Shoebill watching in Uganda is a life-changing experience, and Mabamba Swamp is the premier location. But finding these elusive birds requires expertise. Our local guides, born and raised in this region, possess an unparalleled understanding of shoebill behavior and habitat, maximizing your chances of a truly remarkable sighting. Imagine the thrill of witnessing a shoebill in its natural habitat, a bird so unique it feels like stepping back in time. It's not just a birdwatching trip; it's a transformative experience, a connection with nature you won't soon forget
From the operator’s live schedule on Viator, checked Oct 13.
Arrival at hotel and greet your visitors and then proceed to mabamba swamp using Nakiwongo landing site route. This route of Uganda is bestowed with 330 species of birds with likes of the shoebill stork, papyrus Gonolek and blue swallow. The tourists are to sail with wooden boats via the swamp searching for shoebill stork that mainly feeds on fish, blue breasted bee eaters, African pygmy’s goose, African and lesser jacana and pied kingfisher. The swampy waters experience cool breeze with beautiful sceneries and vegetation on its shores. The tourists are to spend here a couple of 2 hours explorering this exciting nature. Proceed to masaka en-route stop at mpigi district, a known site of drum making and learn also about Buganda kingdom biographies. Carry on your return to Entebbe international airport via Kampala capity city of Uganda
Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport, you will be met by our smartly uniformed tour guide in a clearly marked company vehicle.
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For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
1/2 Mabamba Swamp Shoebill Tour lasts about 5 hours. The itinerary has 1 stop.
Prices start at $130 per person for this Kampala experience, booked through Viator with the price shown before checkout. There is 1 booking option, so the final price depends on the option you choose.
According to the operator’s current schedule, it runs every day, starting at 8:00 AM.
Yes. Cancel at least 1 day before the start for a full refund. Later cancellations are non-refundable.
Yes, pickup is offered. Upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport, you will be met by our smartly uniformed tour guide in a clearly marked company vehicle. Pickup points include Entebbe Airport.
The experience is available in EN.
It is a private experience: only your party takes part. Up to 15 travellers can book together.
Yes, bookings are confirmed instantly.
Travellers rate it 4.9 out of 5 across 12 reviews on Viator and Tripadvisor; it is run by Beautiful Safaris Uganda.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
Michael and Emma were excellent guides and driver. They were very knowledgeable, kind, helpful and they rounded out the experience with taking me to a local fruit market where we got to have fresh pineapple. I would absolutely recommend this to anybody who’s interested in exploring more of Entebbe.
Shoebills are rare and not always guaranteed but the guides are very skilled at finding them. We were lucky and saw a female shoebill quite quickly after arriving at the swamp. There were also a number of other birds around and the guides were very knowledgeable. On returning to dry land we also had time for a trip round the market which was a great experience
Excellent trip with really knowledgeable guides and a very good driver. The boat trip was well organised and we saw the shoebill quite quickly we could then enjoy the other birds in the swamp. We had an added bonus of a walk round the market which was very interesting and informative. Thank you
This trip was amazing! We spent a great deal of time with the shoebill before looking for other birds. It yielded great photos and videos as well!
Saw many birds and of course the shoebill! Unfortunately it rained in the beginning and my husband was soaking wet and cold. Wish the boat had some sort of cover like others.
A 10/10 half day trip to see Shoebills! Early pick up, smooth transfer, and we even managed to find a shoebill almost right after we changed to a smaller boat! The team are the friendliest people l've ever met and you can see that they really enjoyed their jobs and we had a great time together. From a photography standpoint, it's the best place in Africa to photograph this rare bird. The canoe brings you to water level, with clean backgrounds and soft light - a perfect setup. Highly recommended!
A 10/10 half day trip to see Shoebills! Early pick up, smooth transfer, and we even managed to find a shoebill almost right after we changed to a smaller boat! The team are the friendliest people I’ve ever met and you can see that they really enjoyed their jobs and we had a great time together. From a photography standpoint, it’s the best place in Africa to photograph this rare bird. The canoe brings you to water level, with clean backgrounds and soft light — a perfect setup. Highly recommended!
First the team at Beautiful Safaris Uganda who ran this particular excursion were very responsive, when I reached out to them about some transportation difficulties I was having they tried to help me by providing transportation themselves and when that couldn't happen they attempted to connect me with a different car service. During the tour itself, they helped me take photos, and were pleasant company, they also partnered with boats that were involved in the conservation of the swamp for the shoebill so it felt like responsible tourism while participating in the event and also supporting the local economy. One of the conservationist, Eric, pointed out the different bird species and then told me a little bit about the Shoebill. Emma my tour guide with Beautiful Safaris was very enthusiastic, attentive, and positive. Our driver Zhiye took great photos and helped with rowing the boat when navigating the swamp paths. Overall I think worth the cost and will recommend this excursion
Very professional setup; so easy to book online; very informative information pack - so often, tour operators provide sketchy Information but this had all info needed - fast communication, perfect on time pick up, friendly and enthusiastic staff and they even gave me a travel pillow and blanket as gifts at the end. You can tell these guys have a passion for this industry. Great job.
This was a great your from the start to the end, we booked our one day shoebill viewing in Mabamba with Beautiful safaris Uganda,our guide Daniel was of great aid as he well briefed us about the origin and nature of the shoebill.passing through the shallow red swamps was of great experience as we spot the beautiful stork shoebill. The patient, friendly experience we encountered with the staff of beautiful safaris Uganda at their office was of great humour and supportive until our activity was done made us to think to visit again the Mabamba swap Must is a must do for anyone visiting Entebbe,and is a great day trip
thanks for choosing beautiful safaris Uganda
| Tour | Duration | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2 Mabamba Swamp Shoebill Tour | 5 hours | 4.9 (12) | $130 | |
 1 Day trip to Mabamba Swamp Shoebill bird tracking | 6–10 hours | — | $670 | View |
 Mabamba Swamp Shoebill Birdwatching Lake Victoria | 5h 30min | 4.9 (29) | $100 | View |
 Mabamba Swamp Shoebill Tours | 4h 30min | 5.0 (20) | $90 | View |
 1 Day Best of Mabamba Shoebill Bird Watching Tour in Entebbe | 1–5 hours | 5.0 (6) | $155 | View |
 1 Day Mabamba Shoebill Excursion Spot the Rare Bird | 5 hours | — | $180 | View |
 One Day Birding Mabamba Swamp | 4 hours | — | $130 | View |