Three go mad in Uganda June 09 (1 Viewer)

Hey Gareth - cheers for that and your photos are pretty damned good!! Well done on getting the pitta like that too - and you're right, the 1st pic of it was basically identical to our first sighting! Nice one of the ground-hormbill too (grrrr....!) beginning to think those birds don't exist!

20th June – We loaded our stuff into the van and were off by 0630 and 2hrs later we entered the vast (2000km2!) Queen Elizabeth NP. If we had more time it would’ve been great to spend a couple of days in here but all we could do today was drive through it. We still saw some good birds like Southern Red Bishop, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Common Scimitarbill, Arrow-marked Babbler, Red-necked Spurfowl, Trilling Cisticola, Grassland Pipit, Water Stone-Curlew, Greater Painted-Snipe, African Gos, Martial Eagle, Brown Snake-Eagle, White-winged Widowbird, Cardinal Wood, Greater Honeyguide and White-browed Coucal whilst a stop for water in one of the villages gave us breeding Lesser Masked-Weavers and 3 Diederik Cuckoos. The animals were very much in evidence too with Ugandan Kob, Bushbuck, Defassa Waterbuck, Topi, Olive Baboon and Tantalus Monkeys seen although we saw no sign of the only tree-climbing lions in the world here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many butterflies either- the grasslands were absolutely covered with small white ones in their thousands.
We stopped for lunch at the swish Savannah Hotel before continuing with our journey up into the mountains towards Bwindi. The road was pretty crap in places and very dusty – reminded of the Gibb River in Oz! We had a couple of fine Grey Crowned-Cranes by the roadside and finally reached ‘The Neck’ by mid-afternoon and started to bird from the road. Top place must go to the 3 stunning Black Bee-eaters that we watched perched on dead branches, the combination of black, red and electric blue just gorgeous.
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The supporting cast was pretty impressive too, including African Crowned Eagle, Augur Buzzard, Crested Guineafowl, Grey Apalis, Pink-footed Puffback, Lead-coloured Tit-Fly, Yellow-throated Leaflove, Speckled Tinkerbird, Red-tailed Greenbul, Yellow-spotted Barbet and 2 fine male Petit’s Cuckooshrikes. We stopped further along the road near some agriculture and had Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Chubb’s Cisticola, Black Saw-wing, a female African Stonechat, MacKinnon’s Fiscal, Red-throated Rock Martins and Yellow-crowned Canary.
We then drove into the tiny village of Ruhija and pulled into our accommodation for the next three nights – the Gorilla Friends Resort Campsite. We were staying in fixed ‘safari-style’ tents built on the sheer valley-side with absolutely fantastic views from the veranda which was the place’s only saving grace as the facilities here are very basic – the toilet was literally a hole in the floorboards covered by a plank of wood with a broom handle on it....even worse than Indian toilets (and that’s saying something!!!) as at least they have a place to put your feet so you know where your loaf’s gonna drop....here you had to kinda keep watching where it was going...nice! Ewan’s response to this was to take a few Imodiums..! There is also no electricity but the mobile-phone recharging shop in the village has a generator and would charge things up for a minimal price which was handy.
After dropping off our gear we drove 5mins up the road and birded the forest edge along the road to the school. Lots of mountain goodies were here, including Chestnut-throated Apalis with their telephone-ringing calls, Mountain Masked-Apalis, smart Red-faced Woodland-Warblers, Rwenzori Hill-Babbler, gorgeous Regal and Northern Double-collared Sunbirds, Grey Cuckooshrike, Stripe-breasted Tit, lively White-tailed Blue-Flys, several Mountain Yellow-Warblers, Northern Puffback, Yellow-whiskered Greenbul, Slender-billed Starling, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater and Red-bellied Paradise-Fly with Carruther’s Squirrel being a new addition to the mammal list.
Upon our return to the camp and over a warm beer we learned some more bad news concerning our hosts – there was no food!! Chris’ face was a picture! Luckily for us, a not-too-impressed Herbert made a couple of calls and took us up the road to a little covered eatery in what looked like the middle of nowhere. I think this was the back of a posh place but the cooks there whipped us up an amazing soup and steak ‘n’ chips! Result, even the beer was cold! The weather up here was very windy and quite cold too – glad I brought a fleece with me now!

21st June – Up early today as today was gorilla day! We left by 0730 and were ready at the gates by 0800 and waited for the rest of our group to turn up, seeing a fine pair of Golden-breasted Buntings collecting food around the buildings, Chubb’s Cisticolas, Stuhlmann’s Weaver and a Thick-billed Seedeater also. The other 5 guys turned up and then we met our guide for the day, Obed, a really nice young guy who was all smiles, and had our briefing about what to do and what to expect. Some of the group opted to hire porters so once it was all sorted we were back in the cars by 0900 as a flock of 60+ Chestnut-winged Starlings zoomed by and driven up the road for a bit to the trail head. We set off down the very steep and slippery track, through the thick undergrowth, holding onto vines and dodging spiky branches. Obed got a call from the trackers informing him the gorillas were only about 30mins away! What a bonus as you can have to walk for anything up to 5hrs to find them! This cheered everyone up and as we began to climb up the opposite valley we found the trackers who indicated a black shape hunkered up in a tree – a huge Mountain Gorilla!! Unbelievable! We dropped off our packs and left them with the porters as we followed Obed and the trackers through the thick undergrowth.
As they hacked through the sinewy tangles with their machetes they suddenly drew up and called us closer – there, up ahead on an indistinct trail, was a huge silverback happily munching away! He soon moved off and we followed, albeit a hell of a lot slower and noisier! We finally got into a small ditch and watched in amazement as one, then two, silverbacks walked within 5ft of us and sat down, pulling leaves down and eating them. We moved further ahead and in a small clearing we found the rest of the group and spent the next hour sitting quietly with them and the swarms of flies they attract! This habituated group, the Bitukura family, consists of 4 silverbacks, 2 blackbacks (younger males), 3 females and their 2 infants and a juvenile. The second silverback, Rukumu, has an old wound to his middle finger so that it continually sticks up and looks like he’s always giving you the finger which makes him very popular with the photographers! We watched in contemplative awe as they lolled around, eating, sleeping, farting....what a life! We watched one of the infants climb up a tree and fall off...and, almost embarrassed, he never showed his little face again! How can anyone kill these amazing creatures that not just look back at you but actually watch you? A real life-changing moment and one that will live with me forever...I felt humbled and privileged by this experience and it is hard to put into words the feelings it gave me.

All too quickly our time with these gentle giants was up so we began the slog back up the valley to the road where we decided to walk back to the HQ, reaching it by 1130. We had a little ceremony where we all given certificates and bought obligatory t-shirts then went back to the camp where we did not a lot until 1600....again, reading trip reports people went birding in the park during this time....not impressed. We went back to the same road as yesterday and added quite a few new birds like the subtly-marked Grauer’s Warbler which showed exceptionally well, Ludher’s Bushshrike, Rwenzori Batis, Rwenzori Apalis, Yellow-streaked Greenbul, Rwenzori Double-collared Sunbird, Strange Weaver, Streaky Seedeater and Mountain (split from Olive) Thrush.
We then drove into the park and birded various areas along the road and saw a few new ones – Olive-throated (split form Mountain) Greenbul, Dusky Crimsonwing, White-starred Robin, Waller’s, Sharpe’s and Stuhlmann’s Starlings, Rameron Pigeons, Kandt’s Waxbill, Western Green Tinkerbird and White-eyed Slaty-Fly. An Archer’s Robin-Chat refused to come up and show itself but as we drove back after dusk we came across 2 excellent Rwenzori Nightjars on the road, giving brilliant views.

We got back to the camp after enjoying a great day and went back to the same place as yesterday for another top meal and some celebratory beers!

Great stuff BBB, (a gorgeous Black-faced Rufous-Warbler) - magic birds with an electric glow! Congrats on the Pitta, a much desired species, even since Uganda became quite reliable, many still miss it. Great country, incredible birds and primates..well mammals in general. Looking forward to the next installment even though at some stage, I'm expecting its gonna hurt! - I missed something special, a good reason to go back!

birdboybowley said:

20th June –
As they hacked through the sinewy tangles with their machetes they suddenly drew up and called us closer – there, up ahead on an indistinct trail, was a huge silverback happily munching away! He soon moved off and we followed, albeit a hell of a lot slower and noisier! We finally got into a small ditch and watched in amazement as one, then two, silverbacks walked within 5ft of us and sat down, pulling leaves down and eating them. We moved further ahead and in a small clearing we found the rest of the group and spent the next hour sitting quietly with them and the swarms of flies they attract! This habituated group, the Bitukura family, consists of 4 silverbacks, 2 blackbacks (younger males), 3 females and their 2 infants and a juvenile. The second silverback, Rukumu, has an old wound to his middle finger so that it continually sticks up and looks like he’s always giving you the finger which makes him very popular with the photographers! We watched in contemplative awe as they lolled around, eating, sleeping, farting....what a life! We watched one of the infants climb up a tree and fall off...and, almost embarrassed, he never showed his little face again! How can anyone kill these amazing creatures that not just look back at you but actually watch you? A real life-changing moment and one that will live with me forever...I felt humbled and privileged by this experience and it is hard to put into words the feelings it gave me.
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I know exactly what you mean, my group didn't speak for several hours afterwards! I worked alongside Lowland Gorillas for six years, but nothing prepared me for an encounter with Mountain over there. A magic moment BBB :clap:

Superb!!

Friend going out there in September with his wife who is doing VSO for two years based in Kampala, was thinking about going out there for a visit - read this and have just spent the last hour pricing up flights etc.

Roll on Jan/Feb 2011!!!! - I'm on my way.

Next installment please...

Cheers,

Paul

Paul Higson said:

Superb!!

Friend going out there in September with his wife who is doing VSO for two years based in Kampala, was thinking about going out there for a visit - read this and have just spent the last hour pricing up flights etc.

Roll on Jan/Feb 2011!!!! - I'm on my way.

Next installment please...

Cheers,

Paul

Click to expand...

Unlikely to regret it Paul

22nd June – We left early again today and drove to the HQ by 0745 to park the van and begin the trek down into Mubwindi Swamp – a 4km trail that drops over 500m which is ok, but bad news is you gotta come back up the way you go in!! Birds were quite few and far between to start with – several smart Black-faced Prinias (split from Banded) were the best. As we descended down the fairly steep path, clambering over fallen trees and slipping on the damp mud we soon found more birds including skulking Cinnamon Bracken-Warblers with their distinctive calls. We came across a mixed feeding flock that contained Forest and White-headed Woodhoopoes, Montane Oriole, Brown-capped Weavers, Grey Cuckooshrike and smaller birds such as Mountain Yellow-Warbler, Montane Masked- , Chestnut-throated and Rwenzori Apalises, lots of greenbuls such as Olive-throated, Yellow-whiskered and Yellow-streaked. Another Rwenzori Batis was a bird you could never tire of seeing but the bushshrike and trogon wouldn’t play so we continued down into the swamp itself and again the birds were more apparent down here.
We began to search for today’s prize bird – Grauer’s Broadbill – and birded the trails accordingly. We finally had views of a couple of Grauer’s Swamp-Warblers and flushed a bonus Lemon Dove as we sat down for lunch by the edge of the swamp, along with plenty of Chubb’s and Carruther’s Cisticolas and a couple of Cape Wags that fed in a muddy patch in front of us. A Red-chested Flufftail was heard calling on the opposite side but there was obviously no chance of seeing it. Plenty of adult and young African Dusky Flys were seemingly on every branch and we had a nice Crowned Eagle over, along with Augur Buzzard, Yellow-billed Kite and Long-crested Eagle. Lots of sunbirds were seen, including Rwenzori and Northern Double-collared, Blue-headed, Bronze, Collared and the lovely Regal, although Purple-headed wasn’t playing either. There were several Great Blue and Black-billed Turacos around and also another Grey-throated Barbet and a flock of Chestnut-winged Starlings flew over.
There was still no sign of the broadbill so we headed back out and came across another feeding flock on the outskirts of the swamp that held much the same species as before along with a few White-eyed Slaty-Flys, Chinspot Batis and Waller’s Starlings. We watched this area for a good 45mins and with still no sign of the target Chris and I wandered up the path a little way when suddenly a whistle had us diving back down the path to Herbert and Ewan who had just had a bloody broadbill fly in and briefly land in a tree..... I heard it call and it had gone to the taller trees at the rear. We rushed up the bank to get a better look...lots of birds were flying around, white-eyes and apalises mostly....we heard it call again and I got a view of a small green bird flying out of the tall trees, calling again as it went....then had another view of a bird flying into a tree with its distinctive broad wings and short tail but it totally disappeared from view....aarrrgghh!!! How bloody annoying! Was now a bit pissed off to say the least...thankfully the call is quite unlike anything else and the two glimpses I had were enough for a tick but I’d really wanted to get good looks at this bird...if only I’d stayed for another 2mins on that poxy path...!! So that was it for me really, stomped off up the path and left the others standing, just having one of those moments that only birders can empathize with. I soon reached the top and was back at the HQ by 1630, still stewing.....stupid bloody birds!!
Back at the camp we all decided to go to the ‘pub’ next door for a Senator beer to celebrate/commiserate. The beer went down surprisingly well and by the time we went back out for dinner I’d definitely had enough...not so Chris who’d downed 5 over dinner and then stated he was off to the pub again when we got back. Oh dear....he stumbled back into the tent at about 2300 with one of the locals who’d walked him back and after gawping at me for a bit off they went. About half an hour later he was outside calling me and saying he needed help (as if I don’t know that already....!) and his camera was missing....”I had it on me in the bar and now it’s gone!” he moaned.....”Do you remember coming back to the tent?” I asked....”I haven’t been back to the tent, I’ve just left the bar...!” he retorts.....”Yes you have you drunk git – your cameras on the floor next to your bed you silly sod!”....I leave him outside puking and go back to sleep. I’m awakened a few times overnight by the glorious sounds of puking and snoring as he slept it off on the veranda.....he’s gonna regret that in the morning!!

Sorry it's taken so long to spot this Ads. Wondered what you'd been up to. Fantastic stuff. Must go there.

A few scenic shots....

23rd June – Chris woke up in a befuddled state and didn’t really remember much from last nights shenanigans....and refused point-blank to believe he’d puked – until I showed him the evidence on the veranda of course.....! So, after faffing around and Ewan loosing his glasses, we arrived at the park HQ at 0630, unfortunately behind a truck so that put pay to finding any francolins out for an early foray on the road through the park...bugger! In fact we saw next to nothing until we passed through the park itself when we came across a Dusky Turtle Dove feeding next to the road and a couple of male African Stonechats. As we descended from the mountains into the surrounding agriculture the start of the forest reserve was obvious on the opposite hillside – in almost a straight line with forest on one side and farmland on the other all the way down. The mist enveloped the lowlands and the distant volcanoes framed the far end of the valley as the sun rose steadily making for great visuals.
We saw a couple of male Yellow Bishops in roadside crops – well, Chris didn’t as he spent most of today asleep – which apparently are quite tricky in this area. We stopped for breakfast in the bustling town of Kabale and paid a visit to a bank to change our shillings back to dollars...which took a lot longer than we thought! The birds on the journey were all the normal species expected although the total of 14 Grey Crowned-Cranes was impressive. We set off on the long journey towards Lake Mburo, stopping for lunch at the Agip Motel in Mbarara (yeay, proper toilets – Ewan was so pleased!!) and then after we’d been driving again for ½hr we had to U-turn as Herbert had left his phone behind.....! We stopped at a site in the vast papyrus swamps we were passing through and had a good view of Greater Swamp-Warbler, heard 4 White-winged Swamp-Warblers, Papyrus Gonolek and Blue-headed Coucal.
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So, we eventually reached the park by 1600, popped the roof open, and started to see some good birds such as cracking White-headed Barbets, Orange-breasted Bushshrike, Wahlberg’s Honeyguide, Emerald-spotted Wood-Doves, Red-headed Weaver, White-winged Black-Tit, Brubru, showy African Moustached Warblers, Common Scimitarbill, Tropical Boubou, Black-lored and Arrow-marked Babblers, Blue-naped and Speckled Mousebirds, Green-capped Eremomela, Buff-bellied Warbler, Tabora Cisticola, Spot-flanked and Double-toothed Barbets, Plain-backed and Grassland Pipits, Red-necked Spurfowl, Crested Francolin, White-browed Robin-Chat and plenty of Bateleurs.

Lots of mammals around too with Burchell’s Zebras and Impala (here is the only place they are found in Uganda), Topi, Dwarf Mongoose, Buffalo, Warthog, Bushbuck, Waterbuck, Tantalus Monkeys and Olive Baboons all seen with a cool view of a Yellow-winged Bat too. We checked in at the park HQ and were shown our, er, basic rooms. I was in Zebra House, a bizarre octagonal room with a thatched roof.

We each had a separate one which was the only good thing! Communal showers were in another building, the water warmed by the fires set underneath the water-butts outside (!) and the toilets were good old squat ‘n’ drop holes again, some of which had disturbingly big wasps flying in and out of them....eek!
After completing our game-drove we drove down the road a bit from our digs to the restaurant on the shores of the lake itself where there were hippos aplenty but best of all, a stunning male Pennant-winged Nightjar flew around us as dusk fell – excellent! Food wasn’t that great, but at least the beers were cold!! It gets very dark around here at night and as I drifted off to sleep, lions could be heard in the distance – thankfully I don’t sleepwalk!!

June 24th – Quite a good night’s sleep as the room cooled significantly as the night went on and at 0645 we were all standing in the van ready for our game-drive. The sky was pleasantly overcast and it was actually pretty damn cold as we began. We bimbled around all morning failing to find any Brown-chested Lapwings although plenty of Senegals gave us cause to screech to a stop on a number of occasions as we traversed the recently burnt area that they favour. There actually wasn’t that much in the way of birds really, the usual suspects being present as you’d expect but we did manage to find a lovely Red-faced Barbet preening atop a spiky bush, 2 male Coqui Francolins and a nice male Green-backed Wood.
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A pair of Tawny Eagles at their nest stared at us impassively as we passed underneath and a stonking Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl stared coldly at us as we disturbed its roost as we drove by causing it to fly ahead and then be mocked by the local starlings. Rufous-chested Swallows, Red-faced Crombec, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Spot-flanked Barbet, Green Woodhoopoe, Common Scimitarbill, Striped and Woodland Kings, Lilac-breasted Roller, Greater Honeyguide, Cardinal and Nubian Woods, Meyer’s and African Grey Parrots, Black Cuckooshrike, Chinspot Batis and Spectacled Weaver were all seen and on the mammal front we also added 5 stately Eland to the list.
We returned to the lakeside restaurant for lunch and then, annoyingly, were dropped back off to our rooms for the afternoon. Now, this really pissed me off as there was really sweet FA to do or see – the birding was very limited and obviously not very active as it was now quite hot and we weren’t allowed to walk into the park on foot for more obvious reasons. Why couldn’t we just of kept driving around I don’t know – I’d rather of been looking at more zebras that looking at nothing. This was the biggest thing that I felt this let this holiday down – not sure where Herbert and Cissie went but it must’ve been more interesting than where I was. I spent a good time bunging rocks at the plastic bottles in a metal cylinder by my hut....
At 1600 Herbert returned and as the other two had awoken from the slumber (I can’t sleep during the day!) we drove back to the lake where we boarded a little boat for our trip. We soon were looking at a fine pair of huge-eyed White-backed Night-Herons as they roosted in the tangle of overhanging branches near their Black-crowned cousins whilst Squacco and Striated Herons fed a little more co-operatively nearby. A pair of Swamp Flys fed from the reed stems behind us and Malachite Kings zipped by in a blue blur. As we turned round, Ewan spotted movement under the bank which turned into a stunning female African Finfoot! Wow! What an excellent bird – and one that Chris and myself had missed by a heartbeat in the Gambia last year – she performed absolutely brilliantly for us.
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So, very pleased we had the target bird in the bag after 10mins on the lake we powered up to the far side and began to bird along it. We soon had a couple of striking female Giant Kingfishers, one of which perched up and showed herself off perfectly and a pair of Water Stone-Curlews. At least a dozen African Fish-Eagles (1 stood bathing in the shallows, much to the dismay of the pair of Wattled Lapwings!) and plenty of Pied Kings were constantly on view and we found another 2 female and an imm finfoot (finfeet?!?) on our journey round, all lurking close-in under the bankside vegetation. A couple of the many hippos dived menacingly towards our suddenly very small-seeming boat and we had 2 young Nile Crocs hauled out on emergent branches. We returned to the dock by 1735 having had an enjoyable 80mins out on the water and went for a disappointingly quiet drive around, finishing in the restaurant at the posh Mantana Tented Camp for a sumptuous meal overlooking the vast park from its hillside location. We had a good relaxed meal, accompanied by lovely cold beer and good conversation, all of us unable to believe it was our penultimate day. We bumped into Phil Gregory (of Cassowary House) that Ewan knew and I knew indirectly through mutual friends, leading a small group. We’d seen him briefly as we’d left Bwindi on the 22nd and as we got talking again they totally gripped us off with their sighting of 4 Grauer’s Broadbills in Mubwindi Swamp on the 23rd along with an Oriole Finch...gits!!! They also had Herbert on the hop as they’d stopped at a ‘new site’ on the way down from Bwindi where they’d had Papyrus Yellow-Warbler and Papyrus Canary and as we went back to the van Herbert was busy grilling their guide as to its whereabouts – double dammit! We drove back to the HQ in darkness and we were a bit disappointed to say the least not to see a single nightjar – bummer!

25th June – I was awoken during the night at 0400 by a pair of duetting African Scops-Owls that was a bit too far to safely go looking for it, what with the lions and all that!! So, here it was, our last full day of the trip...boo! We packed up and had breakfast at the nearby Rwonyo Rest Camp restaurant near the lakeside where we had Wattled Starlings as the birds finally began to move. We left the park, birding as we went, encountering a couple of small feeding flocks and saw a few bits but nothing new.
Birds of interest included Orange-breasted Bushshrike, Tropical Boubou, Brown Snake-Eagle, Lilac-breasted Roller, Grey-backed Fiscal, Brubru, Sooty Chat, White-browed Coucal, White-browed Bush-Robin, Water Stone-Curlew, Crested and Coqui Francolins, African Black-headed Oriole, Red-faced Crombec, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Heuglin’s Robin-Chat, Trilling Cisticola, Yellow-faced and Brimstone Canaries, Black-faced Waxbill, Amethyst Starling and a circling Saddle-billed Stork. We saw good numbers of the expected mammals, including another 4 Eland which were always very wary. A couple of large herds of Ankole cattle with their unbelievably huge horns were being led outside the park by their keepers who didn’t like photos of their amazing beasts being taken for some reason.
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We reached Nshara Ponds by 1045 and spent the next 70mins birding this surprisingly good temporary wetland site by the main road, the construction of which has been the cause of the ponds creation and hopefully some effort may be made to keep them here permanently. We had a great selection of birds here, including a pair of Lesser Moorhen with an imm, Common Moorhen, African Jacanas, a Red-knobbed Coot, 8 Three-banded Plovers, Marsh Sand, Ruff, Long-toed Lapwing, Long-tailed Cormorant, good numbers of Hottentot Teal and Yellow-billed Duck, at least 20 Black Crakes, Sacred and Hadada Ibis, flyover Lappet-faced, Ruppell’s and White-backed Vultures, another Brown and a circling Black-chested Snake-Eagle, a Little Sprawk, West African and Rufous-chested Swallows, Holub’s Golden Weaver, Malachite, Woodland and Pied Kings, a flock of Wattled Starlings, a pair of Egyptian Geese with 3 young, Pink-backed Pelican and 2 pairs of stunning Greater Painted-Snipe that fed right out in the open. Herons included Grey, Black-headed and Striated, Great White and Little Egrets and Yellow-billed and Marabou Storks.
So that was it, the main birding for the holiday was over. We spent the rest of the day journeying back to Entebbe, with only Ross’ Turaco, African Marsh Harrier and Crowned Hornbill being noteworthy birds along the way. We stopped for obligatory photos at the Equator and had a go at pouring water down the two sinks either side of it, watching it empty out in both directions which was pretty cool!
We finally reached the hustle and bustle of Kampala, seeing Hooded Vultures overhead, and it took nearly 2hrs to wibble our way down to Entebbe and back to Sophie’s Motel where I must admit, proper loos and showers were a godsend! We bade farewell to Herbert and Cissie and then had a quick wander around the streets, unsuccessfully trying to find a way down to the lakeside, and picking up a few commoner birds we hadn’t seen for a while, like Northern Brown-throated Weaver, Red-chested Sunbird, Bronze Munia, White-breasted Cormorant over the lake, Hamerkop, African Thrush, African Openbill and Eastern Grey Plantain-eater. We returned back to the motel for one last dinner and reflected over the trip and having a couple of cold Clubs before making sure our taxi was booked for the morning and retiring for the night. Ewan stayed up to book us in online which was a monumental effort on his part as the connection in the motel wasn’t exactly quick! Bless him!

26th June – Thankfully a much more peaceful night than last time and as our taxi turned up on time we left at 0615 to reach the airport by 0645. We saw a few common birds as we drove along to add to our daily tally and arrived at the airport with plenty of time to check-in, which was a good thing as the computers at Heathrow had gone down so check-in was done manually today which took forever! We boarded and took-off slightly late at 0945. It only seemed like yesterday that we were wandering into the carpark for the first time....The flight passed pretty quickly, and as I stated before, the crew were great and talkative, not minding us standing chatting to them in the rear galley. We landed back at Terminal 5 at Heathrow at 1605, which was the other annoyance with this flight schedule – it not only left so early we couldn’t even sneak out for a last-ditch bit of birding, it also means that we would be clearing customs at about 1700 which isn’t the best time of the day to be heading back home via the M25....!! Oh well, as it happens, our lift – Chris’ Dad – broke down on his way up and we ended having to bus it to Gatwick so it wasn’t as far for him to come back in Chris’ car after his was towed home....the bus cost us £19.50 (ouch!!!!) each too – and the government wonders why people wouldn’t rather use public transport!

So, that was our trip to Uganda done and dusted. We came away with an impressive list with some really hard-to-get species on it and we saw some truly amazing sights – the gorillas will always rate as one of the most amazing life experiences I’ve ever had. The people were mostly very friendly and approachable and the country itself, having now known relative peace for nearly 10yrs, finally seems to be getting back on track and realising that tourism will be a huge part of their future economy and money is being spent protecting the various habitats and the creatures that call them home.
Would I change anything about the trip...? Well, to be honest I still have mixed feelings about Herbert and his company, mainly the afternoons that were wasted doing nothing....reading through other trip reports contradicted his statements about the birds won’t show, so I found this quite lax on his part. After our little chat in Kibale he did improve significantly but there was still a bit of tension in the air. Also, when we visited Nshara Ponds on the last day, this was only due to a passing comment from Chris the evening before asking if there were any sites for some waterbirds on the way back – otherwise we would’ve gone back the way we came. Ok, so Herbert did take us there, but should we have had to of asked?? Another thing to be aware of is the amount of time it takes go anywhere so factor this into your itinerary – we lost a good 3 days due to travelling and should, in retrospect have just gone for the full 21 days and sod the extra cost as it would have negligible really. Another day at Semliki, 2 days at Bwindi and 2 days in Queen Elizabeth would have been good, as would a quick trip into Mgahinga NP for a couple of localised Albertine Rift endemics. But, as we all know, hindsight is a wonderful thing and these things aside, it really didn’t detract from the holiday at all – we had an excellent time, saw excellent birds in an excellent country and came away with lifetime memories and that is all that really matters!

Great report, really enjoyed it, thanks.


Phil

Cheers Phil, glad you enjoyed

Excellent report, it sounds like you had a memorable trip. I will be going to Uganda for about a week in early february. As time is very tight I have decided that I will probably just concentrate on one park, and the surrounding areas. I reckon it will be Murchison, with trips to Budongo, entebbe, and Mabira forest between Kamapala and Jinja. Based on your experience, do you think this is a wise choice? I have never visited Africa before so am not really chasing endemics, but would just want to see a good range of forest, savannah, and waterbirds, as well as a good range of mammals.

Thanks FB. I think Murchison would be best for a good selction of birds (you might even see these legendary ground-hornbills (personally I think they're just a figment of people's imaginations!!) and especially the mammals. Budongo will give a great selection of forest birds, esp the Royal Mile. Don't forget that it'll take the best part of a day to get to Murchison from Kampala and vice versa, so factor this in. Also, I think you'd regret not making time to go for Shoebill - it's only about an hour max from Kampala to get to Mabamba Swamp and it's well worth it. We were only there for a couple of hours but it was great and what a bird!
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I just love Africa. Geez I wanna go back right now!

Great stuff and some cracking birds (and gorillas!) :t:Cheers.

birdboybowley said:

Thanks FB. I think Murchison would be best for a good selction of birds (you might even see these legendary ground-hornbills (personally I think they're just a figment of people's imaginations!!) and especially the mammals. Budongo will give a great selection of forest birds, esp the Royal Mile. Don't forget that it'll take the best part of a day to get to Murchison from Kampala and vice versa, so factor this in. Also, I think you'd regret not making time to go for Shoebill - it's only about an hour max from Kampala to get to Mabamba Swamp and it's well worth it. We were only there for a couple of hours but it was great and what a bird!
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Much obliged for the advice.
Cheers, Mark

chowchilla said:

I just love Africa. Geez I wanna go back right now!

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Cheers Chowie...me too!!! Wanna look for those Rockfowl....
Mark, no worries, you'll have a fab time

birdboybowley said:

Thanks FB. I think Murchison would be best for a good selction of birds (you might even see these legendary ground-hornbills (personally I think they're just a figment of people's imaginations!!)

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Saw these black lumps at Murchinson Falls, any ideas?