Birding Lodges

Birding Lodges of the World: Bugesera Lodge, Rwanda

June 15, 2026 by Editor No Comments

Which bird species do you think is the biggest attraction to visitors of your lodge (please only name one species)?

Blacked-headed Gonolek, the first to sing in the mornings

What is the name of your lodge, and since when has your lodge been operating?

Bugesera Lodge, receiving clients since 2016

Green-winged Pytilia

How best to travel to your lodge?

By car from Kigali, a 30-minute drive

What kind of services – except for accommodation and food – does your lodge offer to visiting birders?

Walks in the marshlands with their floating vegetal paths, one bird watching tower in the garden, guided tours, our Bugesera Lodge bird book with our 182 species spotted in our garden, in each bungalow.

Red-chested Sunbird

What makes your lodge special?

An area of calmness, and greenery with a lot of flowers, local bushes; an open restaurant-lounge area where birds fly through, well-decorated round bungalows made with local material.

What are the 10 – 20 most interesting birds that your lodge offers good chances to see?

  • Red-cheeked Cordon bleu
  • Green-winged Pytilia
  • Red-chested Sunbird
  • African Paradise Flycatcher
  • Ross’ Turaco
  • Laughing Dove
  • Bronze Mannkin
  • African Harrier Hawk
  • Speckled Mousebird
  • Lilac-breasted Roller
  • Southern-red Bishop
  • Bared-faced Go-away-bird
  • White-browed Coucal
  • Diededrik Cuckoo
  • Pirit Molitor
  • Meyer’s Parrot
  • African yellow white-eye Zosterops
  • Common Scimitarbill
  • Pin-tailed Whydah

Southern-red Bishop

What is the best time to visit your lodge, and why?

All year round except July and August, our dry season.

Is your lodge involved in conservation efforts? If yes, please describe them.

We are working with rainfall collection, solar power, compost, collecting fruits, fine herbs, and vegetables from our garden. We have some wild bush areas for bees, birds, and insects in our garden.

Laughing Dove

What other suggestions can you give to birders interested in visiting your lodge?

Bring binoculars, a fleece jacket, a rain jacket, a hat, sun cream, insect repellent, and good shoes.

Do you have activities for non-birders? If so, please describe.

Walks around and look for the hippos in the Akagera river, about 45 minutes from the lodge on foot, Ping-Pong and foosball tables, darts, badminton, volleyball, indoor games, hammocks, sunbeds, books.

Lilac-breasted Roller

If any reader of 10,000 Birds is interested in staying at your lodge, how can they best contact you?

Bared-faced Go-away-bird