Our final leg of the FAM trip was perhaps the most meaningful. We drove from Bwindi to Kisoro, where we participated in the Global Youth Festival for the Conservation of Albertine Rift Endemics. The Festival took place in Virunga Hotel in Kisoro on December 12th-13th. It was so amazing to meet many young birders and conservations that flocked to Kisoro for the Festival, from all over Uganda, also from Rwanda and Kenya. Some of the youth travelled for days to reach Kisoro. Our group participated in the first session of the Festival. The few hours spent together were enjoyable, educational and inspiring. I had a opportunity to talk for a few minutes. I focused on the importance of data collected by citizen scientists, using platforms such as eBird, topped up with photos and sound recording uploaded to eBird and Macaulay Library. I also talked about the importance of flyway-scale conservation initiatives, connected through migratory birds. I talked about Champions of the Flyway, and congratulated Patricia our incredible guide who participated in COTF in 2023.
Of course, we birded the Virunga Hotel grounds, and spent quality time on the roof, appreciating the fantastic vista of Kisoro and surroundings. There were a few White-necked Ravens loafing on the roof - awesome beasts.
In Kisoro we stayed at the lovely Ichumbi Hotel. The hotel grounds hosted some cool birds:
Red-throated Crag-Martin
Cape Wagtail
Streaky Seedeater
I especially enjoyed birding the adjacent 'suburban' farmland. This is such an enjoyable aspect of African birding. The bird I appreciated most was MacKinnon's Shrike. We had seen this central African shrike out of the car in previous days, but this was our first proper view, of a pair.
Chubb's Cisticola showed very well - too well in fact
Too close for my Swarovski ATX85 scope
Yellow Bishop
Western Citril
The original FAM trip plan had included an overnight stay at Lake Mburo, with plenty of birding time in the national park. The visit to Lake Mburo was highly anticipated by our group, because for every bird we asked Herbert and Patricia Where's the best place to see it, the automatic response was 'Lake Mburo'. Eventually, in the final couple of days our team dispersed, as people had to leave at different times. Yannina and I had an afternoon flight to catch from Entebbe (another six hours drive). Our plan for an early morning boat ride on the lake (for i.e. African Finfoot) drowned in torrential rain that cancelled the boat trip, so we missed Lake Mburo completely. Ah well, next time.
On the way out of the park we drove by Nyakigando Wetland which was actually fantastic, with Rufous-bellied Heron being the highlight, and lots of other wet waterbirds (eBird checklist here).
African Openbill
Malachite Kingfishers - little gems
From there it was a long drive to into Entebbe. Forging Entebbe traffic took some patience.
Eventually we arrived at Entebbe airport, where I submitted my final eBird checklist in Uganda. I said my goodbyes to Patricia, to Shindishi our fantastic driver, and to our group, caught a flight to Addis Ababa (no terminal birding this time - layover was at night) and onward to Tel Aviv.
It was an amazing trip in Uganda, certainly one of my best birding trips ever. Despite being a FAM trip and not a 'proper' birding trip, we did pretty well I think. Check our eBird trip report here. Between the entire group we saw 481 bird species, which isn't bad at all. I assume that during a proper birding trip of the same length and itinerary, the 500 species target is achievable.
I personally had 463 species, 115 of them were lifers, demonstrating how unique is the birding in Uganda, distinctly different from birding in Kenya and Tanzania where I have done lots of birding before. My personal Ugandan birding highlights included Shoebill of course, Papyrus Gonolek, Rock Pratincoles, African Skimmers, Giant Kingfisher, African Wood-Owl, Chocolate-backed Kingfisher and other Royal Mile specialties, Arnot's Chat, Regal Sunbird, Dusky Crimsonwing and other Albertine Rift endemics and Bwindi specialties, and MacKinnon's Shrike.
Check the checklists map above, depicting our classic birding route across western Uganda. These 209 checklists, submitted almost exclusively by myself in real time, required significant effort. As I was not leading this tour, this effort was manageable. It is much more challenging to keep up with eBirding when I'm tour-leading.
Eric kept the mammal list, sort of. Our total is around 35 species, with highlights including Mountain Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Patas and Red-tailed Monkeys, Leopard, and Serval.
I cannot find high enough superlatives to describe the experience of this FAM trip in Uganda. Uganda is a wonderful country. The scenery is simply stunning, people are super friendly, weather is mostly great, food is awesome. The birding infrastructure is excellent, with good local knowledge, and superb accommodation options at prime locations.
Herbert Byaruhanga and his team at Bird Uganda Safaris organized the FAM trip at the highest standards possible. Herbert is such a great guy, and it was a pleasure to spend time with him in the field and also in between field sessions. Thank you Herbert for inviting me to participate in the FAM trip. Thank you also to the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the National Forestry Authority, and selected hotels and lodges, for hosting our group with such generosity and good will.
Patricia Kansiime is an exceptionally amazing guide and person. Thank you so much for your field skills, but also for your friendship and support.
I want to send my deepest gratitude and friendship to our super team - Yousif, Yanina, Uncle Eric, Shawneen, Jim, Rick, Julie, Luis Argentina, Luis Colombia and Penny. You are all awesome and it was a pleasure to share this amazing experience with you. Love you all.
My bottom line - come to Uganda. It's an amazing country with exceptional wildlife, birds and mammals, and a unique wildlife experience. Bird Uganda Safaris are well recommended to help you make the most of your time in Uganda.
The next region we visited during our FAM tour was Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. This extraordinarily biodiverse area was perhaps the highlight of the entire trip. The six-hour road journey from Queen Elizabeth National Park to Bwindi was anything but uneventful. We stopped at several excellent birding sites along the way and, in fact, saw some of the most iconic birds of the entire tour on December 9th—our travel day.
Papyrus Gonolek is one of the most sought-after birds when visiting Uganda, and I certainly gave Herbert a headache about it. Every morning I asked him the same question: “Will we see Papyrus Gonolek today?” We tried our luck at several papyrus swamps during previous days, without visual success (although we did hear them calling on a couple of occasions). Finally, at Orusindura Marsh, luck was on our side. A pair first vocalised, then hopped into view rather briefly, displaying their brilliant colours before melting back into the depths of the papyrus. Wow.
I had unfinished business with Papyrus Gonolek after my 2023 Kenya Rockjumper tour was cut short, when I had to return home due to the October 7th war. So it was both a huge relief and a moment of great excitement to finally set eyes on this stunning bird.
Another special bird we encountered on December 9th was spotted from the main road by our expert guide, Patricia. “Stop!” she shouted to our driver, Shindishi. He slammed the brakes, and we pulled over on a busy main road in the middle of a bustling town, Nyaklgugwe. Arnott’s Chat! Patricia had expertly picked out a male perched on roadside wires, and there was another male there. It was a challenging spot—too much traffic and too many curious onlookers. We stayed for barely nine minutes before moving on (eBird checklist here), but what a bird. Truly beautiful and fascinating. With its patchy and limited distribution in Central Africa, subspecies collaris ('Ruaha Chat') may well deserve full species status.
The main reason for visiting Bwindi, of course, is the Mountain Gorilla experience. I had dreamed of seeing Mountain Gorillas for many years, and finally that moment arrived. Our trek was scheduled for the morning of December 10th. We arrived at the Rushaga Sector headquarters and went through the full ceremony, briefing and formalities before being assigned to track the Kutu gorilla group.
Anticipation built steadily. Eventually, the entire group set off—11 of us in total, including trackers, guides, porters, and security guards. It was quite a procession. We climbed the mountain for over an hour, birding along the way (eBird checklist here) and soaking in the beauty of the forest and scenery (check the habitat photos added to the checklist). I enjoyed the climb immensely—just the right level of effort. When we finally met the trackers who had located the Kutu group, our magical hour with the gorillas began.
I was almost breathless—not from the climb, but from excitement. I could hardly believe I was standing there with them. The gorillas were so close we could smell them; they brushed past us as they moved through the forest. I felt an extraordinary sense of connection—an intimate, deeply moving experience.
When the massive silverback appeared, we all seemed to stop breathing. His sheer power and size, as he walked past me, made me feel suddenly small and fragile.
There were also some wonderfully comical moments. One involved a playful two-year-old clearly having the time of his life.
Another came when the silverback sat down inside a dense bush. One of the guides tried to move a large branch that was blocking our view. The silverback disagreed, calmly pulling the branch back to cover himself again. Perfect.
BTW, you can see in the videos that were lots of flying insects. worry not, they didn't bite, they weren't even that annoying.
Our accommodation in Bwindi was Four Gorillas Lodge, and I cannot praise it highly enough. The rooms, food, and service were excellent, but for birders the real highlight is the setting. The lodge is surrounded by superb habitat, and the management team are keen local birders themselves. There aren’t really “grounds” as such—the lodge is nestled right within the forest. Gorillas are sometimes seen from the balcony. Just outside is a birding trail that we walked several times, including once with a group of young local birders, which was awesome.
Birding along the Four Gorillas trail was outstanding, with many excellent species showing extremely well. This region is especially important for Albertine Rift endemics, and during our short stay we managed to see—and photograph—quite a few of them.
Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher
Red-faced Woodland Warbler
Dusky Crimsonwing
Blue-headed Sunbird – here with a Kikuyu Mountain Greenbul
Regal Sunbird – spectacular
Purple-breasted Sunbird – breeding at the lodge, their nest visible from the balcony
The nest
We also observed, but didn’t photograph, Strange Weaver and Rwenzori Batis. Other birds I enjoyed there were Brown-capped Weaver - so cool how they crawl along trunks and branches nuthatch-like.
Black-billed Weaver - that glowing yellow head
Mountain Wagtail is such an elegant bird
Gray-headed Nigrita
Black-billed Turaco - I love the habitat and background of this photo
Black-faced Apalis
Many more birds seen along the Four Gorillas Birding Trail - check this eBird checklist for example.
