Entebbe Botanical Gardens

The Entebbe Botanical Gardens are known to many as the place to go to in Entebbe to escape the bustle of the city and experience calm under the trees and the on the lake shore. It is a popular place among locals for picnic outings.

While for first time visitors in Uganda who have landed in Entebbe, the Botanical gardens do well to provide the first nature and birdwatching experience in the country.

The Entebbe Botanical Gardens are a small patch of greenery that is mostly forest, measuring about 40 hectares located on 1.5km shore line along Lake Victoria, right behind Victoria Mall. They about 15 minutes’ drive from Entebbe International Park, and 40 minutes’ drive from Kampala, the capital City of Uganda.

With wide trails reaching every part, the botanical gardens are easy to navigate on your own on foot or by bike and watch nature at your own pace and convenience. Otherwise, if you would like someone to accompany you guides are available at the entrance.

History of the Entebbe botanical gardens

The botanical gardens were established in 1898 by the British as a place for them (British colonial administrators) to relax. It was later turned into an agricultural research center and exotic plants were introduced in the gardens. The gardens therefore are endowed with both indigenous and exotic plants and trees.

Wildlife in the Entebbe Botanical Gardens

The Botanical Gardens has more than 500 species of trees and plants, both indigenous and exotic (as more plants are introduced and put in the nursery here). The plants comprise of types like fruits (both local and indigenous), medicinal, spices, beverages, timber, ornamentals, oils, etc… It is a place where you can find an indigenous tree or plant species which is now hard to find out there. The trees and plants are marked with their English and botanical names.

The trees host vervet monkeys and black-and-white colobus monkeys.

Other animals include squirrels (e.g red-legged sun squirrel).

For the birdwatcher, Botanical Gardens has more than 100 species of birds. The diversity includes forest birds, grassland, and wetland and water birds along the lake shore.

Activities to do in Entebbe Botanical Gardens

Birding in botanical gardens

The Entebbe Botanical Gardens offer wonderful birding in Uganda. If you have just arrived in Uganda and want a convenient and productive birding spot, this is a place to go. Also, if you are planning a birding adventure in Uganda, Botanical gardens is a nice place to start birding before going to distant locations.

The Botanical Gardens is good for spotting birds of prey such that can be seen in the trees or flying overhead, such as vultures, fish eagles, harriers, buzzards, etc…

The Bat Hawk is best spotted here, and birders visit the gardens to have better chances of ticking it off. It can be spotted in the morning, but the evening is good too to spot it in action hunting the bats. The Bat Hawk has a unique feeding method whereby it hunts a bat and swallows it whole in midair before perching, unlike most raptors that catch prey and break it in bits on a perch before devouring it.

Large birds such as hornbills, turacos, and storks are a common sighting in the trees.

The marshes and rank vegetation along the lake provide weavers and warblers.

Botanical Gardens have also been the best spot to see the beautiful Orange Weavers in rank vegetation along the lake shore.

The lake shore provides plenty of wetland/water birds such as herons, cormorants, egrets, sandpipers, ibises, etc…

The gardens are most alive with birds during the migration season from around Sept to May, hosting a number of Palearctic migrants as well as Intra African migrating birds.

Here is a list recorded during a short birding excursion in Botanical gardens: Blue-spotted Wood-Dove, Tambourine Dove, Great Blue Turaco, Eastern Plantain-eater, Ross’s Turaco, Klass’s Cuckoo, Marabou Stork, Reed Cormorant, Hadada Ibis, White-backed Night Heron, Striated Heron, Western Cattle Egret, Black-headed Heron, Hamerkop, Pink-backed Pelican, Palm-nut Vulture, Hooded Vulture, Bat Hawk, Black Kite, African Fish Eagle, Crowned Hornbill, Black-and-white Casqued Hornbill, White Throated Bee-eater, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Woodland Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Broad-billed Roller, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, African Gray Woodpecker, Eurasian Hobby, Gray Parrot, Pied Crow, Green Crombec, Green-backed Camaroptera, Little Greenbul, Common Bulbul, Ruppell’s Starling, Splendid Starling, Spotted Flycatcher, Swamp Flycatcher, Northern Black-Flycatcher, White-browed Robin-Chat, Green-headed Sunbird, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Slender-billed Sunbird, Orange Weaver, Golden-backed Weaver, Bronze Mannikin, Western Yellow Wagtail, African Pied Wagtail

Nature walk & biking

The Botanical Gardens are lovely for nature walk. The wide tracks or paths will help you explore the gardens easily on your own on foot. Instead of walking, the gardens are great for biking experience.

The walk you will take you around the whole gardens while spotting several species of interesting trees and plants. There are lots of fruiting trees, including those with fruits eaten by man such as jack fruit, pawpaw, mangoes, oranges, etc… and many other peculiar looking that are eaten my monkeys and big birds.

You will enjoy spotting some wildlife including monkeys (especially the black and white colobus monkeys), squirrels, reptiles, and birds.

The walk leads you to the beach and shore of Lake Victoria where you get to enjoy the beautiful views of Lake Victoria and cool breeze blowing into your face.

Picnics & camping

Many locals visit the Botanical Gardens for picnics, and it is such a wonderful spot to enjoy a meal and quality under the shade of trees. The gardens have many settings for picnics, from the lush open spaces, to secluded cozy spots in the jungle, to the the lake shore, the gardens will give you a setting you want to experience.

If you do not want to carry meals, there is a restaurant preparing nice meals of fish and chicken among others.

Meanwhile, camping is also allowed in the gardens and there is no better in place in Entebbe to spend a night while listening to the beautiful sounds of nature. You need to bring own camping equipment.