Travelling
Winter-holiday finally started and on Saturday the 20th of December we left early towards railway-station. I dropped Hanna there with our luggage and then drove home and walked back to the station. At 7:19 a.m. our train left towards south. In Kouvola Hanna’s sister Elissa got to the same train and finally at 10:27 a.m. we were in Tikkurila where we just changed the platform and at 10:36 a.m. continued towards Helsinki-Vantaa airport where we were just 7 minutes later.
We carried our luggage up to the airport and found my brother Pirkka from the nearest cafeteria. He had arrived by night-train from Kemijärvi. Pretty soon we headed to leave our luggage and continued through security checks and so on. And soon also Mikko Ala-Kojola, who had arrived by morning-train from Oulu but made a brief visit to Helsinki, arrived. So our group was all there and soon we went to eat before headed to our gate to wait for our flight.
Our Finnair flight left at 3:25 p.m. and after a few hours flight we landed to Italy, Rome, Fiumicino airport where we had to spend time until 11 p.m. when our next flight left.
Ethiopian Airlines flight had pretty bad selection of movies so we mostly tried to sleep and finally landed to Addis Ababa at 6:40 a.m. and still we weren’t in our destination We still had to wait for our last flight. Through the windows we saw some birds like Black Kites, Cape Crows, a couple of Speckled Doves, an African Sacred Ibis, African Palm Swifts and a couple of different kinds of swallows and something that looked like a chat but they were all too far to identify. Finally at 9:10 a.m. we climbed to another Ethiopian Airlines plane which headed towards Uganda. A couple of hours later, at 11:15 a.m. we landed to Entebbe.
In Entebbe
At the airport we had to get our Visas which meant a lot of queuing. But even after that we had to wait for a very long time for our luggage. Finally all bags arrived and we could walk out and soon found a familiar face, my corporal from Rovaniemi Someroharju garrison Ukko Liikkanen. Ukko had been living more than 10 years in Uganda and is running a company Piece of Uganda Safaris.
Many years earlier I had accidentally got to contact with Ukko by Facebook. We had been talking about football on our mutual friend’s page. Later I had found out that Ukko was living in Uganda and having this company. Then again some years later I had found out that Ukko’s company had been organizing a tour for some of my birder-friends and then I had sent him a message that one day we would use his services and come to birding to Uganda – and here we were now…
We packed our luggage to Ukko’s and to one of his drivers Ibrahim’s cars and soon we were driving through Entebbe. On the way we saw some Black Kites, Grey-backed Fiscals, a Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher on a wire and Marabou Storks and Pink-backed Pelicans that were perching on trees. Finally we curved to garden of Jet Suites and soon we were carrying our luggage to our rooms. We quickly unpacked some of our luggage so we could give our souvenirs and Christmas presents to Ukko. We had brought some Finnish chocolate, salmiac, xylitol chewing gum, rye bread and even a one kilo swede so Ukko could prepare real Finnish Christmas food.
Then it was time to climb to a view-watching terrace which had really nice view to surrounding, especially to a papyrus-swamp that was nearby. We started to see birds immediately – a couple of Shikras, Western Cattle Egrets, Scarlet-chested, Collared and Red-chested Sunbirds, Northern Grey-headed Sparrows, Red-billed Firefinches, at least a couple of Great White Pelicans flying with Pink-backed Pelicans, Palm-nut and Hooded Vultures with one Lappet-faced Vulture, a Wahlberg’s Eagle, a couple of Lizard Buzzards, Eurasian and African Hobbies, African Green Pigeons, Woodland Kingfishers, Speckled Mousebirds, Barn Swallows, a few African Thrushes, Common Bulbuls, a Tawny-flanked Prinia, a Bleating Camaroptera, Rüppell’s Starlings, Village Weavers, a couple of Spectacled Weavers, a Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Cape Crows, Black-and-white Mannikins, a Yellow-fronted Canary, a small flock of Western Citrils and so on. So the time was running even though we were of course very tired because of lots of travelling.
Finally we started to feel so hungry that we headed towards Viavia-restaurant that Ukko had recommended and which was very near. While walking we saw a couple of Broad-billed Rollers, several White-throated Bee-eaters, Red-eyed Pigeons, a Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, a Northern Black Flycatcher, some Eastern Plantain-eaters and finally when we were at Viavia we found several Hadada Ibises and Tantalus Monkeys.
Viavia was very nice garden-restaurant with a pool where we expected some birds to arrive once the swimming pool started to get empty of people. While we were waiting for our food we already saw African Openbills and then while eating we saw a Pied and a Malachite Kingfisher. And when it was already getting dark Black-crowned Night Herons started to fly around, a small flock of Yellow-billed Ducks landed to the pool and a couple of stunning Black-and-white-casqued Hornbills landed to a treetop nearby.
After the dinner we walked back to Jet Suites and there we still had to keep the log before we finally could go to sleep.
On the 22nd of December we still took it easy and got to know the familiar birds around Jet Suites. Some new birds we saw were a National bird of Uganda – a Grey Crowned Crane, a Grey Kestrel, Meyer’s and Grey Parrots, a Klaas’s Cuckoo, White-browed Coucals, a Yellow-rumped and a Yellow-throated Tinkerbird, a Double-toothed Barbet, Bronze Sunbirds and so on. We did a short walk along the road too but only new bird we found was a Yellow-throated Longclaw.
After a few hours it started to get warmer and Ukko came to pick us up and we drove along bumpy roads to Reptile Village. There we were watching and photographing many reptiles that had been rescued by locals and were going to be released to National Parks later.
Reptile Park was situated in a good birding area too but in the heat of the day there weren’t many birds to see. Anyway we found a couple of Yellow-billed Ducks, African Jacanas, Black-headed Gonoleks, an Olive-bellied Sunbird and so on and of course we took pictures of Village Weavers that were breeding in a Crocodile-pool.
We ate in a nice restaurant along the shore of Lake Victoria. It had a nice view and of course we saw some birds too. Then we went to visit Ukko’s better half Niina before we continued to Entebbe Botanical Garden. There Ukko managed to get us the best bird-guide Bright and left us with him for the rest of the day.
The park was very big so we immediately started walking around it following Bright. Pretty soon we found the first funny-looking Mantled Guerezas and also stunning Great Blue Turacos. After we had photographed Tantalus Monkeys, Hamerkops and their huge nest and a couple of Black-and-white-casqued Hornbills, we found a small and beautiful African Pygmy Kingfisher, then a Green-headed Sunbird, saw a Crowned Hornbill flying straight over us, found a White-throated Greenbul hiding in a tree and then finally saw our first Ross’s Turaco which was unfortunately quite far on a treetop.
Some of us managed to hear a Grey Penduline Tit shortly before we continued to famous stairs that were on old Tarzan movies. Then we found an African Grey Woodpecker and a Red-legged Sun Squirrel before managed to get at least some kind of pictures of a Grey Parrot.
After some more walking we arrived to a shore where we found plenty of weavers. The stars were several Orange Weavers which one of them finally posed pretty well for pictures. Golden-backed Weavers were hiding too well. We also saw several Spotted-necked Otters swimming on the shore.
Once we were back in the forest we found a Thick-billed Weaver and then our guide showed us a Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher in her nest. We also saw a male but it wasn’t showing very well, but a Tambourine Dove was.
We still saw a Grey-headed Nigrita on a top of one tree before we were back on the place where we had been searching for a Bat Hawk in the start of our tour. There had been very noisy presidential election campaign so we hadn’t found the hawk. But now it was nice and silent so we decided to try again. And after some searching we managed to find one Bat Hawk perched on a big tree! It was really my main target of the day so it was really good to get some pictures too.
We still weren’t in a hurry so we continued to another shore where we first found a Swamp Flycatcher and then also some Little Weavers.
During the day we had also seen Reed Cormorants, Grey, Black-headed and Purple Herons, Little Egrets, a Little Heron, Egyptian Geese, an Osprey, Common Sandpipers, a Common Greenshank, Red-chested Cuckoos, Little Swifts, lots of Pied Kingfishers, Western Yellow Wagtails, White-browed Robin-Chats, Willow Warblers, Winding Cisticolas, Olive Sunbirds, a couple of Marico Sunbirds, a Northern Puffback, a Fork-tailed Drongo, a Black-headed Oriole, Bronze Mannikins and so on.
It was already getting dark when a couple of cars came to pick us up. We had dinner at Jet Suites and then had the log while listening to strange calls from the swamp. A Hammer-headed Bat sounded like a nightjar but later also a Freckled Nightjar started to call. But soon we were ready to go to sleep.
Mabamba
On the 23rd of December we woke up early and soon met Ibrahim and another driver and started driving towards Mabamba bog.
It took almost an hour until we parked to Nakiwogo, Banga Beach harbor where we finally met our bird-guide for the rest of the trip Prossy Nayombi. After a short chat we got to a narrow boat and headed to the Lake Victoria. We boated with our leaking boat first quite far from the shore but clearly our captain knew where the birds were and at some places we went closer to the shore and when there were any birds we were driving much slower. Prossy also started to pick up some birds and we saw a big distant flock of Grey-headed Gulls, some Purple Herons, Slender-billed and Northern Brown-throated Weavers, Blue-headed Coucals, Malachite Kingfishers, again amazing numbers of Pied Kingfishers, a couple of Black Sparrowhawks, Squacco Herons, Spur-winged Lapwings, Black-winged Stilts, African Jacanas, Wood Sandpipers, a couple of Marsh Sandpipers and so on.
Finally we parked our boat to cramped harbor of Mabamba Swamp where we walked a little and managed to identify our first Angola Swallows and a Splendid Starling. We also saw a hornbill flying over us and from the pictures we could identify it surprisingly as a Congo Pied Hornbill.
Then we got to two smaller swamp-boats and started to boat along narrow canals into a huge Mabamba swamp. Our captains were really skillful handling the boats so we soon got nice pictures of Purple Swamphens, Reed Cormorants, Yellow-billed Egrets, White-faced Whistling Ducks and Long-toed Lapwings but we also saw Black Crakes, a Western Oriole, Cape Wagtails, a couple of Black Herons and Common Moorhens, a Common Snipe, plenty of Sand Martins with at least a couple of Brown-throated Martins and a Sedge Warbler.
After some time our boats separated to different places to search for Lesser Jacanas. These birds are usually so shy that with two boats it could easily happen so that people from the first boat could see them go hiding and the other boat would miss them.
It took some time and effort from our captain before we finally found the first Lesser Jacanas but they really were shy and escaped behind vegetation quickly. But after some more trying at least I managed to get pretty good pictures of a couple of birds. Our captain got a message that also the second half of our group had seen some jacanas so soon we were again together and boating along the canals and continuing our main-mission which of course was the Boatbill.
After some more searching our captains started to get worried and some phone-calls told that there were 8 boats around the bog and nobody had found a single Boatbill! So again we separated to search to different places but found only the same species that we had seen before.
Finally we got information that somebody had found a Boatbill but we were quite far and we had to drive along several narrow canals but somehow our captains managed to find the right way. And finally we saw a couple of boats and a huge Shoebill standing in front of them on a small islet. And soon we managed to make our way closer and were taking pictures of this massive dinosaur-looking bird.
Shoebill had clearly eaten enough already and also rested for some time and we were told that it could leave soon. Luckily it was still posing for some time but when one more boat was arriving exactly same time as our boat was also moving which maybe was too much for the bird and it flushed to the sky. It was soaring above us for some time but then a Cape Crow chased it further and it finally landed far back to the bog. We had understood that there were still at least a couple of boats that hadn’t arrived to this place yet but hopefully they had seen the bird at least in flight. But all other people that we had seen had been just ordinary tourists, not birders.
It had taken a long time to find our main target so after all we boated quickly back to the harbor it was time to say thanks to our captains and then we started to do some birding again. With help of Prossy we found Black-headed Weavers, a Vieillot’s Black Weaver, a Pale-throated Greenbul, Brown-throated Wattle-eyes, African Blue Flycatchers, Lesser Striped Swallows, a Brimstone Canary, a Black-capped Warbler, White-chinned Prinias, a Red-faced Cisticola and Northern Yellow White-eyes. We managed to get some pretty good pictures of some of the species too.
When we were back at the harbor, there were 2 cars waiting for us and we drove a short distance to Nkima Lodge where we had lunch. On the way we saw a Sooty Chat and in the garden we managed to see a small snake.
After lunch we walked a little around the lodge and found Red-tailed Monkeys, Blue-spotted Wood Doves, White-throated and Little Bee-eaters, a Slender-billed Greenbul, a couple of White-browed Scrub Robins, Black-necked Weavers and so on. The hottest time of the day we relaxed in a lobby and then still walked to a view-watching place that was nearby. Even though we hadn’t brought our scope with us we managed to find 4 Shoebills from the bog – they were so enormous!
It was still very hot when we started walking back to the harbor. In this heat there weren’t many birds at all but some Sooty Chats and a Striped Kingfisher were seen. Local children were shouting hello and waving their hands happily and also “muzungu” (white-face) calls were heard, also happily presented.
On the harbor we saw a flock of White-winged Widowbirds briefly but soon we were boating along the lake again. We still saw some Western and at least one African Marsh Harrier, several African Fish Eagles and a small flock of Red-knobbed Coots.
It was already getting dark when we were back at Entebbe and Jet Suites. I still saw a Grey-throated Barbet flying over the yard but soon the sun set and we had the same evening routines as every evening. Unfortunately one of us had eaten something bad and we really couldn’t sleep much, that one hardly at all.
Southern side of the equator
On the Christmas Eve, the 24th of December we started by packing our car. The driver for the rest of our trip Abdallah “Abba” Nyombi and Prossy were packing the elderly-looking safari-car while we were having breakfast. Then it was time to hit the road and start driving towards south. Pretty soon we crossed the equatorial and of course we had to take some touristic pictures. It was a long way and roads were very slow even though there weren’t too much traffic. Roads were full of holes and also speed bumps were everywhere. There were also villages all the time along the road and every single village had market going on because of coming Christmas. Fruits, meat, fish and so on was sold in small stalls and then there were also election campaigns going on here and there. Election posters made the villages very colorful.
It was already afternoon when we stopped first time along a wet field and saw some Grey Crowned Cranes a little bit closer. There was also a small pool but only duck was unfortunately a Yellow-billed Duck. I managed to see an African Wattled Lapwing briefly and then Prossy noticed that there was a Highland Rush Warbler singing but it was really difficult to hear because of the traffic but after all at least most of us heard it.
The rest of the trip was more savanna biotope and we started to see Impalas, Waterbucks, Warthogs and Olive Baboons and also a Western Banded Snake Eagle, a couple of Helmeted Guineafowls, Red-necked Spurfowls, Ring-necked Doves, a big flock of Red-billed Queleas, Red-winged Widowbirds, a few Southern Red Bishops, Pin-tailed Whydahs and so on.
Lake Mburo
Finally about at 3 p.m. we arrived at Lake Mburo, the smallest National Park in Uganda and to our accommodation Eagle’s Nest that was situated on the top of a hill. There we got own safari-tents for men and women.
On our program we had an evening-safari but we had already had so long driving-day that we made only a short walk around the hill-top. We found Double-toothed Barbets, a Tropical Boubou, a Mourning Collared Dove, a couple of Bare-faced Go-away-birds, Purple-banded Sunbirds, Speckled and Blue-naped Mousebirds, Lilac-breasted Rollers, a Red-throated Rock Martin, a Familiar Chat couple and Trilling Cisticolas.
Later we were just enjoying an amazing view that we had from restaurant-terrace. We saw some Plains Zebras and Common Hippopotamuses, a big flock of Glossy Ibises, a distant Saddle-billed Stork and so on. There were also quite a few mosquitoes, the only time on the whole trip.
The 25th of December – a Christmas Day. As the previous day had been a little bit short, now our day was full of program. Unfortunately the National Park opened only at 7 a.m. so we couldn’t start very early. After the breakfast we climbed to our car, opened the roof and soon saw a beautiful Copper Sunbird and a flock of Meyer’s Parrots.
After we had seen a couple of Impalas fighting and a stunning Greater Painted-snipe flying across the road, we arrived at the gate of the National Park where we had to do some formalities. In Uganda the bureaucracy is like in Soviet Union so only after we had got several stamps to several papers, we were able to drive to the park. While waiting the permit we saw our first Snowy-crowned Robin Chat and a Grey-capped Warbler.
Inside the park it was not allowed to get out of the car at all as we hadn’t got a ranger with us. In a bushy savanna we started to see animals and birds and we soon saw Waterbucks, Plains Zebras, African Openbills, Black-headed Herons, Black-winged Kites, Emerald-spotted Wood Doves, an African Cuckoo, a Nubian Woodpecker, Fan-tailed Widowbirds, Plain-backed Pipits, Lilac-breasted Rollers, Eurasian Bee-eaters and so on and then we saw our first Northern Giraffes! So we really took lots of pictures.
While photographing giraffes we also saw our first Yellow-billed Oxpeckers and soon we found some Water Thick-knees and a funnily displayed pair of Pin-tailed Whydahs. We also heard some Trilling Cisticolas but soon we had to photograph more Northern Giraffes and Plain Zebras again.
Unfortunately a Black-bellied Bustard was seen only landing far to the savanna and also observations of both a Greater and Lesser Blue-eared Starlings were very brief.
After we had seen White-backed Vultures, a Lappet-faced and a White-headed Vulture and a Brown Snake Eagle we saw something I had always dreamed of seeing! We were driving along a narrow, straight and bumpy road when we saw some movement in front of us. We saw some Warthogs and a big Olive Baboon running and Abba realized it first that they were chasing something – a Leopard! Abba tried to accelerate and get closer before the animals were running across the road but they were too fast. Mikko managed to get a pretty good picture of the Leopard crossing the road but I was standing on the back and I couldn’t hold on anywhere so I missed the opportunity. Luckily Warthogs and the baboon gave up and Leopard could slow down and finally it stopped to look at us. Unfortunately it was in pretty long vegetation but at least we saw it well! I managed to get so called Big 5 full now.
Feelings were high when we continued driving so the next Cape Buffaloes and Northern Giraffes were photographed “left-handed”. Luckily we soon found the first Bateleur, then a couple of White-winged Black Tits and a Mosque Swallow so the concentration was back to essential. And soon we found some Cape Buffaloes having mud-bath and we photographed them well. In the same place we saw also some Common Hippopotamuses, African Wattled Lapwings and Water Thick-knees.
Soon we saw more Plains Zebras and as this was the only place on this trip where we would see them, Giraffes and Impalas, we had to take more pictures. The next wet area had a Three-banded Plover and soon we found a couple of Grey Crowned Cranes which were posing extremely well.
We still saw a Splendid Starling, a Bearded Woodpecker, an African Goshawk, a beautiful adult Bateleur, a Moustached Grass Warbler, a stunning Saddle-billed and a Yellow-billed Stork, more Giraffes, Buffaloes and Impalas before we drove back to our accommodation for lunch.
After lunch we were soon ready to continue safari-driving and this time we drove towards the lake. We managed to get better pictures of some animals and birds we had already photographed but we also saw a couple of Common Dwarf Mongooses, a Spot-flanked and a Crested Barbet, a Red-faced Crombec and then a big Black Mamba leaning over the road. Luckily we saw this extremely venomous snake from the car.
When we were already close to the lake we got some good pictures of Giraffes, Zebras, Topis and a Brown Snake Eagle and we also saw a Wahlberg’s Eagle and heard a Scaly Spurfowl. Finally we parked to the shore of Lake Mburo and there were already lots of people. It was good to see that many locals had decided to spend Christmas in nature and it seemed that they were all coming to the same boat-trip with us.
It was actually a surprise for us that our boat-trip was with all other tourists and we were a little bit worried how we could see and photograph birds from a big boat full of other people. While waiting for the boat we photographed some tame Warthogs, heard a Papyrus Gonolek and soon got to a double-decker ship with all families.
Surprisingly this boat-trip was after all a pure wildlife-tour. I don’t know if it is normally more like a tourist-trip but at least now the local guide and the captain really did everything so that we could see and photograph animals and birds very well.
The boat was moving very slowly and followed the shore very closely so I decided to start scanning the bushes with my thermal-camera. I trusted that the local guide or Prossy would find everything else but the main-targets could be very tricky to find.
After we had seen one Nile Crocodile I found the first African Finfoot (actually the guide found it exactly in the same time) but it was hiding extremely well behind the vegetation. Somehow everyone in our group managed to see it anyway before it completely disappeared.
Then we saw plenty of Hippos and African Fish Eagles, some Great Egrets, Little Herons and Lesser Masked Weavers and a Holub’s Golden Weaver and so on before we stopped to a place where the guide told was a good place for White-backed Night Herons. And almost immediately Hanna found one heron perching in the middle of dense bushes. It was very difficult to find even with a thermal-camera but after all I managed to get a couple of pictures of it too before it moved invisible.
On another place with dense trees we saw 2 more White-backed Night Herons but they were hiding even better. Anyway we had now managed to see the most important targets of this boat-trip and we could concentrate on photographing. There were soon more Crocodiles and Hippos and even though it was raining very hard for some time the atmosphere was very high. It was really nice to see that also locals were enjoying nature and they really didn’t hinder us at all. It was actually nice to see some children’s enthusiasm.
After more Hippos and Crocodiles and some Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters we, again in the same time with our guide, found another African Finfoot perching on a branch. The captain managed to get us pretty close for good pictures and then we saw also a male that was hiding too well behind some vegetation. Luckily soon we found another male swimming openly and we could get pictures of it too.
We were extremely happy when we were back at the harbor. The boat-trip had been a little bit longer as it was supposed to be – probably because of us. So we were in a hurry as the National Park was closing at 7 p.m. So we couldn’t make many stops on the way but anyway saw a Green Wood Hoopoe and heard a Common Scimitarbill on the way.
Finally we were at the gate exactly on time and then headed to our accommodation for dinner. After evening routines it was good to go to our tent to sleep. But it wasn’t easy to sleep as there were Christmas parties on a nearby village and music was playing extremely loud until 4 a.m.
To Bwindi
The 26th of December was a driving day and we left right after breakfast. We had driven only a kilometer or so when we saw a Tropical Boubou and a Red-headed Weaver on a same bush and then we still got pictures of a Bare-faced Go-away-bird.
Then we had a long drive until the city of Kabale where we had lunch. On the way we had seen only a couple of African Woolly-necked Storks on one field, a couple of Gabar Goshawks on the electricity poles, a few African Red-rumped Swallows, the first Northern Fiscal of the trip and I had seen an African Hawk-Eagle soaring on the sky. We had also seen plenty of Grey Crowned Cranes, even some flocks on the roofs of buildings. And while we were eating we saw a couple of Baglafecht Weavers.
Soon after Kabale we turned to a road that started to climb up to the mountains towards Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. When we crossed the border of the National Park the forest changed immediately much better-looking. We didn’t see many birds, but some Red-throated Rock Martins, a couple of White-eyed Slaty and African Dusky Flycatchers, Northern Double-collared Sunbirds and an Augur Buzzard. We also saw some mammals like shy Blue Monkeys and a pretty Rwenzori Duiker.
After some more driving we stopped for a walk to a hillside forest and found a Red-faced Wood Warbler, a Red-throated Alethe, a few Great Blue Turacos, Yellow-whiskered Greenbuls, a Kikuyu Mountain Greenbul, a Rwenzori Apalis, a Western Tinkerbird, a Grey Cuckooshrike, a couple of White-starred Robins, White-browed Crombecs, a Streaky Seedeater, Chubb’s Cisticolas, an African Hobby, Black Saw-wings, a couple of flocks of African Olive Pigeons, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters, Collared Sunbirds, an African Paradise Flycatcher, White-tailed Blue Flycatchers, a Mountain Oriole, a Rwenzori Hill Babbler, a Regal Sunbird, a couple of Stuhlmann’s Starling and also some L’hoest’s Monkeys. Even though we had seen several good endemics during a short walk, maybe the most important find was the first Black-billed Turaco of the trip and another one was heard. We also heard an Eastern Yellow-billed Barbet and a couple of White-breasted Nigritas.
Finally we were in Ruhija and parked to Gorilla Mist Camp where we felt that the climate was perfect for us. Prossy said that she was freezing. We got rooms soon and even though it was late afternoon there were still some birds on the garden. But sun was setting soon and we had ordinary program for the evening.
Gorilla-trekking day
The 27th of December was one of the most awaited days for us maybe ever. After breakfast we still had some time to spend in the garden before we headed to the center of the National Park where we soon met other tourists too. Soon we were guided to a hall where we were told about gorillas, the park and also practical matters regarding the trekking. Meanwhile the stuff checked what kinds of people were joining the trek. Then locals performed very energetic song and dance performances. Then all people were divided into 8 person groups according to terrain suitability. There is a rule that one group can visit one group of gorillas for one hour daily. Some groups might have an easy walk but some maybe have to walk for whole day. To our surprise, we were allowed to be our own group.
We started following our group-leader Silvia, couple of armed rangers and carriers that we had paid for ourselves. We were walking along a quite easy trail and Silvia was leading the group at suitable pace and we also took short breaks at appropriate intervals in good places. We didn’t have any bird-guide with us but there weren’t many birds to see or hear and most of the birds we heard we couldn’t identify.
We had been walking quite a long time when I found a small flock of White-headed Wood Hoopoes. Later we saw a couple of Stripe-breasted Tits and a Mountain Oriole and we also heard plenty of Chubb’s Cisticolas. I managed to see a Black-throated Apalis too and we also saw a few Boehm’s Bush Squirrels.
Finally Silvia and rangers started to shout and after some trying we heard responses. Trackers were still quite far. They had left early in the morning to track gorillas that can move from 1 to 4 kilometers in a day.
We still followed the trail for some time before turned to climb to a steep uphill. Here it was good that we had paid our own carriers as they didn’t only carry our bags but also helped us in the most difficult places. I was carrying my camera all the time as I had hoped to photograph every bird on the way but there really wasn’t much to photograph. On the steepest places we had to almost crawl and that’s why it was important to wear gloves as there were plenty of nettles and other prickly plants. It was a hard climb as we were in 2500 meters altitude and we could feel it in our lungs.
After some climbing we found the first tracker. Then we wore breathing masks which is a mandatory practice as we are so close relatives with gorillas that infections can infect both ways. We had been told to keep 8 to 10 meters distance to gorillas and soon we saw the first Eastern Gorilla right in front of us so I stopped. But one of the trackers told me to pass the gorilla even though it was on the trail. So I passed this animal from less than a meter and continued towards the place where the rest of the pack was.
Soon we saw several gorillas and one of them was the silver-backed leader called Rukara. Unfortunately it was sitting under a dense tree in the middle of bushes so we started to take pictures of the rest of the pack. And what a show it was! They were really were us a show worth every penny (I must say that gorilla-trekking is quite expensive).
We saw and photograph gorilla-mothers with their babies, toddlers tottering, teenagers playing, fighting and climbing and different sizes of others feeding and so on. One of the teenagers was especially interested of us and we all got some kind of touches from it. It pushed me when it thought I was once on its way, it tried to steal Hanna’s camera a couple of times and from Pirkka it tried to steal whole camera-bag. So after all it was impossible to keep this 8 to 10 meters distance to our cousins as they didn’t care about this rule.
After we had been photographing the teenagers for a long time I wanted to try to get at least some kind of pictures of Rukara. It was still sitting on the same place but one of the trackers told me to go closer through some bushes. Unfortunately it didn’t like my idea and stood up and rushed towards the rest of the pack pushed one mother-gorilla from its way and then sat down under another tree, again in the middle of bushes. So after all we had to settle for face-pictures of this most handsome gorilla.
Teenagers kept on playing and fighting still when our already a little bit too long visit was over. Finally we had to wave goodbye to our cousins and start heading back towards the center. Now we didn’t go back down to the trail but climbed up to the ridge and continued along a smaller path until we were back on the road.
Once we were back at the center we were given diplomas and we were told to advertise gorillas as much as possible so there would be visitors also in the future. Without tourists there wouldn’t be any gorillas either. There are already 50 million people in Uganda and the population has doubled in the last 20 years and will be doubled again in the future. Soon there is no more space for these people. So money is needed to secure these last forests where gorillas are living. With the money that tourists are paying have been paid many locals move away from the forest and locals have been employed to different works in the park.
On the walk back we had enjoyed the packed lunch so after all formalities we were ready to go birding. But anyway we visited our accommodation where we changed some gear and relaxed a bit. Very friendly staff showed us a couple of Three-horned Chameleons in the garden which were of course photographed. But soon we met Abba and Prossy and also a local guide Gordon in the parking place and left birding.
We headed to so-called school-trail where we first tried to find Regal Sunbirds which we had already seen shortly on the previous afternoon. After some searching we found a couple of birds but they were too mobile to get almost any pictures. Many Northern Double-collared Sunbirds were also seen.
A beautiful Mountain Masked Apalis was showing well and again we saw a Grey Cuckooshrike and a Klaas’s Cuckoo but we also found a Bocage’s Bushshrike, a couple of Cabanis’s Greenbuls, a Little Greenbul, an Abyssinian Thrush, a Chestnut-throated Apalis, an African Paradise Flycatcher, a White-tailed Blue Flycatcher, a Chinspot Batis, a Waller’s Starling and some already familiar species and we also heard a distant Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo.
We climbed up to one hill where we had extremely good luck. First a very shy Black-billed Turaco landed right above us and I managed to get very good pictures of it. Then a Great Blue Turaco landed to a branch with perfect background and started to call and display. And once this bird left our guide played some call of turaco and another bird landed to the same branch to display. In a short time we almost got an overdose of Turacos.
When we were walking down from the hill, Prossy who had been waiting for us, had found an Equatorial Akalat. It was an extremely skulking bird and only some of us managed to see it but luckily it was singing and calling.
Our short evening-trip had been excellent! And on the next day we were going to do birding in the same forest for the whole day!
Birding day
On the 28th of December I had been sick whole night and of course electricity was off and even toilets weren’t working, so I had been climbing over the fences to bushes several times. The wake up was early and it was still dark when we started to walk along the same trail as on our gorilla-trek. Now we had Prossy and Gordon but also Gordon’s mentor Amos with us, and Amos was really a good guide! So we started to find birds much more than we had seen by ourselves.
When it started to get a little bit lighter, we saw and photographed a Blue-headed Sunbird, an Archer’s Ground Robin, probably the same flock of White-headed Wood Hoopoes again, a Lagden’s Bushshrike, a couple of Yellow-eyed Black Flycatchers, a Rwenzori Batis, some Rwenzori Hill Babblers, an Eastern Yellow-billed Barbet and also finally got some pictures of a Northern Puffback.
We also saw several Banded Prinias, a few Stripe-breasted Tits and a Strange and a Brown-capped Weaver but they didn’t pose for photographs. We also heard and saw briefly a Mountain Illadopsis and just heard some apalises that we had already seen or heard on the previous afternoon. We also saw some Mantled Guerezas, a few Rwenzori Duikers and Boehm’s Bush Squirrels.
We passed the place where we had last time turned uphill and soon met a local man wearing a mask. Our guides had a little bit heated discussion with him but it seemed that after all they reached an agreement. We were told to wear masks but of course most of us hadn’t taken any with us. Luckily Prossy had masks for us all as she probably had got them just in case for us for the previous day and they luckily were still on her bag.
Wearing masks we continued walking and soon saw a bigger group of locals with masks. We went around them a little bit further through bushes and we could see that they were doing their best so we couldn’t see what they were doing there. But of course we soon saw what we had already been guessing; there was a dead gorilla, a silverback behind them. Now we realized why several locals had been hurrying to the path early in the morning with shovels. We had also felt that the atmosphere had been a bit tense there. Trackers must have found this dead animal in the morning.
When we had passed the gorilla we got back to the trail and soon met one more man who was guarding the trail on this side. We offered him our deepest condolences. Losing a greyback must be very hard for locals. We later understood that this greyback hadn’t been the one we had seen on the previous day but a lonely male which didn’t have own pack yet. We also heard that it had probably fallen from a tree.
We continued walking along a narrower path and the forest got even greener and species got better. We heard a couple of Honeyguide Greenbuls, a Yellow-streaked Greenbul, a Grey-chested Babbler and a Grauer’s Warbler and saw a Brown-eared Woodpecker shortly, a couple of very actively playing Cardinal Woodpeckers and a Petit’s Cuckooshrike couple. On the trail we saw marks and footprints of African Forest Elephants, packs of Gorillas and even Golden Cat.
We started to climb higher and higher and I was feeling really awful but I really had to keep on going as we were already having one of the best birding ever and we were just going towards our real targets.
Finally we stopped when the trail was curving over a very green pass and sat down while Amos and Gordon continued down to the forest pass to search for our main-target. While waiting, we saw a couple of Dusky Crimsonwings, a Waller’s Starling, a couple of Rwenzori Sun Squirrels and an Abyssinian Thrush, until finally we heard a whistle and started walking down towards our guides.
While walking to the pass we heard our first Evergreen Forest and Black-faced Rufous Warblers. Soon we found Amos and Gordon and then started to try to see a tiny bird that was exactly same color as all leaves and it was of course moving quickly on the top of very high trees. Some of us managed to see it soon in flight but I saw it only with my thermal-camera when it already flew further and disappeared. Luckily we were told that it was building a nest and soon we found the nest so it was easier to find the bird too when it came back again. Finally we all could see this extremely beautiful and rare Grauer’s Broadbill for which this was the only reachable place in the World to see it.
We were following this couple of Grauer’s Broadbills building their nest for some time before we climbed back to the same place where we had been earlier and had our packed lunch. My body really messed up and I had to go to bushes again but it was worthy in many ways as I found a beautiful Red-headed Malimbe which also others managed to twitch. We also heard strange shouting from the next hill and we were told that there was a pack of Chimpanzees calling.
We were walking back a little bit too fast but we were told that there was a rain coming. It was indeed raining a couple of times shortly but we kept on walking. There were still quite a lot of birds around maybe because of the weather. Surprisingly Prossy found one more Grauer’s Broadbill but it didn’t show well. Then we saw again a Lagden’s Bushshrike and Yellow-eyed Black Flycatchers but also a Fine-banded Woodpecker, a White-bellied Crested Flycatcher that I found and then Amos pointed us another good bird, an Albertine Sooty Boubou.
We also heard an African Emerald Cuckoo, a couple of Lühder’s Bushshrikes which another one was seen very briefly, another Albertine Sooty Boubou and once we were already climbing up the last deep uphill we heard both a Narina and a Bar-tailed Trogon which only the latter one was seen in flight.
I felt dead when we were on the top of the last hill but we still had to walk a little bit along the road. When we were walking the last hundreds of meters, the locals that had been at gorilla funerals passed us. Autopsy had been made and the body had been buried and some parts that had been taken were going to further tests in a cooler bag.
Once we were back at the center I could hardly stand. Anyway we still took group-pictures and got our diplomas before drove to our accommodation.
I went straight to our room and lied down. Luckily Hanna was visiting our room when my both thighs started to cramp. I couldn’t have done anything then, but Hanna could give me some water to drink spiced up with different kind of energy-pills I had with me. I really had an awful couple of hours but luckily in the evening I managed to join the log and even the dinner. But next night wasn’t any better…
Through forests to savanna
On the 29th of December we had driving day again. Luckily I was already feeling better and managed to eat some breakfast.
We had an easy morning and left a little bit later as Prossy told that some target-species were easier to find a little bit later. On our program we had some stops on the way while we were driving through mountain-forests but after all we drove quite a long time without any stops and the only bird we saw was a lonely African Olive Pigeon. I already started to worry if we were going to stop at all, but finally we arrived to so-called The Neck and stopped for a short walk. Birds had once again changed completely and we found a Grey and a couple of Buff-throated Apalises, Pink-footed Puffbacks and Yellow-spotted Barbets and heard an Olive-green Camaroptera, a Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo and a Lühder’s and a Bocage’s Bushsrike.
On the second stop we saw a couple of Grey Parrots and Grey-throated Barbets before we found the most expected species, a couple of Black Bee-eaters. We also saw a White-headed Saw-wing flying over us and saw Black-faced Rufous Warbler which is very difficult to see at least somehow.
After some more driving we stopped to a small pool where we saw a couple of African Black Ducks. Unfortunately they swam behind the vegetation very soon.
Then we stopped once more to walk and found a few Speckled Tinkerbirds, a Buff-throated Apalis, a Cassin’s Honeybird, a Toro Olive and a Red-tailed Greenbul and a Green Hylia. So there was no reason to complain. On a few short stops we had got plenty of new species – Prossy really knew where to find different birds!
While we were still driving on uplands we saw a distant White-necked Raven in flight but soon we were getting lower and were driving through tea and coffee plantations where birds changed again and we started to see the same species as on the beginning of our trip. Then suddenly as a flame from the bright sky, we heard a bump under our car and traction was completely lost. We got out and Abba started to check what had happened and then started to fix the car. I was again feeling worse so it was good to have a stop and go to visit coffee plantations that were round us.
Our car had broken down to a good place as lower on the valley there was a river and on the bushes next to it we saw plenty of Fan-tailed and some White-winged Widowbirds and a Black Bishop.
Abba somehow managed to attach some part to the car with a piece of safety belt and soon we were driving again. While driving on lowland we still saw a Yellow Bishop flying in front of our car.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
The landscape changed to savanna and finally we arrived at Queen Elizabeth National Park. On the gate we had familiar formalities before we could continue driving. Finally we were in Ishasha and our accommodation in Topi Lodge. We got our rooms quickly and then almost immediately had lunch. We ate on a nice view-terrace and a Greater Honeyguide was whistling all the time.
We had to worry for our evening-safari as Abba had to visit a garage. We couldn’t trust that the seat-belt was going to hold for the rest of the trip. Luckily Prossy soon got a message from Abba that car had been fixed and soon we were ready for a safari. And it really was worthy as after only a short drive we found a couple of Lions that were resting on a big tree. Unfortunately they were quite far from the road and in a National Park it of course wasn’t allowed to drive away from the road – which is a very good thing. So we couldn’t get good pictures of Lions but at least we had now seen them. And soon we saw the first African Savanna Elephants and there was no need to get any closer to them, they came close enough!
Of course we saw also birds! First we saw mostly familiar species like egrets, herons, Helmeted Guineafowls, Red-necked Francolins,Ring-necked and Laughing Doves, Speckled Mousebirds, Yellow-throated Longclaws, Plain-backed Pipits, Sooty Chats, a couple of Moustached Grass Warblers, Grey-backed and Northern Fiscals and so on but also White-headed Barbets, a couple of Flappet Larks, Whinchats, a Croaking Cisticola, a couple of Arrow-marked Babblers, Blue-throated Brown Sunbirds and Purple-headed Starlings, Common and Fawn-breasted Waxbills and then we found maybe the best bird – an African Wryneck.
Once we were back at Topi Lodge we still climbed to a view-tower and saw a Red-collared Widowbird in flight and a few Holub’s Golden Weavers. When it was dark we heard a Fiery-necked Nightjar calling.
More safaris in Ishasha
The 30th of December was a safari-day. After breakfast we headed to QENP Ishasha sector. On acacia-growing savanna we saw lots of familiar birds like White-throated Bee-eaters, White-browed Coucals, Yellow-throated Longclaws, Red-billed Firefinches, Yellow-fronted Canaries, lots of Barn Swallows and so on. But we saw also Cape Buffaloes, Elephants and Uganda Kobs. Then suddenly we saw a Spotted Hyena that was jogging towards us and passed our car only from some meters.
It had been raining whole night so all roads were extremely muddy – so they were absolutely horrible! Abba was trying to drive around the deepest puddles but in some places our car was really struggling. And finally we got completely stuck to one muddy puddle. Luckily some locals drove towards us and these kind people stopped to help us. The same safety-belt was used as a rope this time and we got up surprisingly easily.
We continued driving but there were still a couple of really bad places on the road but somehow we managed to get through to an area where road got a little bit higher. Day was also warming up and roads started to get drier.
We saw African Wattled Lapwings, a Black-crowned Tchagra, a couple of Common Scimitarbills and also Elephants, Waterbucks, Warthogs and Olive Baboons. On a couple of pools we saw a Hippos and also a Goliath Heron, an African Snipe, African Jacanas, Black Crakes, Long-toed Lapwings and so on.
Later we got pictures of a Palm-nut Vulture that was perched on a tree next to the road and found a couple of Yellow-fronted Tinkerbirds and then saw a stunning White-headed Vulture on the sky.
And soon we saw more vultures as there were a White-headed, a Rüppell’s, a Hooded and several White-backed Vultures and also a Bateleur on the same tree but only the younger White-headed Vulture was posing well.
After lunch we relaxed a little as at least for Abba the morning had been tough. From the garden we found a Brown-crowned Tchagra and also saw a Crowned Hornbill, Double-toothed Barbets, Blue-spotted Wood Doves and so on. And in the afternoon we headed to savanna again.
This time we enjoyed good views of Black-lored and Arrow-marked Babblers, a Common Buttonquail that was right next to the road, Fawn-breasted Waxbills, a Black-bellied Bustard, Mosque Swallows, a Long-crested Eagle, a White-headed Barbet, a Pale Flycatcher and many other already familiar species. It was already getting dark when we saw a big flock of about 50 Yellow-billed Oxpeckers with a couple of Cape Buffaloes.
To northern side of the park
On the New Years Eve the 31st of December we had again some driving to do. After breakfast we still enjoyed the garden of Topi Lodge and managed to see one Ross’s Turaco.
While some of us were still carrying our luggage Prossy, Mikko and Elli heard a Red-headed Lovebird flying over the parking place. It was very high on my target-list but this time I wasn’t lucky. Soon we started driving towards northern side of QENP and Kasenyi sector.
We were driving inside the park so there was all the time something to see. We saw an African Grey Woodpecker, Blue-naped Mousebirds, Long-crested Eagles, Grey Kestrels, a Western Banded Snake Eagle, very photogenic Bateleur and African Harrier-Hawk and not so well shown Red-collared Widowbird. Then I saw a Red-breasted Swallow briefly and once we stopped it luckily flow around the car again so everyone managed to see it.
It wasn’t a long drive but road was in so bad condition that driving was slowly. Luckily we saw also lots of Elephants, Cape Buffaloes, a Serval that crossed the road and lots of different kinds of beautiful colorful butterflies that had been attracted by the puddles.
On the way in Maramagambo forest Olive Baboons were having meetings in the middle of the road and they didn’t give us way at all so Abba had to zigzag around them. We saw a Greater Blue-eared Starling briefly and heard a few Green Crombecs before we stopped to a place with lots of dead trees. Immediately Prossy found a Blue-throated Roller and later we saw a few more rollers but they were all quite far. We also heard a Diederik Cuckoo which we finally managed to get to our trip-list.
On the next stop we found a few Black Bee-eaters and I photographed a bird that could be identified as a Little Grey Greenbul from the picture. Soon the landscape changes to a savanna again and on the way we still saw a huge Nile Water Monitor and a very well posing Long-crested Eagle. Finally we were along Kazinga canal and turned to a small road that led us to our next accommodation Bush Lodge.
When we were already close to the parking place we saw some Elephants and then a huge Hippo crossed the road right in front of us. Finally we parked to the lodge that was in the middle of bushy area along the canal.
We got our safari-tents and then it was time to have lunch. The weather was very hot so we weren’t in a hurry to do anything. Luckily there were lots of birds in the garden so we could photograph some common birds like Pin-tailed Whydahs, Rüppell’s Starlings, Red-billed Firefinches, Common Bulbuls, Western Yellow Wagtails, Spotted Flycatchers and also a Ugandan Blue-headed Tree Agama. We also found a Common Reed Warbler that was singing actively.
From the garden there was a nice view to the canal and there we saw some White-winged, Whiskered and Gull-billed Terns and Hippos and Crocodiles. There were also plenty of river-boats and tourists were photographing Elephants that were trying to come to drink but it seemed that at least some of the boats were going too close and Elephants couldn’t come to the shore.
We had no other program for the evening but once we had photographed birds in the garden enough, we asked if we could visit the bridge that was crossing Kazinga canal nearby. We had seen that in that direction there were crazy numbers of birds.
Luckily Abba had no plans to celebrate the New Year so he came soon to pick us up and after a short drive we were on the bridge. And there really were lots of birds! But mostly they were just White-winged Terns and Sand Martins. Also a couple of Pink-backed Pelicans, Reed Cormorants, egrets and herons, Slender-billed and Northern Brown-throated Weavers and so on were seen. We also managed to attract a couple of Papyrus Gonoleks to call but only one was seen briefly in flight. Only Mikko managed to see a Banded Martin amongst hundreds of Sand Martins but while searching for it we found a couple of Wire-tailed Swallows.
We were already driving back to our accommodation when I saw a strange-looking swallow in flight. We stopped and luckily saw it again and it was a Grey-rumped Swallow. Unfortunately it was flying too fast so we couldn’t get any pictures. But while we were trying Prossy heard a familiar call and luckily these Red-headed Lovebirds landed to bushes not too far from us. They were even more beautiful than we had expected. And then we still saw a flock of 40 Wattled Starlings in flight, so the short evening trip had been really good!
The rest of the evening we took it easy and photographed birds in the garden. But we still had a couple of surprises as while we were having excellent New Year’s Eve dinner that was served outside we saw a Pousarques’s Mongoose and heard a Swamp Nightjar. We thought that the night would be very noisy because of the New Year but surprisingly it was very quiet.
New year – same action
The 1st of January 2026 – New Year but pretty much same tricks, as the wake up was early and breakfast was at 7 a.m. and then we had program for the whole day.
On the way to morning-safari we had to stop to a gate and Abba did again all the formalities. In this part of the park there were much more other tourists too so it took some time. In the morning we were driving around the north-eastern part of the area in a spurge-growing lion-savanna where most of the birds were familiar savanna-species. In big recently burnt areas we saw lots of African Wattled, Senegal and Crowned Lapwings and later also Rufous-naped Larks, Zitting Cisticolas, a couple of Black Coucals and an Isabelline Wheatear. Red-necked Francolins, Helmeted Guineafowls and Yellow-throated Longclaws were common and like almost everywhere, Common Bulbuls were very common. And again we saw a couple of Common Buttonquail that flushed from the roadside.
We continued driving and soon were on the shore of Lake George but we didn’t stop there even though other tourists were out from their cars and walking around. But soon we got information that there were some Lions visible and not too far, so we drove to see them but unfortunately again these majestic animals were quite far from the road. They were just lying down under some bushes and after some waiting only one of them was walking around and we could see that it had a tracking-collar on its neck.
Soon we were driving again and for some reason there was not much to see now until we found a couple of Crested Francolins and then Mikko found a stunning Black-bellied Bustard pretty close to the road. We also heard a couple of Verreaux’s Eagle-Owls calling to each other but they were in too dense bushy area so we couldn’t see them.
Then we saw a Hippo in a mud-bath right next to the road and it was too close so it got up and started walking and we got nice pictures of it. And pretty soon we found a cute Nile Bushbuck too. We also saw a big flock of White-backed Vultures with one Rüppell’s Vulture and a Booted Eagle.
The next stop was made at Bunyampaka crater-lake where lots of tourists were buying souvenirs from the local sellers. On the distant salt-pools we saw lots of Lesser Flamingoes. But then it was time to head back towards Bush Lodge. We were driving pretty fast but still stopped a couple of times to photograph Uganda Kobs and a Western Black-headed Batis that flew across the road but luckily landed visible to one bush. We also saw a beautiful male Montagu’s Harrier.
At the gate I photographed one eagle that was very high on the sky and from the pictures it could be identified as a Lesser Spotted Eagle.
After quick lunch we headed to north-western side of the area to a road that was close to the canal. We saw Grey Kestrels, Grey-headed Kingfishers and lots of Elephants and Buffaloes and after some driving we were in Mweya spit. There we parked to luxurious Mweya Safari Lodge which had very tame Warthogs eating grass in the garden. A couple of Swamp Flycatchers were inside the lodge but they weren’t trapped but flew in and out through a door. Pretty soon we continued to the beach where we again met lots of locals who were also waiting for a boat-trip.
While waiting for our boat we photographed Squacco Herons, Reed Cormorants and Spur-winged Lapwings and finally managed to get some kind of pictures of a Black Crake too. But soon it was time to start packing to a boat which luckily came so full that we got a smaller boat for ourselves. Surely smaller boat was better for photographing. I am sure Prossy once again helped us to get it just for us.
We started to follow the shoreline slowly and stopped always when there was something to see or photograph. We got pictures of Pied Kingfishers, Goliath Herons, Yellow-billed Storks and African Sacred Ibises and of course Crocodiles and Hippos which were seen also on dry land.
After some boating we came to a place where Elephants were coming to drink. Of course there was one boat before us already and they were maybe going a bit too close so the Elephants kept some distance. Luckily out captain understood the problem and we went to photograph another pack of Elephants and he kept really good distance to them as we had bigger cameras than normal cell-phone tourists. Soon Elephants started to drink and we got lots of excellent pictures.
After too many Elephant-pictures we continued along the shore and soon found a big flock of Grey-headed Gulls with a couple of Black-headed Gulls and Common Ringed Plovers. Then on the next flock of birds there were Great Cormorants, Pink-backed Pelicans, Marabou and Yellow-billed Storks, Little Egrets, African Sacred Ibises, Egyptian Geese, Lesser Black-backed Gulls (yes, the Finnish-ones), Gull-billed Terns, Little Stints and luckily we realized to look a little bit further too as there were a few stunning Red-throated Bee-eaters catching insects on small bushes.
But after all we had to start boating back and soon we were photographing again Hippos and Elephants. We also photographed some African Fish Eagles, Water Thick-knees, African Jacanas, Grey-headed and Malachite Kingfishers, Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, Swamp Flycatchers, a Black Crake and so on.
When we were already close to the harbor but on the other side of the canal, we finally saw a big flock of African Skimmers that I had been missing. The first bird that flew closer passed us really nicely and soon we were photographing birds on the shore and there were about 150 birds on the flock.
There weren’t other birds on the skimmer-flock, just one White-winged Tern but nearby there were some Buffaloes and with them there were some egrets, storks and terns and finally another bird that I had been missing – an African Spoonbill. Also a lonely Curlew Sandpiper was seen and with a flock of Egyptian Geese we saw a lonely Glossy Ibis.
Finally we were back at the harbor and thanks to our captain, our boat-trip had been extra long again and we were in a hurry as gates were closing at 7 p.m.
Abba was driving as fast as possible along a very dusty road but anyway we had to make a couple of unnecessary (these always happen) and a couple of worthy stops. On good stops we saw a Levaillant’s Cuckoo and a Common Scimitarbill and when it was already getting dark, we saw a pack of Giant Forest Hogs.
The first day of the year had been very successful! And maybe the most amazing experience was when we were having dinner, a young lady came to tell us that: “Hippos have come”. And there was a Common Hippopotamus right behind us feeding grass on a hillside. And then all tourists gathered to look at it and take cell-phone pictures from less than 10 meters of this huge animal! I had expected that a Hippo in a dry land would cause different kind of reactions amongst people as they are extremely dangerous animals! But it seemed that this was so called normal here as when we were going back to our tents (with an escort which was a rule in dark), there was a Hippo eating grass right in front of our tent too. We had also heard a Square-tailed Nightjar so we had started the year with 131 species of birds.
The 2nd of January. We still had one day to spend in QENP Kasenyi. If we’d have been just on a birding trip we probably had stayed longer in Bwindi or somewhere else where most endemic birds are but as this was the first trip to real Africa and opportunity to do safaris for everyone else in our group except myself, we still had more safaris to do and more animals to photograph.
After breakfast we headed to savanna again and this time to Kasenyi track area. We couldn’t expect many new species anymore but we really wanted to have opportunity to get better pictures of some. But for some reason early morning was pretty dull and quiet. We finally got some kind of pictures of Fan-tailed Widowbird and a Red-faced Crombec was seen the first time and some of the other birds we saw were Fawn-breasted Waxbills, several Black-chested Snake Eagles, a couple of Northern Wheatears, several Kittlitz’s Plovers and a few African Pipits.
We saw again big burnt areas with familiar birds but after quite a lot of searching we found a small flock of Temminck’s Coursers. And finally we found an African Crake too which only Hanna managed to see but luckily it started to call actively. Luckily later another bird was seen in flight quite well.
And of course we saw again Buffaloes and Hippos in mud-baths, Waterbucks, Uganda Kobs and also nice pack of Giant Forest Hogs.
And once again the small road that led to Bush Lodge was productive as we saw 3 Piapiacs flying over us.
During the day we had of course lunch but we also had to move. We had a little bit more luxurious hut for men and a bigger tent with a shower for women for the last night in Bush Lodge. It really felt good to have shower! But again we had the same problem as in almost all our accommodations, there weren’t enough plugs. So anyone coming to Uganda who is going to stay in these kinds of not too expensive lodges should bring a junction box. Of course it doesn’t solve the problem that electricity is more off than on. In many places there is only solar power or an aggregate that is on only in the evenings.
The midday was again so hot that we left to evening-safari a little bit later. We drove along the same road towards north again but then turned and continued along extremely dusty road towards west. We passed Lake Nyamunuka where we saw a few distant Lesser Flamingoes.
We continued driving and saw nothing new really but finally were in a place where were many cars were blocking the road. Elephants were very noisy and they seemed to be chasing something – Lions! I saw one Lion running in the bushes and disappearing again and soon we heard a Lion roaring.
People on the other cars seemed to be just waiting for something so we stayed in the distance and photographed Elephants crossing the road.
The situation had clearly relaxed but the cars stayed still in the middle of the road. So I asked Abba to drive closer so we could see if they after all could see something. And surprisingly there were 2 Lions lying on a spurge. They seemed to be extremely exhausted; Elephants had really kicked some asses.
Other cars were still staying put so we couldn’t get any closer to Lions. Actually this was the first time we met other tourists with better cameras. People were waiting and waiting but because nothing was happening, some cars finally left and we managed to get ourselves in better position and get some better pictures.
We waited and waited for something to happen but after all we had to also give up as once again the gate was closing at 7 p.m. We hurried along the same dusty road back and saw nothing on the way. But at least finally, in the last possible moment, we had managed to see Lions much closer!
Evening and night were in both our hut and women’s tent, that was a little bit further in the middle of bushes, very interesting. We were listening to mostly frogs but also Hippos and a Hyena calling and women had Hippos and Elephants walking around their tent whole night.
Kibale and Bigodi
On the 3rd of January we were sleeping a little bit longer and luckily an escort went to pick up Hanna and Elli for breakfast as they still had a couple of Elephants feeding in front of their tent. I finally managed to get better pictures of a Black-headed Gonolek on the parking place and soon our car had been packed again and we left towards north. We still stopped on the bridge and tried to attract Papyrus Gonoleks visible but again only heard a couple of them. We also heard a Greater Swamp Warbler singing and saw a couple of Lesser Swamp Warblers and Slender-billed Weavers.
Then we had almost 3 hours driving before we turned to Kibale National Park center where we tried to get permits for the next day. While we were waiting for Abba we found a couple of Black-and-white-casqued Hornbills, a Green-throated Sunbird and a couple of Buff-throated Apalises and heard a distant Blue-breasted Kingfisher. Unfortunately the internet-connection was down so we couldn’t get the permits so we moved on.
Soon we stopped to walk to a forest to a hilly landscape and once again birds had completely changed. In a short walk we found a Yellow-crested Woodpecker, a Grey Tit-Flycatcher, an African Shrike-flycatcher, a flock of Ducky Tits and a flock of Narrow-tailed Starlings and some other species we saw were a Blue-throated Roller, Yellow-throated and Speckled Tinkerbirds, Eastern Yellow-billed and Grey-throated Barbets, a Petit’s Cuckooshrike couple, Little Greenbuls, Green Crombecs and Olive Sunbirds.
While we had been walking Abba had visited the office again and managed to get the permits for the next morning. So we were happy when we continued a short drive to our accommodation Kibale Forest Camp.
We got our huts soon and after lunch we relaxed a little. Our garden was really good for birds as we were just next to Bigodi swamp. On a small creek in front of our huts was a Black Bee-eater and a African Blue Flycatcher catching insect and bathing and a Lesser Swamp Warbler was singing on the swamp.
Soon we were ready to go birding again and drove a short distance to center of Bigodi swamp. There we met a local guide who told us about the swamp and its animals and then we followed her to the trail. We had to wear rubber-boots so luckily Mikko could borrow a pair.
Pretty soon we heard a Brown Illadopsis and then found one of the most important target-species, a ridiculous small White-spotted Flufftail. It was almost impossible to see but after all I managed to get a couple of pictures where the bird can be at least somehow seen.
After all boots weren’t really needed and also the guide wasn’t very good but luckily Prossy found lots of birds for us. Part of the trail was wooden and it went in the middle of the swamp but it was in really bad shape. Luckily none of us fell down. But most of the time the trail was going on the edge of the swamp and cultivation.
We walked quite a lot without anything new but then suddenly we started to find birds. We heard and saw briefly a Shining-blue Kingfisher, heard Toro Olive and Plain Greenbuls and a Honeyguide Greenbul. Then we heard a White-breasted and a Grey-headed Nigrita before we got an open meadow where we saw all three species of mannikins; Bronze, Black-and-white and Magpie Mannikins. While we were going over the muddiest puddle, I found a White-tailed Ant Thrush which was posing well and soon we first saw one and then heard another Red-headed Bluebill.
We also saw several different kinds of monkeys which there are 13 species in Kibale National Park. We saw familiar Tantalus Monkeys, Mantled Guerezas and Red-tailed Monkeys but also Uganda and Grey-cheeked Mangabeys and Semliki Red Colobuses.
In the evening we still heard a White-winged Swamp Warbler singing on the swamp.
The 4th of January was our last day with program but one of the most awaited. We woke up earlier than in any other day and had breakfast already at 5:30 a.m. Soon we were driving and picked up a guide and couple of rangers so the car was pretty cramped.
We drove a short distance and then started to walk along a narrow path (Robin Hill trail) into the forest. Our guide told us that we had to walk fast as we had to be in right place in time. Of course we tried to tick birds on the way but there was no time to spend too much. Prossy was again really good and identified low-calling Afep Pigeons, a Narina Trogon, a Blue-breasted Kingfisher, familiar barbets and greenbuls, a Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher, a Chestnut Wattle-Eye which called only a couple of times and both a Scaly-breasted and a Brown Illadopsis.
Finally we were in the right place where our guides played strange knocking sound on their speakers. But then they all spread around the forest without saying anything. They started to search one of the most important target-species of our trip – a Green-breasted Pitta.
With Pirkka we had our thermal-cameras with us and we started to scan the surrounding. A couple of times one of our guides visited us and played the call again but there was no response. Mostly we heard the guides playing the call somewhere in the forest around us. We had been standing still a long time when Hanna suddenly saw something moving under the vegetation close to us. I found a bright spot with my thermal-camera and it really looked like a pitta. I had just a couple of weeks earlier been in Costa Rica and spent a couple of mornings and evenings searching and seeing very similar bird a Scaly Antpitta. Hanna managed to see some colors and and Pirkka managed to see it too with thermal-camera but soon I saw it jumping further behind the trees and disappearing.
We tried to get our guides to play the call again but exactly then we heard rumbling sound from the forest and our rangers hurried towards the sound with their guns. Three African Forest Elephants were passing us in the forest and this is the most dangerous animal in whole Africa which can kill people when meeting.
Elephants passed us so far that after all we didn’t even see them which was of course good but also a pity. And once our guide and rangers were back we were sure that pitta was already far. We still played the call and waited but didn’t see it again. But Prossy picked up a Red-tailed Ant Thrush which we also saw shortly and then we heard also a Fraser’s Rufous Thrush.
It was already late morning and the best pitta-time was over but we walked back to the road fast and while walking we heard a Pearl-spotted Owlet calling a couple of times. Then we drove a little bit and started to walk another trail (Njojo trail).
We were again walking a lot and heard a Fire-crested Alethe on the way before we stopped and started to search for the pitta again. First we played the call and then our guides disappeared again. This time Pirkka saw something first jumping behind one log but whatever it was, it disappeared immediately. Then Mikko saw it jumping in the same place and he could tell that it really was a pitta. But again it disappeared.
There weren’t many other birds in the forest but we saw plenty of beautiful butterflies. I think that this time the correct way to see pitta better would have been just stand still and play the call from the speaker. But locals clearly wanted to find a displaying bird which is often perched on a branch.
While walking back to the road we saw a Green Hylia and heard a Purple Starling calling funnily. Soon we were back at our accommodation where we found a showy Grey Tit-Flycatcher and a couple of Green-throated Sunbirds. Then we had an early lunch and headed towards Chimpanzee-center.
Chimpanzee-trekking
At 1 p.m. there were about 20 tourists gathered in the Chimpanzee-center and we were told about the National Park and Chimpanzees. Again we managed to stay an own group and we got a guide and 3 rangers. Then we got into our car and drove to a small football field nearby. It seemed that our rangers took the Elephant-thread seriously as one of them had a machinegun with him.
We followed our guide Seth along a small path for about 15 minutes until we met some trackers. And immediately we saw some movements on tree-tops, there was a pack of Chimpanzees high in the trees!
We walked almost under the tree where some Chimpanzees were but could see only one well eating a fruit. Our guide told us that the pack had been in trees for at least an hour so they could come down any time. Then surprisingly also the other groups of tourists started to arrive to the same place and at least a couple of Japanese had good cameras too.
We didn’t have to wait for long when the first Chimpanzee started coming towards the ground. Our guide told us to follow the monkey in a hurry and somehow I managed to stumble to a stump and hurt my wrist pretty bad. I felt that there was nothing completely broken and tried to follow the monkey but it climbed almost to the next tree again.
Luckily soon also other monkeys started to come down and again we were told to follow them. Chimpanzees were moving pretty fast on the ground and clearly they wanted to keep some distance to us so they were really difficult to photograph in pretty high vegetation. And of course they went over a deep ditch that had been dig to stop Elephants. They used a rotten-looking trunk to cross the ditch but our guide told us to follow them. I though that I couldn’t be in any more pain than I already was because of my wrist and crawled to the trunk. Somehow I managed to cross the ditch and surprisingly our whole group followed. Clearly everyone wanted to see and photograph Chimpanzees much better.
Chimpanzees were passing us from both sides but finally we found a place where they had stopped. Some were still on the trees but showing much better and some were eating leaves on the ground.
We spent more than an hour with the pack and got lots of good pictures. Some were relaxing on the ground and posing for us very well. One was hanging on a branch with one hand and collecting and eating fruits with the other hand. But overall Chimpanzees were clearly more reserved towards us than Gorillas had been. Chimpanzees really didn’t care about us at all. Maybe this was because of there are no such rules as for Gorillas. There can be several groups visiting the same pack so they must be very used or even bored to people. Even now there were three groups of people. But I must say that our guide really did good work that we were always in a good spot for photographing these amazing animals.
While watching Chimpanzees we didn’t see many birds but once I noticed a couple of birds on a top of one tree and took pictures of them. I checked the picture and saw that one bird was a Yellow-rumped Tinkerbirds and another one some greenish sunbird. When I checked the picture later, I realized the bird was a Grey-chinned Sunbird. A little bit later I saw movement in one tree and saw a bigger black bird landing to a branch – a Black Cuckoo. Unfortunately it flew away immediately. I kept on checking the tree if it would come back and soon saw some movement again. There were some Blue Malkohas and this time I managed to shout to the others and everyone managed to see these funny-looking birds before they moved on. Later I still saw a flock of Violet-backed Starlings flying over us.
Finally we had to say goodbye to our cousins and start walking back to the road. We took a different path and soon got to the road and our car arrived. At the center we were given diplomas again and when we were getting into our car we saw a flock of Weyns’s Weavers flying over us. It was a good end for an excellent day-trip.
The afternoon was still young so we still walked around a short trail next to our accommodation. We didn’t see many birds. Then we just relaxed until I decided to go to walk around the trail again as I though birds might be more active in last light. Mikko, Pirkka and Prossy joined me and it was worthy as we still found a Grey-winged Robin-Chat.
Towards Entebbe
The 5th of January. Until this I had been lucky and managed to observe all but one bird-species (Banded Martin) on our trip; thanks to my deep morning-sleep, earplugs and bad hearing I couldn’t hear an African Wood Owl in the morning even though Mikko woke me up quickly.
In the morning we had to pack the rest of our luggage and then we decided to carry everything up to the lodge before the breakfast. Soon it was time to hit the road and head towards Entebbe.
It was a very a long drive and the first hours the weather was extremely foggy. There were villages after villages and also some bigger cities on the way – nothing else really. And once again the road was awful! It was full of deep potholes and sometimes Abba had to go outside the road to go around them. There were also long periods without tarmac and then the road was even worse. And of course there were also speed-bumps. Once Abba had to drive completely off from the road when a couple of big trucks were coming side by side towards us. Luckily Abba was a rally-driver so he managed to make this quickly move so professionally that we weren’t even really scared.
After several hours driving the road finally got better and luckily there wasn’t too much traffic either. Only birds to mention were about 15 Long-crested Eagles and Speckled Doves, a Great Blue and a Ross’s Turaco and some Black-and-white-casqued Hornbills.
Finally we had managed to drive around Kampala and got to a fast motorway that led us to Entebbe. It was a late afternoon when we parked to a restaurant and found Ukko and Niina from the tables. We still had excellent lunch together and then it was time to say goodbyes and thanks to Niina and Ukko and head towards the airport.
The first security check was already before the airport. Then we had the last trip-tick as a Common Kestrel flew over us. Finally we had to say thanks and goodbyes and of course give well-deserved tips to Prossy and Abba. They had both been excellent! Then we had to go through several security checks and passport and boarding pass controls before we finally got to right gate to wait for our flight
Back to home
Our Ethiopian Airlines flight left at 6:45 p.m. and after about 3 hours we landed to Addis Ababa. There we had a long wait until our next flight left one hour late on the 6th of December about 2:40 a.m.
We managed to sleep quite well on this long flight and finally landed to London Heathrow after 7 a.m. Security checks were really tight but finally we got to right gate and at 10:20 a.m. our Finnair flight left towards Finland.
We landed to Helsinki-Vantaa at 3:15 p.m. and we had to wait for our luggage for a very long time. And Elli’s another bag never arrived. But we are quite used to this already; it would come later to Kouvola. Then it was time to say goodbye to Pirkka who was heading to Helsinki where the night-train was leaving. With Mikko and Elli we still went to eat and then we still had to wait for some time before we took a train to Tikkurila. There Mikko had his train to Oulu first and soon we left towards Kouvola and Parikkala.
It was very cold weather in Parikkala but luckily our friend Harri Hölttä was on the same train and we managed to get our luggage to his car. I couldn’t have carried my luggage with my broken wrist. We walked quickly home and then carried our luggage to home. My wrist still hurts now when I am finishing this report more than 2.5 months later but hopefully it will be OK one day.
And still thanks to Ukko and Niina (Piece of Uganda Safaris). Everything was arranged perfectly! All the accommodations were really good for birding group and even food was good even though we were told different. Thank also our guide Prossy Nanyombi and our main driver Abdallah Nyombi and Ibrahim and other drivers, many local guides and boatmen, rangers and everyone else who helped us and of course own group! We saw altogether 428 bird-species, 35 identified mammal-species. Uganda – we will come back!
J.A.
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