Uganda 2020 - Primates, Big 5 and 30 minutes with Obama

April 4, 2020

11 minutes ago, Galana said:

Nice ones. We always stay at Mweya for that view. I think you will have noticed the two tents that I grab on Alex's report. Two birds to correct. Your Sooty Chat is a Black Flycatcher and your Little Weaver is a Slender-billed Weaver but this takes nothing away from your excellent reports..

Oh yes, that must have been great views from your tents at Mweya.

Thanks for the correction. This happens when you walk around without your guide.

April 4, 2020

We were back in our safari vehicle at 4.30 pm and did another short game drive until we had to leave for our lodge. We were mainly looking for some lions in the tree which we found after some while, but the view was very limited.

The grass was very high which made it quite difficult to find the cats. Bahati, our guide, had sharp eyes when he spotted some other lions in the distance hidden in the gras. When we got closer, we noticed two male lions who had killed a buffalo. One of the lions was lying in the grass next to the road, the dead buffalo is behind him. The second lion was perfectly hidden in the gras on the other side of the road. Occasionally, we saw the black tail going up and down, but nothing more.

Edited April 5, 2020 by ELIL

April 4, 2020

Some really exciting sightings from Kazinga channel. The bathing elephant was a real treat. And sadly, that huge flock of African Skimmers was a no-show to us.

April 4, 2020

A lovely cruise and yes the Skimmers let us down on our day.

And I am SO pleased you found lions at Mweya. I heard them calling each night and 4.30 in the afternoon certainly beats 4.30 in the morning to drive to Kasenyi. :lol:

April 5, 2020

12 hours ago, Galana said:

A lovely cruise and yes the Skimmers let us down on our day.

And I am SO pleased you found lions at Mweya. I heard them calling each night and 4.30 in the afternoon certainly beats 4.30 in the morning to drive to Kasenyi.

17 hours ago, xelas said:

Some really exciting sightings from Kazinga channel. The bathing elephant was a real treat. And sadly, that huge flock of African Skimmers was a no-show to us.

We were lucky enough to see the skimmers in QENP and Murchison Falls. But don’t worry, you had so many nice bird sightings, I am particularly jealous of your Black Bee-eaters.

April 5, 2020

1 hour ago, ELIL said:

I am particularly jealous of your Black Bee-eaters.

Oh yes, the grass is always greener on the other side of the road .

April 10, 2020

We stayed at the Kyambura Gorge Lodge. Looking back to our trip, I have to say this was the best lodge we stayed in Uganda. The rooms were very spacious, food and service was excellent. Unfortunately, we spent only one night there. However, we decided to skip our morning activity and just enjoy the amenities of the lodge. After all, it was our vacation. Later in the morning we continued to the southern part of QENP.

Some pictures from the lodge and around

Black-headed Weaver

Red-chested Sunbird

Bronze Mannikin

Yellow-Billed Kite

Vervet Monkey

Whinchat

We took the main road to the Ishasha sector. We made a few stops on the way. During one stop, we had an interesting encounter with some ants. Now we know the meaning of "Mzungu dance" .

Some sightings alongtheu road to Ishasha

Common Scimitarbill

White-backed vulture

Wahlberg's Eagle

Hippo

Broad-billed Roller

Long-crested Eagle

We arrived at the gate midday. This part of the park looked much greener than the northern part.

And we were greeted by herds of Uganda Kobs

Ishasha Wilderness Camp is situated at the Ntungwe river and belongs to the same company as Baker's Lodge in Murchison Falls Park. It is a quite relaxed camp with nice spacious tents and good food.

April 10, 2020

After lunch and some resting at the lodge, we went out for our the afternoon drive. We wanted to find some tree-climbing lions, but the one of the first sight was a lion next to the road. The lion looked around, but did not show any interest in us and went on sleeping.

Quite a good start for our drive and we went on looking for the characteristic trees. And after some empty trees, we finally found the tree-climbing lions. This time with a much better view than on the day before.

And one member of the pride prepared himself already for social distancing and was lying on the road.

April 10, 2020

24 minutes ago, ELIL said:

but did not show any interest in us and went on sleeping.

That is what lions do (our daughter is a Lion by horoscope :lol: ).

Those really look more like a tree-hugging lions ; the youngster on the road was posing for you, @ELIL. Have you offered him a steak or a burger ?

Edited April 10, 2020 by xelas

April 10, 2020

4 hours ago, ELIL said:

We made a few stops on the way. During one stop, we had an interesting encounter with some ants. Now we know the meaning of "Mzungu dance" .

Ha ha! but it is good fun and a chance to remove each others clothing without protests. :lol:

Once I sat on a nest and had them all over. My ranger guide said he was the only person permitted to kill them and offered to shoot them off me. I settled for undressing!

April 10, 2020

33 minutes ago, xelas said:

That is what lions do (our daughter is a Lion by horoscope ).

Those really look more like a tree-hugging lions ; the youngster on the road was posing for you, @ELIL. Have you offered him a steak or a burger ?

:lol:

I think the lion on the road just wanted to show us that he will not move.

We had seen tree-climbing/-hugging lions before in South Africa. Then and now in QENP I got the feeling that even the lions themselves are not really sure what they are doing there.

April 10, 2020

15 minutes ago, Galana said:

Ha ha! but it is good fun and a chance to remove each others clothing without protests.

Once I sat on a nest and had them all over. My ranger guide said he was the only person permitted to kill them and offered to shoot them off me. I settled for undressing!

We did not go this far, at least not at this location

Edited April 10, 2020 by ELIL

April 10, 2020

I've never totally understood the fascination with tree climbing lions, a sleeping lion in a tree isn't much different from a sleeping lion in the ground...

Really enjoying these Uganda reports, definitely somewhere I quotient like to go sooner than later.

April 10, 2020

2 hours ago, Zubbie15 said:

I've never totally understood the fascination with tree climbing lions, a sleeping lion in a tree isn't much different from a sleeping lion in the ground...

I think it is a marketing ploy by tourism bodies to spice things up a bit. They were first noted in Lake Manyara over 30 years ago and were promoted as unique. Then suddenly others were noticed in neighbouring countries and the 'sales force' moved in.

Nobody quite knows why lion do this and many theories abound. Personally I think it is because they can. It's a good pull for tourism.

April 11, 2020

It is definitely a marketing thing with the tree climbing lions. I remember when we did our first safari to Tanzania with Lake Manyara as one of the first stops. We did not see a single lion there neither on a tree nor on the ground. A few years later we went to Phinda in South Africa. Nobody mentioned tree-climbing lions before. Then it was a nice surprise when we saw lions climbing the trees there. It was an excellent sighting since there were young lions playing with each other up in the trees.

April 12, 2020

In contrast to the northern part of QENP, the Ishasha sector was less crowded. We saw only a few vehicles during our game drives, and interestingly enough, most of them were self- drivers without local guides. The area had a much stronger „wilderness vibe“ than the area around Mweya. There were many bushfires started by the rangers to burn the grass down. The combination of the particles and haze from the fires and the moist in the morning caused some special light and atmosphere with interesting colors in the sky.

Uganda Kob, Topis and Buffalos were the most abundant species around.

Not to forget the Warthogs

Edited April 12, 2020 by ELIL

April 12, 2020

Like in the other parks, off-road driving is strictly forbidden and enforced. Our camp was located under the trees of a riverine forest. There was one track leading from our camp to the main trails uphill. The valley with river and forest are off-limits for safari vehicles. Some places overlooking the river valley are very popular for bush breakfasts or sundowners. These are the best times to spot, even from quite a distance, hyenas wandering around or groups of elephants who prefer to stay in the cooling shade of the riverine forest during the day.

Edited April 12, 2020 by ELIL

April 12, 2020

@ELIL

Better late than never ; How could I have missed your great TR in one of my favorite countries : Would leave Brussels immediately seeing all those treasures : I sincerely hope Brussels Airlines will survive this crisis and be able to bring me there in the near future !

April 12, 2020

@BRACQUENE Thanks for your comment. Uganda is indeed a wonderful country one can not visit too often.

April 12, 2020

The area has its name form the Ishasha river which is the western border of the park. And in some areas it marks the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo as well. We made a short stop at a hippo pool in the Ishasha river. DRC is on the other side of the river. There is a camp of the Ugandan army next to the hippo pool and two soldiers immediately arrived when we stopped there and left our vehicle. The soldiers did not interfere and were just watching what we were doing. Considering the instability on the DRC side, it is quite understandable that security is a sensitive issue in this area.

Close to the army cap we had a nice encounter with a pair of Grey Crowned Cranes who gave flying lessons to their young ones. And as exemplary parents, they did it on the airstrip. But it looked like the chicks would still need some more classes.