edge of the dark, and the first songbirds stitching the sky with light. A dawn game drive captures the day’s first hunts and reveals nocturnal animals still active at first light.

Day 13: Departure from Kilimanjaro International Airport

After a final breakfast with savannah views, you are transferred to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your onward flight, carrying with you a checklist of birds, a gallery of memories, and the indelible impression of Africa seen at its very best.

What’s Included

• All park entry fees and permits (including Mountain Gorilla Trekking Permit).
• All accommodation.
• All meals.
• All game drives and guided activities with expert naturalist guides.
• Internal charter flights (Bwindi to Kilimanjaro).
• All road transfers in custom 4×4 safari vehicles.
• Bottled water and bush sundowners.

Book Your Place with Otter African Safaris

This is a small-group itinerary, a maximum of eight guests ensures an intimate, personalised safari experience where your guide can go at your pace, respond to your interests, and take the time to find that one extraordinary bird that makes a list complete.

Ready to begin? Contact the Otter African Safaris team today to check availability, discuss customisation options, and secure your place on one of East Africa’s finest birding and wildlife adventures.

“Africa is not a destination. It’s a feeling, and once it takes hold, it never lets go.”