We are very pleased with our trip August 2017 to Uganda with Nick Buys of Nature Travel Birding. Our pre-trip expectations were high and Nick delivered! Logistically Uganda is not an “easy” trip but Nick handled the challenges on the ground with ease and expertise. Lodging and food were adequate although WIFI was very spotty. The main focus of the trip was birding and gorilla trekking. Nick is very astute of quickly assessing your bird list and pursuing additions to the list as well as focusing on endemics species. Many daily excursions were conducted with the assistance of local guides with great knowledge of local birding hotspots. The net effect was a very focused search of species with minimal down time. Nick never loses sight of his clients needs and has the expertise and experience to assist in the location of the bird. Gorilla and Chimp trekking was as advertised; wonderful and astonishing!
This trip was primarily forest birding with a lots of time spent looking up at the canopy. Usual days were up before sunrise and back at sunset. Roads are not the best, mostly gravel, and we drove many kms to maximize out experience. Our 14 day trip brought a closeness to trip participants (including locals) which proved to be fun and rewarding.
We saw upwards of 400 species of birds, probably over 50% new additions to our bird list. We had three sightings of the shoebill, one for 20 minutes within 10 meters of us. Other birding highlights included spectacular visuals of the Green Breasted Pitta and African Green Broadbill. Our gorilla trekking had us spend over 1 hour with a family again meters away from us. Chimps were high in the forest canopy but provided entertainment by raining down projectiles at us!
Overall a great trip and wonderful experience. Nick is passionate about his guiding and love of birding and mammals. We are already in discussion with Nick on our next trip.