Gorilla Trekking

Uganda is one of the leading destinations on East Africa blessed with a variety of flora and fauna. Despite the social-political challenges, this beautiful country has been identified as one of the relatively stable and prosperous African nations. There are a million reasons for you to visit Uganda starting from the good weather thought the year and the green vegetation and wildlife. A number of things make Uganda the most desired destinations for travelers and this is a highlight of the top tourist attractions in Uganda.

Mountain Gorillas
Uganda shelters over half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas in the world in Bwindi Impenetrable national park, making it the largest concentration of mountain gorillas in the world. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park shelters the highest habituated mountain gorilla groups while Mgahinga National Park has only one mountain gorilla group. 17 gorilla families have been habituated for trekking after the introduction of two new Gorilla Families-Christmas and Katwe. Bwindi national Park is located in the southwestern parts of Uganda in Kabale District.

Wild life
Uganda has a rich plenty of flora and fauna throughout its national parks. About seven of these parks have a very high concentration of wildlife for example Kidepo Valley national park which boasts the highest concentration of wildlife.
These national parks include;
• Queen Elizabeth national park was named after the royal Queen Elizabeth II of England.
• Rwenzori mountains national park.
• Lake Mburo national park.
• The famous Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
• Semiliki National Park.
• Murchison Falls National Park.
• Kibale national park.
• Kidepo Valley national park.
• Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
• And Mount Elgon National Park.

Each of these national park has its own unique eye-catching features ranging from lions, leopards, elephant, antelopes, giraffes, monkeys, chimpanzees and the human-like mountain Gorillas, these national parks also have a wide variety of birds that that any good birder wishes to see. You can’t afford to miss.

Uganda’s Cultural Tourism
Being a multi-ethnic nation there are multiple cultures and traditions in Uganda. Over 50 tribes are all dispersed in their respective regions with different customs, beliefs, cooking, traditional dress and dances. There are four traditional kingdoms in Uganda each with its own beliefs and conduct. The kingdoms include Tooro, Buganda, Busoga and Bunyoro-kitara kingdoms. There is no better place to experience a wide range of cultures than Uganda. Consider visiting cultural centers like Igongo Cultural Center in the western part of Uganda, Ndere Troupe Cultural Center in Kampala, Batwa Trail experience in southwestern Uganda around Bwindi Forest and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, then Acholis and Karamojong in the northern and eastern parts of Uganda respectively are the best places to go.

Source of River Nile
The longest river in the world starts from the pearl of Africa Uganda with its source starting right from Jinja in Uganda. The “Nile” word is a Greek word that means valley. River Nile starts from the Northeastern part of Africa and flows from the surrounding areas close to the equator line to the outrageous safari desert and then straight to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The river is estimated to be about 6600 kilometers long and passes through nine countries but is most centered to Uganda and Egypt. Some of these countries include Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia.
So many activities are done on the Nile for instance water rafting, bungee jumping, Kayaking, boat rides as well as fishing.
The river starts its 6,500km journey to the Mediterranean Sea (Egypt) beside Jinja town (Uganda) and the source. Don’t miss to see Owen falls dam where hydroelectricity is generated.

Uganda’s Climate
Uganda’s weather conditions are ideal, ranging from the warmth of the lowland areas to the coolness of the highlands in the South West Kigezi where Uganda’s endangered creatures-the mountain Gorillas live. This can be proved from the travelers that have been in Uganda for their holidays before. Uganda is mostly sunny thought the year with temperatures rarely rising above 29 degrees.
The average temperature is about 26 degrees C, with a maximum of 18-31 degrees and minimum of 15-23 degrees depending on the part of the country.
The rain season is march-may then light rain season is November and December. Wet seasons are March –May & October-November; dry seasons are December to February & June to August. The rainfall regime allows two planting and harvesting seasons a year in most parts of the country, without the use of irrigation.

conclusion The beauty of such an amazing country with all the beautiful scenery with animals, birds and the green vegetation thought the year makes Uganda the number one choice for all your travel needs.

Mabamba Swamp is the natural habitat for the most sought after Shoebill,it is an extensive marsh stretching through a long narrow bay, fringed with papyrus towards the Western main body of Lake Victoria. It has the status of an unprotected area with bird species globally threatened. This Important Bird Area (IBA) is one of the best marshy areas along the Northern shores of Lake Victoria for bird watching close to Kampala. Mabamba Swamp is a major wetland birding site well-known for the elusive Shoebill one of Uganda’s most sought after bird by most birders and nature lovers.
The wetland has over 300 bird species recorded and that includes birds like the African purple swamp hen, African water rail, Pallid Harrier, Swamp flycatcher, Papyrus Gonolek, White-winged Warbler and the Blue Swallow Common moorhen, lesser jacana, African jacana, African pygym goose, White-faced whistling duck, Squacco heron, Blue Breasted Bee-eater, Winding cisticola, Goliath Heron and many others.
Bird watching is mostly via canoe, where you will navigate waterways in the lily pads and papyrus swamp. Swamp is an extensive marsh stretching through a long narrow bay, fringed with papyrus towards the western main body of Lake Victoria. Use of the boat is good because it gives you an opportunity to view several other birds that you may otherwise miss if you are in a car.
Mabamba Swamp can also be reached from Kampala or Entebbe and the easiest route is through the Nakiwogo landing site in Entebbe where you take a 10 minutes’ ferry crossing to Kasanje landing and from there drive for about 20 minutes to Mabamba passing through cultivations and open fields that will provide plenty of garden birds.

Shoebill in Mabamba Swamp

Mabamba Swamp is one of the best and most convenient places to see the elusive Shoebill. After a few minutes in a small canoe the papyrus reeds open up into a flat grassy wetland where a number of Shoebills can regularly be seen. It can be easily seen in the morning hours standing still for long periods awaiting the movements of their prey and then suddenly strike quickly. This however doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to see it any other time of the day.
Boat tour across Lake Victoria highly recommend though you can reach Mabamba by road. Reaching Mabamba by boat gives you an opportunity to see many of the birds than when you are in a car. Sometimes even the shoebill may dodge you in the canoes only to be seen as you approach or leave by boat.
The exciting birding experience in Mabamba swamp also happens along the way as you travel to the swamp. There are other birding spots with a variety of habitats. After birding you can choose to follow a woodland and savanna trail up to the sand mining quarry to utilize chances of other species apart from the wetland birds.

Meet the local fishermen
Unlike the previous days the local community is now friendly with the birds as they compete for the same fish. Many have been trained as local tour guides who now strive to preserve both the birds and the swamp. They happily tell you stories about how Mabamba Bay was named after a lungfish locally known as “emamba”. The lungfish can survive on land for up to three days if it is watered every now and again.

Conclusion
A visit to mabamba swap is worth your coinage because of the special nature of the birdlife in a swamp (a special and rare kind of bird life). The birding experience in this areas is such a rewarding experience for any birder.