Agandi Uganda - a whirlwind tour!

[AKR1]

@michael-ibkJust superb aviary images and the mammals are not too shabby either. The croc n the last segment looks downright scary. Great boat ride in terms of productive sightings. 

[Zim Girl]

What a great chimp visit you had, some lovely pictures of them there.

Fantastic pictures from the Kazinga Channel boat trip too!

[Galana]

Good to see the Kazinga did not disappoint at all. You will have your work cut out not to miss some species in those group shots for your BY spot.

All boats turn at the fishing village and return along the opposite bank.

Reverting to the Chimps in Kibale. I believe that whilst the trekking parties set off in different directions to check different families they do tend to home in by radio when a cooperative group is located on the ground so everyone gets to see them close to. The treks are relatively easy with tree roots being the main obstacle. Or some mad birder chasing Green-breasted Pitta or Flufftails.

Edited April 4, 2022 by Galana
added text.

[xelas]

On 4/3/2022 at 9:16 PM, michael-ibk said:

the Kazinga Channel had certainly lived up to my expectations.

And you surely have had a lot of fun on the channel! 

[dlo]

4 hours ago, Galana said:

Reverting to the Chimps in Kibale. I believe that whilst the trekking parties set off in different directions to check different families they do tend to home in by radio when a cooperative group is located on the ground so everyone gets to see them close to. The treks are relatively easy with tree roots being the main obstacle.

This is absolutely correct. When we wrapped up our habituation for some reason they asked us if we wanted to go see a habituated group nearby. Obviously the right answer was yes and we joined up with probably 20 people. It was madness but it was so spread out that you could separate yourself from the crowd. What a great day🥰. 

[Biko]

@michael-ibkThanks for taking us on this great trip, and especially Kazinga channel. Your pictures are a real treat.

[Kitsafari]

13 hours ago, Galana said:

Good to see the Kazinga did not disappoint at all. You will have your work cut out not to miss some species in those group shots for your BY spot.

All boats turn at the fishing village and return along the opposite bank.

Reverting to the Chimps in Kibale. I believe that whilst the trekking parties set off in different directions to check different families they do tend to home in by radio when a cooperative group is located on the ground so everyone gets to see them close to. The treks are relatively easy with tree roots being the main obstacle. Or some mad birder chasing Green-breasted Pitta or Flufftails.

 

@Galana

Did you say PITTA??

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

@michael-ibk i can't believe you missed that hippo doing a whale impression of a backflip! and i thought that was your thumb rather than @AndMic's face....

 

awesome images of the Kazinga channel! glad you had a great day out. 

[Galana]

1 hour ago, Kitsafari said:

Did you say PITTA??

I did indeed or to give it its full name Pitta reichenowi.

Yet another reason, if one is needed, for you not to delay a trip to the Pearl of Africa.

[pault]

We were told there are about 15 to 20 Shoebills in the swamps. Can one count on finding one? Apparently yes -

 

 

If you count being given a photo of one as ‘finding one’.   

 

Beautiful sighting and photographs, Michael.

[kilopascal]

Just catching up. Always love your trip reports and this is no exception. Hope to get to Uganda some day.

 

[gatoratlarge]

Amazing shots!  One of these days they’ll make a very thick, worthwhile coffee table book 😁👍🏻

[Towlersonsafari]

very much enjoying this report @michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

Many thanks @AKR1, @Zim Girl, @Galana, @xelas, @dlo, @Biko, @Kitsafari, @pault, @kilopascal, @gatoratlargeand @Towlersonsafari, appreciate the kind feedback.

 

On 4/5/2022 at 10:39 AM, Kitsafari said:

Did you say PITTA??

 

One of my regrets. Unfortunately we did not have time to try for it, and it seems to be extremely unlikely to casually see it. Next time.

 

On 4/6/2022 at 5:49 AM, pault said:

If you count being given a photo of one as ‘finding one

 

Did that really happen to you Paul?

[michael-ibk]

After (a quite lazily late) breakfast we did a game drive in QUENP - the sector North of the Kazinga Channel is called Kasenyi. One should never judge an area by one drive - but I have to confess I did not exactly fall madly in love with the area. It was quite nice, light was ok for once but there´s nothing particular scenic about the grasslands here.

 

 

 

Red-Chested Sunbird

 

Plenty of Kob and Waterbuck around but little else - quite oddly we did not see a single Elephant, quite amazing after the numbers of them on the river close by.

 

 

Lesser Masked Weaver

 

 

Grey-Backed Fiscal

 

 

I normally reserve Cisticolas for the "Hall of Fame" nobody wants to see in my Big Year threads - but I kinda like how this one posed.

 

 

Yellow-Throated Longclaw

 

 

As kills go this was probably not the most spectacular one.

 

 

But this Kittlitz's Plover sure was quite happy about it.

 

 

A Kob lek. They use these arenas for fighting for the ladies affections.

 

 

Or simply use less subtle methods.

 

 

White-Throated Bee-Eater

 

 

These three Hippo very obviously had long missed the point when it was really time to leave their pool. I sympathise, every morning I know I really have to get up but I always seem to be physically unable to do it.

 

 

 

 

 

The Salt Pans here have Flamingo - they were there but about one kilometre away.

 

 

Southern Red Bishop

 

Really don´t want to bash the Kasenyi sector - I´m sure had we seen something cool I´d rate it much higher.

Edited April 9, 2022 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

My favourite sighting here - Pin-Tailed Whydahs are really fun to watch when they do their aerial dance to woo the ladies:

 

 

Oh, I wanna dance with somebody
 

 

I wanna feel the heat with somebody
 

 

Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody
 

 

With somebody who loves me

 

 

Oh, I wanna dance with somebody
 

 

I wanna feel the heat with somebody

 

 

Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody

 

With somebody who loves me

 

 

And all of that ...

 

 

... for nothing!

Edited April 9, 2022 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

About 11:00 a.m. we started the drive to the Southern sector of the park - Ishasha.

 

 

Not too long a drive, about 2 1/2 hours with (obviously with me on board) many stops on the way. A markedly different landscape here, we passed several small forests, the vegetation was more lush and green.

 

 

Hamerkop

 

 

Wooly-Necked Stork

 

 

Sooty Chat

 

 

Enjojo Lodge was probably our favourite accommodation of the trip. Really a shame we had just one night here - and since we not only loved the lodge but Ishasha in general I´d definitely like to do a much longer stay here next time.

 

 

Enjojo is a very tranquil and relaxed place. Super-friendly staff, very good food, beautiful surroundings - everything I like. Plus my birds of course.

 

 

Nubian Woodpecker

 

 

 

Mobile snaps

 

 

Rüppel´s Starling

 

 

African Cuckoo

 

 

At first we were assigned this tent. It was fine but pretty far away from the dining area (about five minutes), and since the cottages were so much nicer we asked for an upgrade there. Fortunately one of the cottages was free because of a late cancellation and we could do the switch. (Uzuri covered the costs for that - they told me they had initially requested a cottage but all had been booked.)

 

 

 

 

We had the incredible (rare on this trip) luxury of some more-than-one-hour downtime before the afternoon drive and really soaked in the peace and quiet of the place, sitting on our veranda and doing absolutely nothing.

 

 

Well, nothing but watching our friend here.

 

 

And at night we were brought to sleep by the beautiful calls of an African Wood Owl.

 

(To be honest our attitude eventually changed from "Oh, how nice" to "Shut the hell up." Everybody who know what it´s like having a Scops Owl or something similar close at night will understand.)

Edited April 9, 2022 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

 

I´m not quite sure why we liked Ishasha so much - we wouldn´t have any spectacular sightings. The famous "Tree-Lions" kept hidden - nobody saw them while we were there. But we did not mind at all.

 

 

I just loved the lush and peaceful atmosphere of this sector, even without "big" sightings. We both did.

 

 

No need to name this one.

 

 

Osprey

 

 

Only after an hour or so did we realize we had not actually seen a single mammal.

 

 

Big Boy here was happy to help then.

 

 

Black-Winged Kite

 

 

It was in Ishasha where in 2019 the unfortunate incident of a tourist kidnapping happened. Pretty much exactly where we were now. Back then it was reported that Congo rebels were responsible. Emma told us that it had actually been Ugandans. The authorities managed to arrest all culprits (apparently they fell for trapped ransom money). They are all serving time now.

 

 

African Grey Hornbill

 

 

A bit far but I was still delighted about this sighting - Double-Toothed Barbets are immensely cool birds IMO:´.

 

 

When we left the hills and approached the plains more wildlife would show up, mostly Kob.

 

 

 

 

Black-and-White Casqued Hornbill - the most common Hornbill during the trip.

 

 

White-Browed Coucal, the default representative of its family in Uganda.

 

 

I was much more excited (thrilled to be honest) about this one - Black Coucal, not a bird often seen.

 

 

Another pretty spot in Ishasha.

 

 

 

 

Lots of Black Crakes here.

 

We came back to the lodge quite late, enjoyed a delicious dinner and also had the (shockingly!) first Amarula of the trip.

[michael-ibk]

Next morning we returned to proper "safari mode" again and left the lodge before sunrise. The later start the day before had been a necessity - we only had a 24h-ticket for game drives. So we had until 09:00 this morning and wanted to make the most of it. It was actually almost 10 a.m. when we passed the gate - apparently about one hour overtime is accepted Emma told us.

 

 

Quite a mystic - or rather misty - mood this morning.

 

 

We enjoyed the birds morning chorus - the Rufous-Naped Larks were the star soloists.

 

Already yesterday evening we had passed huge herds but it had already been to dark to take photos. So today we just did a circle the other way, and soon found ourselves among hundreds of grazers.

 

 

Again a lot of Kob.

 

 

Fork-Tailed Drongo. A bird only worth photographing if you are close enough to get the red eye.

 

 

Bronze Mannikin. Very common but rarely sitting close like that.

 

 

Ishasha is home to Topi! While a familiar and common animal in the Mara and the Serengeti we were oddly excited about their presence here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

White-Throated Bee-Eater.

 

 

Northern Fiscal

 

 

Red-Necked Francolin

 

 

White-Backed Vulture

 

 

Black-Headed Heron bringing gifts apparently.

 

Also some nice-sized herds of Bufallo here.

 

 

 

Always accompanied by Cattle Egrets and Oxpeckers

 

 

 

We were really sorry to leave Ishasha after such a short time - a place that somehow managed to enthrall us (even without bringing out the big guns).

 

 

Next up: Bwindi! And - Ugandan Rolex!

 

 

[TonyQ]

Excellent Widow Bird sequence.

It is interesting how sometimes we really like a place without being sure why. 

[Kitsafari]

1 hour ago, michael-ibk said:

Many thanks @AKR1, @Zim Girl, @Galana, @xelas, @dlo, @Biko, @Kitsafari, @pault, @kilopascal, @gatoratlargeand @Towlersonsafari, appreciate the kind feedback.

 

 

One of my regrets. Unfortunately we did not have time to try for it, and it seems to be extremely unlikely to casually see it. Next time.

 

 

 

perhaps next time? 

[Kitsafari]

ooohh love that disco series - excellent shots of the dancing king. 

[dlo]

Kinda feel the same about Ishasha. Q.E. was one of my least favorite parks but Ishasha has a different vibe than the rest of the park and like you I never saw a tree climbing lion. 

 

Looking forward to Bwindi and your talk of rolex's has suddenly made me quite hungry.

[Galana]

Another vote for the dancing king.

Kasenyi's claim to fame, apart from dragging me out of bed in the dark, which I won't elaborate on again, are the large herds of Kob on the lek in season which in turn brings in the Cats.

Ishasha is lovely. Next time head up to Lake Edward flats for some epic birding. I like the look of that Lodge.

 

Some great stories and wildlife photography.  Thanks.

[kilopascal]

Quote

6 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

Pin-Tailed Whydahs are really fun to watch when they do their aerial dance

 

Very nice photos!