The misty peaks and fern-loaded forests of Bwindi
Impenetrable National Park, Uganda’s birding hotspot is one of the best
settings to search for albertine rift endemics. Furthermore, these
mountains offer perhaps one of the greatest wildlife experiences on earth. The
opportunity to come face to face with one of our closest relatives, mountain gorilla, in its natural
and dwindling ecosystem.
This trip will start by the shores of Lake Victoria
in Entebbe, exploring its Botanical Gardens (the setting of Weissmuller’s
Tarzan movies), moving onto the reedy and dense channels of Mabamba and Kamengo
swamps in search of the mythical Shoebill. We then “trek” north to the open
game plain of Murchison Falls where large game such as elephant,
giraffe, kob and hippos
await. We will also have a chance to enjoy the Albert Nile Delta and its
prolific birdlife and Murchison Falls, arguably Africa’s most powerful
waterfall. Here, the Nile forces its way through a gap in the rocks, only 7 meters
wide, and tumbles 43 meters, then flows westward into Lake Albert. Next will be
Kibale forest, one of Africa’s best primate exploration enclave and indeed the
site where you will have a chance to come up, close and personal with one of
your closest relatives – chimpanzees. Great forest birding
will be complemented with awesome waterfowl birding at Kasinga Channel in the
nearby Queen Elisabeth National Park.
From here
we climb towards Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP where birding for the famed albertine
rift endemics will be spiced with the ultimate wildlife encounter and
experience Uganda has on offer…the unique and ultra special chance to trek and
come face to face with the primal, hulking and ever humbling mountain
gorilla. Offering 24 of the 26 albertine rift endemics
recorded in Uganda, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, spans an ecotone from
Buhoma’s lowlands to Ruhiza’s highlands. At Buhoma, pitta-like short-tailed
warblers and kivu ground thrushes skulk in the mossy undergrowth. African
grey parrots fly overhead while chimpanzees shriek from deep in the
forest. At Ruhiza, the cloud-swathed Virunga volcanoes (of Diana Fossey fame)
loom in the distance. Here we’ll search for the near mythical African
green broadbill and Grauer’s rush warbler. It is even suggested
that at least one undescribed species might even be lurking in the park!
Mburo NP
down in the Acacia clad plain near Lake Victoria will beckon us last, and our
trip will end birding and game viewing this interesting habitat and birding its
papyrus stand for some classic papyrus specials. The trip ends back in Entebbe.Uganda
is one of the friendliest and safest African countries to visit. After its
distant and devastating political past, it is now recovering fast and emerging
with a renewed outlook, tourism infrastructure and an enthusiastic and
contagiously positive attitude people.
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