We felt like Frodo and company as they left Rivendell when we said farewell to Emmy and his hospitable staff. Alas, thus is the life of a traveler, becoming friends with people only to bid them goodbye. It is one of the many costs of freedom, I suppose. Our next destination was Mabamba Swamp, which would bring us toward Kampala, from where we were to catch the night bus back to Nairobi. With Rwanda and the wonders of Nyungwe forest out of the picture (waaaaay more expensive than I thought - you pay park entry plus a per-hour fee which is specific for each trail!). We decided to cut out losses short and end our Uganda leg on a guaranteed high note - with the iconic Shoebill.
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| Malachite Kingfisher |
The shoebill is a bird that divides. Some consider it to be beautiful, others to be something of nightmares. Personally, I am undecided. In any case, it's a HUGE bird to get on any birder's life list and there is no other bird remotely like it.
We'd secured the services of a reputable bird guide and boat operator with Emmy's help and were relived to arrive at the dock after a rough bus ride and a very rough motorbike ride during the dark hours of the morning. Already off to a late start, I was getting anxious in my typical fashion because we were behind schedule. After our motorbike guys failed to turn up at the agreed upon 6 am or whatever, trying to find 2 replacements at that hour took some time - time we could not afford to waste. Then having to wait a little extra for our guide with the boat added to my stress levels. The wishlist was:
Shoebill
Papyrus Gonolek
Papyrus Yellow Warbler
Papyrus Canary
White-winged Warbler
Lesser Jacana
Weyn's Weaver
We had a lady guide who pointed out the birds while the guy who we'd asked for piloted the boat. I wondered if she was newer and wanted more guiding experience. In any case, we must have been in good hands since they'd come on good recommendation by Emmy. She started us off by pointing out many common species, which caused me concern that we would be mis-directing our efforts. So I informed her that we were only here to see a short, specific list, the one I've written above. By that point I think we had an understanding. In any case, it was nice to photograph some common characters like the old Malachite which is never harsh on the eyes.
It did not take long to find our first Shoebill, and man was it an ugly one.
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| A young Shoebill |
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| It stared into our souls... |
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| ... pure evil |
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| White-backed Ducks |
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| Blue-chested Bee-eater |
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| The adult Shoebill |
At the end of the day, the Shoebill was the star of the show with 3 seen. As for the rest,
Shoebill - check
Lesser Jacana - check
I had underestimated the trickiness of papyrus birding. Oh well, we had a go. And you can't be dissapointed with shots like that.
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| Swamp explorers |
After enjoying lunch of fried Tilapia, Plantain and chai, I had one last try along the swamp edge for the papyrus canary and yellow warbler, but to no avail. Even the Red-chested Sunbirds would not let me photograph them. Our motorcycle guys getting impatient, I resigned to the papyrus abyss and packed up my camera. Of course, whenever you pack up your camera, that's when something appears. In this case, a Blue Flycatcher started flitting about right above our heads. I frantically assembled my camera just in time to rip 2 frames. Check it out:
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| Blue Flycatcher hunting spiders (look at the bill) |
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