Blogs from Western Region, Uganda, Africa - page 12

Woke up at 5:20 to get ready for our morning game drive, and could hear the hippos grunting and groaning all night. Andrea and Rhonda next door were actually woken up to a hippo eating grass right outside their tent, they were scared and excited and awe struck all at the same time. My animal experience that morning was a beetle big enough to be considered a low flying aircraft by the bathroom; welcome to the African jungle! Morning game drive was absolutely spectuacular, well worth the 5:30 wake up. Watching the sunrise (I got an awesome photo of it), and seeing the warthogs, 2 different kinds of antelope, water buffalo, a variety of birds, prey and non, and lions and elephants – well what can I say. I’ve been lucky to have done a safari ... read more

Today is Chimpanzee Walk day. Now to be honest when I booked this trip; it was ALL about (in order) the Gorillas, going to Jinja and seeing Queen Elizabeth Park. Little did I realize that the Chimp visit (which I thought would be “nice’) turned out to be one of the highlights, and the trip has barely begun. We had an early start of 6am from Fort Portal and were at the Kibali National Park grounds by 8ish.On route we saw some baboons, a couple with babies too. We were split into 2 groups and off we went with each guide, in search of the chimpanzees. We were told that human DNA is 95% identical to a chimp and 96% to a gorilla. Not quoting exact science here, but after seeing them, I can completely see ... read more

If I had to be honest, I would say I was taken aback a little bit more than I thought I would be. I wouldn’t say I was over my head, but I would say that I was shocked and even questioned my own fortitude when I arrived at Edirisa on Lake Bunyonyi…Why is that you ask? Well I signed up for a volunteer spot at this non-profit organization with an emphasis on cultural tours and canoe trekking in the Gorilla Highlands (name of the area they want to start using). I was blown off by my original host and welcomed quite warmly into the open arms of Miha, Jane, Owen, Davis, Alex, Shaba, and Tom! I simply wanted to help in some way cuz I like the area and wanted to do something ... read more

Nothing super special about Kampala, yet, but the internet was pretty alright at the campsite. The next day we arrived at Lake Bunyoni after a million hours and I was feeling quite under the weather. Our guide was ill when we started the trip from Nairobi and I was the first to catch what she had. It was also New Year’s Eve so being sort of sick was extra not fun. We had gorilla trekking permits waiting for us when we arrived and my name was on the list to trek in the am. This again was not conducive to my sickness because you are not allowed to trek if you are sick as the man monkeys have 98% similarities to humans so they can catch our diseases too. Buuuuut I traded with someone else and ... read more

Endlich dürfen wir zu den Gorillas! 2 Tracker sind schon einige Zeit unterwegs, um unsere Gorillagruppe aufzuspüren und per Funk die Position durchzugeben. Wir (7 Touris) dürfen dann mit 2 bewaffneten Guides hinterher - bewaffnet deshalb, damit sie im Falle einer Begegnung mit Waldelefanten oder nicht habituierten Gorillas die Tiere mit einem Schuss in die Luft vertreiben können. Unser Weg führt durch dichten Nebelwald, anfangs auf steilen und rutschigen Pfaden, später direkt durch das Dickicht. Die Guides schlagen uns mit Macheten denWeg frei. Nach 1 Stunde erreichen wir die Tiere. Die Gruppe mit dem Namen Kyogurila besteht aus einem Silberrücken, 3 Schwarzrücken, 7 Babies und 6 Damen. Zunächst können wir sie nur schlecht sehen, weil sie immer mitten im Grünzeug sitzen und dort futtern. Aber dann beschließt eine Mutter, den eigentlich vorgeschriebenen Sicherheitsabstand von 7m (zur ... read more