We’ve packed quite a bit into the last week before the kids return to start the school year. Monday and Tuesday saw us visiting both schools. The School for Life founder/CEO Annabelle Chauncy is visiting from Sydney to rally the troops and check on progress at the Mbazi secondary school. We met up with her initially at Mbazi where the highlight was when the school mascot Gaby - a dachshund - caught and efficiently killed a rat in one of the classrooms that was being cleaned.
We have had the exciting news that our Hamilton friends Rob and Lou have booked their flights and will be visiting us in June-July for 3 weeks. Top of Lou’s requests was to go Gorilla tracking so I have made enquiries on how to organise that and started thinking about an itinerary that combines great birding, accommodation, food, other wildlife and the best road conditions Uganda has to offer.
On Wednesday we packed an overnight bag and headed into Kampala for a couple of days. Jenny had meetings with the office staff and Annabelle and had lots of printing to do. Later we went to the National Parks office and enquired about Gorilla permits. We also sent our car off with Bosco for a service.
On Wednesday evening we all went out to a Korean restaurant. We have three new Aussie volunteers so it was a chance to get to know them socially as well. We see many funny signs in our travels (Tick Flavour Restaurant, Pearl of Africa Pork Joint, Plan B Lodge etc.) but can seldom get a photo. I am therefore pleased to share these from our menu in the Korean restaurant:
On Thursday we returned to the NP office to buy our gorilla permits. They cost a lot of money but everyone we speak to who has done it says it is worth every cent. Some more office work then we drove home to pack for our weekend in Lake Mburo NP.
Friday morning we left at 0700 to get to Rwakobo Lodge for lunch. Five minutes from home the car spluttered a bit then stopped. It felt like a running out of petrol scenario - but we had nearly a full tank. We sat on the side of the road, called Bosco, waited then tried the car again after maybe 20 mins and it started. Off we went again. Five minutes later we were stopped again. A chap passing by on his motorbike went to the nearby town and came back with a mechanic. The mechanic removed our alternator. Then Bosco rang to say his mechanic was on the way from Kampala so we sent the local chap away.
Bosco’s mate arrived with two apprentices - think Speedy Motors in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency novels. They blew some dust out of the alternator, refitted it, and tightened a belt or two. The car started and ran as normal as we followed them back into now mid-morning traffic in Kampala. Eventually we arrived at the workshop. This is an open air yard where about 30 different specialist mechanics worked on cars in absolute chaos. Our alternator was taken away and tested while the apprentices poked at battery terminals and adjusted more belts. Some fault was found with the alternator and fixed (apparently). It was replaced and we were assured that we could happily proceed to Lake Mburo (200 km) and get home again. So off we went - into the worst traffic jam we have seen in Kampala. It took 45 mins to travel maybe 1 km up a hill. After that it was relatively plain sailing however and 6 hours after breaking down we drove past where we had been stranded.
Lake Mburo NP is a wonderful place despite having only a fraction of the big mammals of other parks. Its closeness to Kampala means that it is much visited by birders and has a bigger list than any of the other parks (over 600 species). It combines grassland, with acacia woodland, more densely wooded hills, and several lakes including Mburo with extensive papyrus reed beds. A good network of gravel tracks covers the park.
We have stayed at Mihingo Lodge twice and it is superb. This time we thought we’d try another highly rated but less expensive lodge - Rwakobo Rock. It was also superb with great rooms, food and a swimming pool. I think the birding is better around this lodge than at Mihingo also but there isn’t much in it. There are other lodges and more budget options of course.
We spent the whole of Saturday in the park - only returning to the lodge for lunch. We drove Eland, Ruroko and Research Tracks mainly and saw many birds and all the big mammals except the recently reintroduced giraffes. We didn’t go near the lakes so our bird list lacks a large number of potential waterbird species.
The loss of elephants some years ago has seen the acacia woodlands in particular thickening up meaning less grassland and meaning grazing animals wander out of the park into cattle country. In an attempt to fix this 15 giraffes were introduced in July 2015. These are still here but are rarely seen by tourists. “Did you see the giraffes?” is a common question of people returning from a park drive. We think the giraffes are not making much impact on the acacias so maybe elephants will need to be reintroduced.
Sunday we slept in, had a full, leisurely breakfast then birded around the lodge for a couple of hours before heading home without any further car incidents. The trip is a comfortable 4 hours on a good bitumen highway.
All up we saw about 95 bird species with two still to be identified from photographs. The highlight was a new species for me - the Grasshopper Buzzard. This was a young bird (immature plumage) that sat on the road and posed well for photos.
Doing great on the tourist pre-work. And we're looking forward to having you home (in time for the start of the footy season)
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