Activities in Mabira Forest : Mabira forest in Eastern Uganda is considered one of the largest forests in Uganda and East Africa as a whole. The forest sits on 306 sq km of land along the Jinja highway in Buikwe district. The forest is home to over 312 tree species, 315 bird species, 218 butterfly species, 97 moth species and 23 mammal species. This forest over the years has become such a tourist destination that people heading to Jinja will always want to stop and experience the forest’s beauty and all the things it has to offer. In fact in the most recent years people seek a one day trip to Mabira forest to enjoy the forest and get an opportunity to take part in some exciting activities in this famous forest. So what are some of the activities you can do in Mabira forest?
- Forest Nature Walk
Mabira forest has over 300 tree species with unique features and stories to them. Forest nature walk in this forest, gives you an opportunity to come up close with the trees learn more about them. The nature walks are also a way to acquaint yourself with the forest and the other creatures in the forests like birds, butterflies etc.
- Bird watching
Another popular activity done in Mabira forest is bird watching, an activity where you go through the forest spotting and watching the various species of birds in the forest. Bird species in Mabira forest include but are not limited to:- purple- throated cuckoo, tit hylia, yellow longbills, grey longbills, great blue turacos, Nahan’s francolin, African fish eagles among others.
- Zip lining
Experience the Mabira forest canopy in a spectacular way as stand high up on the tallest trees in the forest and then hang up high between these trees, sliding from one end to the other on a zip line. This adrenaline filled experience is a refresher especially if you are one who likes to take risks or adventure. You get to swing up high on two cables in distinct positions from the first cable to the second one on 30 meters and 40 meters diagonal zip-lines. Zip lining is done in the forest from 8am in the morning to 1pm and in the afternoon from 2pm to 6pm daily. For safety reasons only persons weighing 150kg and below are given the chance to take on the zip lining challenge.
- Mammal Spree
Since Mabira is not a game park, you don’t expect to find a lot of animals and though that is true the forest is home to grey cheeked mangabeys and red tailed monkeys; so you can go on a mammal spree hunting for these primates in forest. These primates are unique to this forest, so make it a point to spot them while there.
- Picnic
You can also take a picnic in a number of forest spots, sit and enjoy the bird noises and the breeze of the trees. However if you are eating your eats may be stolen by the monkeys, so you need to take caution on that. Also there are specific spots for picnic for safety reasons so you should consult the guides on that. That said a picnic in the green is always refreshing.
These are the top five activities that are done in the Mabira forest at the time of writing this article. However, every other day, more activities are introduced so the day you visit there may be new activities added on the list. And whether they have added new activities or not, we hope the time you visit Mabira forest, you will have a blast.
