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Dates: 10th – 24th May 2026 Confirmed departure
Price: £4,295 places available
Single Room Supplement: £0
Deposit: £500 per person
Price Includes: Accommodation, all meals, ground transport, services of guides
Not Included: International travel, travel insurance, visa fees, drinks & other personal items
Conservation Donation: Butterfly Conservation
Leader(s): Adrian Hoskins + expert local guide
Group Size: Minimum 3 & maximum 7 guests
Grade: Generally easy walking at a gentle pace on mostly level ground
Holiday Highlights
- Visit the best butterfly sites in Uganda, East Africa – home to an incredible variety of dramatic colourful species
- Over 1,200 species recorded in the region, and up to 250-300 possible on this tour
- See stunningly beautiful Euphaedra, Bebearia, Charaxes, Cymothoe, Papilio, Graphium, Precis, Junonia, Hypolycaena and much more
- Delightful accommodation in eco-lodges and guesthouses with instant access to butterflies
- Led by tropical butterfly expert Adrian Hoskins and an expert local butterfly guide
- Relaxed pace ideally suited to photography, with freedom to explore at your leisure
- Contribute to conservation with a donation made from every place sold to Butterfly Conservation UK & Butterfly Conservation Europe
A unique & unforgettable adventure in Africa awaits!
A unique & exciting new two week tour to Uganda for a glorious selection of butterflies!
Uganda is one of the very best African countries to visit for butterflies. It has a wide range of habitats and a very pleasant climate all year round. It is a safe and welcoming country and there is a good road network which provides access to many excellent locations and good quality accommodation.
On this trip we visit some of the best butterfly sites in the whole of East Africa. Uganda has well over 1, 200 butterfly species, of which it is possible to find about two thirds in the reserves we visit. Realistically we would probably see about 250 – 300 species on this tour, but most of them are as dramatic and colourful on the underside as they are on the upperside, and the majority are sexually dimorphic, so the opportunities for butterfly photography are enormous and highly rewarding. Most are large showy butterflies, and easily approached for photography. Expect to see many fabulous Foresters, Gliders, Pansies, Soldiers, Charaxes, Fairy Hairstreaks, Swallowtails, Kites, Sailors, Beaks and much more.
The most prevalent habitats are savannah and forest. The sites have long wide trails on mostly level ground. It’s virtually impossible to get lost, so you are very much encouraged to wander and explore at your own pace.
In order to give you the best experience and the most butterflies we can it is necessary to undertake some long drives during the tour. We have factored this into our itinerary and allowed plenty of time for travel and rest. Also, to help ensure your comfort we have kept the group size small and use good quality and comfortable vehicles throughout. We will also make comfort stops during the transfer days, and as you would expect, stop for any particularly exciting or interesting wildlife.
Your tour leader will be Adrian Hoskins, author of “Butterflies of the World”, “1000 Butterflies” and several scientific papers. Adrian has vast experience of tropical butterflies, having travelled very extensively worldwide. Additionally we will have a local English speaking expert butterfly guide with us at all times, who will procure and lay fruit bait along the trails to attract butterflies. Please note that we don’t shepherd you around in a group pointing out and identifying butterflies in the field, but we’ll both assist with identifications in the evenings from your cameras or laptops.
The butterflies will be brilliant on their own, but you may wish to extend your wildlife watching to include things like primates and birds, including the amazing Shoebill. Ask us about this when you enquire or book.
This tour is unique & we expect it to fill quickly, so we recommend enquiring and booking early to avoid missing out!
Day 1: Arrival and transfer to kisubi forest cottages near Zika Forest, have walk around the forest depending on the time of arrival.
Day 2: Zika Forest. After breakfast we will spend the whole day at Zika Forest. Some special butterflies in the forest and the savanna areas to look out for are Cynandra opis, Liptena congoesnsis, Leptena xanthostola xantha, Leptena ideoides, Pesudacraea eurytus, Hypolycaena philippus philippus, Cacyreus lingueus, Anthene levis, Green-banded Swallowtail, Mocker Swallowtail, Immaculate Wood White, African Emigrant, Neave’s Judy, Common Leopard, Mountain Pearl Charaxes, Green-veined Charaxes, Ugandan Hairstreak, Pathfinder, Sliver Ringlet, Cambridge Vagrant, Charaxes eurinome, Forest Mother Of Pearl, Megalopalpus sp, Kopolates baginei, and Charaxes zingha.
Day 3: We start the day with an early Morning transfer to Kibale National Park and will then overnight at Guereza Canopy Lodge. Be prepared for a a 7-8 hours drive to the lodge – we will stop along the way for comfort/wildlife breaks as appropriate.
Day 4: Early morning breakfast at 7:30am, followed by a transfer to Turaco Trails for a full day of Butterflies. We will have lunch at Truco Tree Tops and then head back to the forest in the afternoon, hoping to see the special Eupheadra Uganda (endemic), Euphaedra medon, Common Euptera, Glassy-wined Acraea Telipna shefieldii, Blood-red Glider, Elymniopsis bammako, Orange Forester, Falcuna iturina stempffe, Ornipholidotos ugandae, Eagris tigris, and many more.
Day 5: After breakfast we will transfer to Kanyawala for other special butterflies, which include, Acraea althoffi, Zaddachi’s Mimic Forester, Common Palm Forester, Acraea lycoa, Hewitsonia Intermedia, Epitolina Melissa, Kallimoides rumia, Cymothoe lurida. We will take a packed lunch since we will be far from our accommodation or food outlets. So we’ll spend a whole day full on butterflies and then return to the lodge in the evening.
Day 6: Butterflies of Sunbird Hill. This place is located at the forest edge near Kibale National Park and it offers good trails for butterflies and birds. If you are interested in birding Kibale National Park offers a great place to see the Green-breasted Pitta, one of the sought after birds in Uganda.
Day 7: Transfer to Kalinzu and overnight at Ankole tea guest house near Kalinzu Forest.
Today we will drive through Queen Elizabeth National Park for yet another spectacular savanna of butterflies along the road, not forgetting to take time seeing elephants, the biggest land mammal on earth. Lunch will be taken en-route to Kalinzu. The drive will be about 6-7hrs depending how many stops we make along the way for butterfly photography.
Day 8,9,10: We will spend the next three days in the Kalinzu Forest on various trails.
Kalinzu is known to have endemic of Acreas and some Papilio species and Euphaedra sp that only occurs here, so keep yours open in the forest for some these beautiful butterflies. The list of butterflies we will see is long, including….
Papilio Hesperus, Central Emperor Swallowtail, Narrow blue-banded Swallowtail, Noble Swallowatail, Blue Monarch, Small-striped Swordtail. Angolan White Lady, Long-tailed Admiral, Common Grass Yellow, Charaxes paphianus, Ornate Green Charaxes, Scarce Forest Emperor, Small flame-bordered Charaxes, Pearl Charaxes, Giant Charaxes, Blue Mother of Pearl, Lilac Beauty, Migratory Glider, Clark’s Acraea, Euphaedra imitans, Common Blue-banded Forest, Preuss’s Forester, Euphaedra edwardsii, Neave’s Banded Judy, Common Fairy Hairstreak, Large Fairy Hairstreak, Falcuna orientalis, Kallimoides rumia, African Map, Euptera elabantos, Euphaedra christyi, Papilio Hesperus, papilio charopus, baberia absolon, Abisara rutherfordii, Scalloped Judy, Acraea poggia Baberia sophus, Acraea macarista, Spotted Pentila, Grizzled Skipper, Golden Piper, Guineafowl, Lesser Blue Charaxes, Western Red charaxes, White-barred Charaxes, Forest Mother Of Pearl, Blue-spot Pansy, Brown Pansy, Blue Diadem, Forest-glade Nymph, Variable Diadem, Migratory Glider, Common Yellow Glider, and many more….
Day 11: Transfer to Nkima Forest Lodge. This will take about 7-8hrs drive, with lunch en-route at The Equator – where we can stand with one leg in the northern and the other in the southern hemisphere!
Day 12, 13: Mpanga Forest. Uganda is known to have about 14 species of Telipna and the special one is known to be Mpanga’s special butterfly Telipna shifieldii so we will look for this. Other species to look out for Charaxes eupale latimargo, Acraea lycoa, Acraea peneleos, Ariadne enotrea, Aterica galene, Bebearia absolon, Bebearia absolon entebbiae, Bebearia carshena, Bematistes macarista.
Day 14: Butterflies of Nkima Forest. Then we will head to the airport for departures. Depending the time of flights, we might also be able to fit in an optional excursion to try and see the amazing Shoebill – which would surely be a fine end to this unique tour!
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