Days 8, 9 and 10 - Murchison Falls National Park.
Going to bed next to the Nile you have interesting neighbors. we were staying in another tented accommodation, albeit more substantial and luxurious, on our first night here. We had to be escorted back to our tent after dinner, due to dangerous animals. And they were not joking. Walking out onto the deck I swung the spotlight around and counted nine hippos. immediately in front of me. We went to sleep to the sounds of grazing hippos.
Murchison Falls have a similar range of large mammals as does Kidepo Valley, take out eland, and add hippos. However the difference is that it is that there is a lot more feed for herbivores, and that in turn means more carnivores. We headed out early in the morning for a game drive and encountered lots of everything, including three good views of lions.
There were thousands of Uganda kob, a beautiful antelope, and no doubt good cat food!
One delight was watching a side-striped jackal, It was off to one side of us, ran ahead and then crossed the road in front of us to be joined by a cub. It then regurgitated food for the cub. Sorry the photo is not great but best I could do with an iPhone.
There were plenty of birds, we recorded 90 species, but only a little over a third had not been seen on the trip before. Bird of the location (@Hix ) was the rock pratincole, an unusual bird in it's own right, but also a new Family for me.
This was also the location where we first really got into small mammals, thanks to our guide, Sam, starting with bats, First was the yellow-wing bat, which roosts in acacia, and flies out if disturbed. They seem easy enough to see if you know the correct habitat. Sam saw a couple before we managed to see one. It flew out in front of the car then across a clearing before disappearing, looking like a huge yellow butterfly.
Next were smaller bats roosting in older buildings. Sam took us first to a couple of sheds at the airstrip then a derelct lime kiln. He bravely entered first to check for leopards, not unexpected as there were signs one had been there in the last couple of weeks.
Fortunately Sam survived. That night we did a night drive, encountering several species, including most surprisingly two porcupines. The next day we were looking a thicket for birds I noticed a mongoose at the bottom. It turned out to be the rarely-seen Pousargues's mongoose, and that was certainly the mammal of the location (@Hix ).
On the second day we had lunch at the Murchison Falls, which are a stunning sight. Other famous falls, such as the Victoria Falls, are broad curtains of water. Here the whole flow of the Nile is forced into a narrow channel between the rocks. I tried to load fantastic video, but it was too big, so you will have to do with this.
After lunch we were meant to go directly to the next stop but there was vehicle issues so we ended up stuck besides the Nile bridge in what is normally a pleasant spot but is currently a construction site while it was fixed. Only good thing was a small band playing traditional instruments,
Accommodation: For the first night we stayed at the Twiga Safari Lodge. This was the most luxurious lodge we stayed at and certainly dinner was the best meal we have had - equal to a western restaurant meal. Accommodation was a similar but larger tent compared to the previous night, with a much larger ensuite. The whole place was obviously a cut above. On night two we stayed at the Pakuba Safari Lodge which was on a long way away. Food was back to normal and rooms resembled a '50's motel room. But it did have a large pool which was great to relax in for a half hour or so.
Going to bed next to the Nile you have interesting neighbors. we were staying in another tented accommodation, albeit more substantial and luxurious, on our first night here. We had to be escorted back to our tent after dinner, due to dangerous animals. And they were not joking. Walking out onto the deck I swung the spotlight around and counted nine hippos. immediately in front of me. We went to sleep to the sounds of grazing hippos.
Murchison Falls have a similar range of large mammals as does Kidepo Valley, take out eland, and add hippos. However the difference is that it is that there is a lot more feed for herbivores, and that in turn means more carnivores. We headed out early in the morning for a game drive and encountered lots of everything, including three good views of lions.
There were thousands of Uganda kob, a beautiful antelope, and no doubt good cat food!
One delight was watching a side-striped jackal, It was off to one side of us, ran ahead and then crossed the road in front of us to be joined by a cub. It then regurgitated food for the cub. Sorry the photo is not great but best I could do with an iPhone.
There were plenty of birds, we recorded 90 species, but only a little over a third had not been seen on the trip before. Bird of the location (@Hix ) was the rock pratincole, an unusual bird in it's own right, but also a new Family for me.
This was also the location where we first really got into small mammals, thanks to our guide, Sam, starting with bats, First was the yellow-wing bat, which roosts in acacia, and flies out if disturbed. They seem easy enough to see if you know the correct habitat. Sam saw a couple before we managed to see one. It flew out in front of the car then across a clearing before disappearing, looking like a huge yellow butterfly.
Next were smaller bats roosting in older buildings. Sam took us first to a couple of sheds at the airstrip then a derelct lime kiln. He bravely entered first to check for leopards, not unexpected as there were signs one had been there in the last couple of weeks.
Fortunately Sam survived. That night we did a night drive, encountering several species, including most surprisingly two porcupines. The next day we were looking a thicket for birds I noticed a mongoose at the bottom. It turned out to be the rarely-seen Pousargues's mongoose, and that was certainly the mammal of the location (@Hix ).
On the second day we had lunch at the Murchison Falls, which are a stunning sight. Other famous falls, such as the Victoria Falls, are broad curtains of water. Here the whole flow of the Nile is forced into a narrow channel between the rocks. I tried to load fantastic video, but it was too big, so you will have to do with this.
After lunch we were meant to go directly to the next stop but there was vehicle issues so we ended up stuck besides the Nile bridge in what is normally a pleasant spot but is currently a construction site while it was fixed. Only good thing was a small band playing traditional instruments,
Accommodation: For the first night we stayed at the Twiga Safari Lodge. This was the most luxurious lodge we stayed at and certainly dinner was the best meal we have had - equal to a western restaurant meal. Accommodation was a similar but larger tent compared to the previous night, with a much larger ensuite. The whole place was obviously a cut above. On night two we stayed at the Pakuba Safari Lodge which was on a long way away. Food was back to normal and rooms resembled a '50's motel room. But it did have a large pool which was great to relax in for a half hour or so.
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator:
