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In search of Lagden's Bush-shrike

In search of Lagden’s Bush-shrike

Maybe some meters away, there is a relatively medium, dark grey and bright olive-green, bundle in the middle of creepers in a green rainforest. We whisper to each other about it, as much in a sort of excited awe as an attempt to avoid scaring it away.

That’s because the bundle is a Lagden’s Bush-shrike. We’re barely approaching breakfast on the third day of our September Bird Guides training, and…

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Uganda’s beauty as a local tourist

Uganda’s beauty as a local tourist

Many Ugandans hardly tour their beautiful country. All they do is talk about how the Winston Churchill called the country The Pearl of Africa yet leave foreigners to have all the experience.

Often, when we think of tourism, what comes to mind are a group of white foreigners trekking through a dense forest or driving through a game park and taking pictures of all those animals.

Well, you can also…

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Travelling To Uganda? Here Are The Possible Itineraries And Activities

Travelling To Uganda? Here Are The Possible Itineraries And Activities

1. Spot the Big five

If you are traveling for a Ugandan safari, there is little doubt one of the things you will fancy to do is spot the Big Five, the five most hardest animals  hunt on foot. This highly popular group includes the Lion, Cape Buffalo, African elephant, leopard, and the rhino.

2. Hang out with man’s closet relatives, The Chimpanzees

Chimpanzees and humans share over 98 percent of…

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The Amazing Kabale Hills

The Amazing Kabale Hills

The hills and valleys of the brave, the Switzerland of Africa. So is this land referred to.

This is Kabale district located in the south western part of Uganda. Driving through the hills along the snaking murrum roads is an exhilarating and bloodcurdling experience.

It is an irresistible feeling that leaves you wanting to spend your entire life there.

 From a top one of the hills in Rukiga…

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THE HIDEN HISTORIC DESIGN

THE HIDEN HISTORIC DESIGN

It is among the dozen discrete panels of pr-historic rock art that are known from five different localities in Kumi and Soroti districts. The painting are in most cases monochromatic typically either red or white and the predominant figures are sets of four or five concentric circles, and strange compartmentalized sausage-shaped figures reminiscent of acacia pods. The paintings are traditionally…

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The adventurous souls rules In Karamoja

The adventurous souls rules In Karamoja

For a Ugandan or person in uganda navigating the crater-like potholes and battling infuriating load-shedding and commodity prices, you may wonder what fascinated Lonely Planet about Uganda, choosing it as the top destination for 2012.

Sunset over Karamoja

When one searches the web for trips to Karamoja region, you will be suprised by what people. You will read things like this:

“We advise against…

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Sipi Falls: The "Healing" Beauty

Sipi Falls: The “Healing” Beauty

Gently down, it rolls off a 70 metre cliff,  thunders and washes the area around. At the bottom of the cliff, a lovely crater has formed.

From afar, the cold winds hit you. It is a gentle slope across a small stream.

Glowing stones and horned chameleons Further up the climb, a stall of rocky stones horn through the morning sun, which as informed, the stones are mined up from Mt Elgon.

After…

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Where is He/she?

By using their body to blend in prone with their environment, they are masters of camouflage and are hardly ever seen. They are so rare that many people devote their lives to seeing one.

After tigers, lions and jaguars, they are the fourth largest cats in the world. They can grow to more than 6 feet long and weigh up to 200 pounds. Few other cats are as varied in appearance as they are. Coat colors range from pale yellow to bright chestnut, with square and circular black spots. Some are solid black as a result of melanism, an increased amount of black pigmentation. These are known as black panthers.

Leopards live in grasslands and forests throughout Africa, but they can adapt to many different landscapes. Not only are they agile swimmers, but they are the strongest climbers among the large cats. The leopard is extremely elusive and is often mistaken for other large cats such as the cheetah.

Nocturnal by nature, each has a home range that it patrols at night, marking it with urine and claw marks. Because they are solitary animals, leopards typically avoid one another. However, since territories often overlap, they announce their presence to one another with a raspy growl.

As elusive as they are, on this trip we were all determined to see at least the tail to accomplish our 3 days’ tour. Early in the morning after our breakfast, we set off for a morning game drive negotiating a number of corners in search of a variety of game. Lucky enough, we started with the ‘usual’ “man killers,” the Buffalos so excited was Churchill and his family. The drive continued and our next spot was a lioness who was lying with her legs up in air maybe trying to call or stimulate the spouse, who knows, however she seemed excited and very relaxed which meant she was satisfied and she should have just finished having a delicious meal. This catalyzed the excitement and could not be reduced or stopped any more. After a couple of photographs of her majesty the “Queen of the jungle,” our search for more continued as eyes couldn’t even blink trying to look for Mr. or Mrs. Leopard.

After a prolonged drive accompanied with some “African massages,” almost losing hope, we had a stopover trying to scan around just as any other professional guide/naturalist would do. “Oh My God” I lamented after seeing a tail moving, maybe he was telling us hai, as he had already seen us but we had not seen him. On realizing that he is the one we were looking at, he decided to put himself down in the grass. We couldn’t leave the place. A few minutes later, he stood and starts moving stealthily while hiding in grass, we couldn’t stop following him and eventually he climbed a cactus tree where he rested until we took as many photos as possible and gave him peace and drove our car away. This was beyond the expectation that Churchill and the family had, actually, ending the game drive to him was okay however, it was still early and we couldn’t end it just like that.

MASTERS OF DISGUISE Where is He/she? By using their body to blend in prone with their environment, they are masters of camouflage and are hardly ever seen.

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Kidepo : The walk of nature

Kidepo : The walk of nature

The Advantages of walking in untamed environments and having exposure to nature, according to psychologists, reduces stress and boosts wellbeing.

It  has been researched  that wild environments boost well-being by reducing obsessive, negative thoughts.

  Experiencing nature in itself is a wonderful activity but you can take it to another level by turning it into an active experience through…

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Rhinoceros; The Animal & The Cultural Attachment

Rhinoceros; The Animal & The Cultural Attachment

Its name runs through countless legends. Playwrights, scientists and film makers have used it to advance their art.

But the rhinoceros, one of the big five animals, identified by its two distinct horns, holds significance among the Langi one of the prominent Northern Ugandan Tribes. The word rhinoceros comes from Greek rhino (nose) and ceros (horn). There are five species and 11 sub-species in…

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It was among the first bird songs I came to know. Native Ugandan Bantu tribes had their own name for it. They called it Kiwugulu. If the wind was right, I could hear the sounds in the darkness from the house: rhythmic, propulsive, unflagging, and unmistakable. When did these birds eat? Other birders told me I was lucky to hear them. Pearl-spotted owlets were disappearing from many birding spots of Uganda. In the East, they were a species in trouble, their distribution steadily shrinking.

Blame the usual suspects: human encroachment, habitat loss in their breeding range and being killed as they are believed to be associated with bad omen, not enough food in our forests for birds dependent on nocturnal flying insects and rodents. Whatever the reasons, the ficus mukunyu tree behind our house had become the only place that the Pearl-spotted owlet, still bred on.

One time I got a notion: that tree, I’d be the first birder in Pallisa to report the existence of the Pearl-spotted owlet; a strange and silly sort of vanity. The birds were reliable. All I had to do was to wait and go out behind our house each night, and listen. But I wasn’t the first that time, or the next. I was pre-empted by Paul an old birder from across East Africa who had always seen the Pearl-spotted owlets even in other places.

Unlike the other owlets and owls, the Pearl-spotted owlet is as well active sometimes during the day, this could encourage me with my binoculars, identification book, and sometimes a notepad for sketching every day to go behind the house and my head turns toward every faint swoosh of wings or series of chirps to check for the owlet before continuing to other places. Rain some mornings could not dampen my spirits –and although the owlet remained hidden at the ficus Mukunyu tree to which I had access, other beautiful birds could come in my interest like an African paradise flycatcher before I spotted a white-headed Barbet well camouflaged among dead wood just 10 yards from my standing position, what a day this was.

Perhaps, I’d reached the end of the pearl-spotted owlet part that night but the scene still chilled me. I therefore remained determined to keep attentive, instead I fell asleep. When I woke, just before dawn, I heard the Pearl-spotted owlets everywhere in the woods below me call, “constant and inflectional and ceaseless.” I got up. Alone but unafraid, as if drawn by the chorus of the owlet, put on my binoculars and the spot-light and  headed toward the “dark woods within which the beautiful silver voices of the birds called unceasing — the rapid and urgent beating of the urgent and quirking heart of the late spring night. I did not look back.”

Instantly, I heard a sound as I moved on. No, they couldn’t be, but they were — Pearl-spotted owlets, in the yard, near the house, whistling in my ear, on and on. I moved closer to the sound. A sense of wonder fought with a premonition of irrevocable loss. Then the bird flushed and rose, floated, fluttered erratically like a mammoth moth, suspended, just visible in the sky’s last light. “Somewhere, spirits with bright eyes were watching with me.”

    Its Melody and Synchronicity It was among the first bird songs I came to know. Native Ugandan Bantu tribes had their own name for it.

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The 52 craters of Bunyaruguru

Unknown to many, most of the craters are twin lakes and those that stand out are Katinda and Mirambi, Kyema and Kamweru. People are  always warned to leave the valley before the sun went down. You would never know what you might come along with under the cover of darkness. If you did, before you entered the house you would be asked a familiar question: “Are you…

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It’s hard not to look at it within the capital city and think, “What happened here?” Amidst the Marabou Storks, Pied Crows and the Black Kites, it seems like a drop of fire in a lake of petrol.

Late in the evening, I receive a call informing me to look for the Owls. Soo exited, I start calling fellow friends telling them as tomorrow is a day out for the great activity where I ended up with one joining. Early in the morning, I jumped into a matatu for about 30 minutes to Makerere University to start off with the mighty assignment but out of love and excitement.

By 7:00pm as darkness mysteriously came to an end, the walk started from Mitchell road with a lot of Pied Crows, Marabou Storks and Black kits. However, being a spot on for a number of species within the city, we could not go without some good number of species like; the hamerkop, woodland kingfisher, Palm-nut vulture and hooded vultures, African Harrier Hawk, White Browed Robin chart, African Goshawk, Northern Black Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Tinker bird among others.

Like any other action, there is an opposite reaction. As we went through the wondering Jew, spear grass and Black jack checking every tree possible to be the habitat of the owl, we reached at a point where we could no longer be allowed ahead. In fact, we were not even advised but forced out like criminals. This was because of the criminal offences which have been always taking place in that vicinity. However, whenever something worst happens, there occurs the best. It was to our benefit that the route we took after being chased was the profitable one.

As we climbed the Livingston terrace so angered by the chase but still on business, we negotiated the roundabout and stopped for a breath. First, we heard a White-browed Robin Chart singing various calls 300 meters above the ground in the vines near the trunk of a medium sized tree and we became so much exited. Nevertheless, as I elevated my pair of binoculars more 300 meters above the robin chart following the tree, I caught sight of a pale face with the white brows more pronounced, I put the binoculars back to chest. I called “Joel, extend.” Putting back the binoculars, a beautiful yellow beak, black eyes and a round head were critically seen. Like a person who does bird watching with passion, I started describing the bird with its white and brown stripes in the belly, white spots on the medium coverts of the wing and stripes under the short tail. Looking at the toes, I confirmed a non-passerine and eventually identified the bird as an African Wood Owl. As we moved our pairs of binoculars around the same place, we saw another one already looking at us and it was bigger than the one seen first which seemed a female. “They should have been discussing family matters or”, I don’t know.

As a birder on a safari to Uganda, it would be very interesting to have a walk within Makerere University for such a wonderful experience just within the city of Kampala.

  PASSION AND IMPRESSION It’s hard not to look at it within the capital city and think, “What happened here?” Amidst the Marabou Storks, Pied Crows and the Black Kites, it seems like a drop of fire in a lake of petrol.

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All There is To Know About e-Visa For 2016

All There is To Know About e-Visa For 2016

Uganda will launch e-Visa applications effective June 1, 2016, and unless one has an e-Visa and a subsequent approval printout, s/he may face problems entering the country.

Last year, Kenya caused controversy when they launched an e-Visa system which was woefully badly prepared and on occasions took over two weeks to process, by which time intending travelers had opted out and went on holiday to…

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It is the only species in its order. It is literally like no other animal on earth. The aardvark’s name means “earth pig,” but they are not related to pigs. There are some physical resemblances, the sparse hair on their bodies is course, their back is arched and they seem to have a snout on the end of their long, narrow face, but they also have ears like a rabbit, webbed feet like a duck, claws like a bear and the tail of a kangaroo. Their long tongue resembles that of an Anteater, but they don’t belong in their family tree either. The aardvark is truly one of its kind.

Aardvarks live throughout Africa, mostly south of the Sahara Desert and for more information, they are nocturnal, solitary and somewhat nomadic. Aardvarks are found wherever termite mounds and ant hills are plentiful, this being their preferred food. As the aardvark progresses from one mound to the next, it will dig small (10 ft long), temporary burrows in which to hide from predators and/or sleep the day away. A larger, more permanent burrow of up to 40 feet is used as a primary shelter and breeding chamber. Aardvarks like to live in open grasslands or savannahs where the soil is soft and sandy. The temporary shelters aardvarks create do not go to waste. Pythons, porcupines and other small mammals, even birds, will move in when the aardvark moves on.

Aardvarks are classified as omnivores, but they are far more specialized than that. Like us and find out more facts like; they are truly insectivores, consuming termites and ants exclusively. When food is scarce and they are forced to, aardvarks will eat other soft-bodied insects or wild melons. Aardvarks have an excellent sense of smell which they use to find food, and wonderful hearing which they use to keep from becoming food. The aardvark’s entire body is built around eating termites. Their strong, shovel-shaped claws are hard enough to break through the outer crusts of termite mounds. Their 1 ½ foot long sticky tongue can extend down tunnels and chambers, lapping up the insects inside. The aardvark’s head is elongated and its snout has hairs and fleshy folds that can close, keeping dirt, dust and insects out. While eating, the aardvark’s long, rabbit-like ears are rotated backwards, listening for any sign of approaching danger. When confronted with a particularly large mound, the aardvark will stand on its back legs, bracing itself with its thick, tapering tail, much as a kangaroo would. The aardvark’s skin is extremely tough, protecting it from the bites and stings of its prey.

  Aardvarks are not social and only get together during the breeding season. After a 7 month gestation, one young (two are very rare) is born, usually in October or November. The young is about 6 lbs at birth. By 6 months of age, the young aardvark is capable of finding its own food and will leave its mother to dig its own burrow.

    THE ONE OF ITS KIND It is the only species in its order. It is literally like no other animal on earth.

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The oldest form of living reptiles on the earth that have survived for about 210 million years ago, belonging to the chelonians one of the three orders of reptiles. Tortoises are usually herbivorous and can’t swim. The shell has three main parts: the top carapace, the bottom plastron, and the bridge that fuses these pieces together. You can’t see them, but every tortoise has ribs, a collar bone, and a spine inside its shell.

The scales on the carapace are called scutes and are made of the same keratin found in fingernails and hooves. Scutes protect the bony plates of the shell from injury and infection. The growth rings around scutes can be counted to determine the approximate age of wild tortoises. During the warmer/drier months, the scutes increase in size and stop growing in the cooler months. These seasonal growth cycles create rings consisting of flat ‘valleys’ in the growth period and ridges during hibernation. Thus in theory one could establish the age of the tortoise by counting the growth valleys between the ridges on the scute.

Tortoises do not have teeth, they instead have a beak or smooth cutting edge on the upper jaw and a serrated cutting edge on the bottom jaw, both composed of horn-like materials. They have eyelids as well as external ear openings which are covered by a thin skin-like tissue called the tympanis membrane. In compensation for poor hearing, they have a good sense of smell, very good vision and are able to distinguish certain colors. They store their water in an anal sac called the bursa which is used when needed to soften the soil for egg laying or reabsorbed for bodily functions.

  Like other reptiles, chelonians are ectothermic, that is, they have no means of controlling their body temperature and have to thermo-regulate by moving in and out of the sun`s heat source. Generally, they are active at temperatures of 25-30 degrees siliceous, going into hibernation when the temperature remains below about 19 degrees siliceous.

When the female tortoise reaches the mating period, it produces a hormone through the cloaca which is smelt by the male letting him that she is ready and them they turn their cloacas and mate. After the female tortoise digs a burrow to lay her eggs in which take 3-4 months to hatch and they break the eggshells open with their beaks and dig their way up to the surface. The sex of the hatchling is determined by temperature of the egg incubation that is; females are hatched at higher temperatures between 31-34 degrees siliceous and males are hatched at lower temperatures which is 26 to 30 degrees siliceous.

The female tortoise matures at 10 years of age and male tortoise matures at 15 years and they are believed to live longer because of their slow growth rate and having a low metabolic system. They also have a variety of diet they feed being vegetarians therefore they do not strive for food at any time.

    STRESSFREE AND LONG LASTING The oldest form of living reptiles on the earth that have survived for about 210 million years ago, belonging to the chelonians one of the three orders of reptiles.