How a shoebill trip works
Most trips start with a pickup in Entebbe or Kampala before sunrise. At the Mabamba landing site you meet your community guide, pay the community fee and board a canoe. The search usually takes between 30 minutes and two hours. When a shoebill is found, the guide brings you close enough to watch it hunt: it can stand still for long periods, then lunge forward with its enormous bill to catch a lungfish or catfish.
You then continue through the wetland for other birds before returning to land. Our 1-day Mabamba shoebill trip includes transport, guide, canoe and fees, and you are back in Entebbe by early afternoon.
Sit still and keep your voice low once the shoebill is in sight. The birds tolerate canoes well, but sudden movement can make them fly, and you will want to see one hunt.
Why Mabamba is the best shoebill site
Shoebills are also found in Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth and Lake Mburo, but Mabamba has three advantages:
- Reliability: the birds hunt in a relatively small area of channels that guides check every day.
- Access: it is under an hour from Entebbe International Airport, so it fits into arrival or departure days.
- Intimacy: canoes get you close at eye level, ideal for photographs.
For the full natural history of the bird, read our shoebill guide, and for a first-hand account of a morning on the water, see Finding the Shoebill at Mabamba.
Other birds and wildlife
Mabamba has around 300 recorded species. Look for:
- African jacana walking across lily pads.
- Malachite kingfisher and pied kingfisher along the channels.
- Papyrus gonolek, a scarlet papyrus specialist; see Papyrus Gonolek.
- African pygmy goose, purple swamphen and lesser jacana.
- Migratory waders and terns between October and April.
The community
Mabamba is not a national park. The wetland is used for fishing, and guides come from the surrounding fishing villages. The community fee and guide payments give local people a direct reason to protect the shoebill and its habitat. In the past, shoebills were sometimes harmed because they compete with fishermen for lungfish; tourism has changed that.
Combining Mabamba with a safari
Because it is so close to Entebbe, Mabamba is the ideal start or finish for a longer trip. Our 4-day shoebill and gorilla safari goes from Mabamba straight to Bwindi, and the 8-day safari continues to Lake Mburo, Queen Elizabeth and Kibale. For a relaxed final afternoon, add a sunset on Lake Victoria in Entebbe.
