UGANDA 2020 - A TALE OF 7 SPECIALS

[xelas]

Excellent photos, @kittykat23uk, all of them. And videos are adding extra dimension to this report.

[Peter Connan]

I agree, beautiful photos!

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks all. Next up, gorillas! 

[Towlersonsafari]

again lovely photos @kittykat23uk and videos that monkey is clearly very upswt at your travelling companions very poor views about monkeys and primates!!!

[kittykat23uk]

5 minutes ago, Towlersonsafari said:

again lovely photos @kittykat23uk and videos that monkey is clearly very upswt at your travelling companions very poor views about monkeys and primates!!!

 

isn't he just! Poor thing is totally unappreciated

[xelas]

BWINDI IMPENETRABLE FOREST – BUHOMA / 17^th– 20^thFeb

 

 

“As names go, there's hardly a more evocative African destination than the Impenetrable Forest of Bwindi. This swath of steep mountains covered in thick, steamy jungle is just as magnificent as it sounds. The 331-sq-km World Heritage–listed Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of Africa’s most ancient habitats, even surviving the last Ice Age as most of the continent's other forests disappeared.” – this description from Lonely Planet is as good as it gets. And very precise also. Bwindi is also home to one of the most sought after wildlife sighting in the world – the mountain gorilla! 

 

Fred allocated whooping 7 nights in that area, shared between Buhoma and Ruhija. In that many nights some visitors cover the most of Ugandan highlights, stopping at Bwindi for 2 nights on average. But they are so wrong, as this is truly a spectacular piece of nature worth every extra night.

 

 

Our base at Buhoma was Bwindi Forest Lodge, a small lodge (so small it does not even has its own web site) with perfect location in the center of the village, just a short but steep walk up from the main (or is it only) road in Buhoma.

 

 

 

 

That its approach road is steep has many positive sides. It prepares you to what lurks beneath the dense green canopy for those that will go on the gorilla trekking. And it gives others a splendid view from the small (an occurring theme) terrace. 

 

 

 

 

 

Our beds were again firm but comfortable enough. There are 6 rooms in a row, ours was #4. No photo of bathroom this time, it was as small as the room – Baloo would have a song for it.

 

 

 

 

 

Food was both tasty, and very colorful. And wifi was working. So all the bare necessities were covered. Oh, almost forgot to mention. The price was also in the same theme, specialy when compared to some of its bigger brothers. So again, high five to Fred and his choice of accommodation. 

[Galana]

3 hours ago, Towlersonsafari said:

that monkey is clearly very upswt at your travelling companions very poor views about monkeys and primates!!!

 

3 hours ago, kittykat23uk said:

isn't he just! Poor thing is totally unappreciated

Hey! That was not me that was making all the clicking noises to get its attention and Circopithecus ascanius is not on my hit list.

[kittykat23uk]

1 minute ago, Galana said:

 

Hey! That was not me that was making all the clicking noises to get its attention and Circopithecus ascanius is not on my hit list.

Wasn't me either... 😏

[xelas]

After 1991, when BINP was opened to tourists, community life has changed a lot. The road must be still the same, as it can not have been much worse years ago, when wooden bikes where still in use to carry the products. While daily life still revolves around agriculture, with tea and banana being the most important crops, community is also heavily involved in their biggest treasure – mountain gorillas. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What an average visitor see is the line of shops and restaurants and bars on each side of the road, and almost every item is connected to gorilla theme. What pleasantly surprised me was the fact that many souvenirs are locally made. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

We have walked that road maybe 10 times, and it never ceased to impress me with its liveliness, and friendliness of the shopkeepers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many community projects going on in Buhoma. These projects are aimed at empowering the local community, and to give work to locals. One of them is Bwindi Women Bicycle Project. Bikes are donated from United States, and local women are trained to repair them. From a bike repair shop this project has evolved through years, and is now expanded also to bike hire & rental. Although bikes are the most common transportation option, bikes are still very much in use for transporting people and goods.

 

 

 

[xelas]

At the end of the road is the Visitor’s Center where gorilla trekkers gets their introduction speeches, and are allocated to specific gorilla family. Each group is led by a ranger. More details will be better explained by Jo in the next installment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the first ranger and “gorilla guides” was Phenny K. Gongo. Sounds familiar? Well, it should be as Phenny was Emmy’s brother. Phenny wrote a booklet “AGANDI BWINDI” who is still on sale and can be found in Buhoma. It is a wealth of information about Bwindi, Buhoma, nature in general and gorilla in specific. He was the pioneer of what today is the biggest attraction of Uganda. Born in Buhoma, he was a primary school teacher between 1987 and 1991 when he joined a tourist guide course. In 1993 he and other guides began taking tourists on forest walks, and so the gorilla trekking started. Sadly Phenny is not anymore with us to share his vast knowledge and deep love for his community and his gorillas.

 

We were honored to meet their father, who lives all his life in Buhoma, and he looks as young and as energetic as his son. Say Hi to Mzee! He is 86 and going strong!!

 

 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2020 by xelas

[Galana]

2 hours ago, xelas said:

No photo of bathroom this time, it was as small as the room –

Have this one on me.

A few of mine to add flavour to your own view of Bwindi Forest Lodge.

 

Our private porches,

 

My personal view.

 

A passing guest.

 

And two birds from my balcony.

Black-necked Weaver.

 

Yellow White-eye.

Please don't tell the folks on Big Year how sharp these photos are as I have a reputation to live down to.

 

2 hours ago, xelas said:

So again, high five to Fred and his choice of accommodation. 

So pleased you liked it. I did too. Confession. I had never stayed here or even seen it before we arrived. I was conscious of the team's budget and took a flyer on booking here. Even Ether did not know it and had difficulty making the booking so you can imagine my thoughts as we walked that steep path for the first time. Phew!

!

 

 

[shazdwn]

On 3/25/2020 at 3:14 AM, kittykat23uk said:

 

 

After dark I tried to take some shots of the bats. Only one came out. 

 

P2151068 Bat sp. by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

 

That's awesome Jo 

[Galana]

I missed posting the track of our drive from Ishasha to Buhoma as everyone was typing so fast.

Note how close the border, the lilac line, runs to our road. There is a border crossing, not shown,( as you leave the park), where our road turns 90 degrees at Bukonwe,  where if you miss that turn and go straight on you would enter DRC where that green road crosses the Ishasha river.

Edited March 29, 2020 by Galana
amended text.

[ELIL]

Great introduction to Buhoma and Bwindi. And as you are pointing out, 2 nights, as we did, are actually to short for this beautiful place.

[elefromoz]

@kittykat23uk, nice lizard Buzzard, don't think Ive seen one before.

@xelas, enjoyed the 3 wise Vultures

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks all. We saw a few birds on the way to Buhoma and we also took a walk that afternoon along the road to the park entrance.

 

P2170640 Mackinnon's Fiscal by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2170707 Petit's Cuckooshrike (Campephaga petiti) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2170775 Green-throated Sunbird (Chalcomitra rubescens) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

The normally shy L'Hoest's Monkeys are very bold here, quite happily feeding by the roadside

 

P2170906 L'Hoest's monkey (Allochrocebus lhoesti) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

 

P2170946 L'Hoest's monkey (Allochrocebus lhoesti) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2170999 L'Hoest's monkey (Allochrocebus lhoesti) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Along with Blue Monkeys

 

P2171062 blue monkey or diademed monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

Edited March 29, 2020 by kittykat23uk

[Galana]

12 hours ago, Galana said:

16 hours ago, Towlersonsafari said:

that monkey is clearly very upswt at your travelling companions very poor views about monkeys and primates!!!

 

16 hours ago, kittykat23uk said:

isn't he just! Poor thing is totally unappreciated

Hey! That was not me that was making all the clicking noises to get its attention and Circopithecus ascanius is not on my hit list.

Evidence of my goodwill towards that same monkey. I know exactly what he was saying.

 

[kittykat23uk]

Gorilla Trek 18 February 2020

 

I had pretty much been dreading the Gorilla Trek and arriving at the Bwindi Forest Lodge didn't exactly set my mind at ease, looking out as it did towards the thickly forested mountains. I don't do mountains, what the hell was I even doing here?!

 

The gorillas are up there somewhere, why did I sign up for this again? by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Emmy explained how it would probably go, the treks are usually 4-5 hours. I would be assigned a group on arrival. Some groups would be trekked from the HQ, others would need a drive to the start point. Emmy said he would try and ask for a group close to the HQ (so as to be close to the lodge for less disruption to the rest of our little group). "Whoah, hold on!" I exclaimed,  "can you please try and get me on one of the easier treks, whether or not it's a close start point?!" Emmy cautioned me that even if we get an easier group, the gorillas can sometimes have an encounter with an un-habituated group and then the can move very far, very quickly and there's always the risk that the trackers would end up following the "wrong" gorilla group. So there are no guaranteed easy treks. Sure I understood this, but surely the trackers do have a reasonable idea of where they left the gorillas and the difficulty of the terrain, so that we can try to stack the odds in my favour a little? Emmy said he would do his best. So with that settled I headed off to bed, for a fitful night's sleep in anticipation of what the next day would bring.

 

The next morning, after an early breakfast I was handed a walking stick from our lodge and then Emmy and I drove to the park HQ. Emmy went off with my passport to get me checked in whilst I was treated to some traditional Ugandan dances courtesy of the Ladies' cooperative  whilst the other trekkers trickled in.  I have to wonder, is this how Morris dancing was invented?

 

P2180001 Dancers by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

VID_20200218_074032 Ugandan Morris dancers (this is a video, click to watch) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Well I was placed with a group of American ladies, and we were lined up against the sign for the Habinyanja Group. This sounded like a great group to trek, the group is led by a gentle silverback called Makara, who's name means "black like Charcoal" and comprises of twelve individuals. Here are their mug shots:

 

IMG_20200218_143623 by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

and identifying features (I'm sure that if you study them every day these features would stand out very clearly, but as a one time visitor it is not so easy to tell who is who, aside from Makara):

 

IMG_20200301_072632 by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Then we were told to get back in the vehicles, as we would be driving to our location to start the trek. As we drove the 20km I was breathing a sigh of relief! The terrain here looked quite a bit less challenging than the imposing mountains of the park HQ. We parked up at a local village which Fred has advised me is called  of Nyamishamba.

 

Here's the route we took:

 

My drive route to start gorilla trekking by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

and a satellite view of the terrain:

 

gorilla trek terrain 2 by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

gorilla trek terrain by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

At the village we met up with our porters. I was assigned a tiny lady who can't have been much bigger than my mum, named Rhona. I felt very guilty letting her take my big camera bag but she was just amazing, holding my hand, making sure I didn't lose my footing throughout the trek. 

 

IMG_20200218_094849 Rhona my porter by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

One of the American ladies, Jan, had mobility issues so she had hired the African Helicopter, a sedan chair, whereby three teams of six bearers took it in turns to carry her on  challenging terrain to see the gorillas. 

 

IMG_20200218_093432 The African Helicopter by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We started our trek at around 09:30 with a steep, slippery descent through a narrow, muddy gully. It was cloudy and threatening to rain, but luckily the weather held off, as I would imagine this would have been particularly treacherous in the rain.  Upon reaching the bottom of the gully, we turned and crossed a stream, before making our way up a gentle hill. Here we stopped to allow the porter teams to swap around and to catch our breath, it was only about 20 mins so far. 

 

IMG_20200218_094759 African Helicopter porters taking a break by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

IMG_20200218_094740 On the way to see Gorillas by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

IMG_20200218_094743 On the way to see Gorillas by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We then hiked to the edge of the forest, it wasn't far. We then began a steep descent into the forest. In many ways this was not as challenging as the initial section as the vegetation was more supportive and there was quite thick moss and litter making it soft underfoot, of course I still had to watch my step because the way was steep but Rhona helped me so much with ensuring that I didn't take a tumble. 

 

The terrain began to level out and after a while we came to a stop. Our lead guide told us the news we had been waiting for, the gorillas were only five metres away from us, just up a short incline. Time to leave our bags, have a quick drink and get our cameras ready!

 

 

Edited March 29, 2020 by kittykat23uk

[Soukous]

1 hour ago, kittykat23uk said:

the gorillas were only five metres away from us

 

and now you stop for a coffee?? 

[kittykat23uk]

Lunch break 😉 and building suspense... 

Edited March 29, 2020 by kittykat23uk

[kittykat23uk]

We scrambled up the bank, and at around 10:50 came face to face with Kavuyo, the "Trouble maker". 

 

P2180056 mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180055 mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Wow, what an experience to be so close to such a magnificent animal! he seemed very content, just resting after feeding earlier. Our lead guide gave us a running commentary as we watched. The younger members of the group were feeding up in the trees, where it was very difficult to see them so I focused on watching the adults, this is one of the females I think:

 

P2180081 mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Another female, or maybe the same one:

 

P2180171 mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

To begin with, the silverback, Makara was sleeping with some others of the group:

 

P2180132 mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

Our guide hacked away at some vegetation to clear the way for us to see him better, but this was a bad idea, Makara took offence to the intrusion and roared, "King Kong" style as he charged towards the guide, stopping short to show him who was boss before calming down to watch us with a wary eye. Of course if was all bluff and Bluster, the gorillas are actually very gentle beings:

 

P2180181 (2) Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

The understorey with the grey day proved to be a challenge in terms of light and I found it very difficult to get good focus on my camera, so I had to switch to manual on occasion. I regretted not upgrading my lens.

 

 

 

I spent most of the time enjoying Makara's company, with the younger members still feeding in the trees. 

 

P2180234 (2) mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180269 (2)  Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180280  Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

But we still saw a few others:

P2180294 mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180499 mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

P2180229 mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180311 mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180334  Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180388  Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180398  Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180407 (2)  Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Makara kept an eye on his group, waiting for them to finish feeding, he was keen to move on..

 

P2180428  Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Getting impatient, he moved off a ways and then started to grunt a call to his ladies..

 

P2180513  Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180528  Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180550  Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180562  Makara Silverback mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Getting the message the group finally started to follow him along the forested ridge and we finally got to see some of the youngsters with their mums.

 

P2180615 young mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

It was close to the end of our allotted hour so we followed them for a little while, as the rest of the troupe made their way over towards their chieftan. But the bank was steep and the gorillas better equipped to move through the jungle than us, so we soon had to give up any chance of following them. I thought we would have to scramble back the way we had come and face that steep muddy gully again, but our luck was in and we were told that we were actually very close to the road, so all we needed to do was get back up this forested ridge and cut across to the road from there! So with Rhona pulling me up and another porter gently steadying my posterior from below, we made it up the ridge without any issue and it was not long before we were having a picnic lunch by the side of the road as we awaited our vehicles for the journey back.  

 

I also shot some video:

 

 

Edited March 29, 2020 by kittykat23uk

[TonyQ]

A wonderful experience, excellent photos @kittykat23uk

Thrilling to be so close to such animals

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks @TonyQ yes it was amazing.

 

Back at the lodge our little garden attracted some beautiful birds

 

P2180023 Bronze Sunbird (Nectarinia kilimensis) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We took a walk in the afternoon just down to the park HQ

 

P2180068 White-breasted Nigrita (Nigrita fusconotus) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180122 Buff-throated Apalis (Apalis rufogularis) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180129 Olive Sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180158 Black-necked Weaver (Ploceus nigricollis) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180181 Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird (Pogoniulus bilineatus) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180246 L'Hoest's monkey (Allochrocebus lhoesti) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180358 L'Hoest's monkey (Allochrocebus lhoesti) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180287 Red-tailed bristlebill. The red-tailed bristlebill or common bristlebill (Bleda syndactylus) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2180335 Lühder's Bush-shrike (Laniarius luehderi by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

Edited March 29, 2020 by kittykat23uk

[Galana]

Great video and some lovely photos too.

Remember to look both ways.