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Uganda - Mammals and Mountains Uganda - Mammals and Mountains Naturetrek Tour Report 16 - 27 January 2014 Leopard Red-tailed Monkey Central African Red Colobus Butterfly Spp. Report & images compiled by Emmy R.Gongo Naturetrek Cheriton Mill Cheriton Alresford Hampshire SO24 0NG England T: +44 (0)1962 733051 F: +44 (0)1962 736426 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Tour Report Uganda - Mammals and Mountains Tour Leader: Emmy R.Gongo Participants: Tracey Young Paul Young Patricia Annesley Caroline Hull Dianne Watkins Day 1 Thursday 16th January Arrival from the UK and overnight at Karibu guest house Day 2 Friday 17th January Around the gardens at the guest house were Ross’s Turaco, Double toothed Barbet, Red-chested Sunbird, Lesser striped Swallow, and Angola Swallow amongst others. We left after breakfast we headed to the Equator line, where we stopped and decided to have our lunch at Flamingos restaurant. After lunch we moved on towards Lake Mburo and had an amazing experience of seeing a Leopard hunting and killed a Deffasa Waterbuck. Zebras, Impalas, Buffalos and lots of other animals were seen. Overnight was at Mantana Tented Camp. Day 3 Saturday 18th January Game drive in Lake Mburo and boat trip Mammals seen on this day included; Bohor Reedbuck, Bushbuck, Zebras, Topi, and Cape Buffalos. Birds seen included: Senegal Lapwing, Spot flanked Barbet, Blue-naped Mouse Bird, Bare faced Go-away bird. The boat trip yielded, African Finfoot, White backed Night Heron, Black crowned Night Heron, Goliath Heron, African Fish eagle and Crocodiles. Overnight was at Mantana Tented Camp. Day 4 Sunday 19th January Morning nature walking in Lake Mburo National Park and transfer to Buhoma One of Lake Mauro’s best activities is looking for wildlife on foot. We searched for both the Shoebill and the Elands. We did get one of the key targets, the Eland but that did not give the best views. Among the other animals we saw were Buffaloes, Zebras, and Banded Mongoose. Then we transferred and had our lunch stop at Agip Motel in the middle of Mbarara town where there were some nice washrooms. We proceeded to the rolling hills of Kigezi and some wildlife included L’hoest Monkeys and enjoyed seeing the terraced and rolling hills, and virgin forests of Africa. Eventually we got to Mahogany Springs Lodge after a long but enjoyable drive. Day 5 Monday 20th January We were looking forward to the Mountain Gorilla encounter today. We prepared with packed lunch, water, insect repellent, and sun block. We went to the briefing point to prepare the group for the experience. © Naturetrek April 14 1 Uganda - Mammals and Mountains Tour Report We enjoyed a successful Gorilla trek, and later we did some birding, finding African Wood Owl, Yellow throated Greenbul, Green headed Sunbird, Green-throated Sunbird, and White-chinned Prinia amongst others. Overnight was at Mahogany Springs Lodge. Day 6 Tuesday 21st January Wildlife day and nature walk in the Impenetrable Forest We had an early breakfast and prepared to go for a wildlife walking expedition in the Impenetrable Forest. It all started as good walk, with local people passing on their way to the next community that is beyond the forest to the southern sector of Bwindi Forest. Red-Tailed Monkeys were one of the mammals we saw this morning. Cape Wagtail, Bar-tailed Trogon, Equatorial Akrat, and Petits Cuckoo-shrike were also seen. As time for lunch was approaching we ate at the water falls, and a L’hoest Monkey decided to come and look at us. An Orange Forester is another creature that we found today. Overnight was at Mahogany Springs Lodge. Day 7 Wednesday 22nd January Transfer through Ishasha. We moved out of Buhoma Village and headed to the Ishasha sector where we moved towards the flats in a bid to get the Shoebill Stork there. On the way we saw a Spotted Hyena, Topis, Uganda Kobs, and lots of Buffalo. We proceeded to the Edward Flats and looked for the Shoebill but had no luck today. We had lunch at Edward Flats - one of the most beautiful places in this national park. A few Elephants, and Buffalos were seen as we headed on our way to Mweya Lodge. We sighted some tree-climbing Lions in the distance. We moved on as time and light were fading away. Veroux Eagle-owl showed up later. Overnight was at Mweya Safari Lodge. Day 8 Thursday 23rd January Game drive in the morning and afternoon boat trip on the Channel Mweya Peninsular is one of the most interesting places to visit. We had an early wakeup and moved out with packed breakfast so that we had enough time for the game drive. First we found the Swamp Nightjar, and moved to Kasenyi the eastern part of the park, where we observed the tracks of hyena, snake, leopard, and lions though were actually seen. Lesser Flamingos, Black chested Snake eagle, buffalos and Senegal Lapwings were all seen however. As we moved on we found a Leopard relaxed on a Euphobia candelabra tree and photographed her before leaving her in peace. We had our breakfast before moving on. We observed the Uganda Kobs behaving in a strange way and realized that there must be something…indeed there were two lionesses hunting and scaring all the Kobs. We turned around to where they were hunting from, but the lionesses missed the catch. Lunch had started calling and the boat trip was on schedule. We came back to the Lodge and headed on for the boat trip on the Kazinga Channel which yielded lots of avian life; African Skimmers, Little Stint, Sanderling, Pink backed and Great-white Pelican, as well as Nile Crocodile, Monitor Lizard, Hippoptomus, and African Elephant were seen on the trip. It had been another interesting day. 2 © Naturetrek April 14 Uganda - Mammals and Mountains Tour Report Day 9 Friday 24th January Exploration to Queen Elizabeth National Park After breakfast we headed on for Kasenyi with our packed lunches. We found Buffaloes, Uganda Kobs, and Warthogs, and went to the south of Kazinga channel and diverted to Fig tree camp and after registering with the Uganda wildlife authority we enjoyed lunch with the fantastic views of Kyambura Gorge. We saw lots of Scarlet chested Sunbirds and another challenge came as we all tried photographing the Yellow-throated Longclaw on a swinging shrub! It was time to move to Nyamusingiri where we aimed to have a forest walk. As we reached there, a call of a Black Bee-eater came, and a Blue-breasted Kingfisher posed for photography. As the walk started it began to shower and made all the wildlife hide so only the Egyptian Fruit bats were seen. Later on we observed lots of Baboons, and Black and white Colubus Monkey. Birds seen amongst others, were Long crested eagle, Red headed Lovebird, Cardinal Woodpecker, Spot flanked Barbet, Grey headed woodpecker, Little Weaver, Lead collared Flycatcher, Tropical Boubou, and Buff-Bellied Warbler. On the main road, a bull African Elephant was seen as we left this part of the countryside. And we had a nice sighting of a Bat Hawk having a meal as we watched. Overnight was at Mweya Safari Lodge. Day 10 Saturday 25th January Transfer from Queen Elizabeth to Kibale Area We enjoyed a relaxed breakfast and the drive through the explosion craters with fantastic scenery and some animals including four Spotted Hyenas seen at close quarters, Buffaloes, Uganda Kobs, Warthogs and lots of birds such as Black lored Barbet, Yellow Wagtail, White browed Coucal, Flappet Lark, and White-tailed Lark. We had packed lunches at The Queen’s Pavilion before heading on to Ndali Lodge. Day 11 Sunday 26th January Chimpanzee tracking day and Marshes We had an early breakfast and prepared to go tracking the Chimpanzees in the Ugandan Virgin Forest Kibale Forest. We found them with the help of Dorothy the guide for the chimpanzee tracking. Birds seen before the Marshes included, Crowned Eagle, and Blue throated Roller. Later we transferred to the marshes and saw a troop of Grey Cheeked Mangabey, Baboons, Red tailed Monkey, and the Red Colobus before returning back to the lodge. Day 12 Monday 27th January Transfer day from Kibale region to Entebbe Our driving day did not stop us from looking on the way and we found Red Colobus Monkeys; Red tailed Monkey and the hoped-for Blue Monkey. We reached Entebbe Botanical Gardens and then proceeded to Karibu Guest House where we had our last dinner. The clients had a room to freshen up, pack their bags and have a shower before heading to the airport for the journey back to the UK. © Naturetrek April 14 3 Tour Report Uganda - Mammals and Mountains Species List Mammals January Common name Scientific name 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes 10 2 Mountain Gorilla Gorilla gorilla beringei 4 3 Central African Red Colobus Piliocolobus oustaleti 8 4 Guereza Colobus Colobus guereza 5 10 2 5 5 Olive Baboon Papio anubis 30 15 20 1 20 20 6 Grey-cheeked Mangabey Lophocebus albigena 30 7 Vervet Monkey Cercopithecus (a.) pygerythrus 20 15 15 10 1 5 8 L'Hoest's Monkey Cercopithecus (l'h.) l'hoesti 7 3 1 1 9 Gentle (Blue) Monkey Cercopithecus mitis 1 10 Red-tailed Monkey Cercopithecus (c.) ascanius 10 11 Egyptian Fruit Bat Rousettus aegyptiacus 100 12 Yellow-winged Bat Lavia frons 1 13 Striped Ground Squirrel Euxerus erythropus 1 14 Red-legged Sun Squirrel Heliosciurus rufobrachium 1 1 15 Banded Mongoose Mungos mungo 6 15 10 7 16 Spotted Hyena Crocuta crocuta 1 4 17 Leopard Panthera pardus 1 1 18 Lion Panthera leo 2 19 African Elephant Loxondonta africana 6 100 10 20 Burchell's Zebra Equus quagga 20 100 100 21 Hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius 100 14 100 50 2 22 Common Warthog Phacochoerus africanus 50 100
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