Thursday, April 12, 2018

An Amazing Two Weeks in East Africa

March 2018, after nearly 8 years, we finally returned to Africa, this time to the east African countries of Kenya and Uganda.  Here's a brief overview: 

We first headed to the Masai Mara, visited a Masai village, then went on a game drive with a highlight of seeing a pair of giraffes "necking" 

The next day was a full 12 hour game drive where we spotted 4 cheetahs, a nest of 9 sleeping lion cubs, even more lions, antelopes of all kinds, 2 leopards, hyenas, hippos, and so much more. Highlight: coming upon that second leopard, who had been resting in tall grass right by the road. Our driver/guide momentarily thought his tail was a snake in the road. And when the large male got up and moved to a termite mound just feet away, we had him all to ourselves. 

A visit to Lake Nokuru. This used to house massive flocks of feeding flamingos, but the water level has gone up, making most of the lake too deep for feeding. But it is still easy to see quite a bit of wildlife here, and smaller flocks of flamingos. Highlight: mom and baby rhino in the far distance, lone male rhino right up close, and Rothschild's giraffes close to the road as well.

Murchison falls national park:  Cruise up the river, to see the base of this massive falls, then drive to the top for lunch.  Highlight: Chimp trekking elsewhere in the park, we found a family group and watched a juvenile strip branches of blooms. 

Nile River Sunset Cruise: Jinja. Water levels have changed here too, this time due to a dam. However, the river cruise between 2 dams proved to be fantastic birding, as we were able to see many shore, wading, and water species we hadn't seen elsewhere. Highlight, a troupe of red tailed monkeys

Lake Bunyonyi: beautiful mountain lake, smaller wildlife, and a pleasant accommodation. We even saw an otter here. A visit to the displaced pygmy village was not educational to their culture or history, however, the people depend on such visits as they appear to live in total poverty. 

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. A visit to see mountain gorillas, which you can see nowhere else in the world but this and one other park. We joined a family of 4 (silverback, 2 females, and a year old baby) for an hour. They seemed almost completely unconcerned by our presence. Beautiful, and a little smelly.