#30 Safari with PA

For our 9th wedding anniversary, I was planning a trip to Uganda to check off #26 Gorilla Trek and decided to make it a fabulous 10 day safari trip! It was a country neither PA nor I had been to before, so we were eager to explore all it had to offer. I was very happy with the itinerary and price point of local company Ngoni Safaris and all of the lodges they booked for us!

ZIWA RHINO SANCTUARY AND MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK, UGANDA - where we saw the Big 5 safari animals in one day!

The only place in the world to trek on foot to rhinos is at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. After rhinos became extinct in the country, in 2005 a non-profit was formed to bring them back. Six southern white rhinos came from Kenya and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and with years of protection they’ve now multiplied to 32!

To the north is Murchison Falls National Park. The narrowest point of the Nile River  (7m or 23ft) is one of the most powerful waterfalls in the world by volume. We did multiple game drives and a Nile River cruise in the park and saw lions, elephants, water buffalo, giraffes, warthogs, hippos, crocodiles, savannah monkeys, many antelopes, and a leopard sleeping in a tree!

KIBALE NATIONAL PARK, BIGODI WETLANDS SANCTUARY, AND COMMUNITY VISIT - the location of chimpanzees and many other monkeys!

In addition to the famous mountain gorillas, you can trek with chimpanzees in Uganda. We headed to Kibale National Forest for a briefing with Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers who would accompany us into the forest. It turns out the chimps were feeding on figs only a 10min walk from the visitor center! As we stood among the trees, they walked right past us, shimmed up the trunks, swung from branches to find new spots, and sometimes slid back down like a fireman’s pole to move on to other areas. It was incredible to hear their calls (come over here for figs!) and see them move either through the trees or on all fours. As they moved away from the original trees into the bush, our group of 8 was slowed from following by an older woman with mobility issues. So we took our time, and maybe 30min later found another group of chimps, including ones lounging on the ground! Since we were the last group to arrive, we were the only people who was still around when a mother and baby (!) descended from a tree! As mom was getting groomed by a friend, the baby swung on vines, climbed on a chimp’s head and shoulders, and played with her older sister. So magical to see!

Also in the area, we were able to visit the Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary and see tons of colorful birds like the great blue Turaco, red tailed monkeys, and both red and black and white colobus monkeys. These latter species interestingly have only four fingers on their hands, and “colobus” means “missing something.” One black and white colobus monkey was breastfeeding a tiny pure white baby - one of the moments I wished I had a fancier camera to capture! We then went on a walk through the local community, visiting a coffee farmer to see how they process beans by hand, a banana beer and gin maker, and basket weavers.

QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK AND KAZINGA CHANNEL - even more animals, especially elephants, hippos, and crocs!

Founded in 1952, the park was renamed for Queen Elizabeth II after her visit there. Its landscape ranges from savanna to forest to volcanic mountains with crater lakes where salt is harvested. We had many game drives here and saw: a herd of elephants with multiple babies, vultures eating a dead buffalo, an elephant throwing dust on his back to deter flies, hyenas right by the side of the road, a lioness walking in the distance looking for her cubs, a male lion sleeping in the shade of a bush, an elephant shaking a tree to knock it over for food, river eagles, crested eagles, weavers (black and yellow birds) where the male builds the nest that the female destroys if it’s not good enough, a big family of baboons on the road with the kids play fighting, a rare giant forest hog, and some cute dark brown topi antelopes with black spots on their legs and neck. No luck seeing the famous tree climbing lions though!

We had another river safari on the Kazinga Channel, which connects Lakes Albert and George, but in a smaller boat that could get closer to the animals. There were so many hippos (plus an albino one and many babies!), all the birds (gorgeous purple heron, kingfishers, and river eagles), monkeys climbing up and down vines, a huge crocodile that swam towards our boat, and our favorite elephant hanging out under an electrical tower.

We also had some nice afternoon downtime to enjoy the swimming pool at the lodge that overlooked a watering hole and the river beyond!

BWINDI IMPENETRABLE FOREST AND LAKE BUNYONYI - more gorilla photos and a relaxing private island retreat!

The evening before our gorilla trek, we arrived at the gorgeous Rushaga Gorilla Camp in time for a Batwa community song and dance performance and bought some baskets from them. We had a cozy nights sleep in the chilly mountains, warmed with hot water bottles for our beds.

As I described in my #26 Gorilla trek post, we had a medium level trek to the Mishaya gorilla group. We followed the silverback Tinfayo around as he ate, drank, and posed dramatically on a log! We saw the baby playing nearby who posed for pictures and played in the bushes, numerous females eating and hanging around, babies climbing on females' back... it was UNREAL to be among them for an hour!!! After the tough uphill climb, the gorillas had led us downhill and near an actual trail in the park, so the hike out was much easier.

From there, we drove to Lake Bunyonyi, a deep lake created by a volcanic eruption that trapped a river in a valley. A small boat took us to our relaxing private retreat at Habuharo Island! We watched an afternoon rainstorm from our cabin balcony, enjoyed the local crayfish in a curry for dinner, and walked the short trail around the island to admire the scenery and birds. On the boat ride back to our truck, we passed tiny “Punishment Island”where locals used to leave unmarried pregnant women who could get taken by men as free wives - no need to pay a dowry for them! 😱 Another island had once served as a leprosy colony.

LAKE MBURO NATIONAL PARK AND CROSSING THE EQUATOR - where we communed with giraffes and did a walking safari!

Lake Mburo National Park, known for its many leopards and antelopes, was our final stop in Uganda. It was here we finally saw some zebras and ankole cattle as well as dwarf mongooses hopping across the road. We also saw many birds including grey herons, ibis, storks, and perfectly posed crested cranes, Uganda’s National bird and symbol on their flag 🇺🇬. The most magical moment was coming up to a tower of giraffes along the Acacia Trail - two were lying down and gave us the perfect framing for a photo! Later, an old giraffe - you can tell age by darkness of spots and his grey head - slowly approached the car, bowed to us, came within touching distance, and bowed again! Absolutely magical! 

After a night at the fabulous Mihingo Lodge, we did a final game walk on foot in the park. We found impalas, elands (a huge herd of the largest antelope), zebras (curious and staring at us), and warthogs as well as the skull of a not so lucky warthog! It was quiet and cool, and no leopards ate us!

On the road back to the Entebbe airport, we stopped at the equator for a classic photo op. This trip flew by, but it was the perfect mix of adventure, nature, relaxation, and inspiration!

Item 30 Completed 1/14-23/23
42/53 items complete = 79%