Uganda and Rwanda

 September 9, 2024 Gorillas!   We spent three days and nights at the Akagera National Park, going on wonderful game drives and boat rides, seeing lion, waterbuck, loads of zebra and giraffe, wart hogs, eland, elephants, rhinos, and baboons.   We saw a profusion of birds, especially on an island in the large lake associated with the park.   Here’s a vervet monkey—something I haven’t posted before:  Yesterday was a travel day as we drove first down from Akagera (5000 feet elevation) to Kigali and then to the northwest corner of Rwanda, near the borders of the DRC (Congo) and Uganda, and up to 8000 feet to the Volcanoes National Park and our lodge, the Gorilla Mountain Lodge.   I woke at 5:00 AM for a 5:30 breakfast and a 6:00 departure for the gorilla trek.   This park has twenty gorilla families, each headed by a silverback, the very large dominant male.   Each silverback has a number of females, and the family is made up of them, the babie...

Tuesday-Wednesday, September 3-4, 2024 Kigali and the Rwandan Genocide First impressions of Kigali are that we are back in a developing country, unlike in Uganda where things seem stagnant at a very undeveloped level.  Things here look lovely, there is much work evident on esthetics, and people seem far more prosperous than they did in Uganda.  A piece of evidence both trivial and telling: the roads are beautifully maintained, and the busy roads have attractive medians with trees and flowers:  On the last Saturday of each month, the whole country shuts down and everyone goes out cleaning—picking up roadside trash, sweeping, whatever needs to be done.   This includes the president, who sets the example.   As a result, things are spotless.   There is no trash along the roads, there is no graffiti, and everyone has an interest in keeping the country lovely.   What a wonderful idea!   Our first two days in Rwanda were devoted to learning about the...

Monday, September 2, 2024 A Swamp Walk and Travel to Rwanda This morning, we got up at 5:30 AM and left the Amuka Safari Lodge at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary for an early swamp walk to look for birds at the Lugogo Wetlands.  We saw yet another shoebill crane, much to the excitement of our guide.  Across our path we came across some remarkable ants, coming and going in a line which ended in what looked like a highway interchange.  We were warned to avoid getting them on us, as they had a truly fiery bite: We came across some white-faced geese:  There was some grazing land, and a herd of longhorn cattle was passing us on their way:  There is a bridge over the swamp which is new.  Until it was built, two years ago, the only way across the swamp was on these “canoes” which we rode in.  They’re poled, not rowed:  We went back to the lodge for brunch, and then set out for Entebbe.  Along the way we stopped for a break at a town which had...

  September 1, 2024 Murchison Falls, Reformed Poachers, and Rhinos   A truly remarkable day today!  A couple of days ago, while on the Nile, we had gone upstream and had been able to see Murchison Falls from below:  Today, after getting up at 5:30 AM, on our way out of Murchison Falls National Park, we visited the top, and what an experience.  The entire Nile River flows down a waterfall and through a gorge just 7 meters (about 21 feet) wide.  The power of it is incredible.  Here’s a view from the top:  And a video showing the force: You can barely see the outline of the gorge through the mist: We were soaked!  A bit to the side, you could see downstream:  It rivals any waterfall I’ve seen!  We then began our drive back to Entebbe which will take two days.  After a couple of hours, we stopped at a village completely populated by former poachers and their families.  The Ugandan Wildlife Authority has worked with ref...

The Nile River August 31, 2024 This morning we were up at 5:30, leaving at 6:30 for a drive to the launch area where at 7:00 we began a 4 ½ hour trip downriver on the Nile to look for wildlife.  It was primarily birds, and it was astonishing.  None of the five of us on the trip are birders, but we took pictures as if we were, and I’ll post a few.  Those of you who are birders, this is an amazing place.   Before we left I took a couple of photos on the premises of our lodge.  There is a herd of waterbucks who spend the night on the grounds, apparently because lions don’t like light and there is sufficient light to make the waterbucks feel safe:  There also is a flock of resident maribou storks here.  These have been described as the ugliest bird in the world; they stand about four feet tall and are, indeed, strange:  A common sight as we cruised along the river bank was pods of hippos:  We found an African fish eagle having a fish for br...