28.01.2015 Views

Download 2014 Brochure (.pdf) - Ornitholidays

Download 2014 Brochure (.pdf) - Ornitholidays

Download 2014 Brochure (.pdf) - Ornitholidays

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

U G A N D A<br />

Uganda<br />

Birds & Primates<br />

Sunday 06 July – Friday 18 July <strong>2014</strong><br />

Leaders: Nigel Jones and Harriet Kemigisha<br />

<strong>2014</strong> Cost £4,499 single room supplement £250<br />

Queen Elizabeth<br />

National Park<br />

Bwindi Impenetrable<br />

Forest<br />

Fort Portal<br />

Kibale Forest<br />

National Park<br />

Lake Mburo<br />

National Park<br />

UGANDA<br />

Kampala<br />

Entebbe<br />

Lake<br />

Victoria<br />

T<br />

his country of forests, lakes and mountains sits astride the Equator and combines influences from<br />

eastern and central Africa. The great beauty of Uganda led Sir Winston Churchill to call it “the Pearl of Africa”. On this tour we travel to the forests<br />

of Kibale, then to the open savannah of the Queen Elizabeth National Park, and finally visit the great Impenetrable Forest of the south-west. For a small<br />

country, Uganda holds an unrivalled variety of primates and is currently one of the few places in the world where Mountain Gorillas can be seen fairly<br />

easily. Bwindi’s Impenetrable Forest is home to these magnificent creatures and (for those who wish to) we can spend a day tracking them through<br />

the dense forest. To observe them from just a few metres, as they go about their daily routine of sleeping, grooming and feeding is probably the<br />

ultimate thrill of a lifetime. During our time at Kibale we may also have a chance to see our other close relative – the Chimpanzee. Our itinerary this<br />

year allows for a longer stay in the Kibale area so we can track down more of the Albertine Rift endemic species. Throughout the tour we shall have<br />

the services of Harriet Kemigisha, who has co-led our last few tours to this country and whose assistance has proved invaluable with her extensive<br />

knowledge of the calls and habits of many of Uganda’s more elusive species. This will be <strong>Ornitholidays</strong> ninth tour to Uganda.<br />

Mountain Gorilla<br />

ITINERARY<br />

Days 1 & 2<br />

We take an evening flight from London to<br />

Entebbe where we arrive the next morning. We<br />

visit the Mabamba Swamp where we start to see<br />

our first African birds. We take small boats into<br />

the reed-fringed channels and look for the<br />

diminutive but colourful Malachite Kingfisher,<br />

Swamp Flycatcher, Blue-breasted Bee-eater and<br />

White-winged Warbler. This swamp also gives us<br />

the chance to see one of Africa’s most soughtafter<br />

birds – the Shoebill. This large bird with an<br />

enormous beak is uncommon throughout its<br />

restricted range but we hope to be lucky here<br />

today (as we have always been on previous<br />

trips). We then travel to Fort Portal where we<br />

stay overnight.<br />

Days 3 & 4<br />

We can spend the morning birding in the<br />

Semuliki National Park, an area of lowland<br />

rainforest and excellent for birding – interestingly<br />

it holds many species which are also commonly<br />

found in West Africa, and we can look for Black<br />

Dwarf and Piping Hornbills, African Piculet,<br />

Rufous-sided Broadbill, Maxwell’s Weaver and<br />

Blue-throated Roller. We then make the drive to<br />

the Kibale National Park rainforests. We have two<br />

nights here and on one morning we will track the<br />

Chimpanzees in this forest; the Kibale Forest is<br />

an extensive forest block of 560 sq kms and it is<br />

here that we could see Yellow-billed, Hairybreasted<br />

and Yellow-spotted Barbets, Yellowbill,<br />

Nahan’s Francolin, White-bellied Crested<br />

Flycatcher, Masked and Black-capped Apalis,<br />

White-naped Pigeon and perhaps a Greenbreasted<br />

Pitta. Here, also, the local community<br />

runs Bigodi wetland, an excellent place for<br />

seeing White-spotted Flufftail, Papyrus Gonolek,<br />

the elusive White-winged Warbler and Papyrus<br />

Canary. Other birds that we are likely to<br />

encounter include Purple-headed Glossy<br />

Starling, Blue-headed Coucal, Petit’s Cuckoo-<br />

Shrike, Green-headed and Green-throated<br />

Sunbirds, Black Bee-eater and perhaps the<br />

majestic African Crowned-Eagle. Kibale is a<br />

good place for Red Colobus Monkey as well as<br />

Grey-cheeked Mangabey, Black-and-White<br />

Colobus, and Blue and Peter’s Forest Duikers<br />

are infrequently encountered.<br />

Days 5 & 6<br />

Today we transfer to the Queen Elizabeth<br />

(Ruwenzori) National Park for a two-night stay.<br />

The QENP is a relatively small park, only 2,000<br />

sq kms, but due to its diversity of habitats, an<br />

astounding 535 bird species have been<br />

recorded here. The park has a wide range of<br />

habitat types, including an extensive area of<br />

crater lakes. Giant Forest Hog are frequently<br />

encountered during the day and Topi, Spotted<br />

Hyena, Leopard and Lion are all found here. On<br />

our launch trip on the Kasinga channel we may<br />

find Gull-billed Tern, African Skimmer, Spurwinged<br />

Lapwing, the majestic Goliath Heron and<br />

the brightly coloured Yellow-billed Stork, aside<br />

from numerous waders and Whiskered Tern.<br />

Hippopotamus are common here and along the<br />

shore we should also see Buffalo, Elephant and<br />

Uganda Kob. On our game drives we hope to<br />

see Papyrus Gonolek, Red-headed Lovebird,<br />

54<br />

For a previous tour report or further information please call: 01794 519445

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!