Trip Report: Kenya & Uganda, July 19 - August 11, 1997

José Tavares, Ankara, Turkey; tr-net.net.tr

Itinerary Summary

Arrived in Nairobi on 19 July, and stayed there 2 days. On the 21st July travelled by bus to Kampala (Uganda) (10 hours). Stayed 1 day in Kampala, and then travelled 2 whole days by matatu to Bwindi National Park (mountain rain forest habitat), in western Uganda, on the border with Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), via Fort-Portal, Kasese, Queen Elisabeth NP (unfortunately we didn't stop here), Ischaka, Rukungiri and Bwindi. We wanted originally to go to the Ruwenzori mountain range near Fort Portal, but when we arrived in Fort Portal we found out that the national park there was closed due to ongoing fighting between the Ugandan army and rebels, so we decided to continue to Bwindi. Stayed three days in this National Park (25-27 July), and then travelled to Mgahinga National Park to the south, on the borders with Rwanda and DR Congo, via Kabale (1 day travel). Stayed 2 days in Mgahinga NP (29-30 July). Then travelled back to Kabale, and from then to Lake Mburo National Park (Savannah), where we stayed one day (1 August). We returned to Kampala later, and visited Lake Victoria at Entebbe for one day (2 August). Travelled by bus from Kampala to Nairobi the next day, and the following day we started a 3 day safari at Masai-Mara National Park (Savannah), on the border with Tanzania (4-6 August). We then travelled to Mombassa by train, and stayed 4 days at the south end of Diani beach (coast) (7-10 August). We returned to Nairobi by train on the night of the 10th, and flew out of Africa on the 11th.

I travelled all the time with Fausto Brito e Abreu (another bird watcher). From Fort Portal until Mgahinga we also travelled with Antónia Monteiro (a lepidopterist), Christoph Haag (bird watcher) and Patricia Salgueiro (biology student).

As field guides we used mostly Ber Van Perlo's Birds of Eastern Africa, but we also had Williams and Arlott's A field guide to the birds of East Africa.

BIRDS

MAMMALS

REPTILES

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This page served with permission of the author by Urs Geiser; ugeiser@xnet.com; November 25, 1998