Mabira forest is Uganda’s biggest natural forest located along Jinja road just about 56 km out of Kampala. It became forest reserve in 1932 and covers a huge chunk of land of about 300sqkm. It is a home to a lot of primates, so many birds and lots of small animals as well as variety of vegetation species. This forest at the moment the biggest semi-deciduous forest we still have in central Uganda and it is very popular for its huge numbers of birds which are more than 300 species thus the reason it is a great site for bird watching. You can always organize a birding safari in Uganda to Mabira forest if you wish to explore this forest to your satisfaction. You can also engage in some other forest activities like.
What to do when you visit Mabira
Forest nature walk.
This will be a guided nature walk. You will have a trained guide to walk you through the forest and during this time you will be able spot a lot you different attractions including the small wild animals like the squirrels, the primates like the monkeys, different bird species, there is also more than 312 different tree species in that forest. The guide will be explained the different species and how useful they are to the humans especially in medical terms.
Bird watching.
This forest provides a home to about 315 species of birds and they include birds like the Cassin’s Hawk-eagle, White-bellied Kingfisher, Yellow-crested, Brown-eared, White-spotted, Grey Parrot, Afep Pigeon ,Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, purple throated cuckoo, Fluff tail, Black-shouldered, Cassin’s Spinetail, Blue-throated Roller, Sabine’s Spinetail African Dwarf-kingfisher, Nightjar, Forest Wood hoopoe, Speckled Tinker bird, African Pied Hornbill, among so many others as you will see them during your walk. These two are the main activities that are carried out in Mabira forest however there are few minor activities.
Other activities.
Besides bird watching and nature walks, you can engage in other activities like butterfly watching. As you walk through this forest, you will realize that there are so many different butterflies if you are keen. This forest has over 218 different butterfly species, there are more than 97 different moths species and about 23 different small mammal species especially primate species that belong to the Monkey clan. You can also walk deep and visit the magnificent Griffin falls which is located deep in the forest.
Accommodation places in the forest
If you have to spend a night on your Safari in Uganda in the forest or need a place to have a meal from, there are a number of accommodation places and the entire have restaurants. There is the Griffin falls lodge for the budget people, the rainforest lodge for the luxury travelers.
