1 Days Mabamba (Sheobill) Birding Safari Tour

1 Day Mabamba Shoebill Safari tour, offers a full day birding tour to spot shoebill & other Mabamba wetland bird species in a dugout canoe ride on Lake Victoria. Mabamba is a RAMSAR wetland and an impressive Bird section (IBA) sheltering over 350 species of bird among which 7 are of Uganda’s 12 Lake Victoria Basin restricted species.

The overview Of A 1 Day Mabamba Shoebill Birding Safari

Mabamba Swamp is a one-of-a-kind vast marshland west of Entebbe International Airport that spans along a small swamp bordered with papyrus towards Lake Victoria’s main body.  This papyrus wetland is distinguished by little channels of marsh-filled water and lagoons that are home to numerous bird species, the most notable of which is the shoebill stork. This one-day Mabamba birding trip includes observing the rare Shoebill bird species as well as over 250 other bird species found in the marsh.

Detailed Itinerary For 1 Day Mabamba Shoebill Birding Safari

After breakfast, you will go on a 50-kilometer, one-hour drive from Kampala to Mabamba Swamp. When you arrive at the swamp, ride a canoe with a local guide who is experienced in paddling through the narrow water channels flanked by dense swamp vegetation. The Shoebill is the mystical species of this location; this prehistoric-looking bird ranks highly on most world birders’ wish lists, and for a good reason. It’s so unique, with those large, golden, human-like eyes and that enormous bill resembling a shoe. This massive, bulbous bill is straw-colored with irregular greyish patterns and measures 5 inches wide by 12 inches long. It has a frightfully sharp hook and is designed to catch lungfish, snakes, Nile monitor lizards, and newborn crocodiles. In addition to the shoebill, you will see the Africa Pygmy goose, Papyrus gonolek, Lesser jacana, Gull-bellied tern, Blue swallow, Blue-breasted bee-eater, Carruthers cisticola, White-winged Warbler, Golden-backed weaver, Slender-billed Weaver, Northern Brown-throated Weaver, Vieillot’s weaver, Orange weaver.

During the swamp tour, you are able to search for the marsh-dwelling Sitatunga antelope. You will leave the swamp in the evening to return to Kampala to mark the end of this safari.