Tag: travel

Moving on …

All good things come to an end.

As our stay at Budongo reaches its conclusion. It’s time to thank the Field Station Director Geoffrey Muhanguzi for his hospitality and, as always, his wisdom. Also to say thank you to Moreen Uwimbabazi for allowing us to assist in her bird banding project and congratulate her and her team Patrick Arua and Godfrey Andrua on their progress.

The Royal Mile, so called because it was indeed a favorite spot of Ugandan Kings, is one of Africa’s best forest birding spots. It is possible for a visiting birder to buy a permit and stroll under the majestic trees. I believe the fee has to be paid in Kampala. The best way forward is to contact Raymond in advance, he lives near the gate and knows the place backwards. The numbers I have for him are 0777 319 865 or 0752 930 065. You can rely on him to give clear instruction.

Raymond

He is the man who can find you your Chocolate backed Kingfisher.

Chocolate-backed Kingfisher

But that only takes you as far as this sign …

and paradise is on the other side of it. Tourism is specifically forbidden by the project’s charter, to pass Go you must be sponsored by your university or another entity.

It was during my last day or so at Budongo that I became increasingly aware of some red and itchy spots on my left arm.

Mungo …

My reading of the moment is Travels in the Interior of Africa by Mungo Park, published in 1799. He was traveling in the Gambia and seems not to have been a great fan of the forest …

The country itself being an immense level, and very generally covered with wood, presents a tiresome and gloomy uniformity to the eye; but although Nature has denied the inhabitants the beauties of romantic landscapes she has bestowed on them, with a liberal hand, the more important blessings of fertility and abundance.

Perhaps now that travel is so much easier the landscapes have become more romantic.

Budongo before dawn

Spare moments …

The Budongo Forest covers an area of about 435 km² which reportedly makes it the largest forest in Uganda. It’s a mixed forest and was once important as a source of mahogany. Left to itself the mix would simplify, at climax it would be dominated by Ironwood (Cynometra alexandrii) more valuable timber species would be excluded. Mahogany is much more attractive to foresters. The efforts to encourage a rich mix to persist were successful but Celtis (hackberries or nettle trees) and Ficus (figs) species were more inclined to grow than Mahogany. These have no timber value but do provide food for primates and birds.

The forest looks natural enough but the parts that have been molested are better for birds and primates than a couple of reserved areas that have never been touched. Who’d have thought.

We were kept hard at work but a couple of hours every afternoon were ours to go for a walk down the Royal Mile or around the camp.

White-throated Bee-eater
Red-capped Robin-Chat

The Road to Budongo …

The team heading to Uganda this time consisted of the three Aussie bird banders that had visited in 2017 plus one.

Dr Will Steele and Dr Mark Antos are both professional biologists who find the natural world so fascinating that they go on studying it even after they’ve knocked off work. Along with the McGee we had had the pleasure of doing some training with the fledgling bird banding team at the Budongo Research Station. We would be returning to offer some more encouragement, some more training and some more equipment.

Our new recruit was the lovely Gayle McGee, also experienced in the process of catching and banding birds.

It is most of a day’s drive northward from Entebbe to Budongo. Our first call was in Kampala where we picked up Moreen Uwimbabazi who heads up the project.

Moreen Uwimbabazi

Then it was a long but fascinating drive via Masindi to the Royal Mile and Budongo.

Much of life in Uganda goes on in the streets. Foodstuffs and furniture …

hustle and bustle
this way to the Rich Dad Junior School

some instruction from the Australian Government

and having bought your food and furniture you load it onto a van, or a motorbike or even a bike.

chair man
three men and a sheep
plantain – a staple

From time to time on the highway street vendors rush every vehicle that stops.

street vendors

As well as the fresh fruit and drinks you can buy chicken and goat meat on skewers … maybe not a great idea for the unpracticed intestine.

Until eventually …

home away from home

Uganda …

Lake Victoria is a very large expanse of fresh water about half way up the continent of Africa and somewhat east of the midline.

Uganda sits on top of the lake sharing borders with Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, DRC and South Sudan. The country straddles the equator.

The surface area is roughly similar to my home state of Victoria, Australia or England, Scotland and Wales. It has a population approaching 50 million people and expanding rapidly. The median age of 15 years is the lowest in the world. The birth rate of very nearly 6 children per woman is among the highest in the world.

In the colonial era Uganda was a British protectorate. It gained independence in 1962. Government since then has changed hands by military coup. The effectiveness of government has been reduced by internal armed conflict such as the civil war with the Lords Resistance Army.

The current president is Yoweri Kaguta Musaveni who gained power in 1986 after a six-year guerrilla war. Transparency International has rated the public sector as among the most corrupt in the world, an estimated $286 million US is siphoned off annually. Uganda provides one of the best cases for the suggestion that foreign aid is a process that takes money from poor people in rich countries and gives it rich people in poor countries.

The human rights situation is depressing, child labour is common, the police and armed forces are often accused of torture.

More than 40 languages are spoken, the main groups are Bantu, Nilotic and Sudanic. A couple of Kuliac languages are also spoken. English is the lingua franca in the south, Swahili and English serve the same purpose in the north.

For all the bad news it is a beautiful country. From dry savanna, through fertile agricultural land, dense forest to snow-capped mountains. The people are certainly tough but vibrant and industrious.

The place gets under your skin.

Back to Budongo …

My bags are on the floor, packed and ready to go.

There are some Swamp Wallabies down by the creek. When I wake up in a couple of days time it may well be a Chimpanzee that will be walking past my window. Uganda here I come.

Part of the time will be at the Budongo Research Station and will be spent banding little birds in the rain forest.

I am looking forward to catching up with old friends and to sharing the experience with you. Broadband access will be intermittent so bear with me.

You can read about the last trip by winding the blog back to June and July 2017.

The Bright Lights of Bendigo …

Bendigo, another of Victoria’s gold rush towns, is just a little smaller than Ballarat but I think it offers a little bit more to the night photographer.

Sacred Heart Cathedral

The plans hit paper in the late 1890’s, consecration occurred in 1901, the building was finished in 1977. It is the second tallest church in Australia (86.64 metres or 284 feet 4 inches). It’s the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst.

Alexandra Fountain

The fountain is 8.5 m (8.5m) tall in a  15 m (50 feet) diameter pool. Do not dive in it’s only 61cm (2 feet) deep. The grand opening was in 1881 and was attended by Princes Albert and George, sons of Alexandra Princess of Wales in whose honour the fountain was named.

The Post Office

Opened for business in 1887, they knew how to build them in those days.

Shamrock Hotel

The Shamrock began life in 1854, as a small hotel known as The Exchange Hotel, servicing miners during the Victorian gold rush including a Cobb and Co. office and a concert hall known as the Theatre Royal.

The hotel’s patronage had grown quickly with the booming goldfields and it was renamed the Shamrock in 1855. The same year the Theatre Royal hosted Lola Montez, performing for the diggers who threw gold nuggets at her feet, many of which the Shamrock staff took as tips while cleaning.    Wikipedia.

A golden era indeed.