Over the years, there have been indeed a few great tales of Kibale national park, formally Kibale forest national park; perusing through most of them, I discovered, from their point of view, that there was much more to be explored in person.
I had made it to Fort Portal, located in western Uganda the previous day, just before dusk. I fell in love with gorgeous Kyaninga Lodge, where I spent the night.
A quarter to 7am, my alarm bell rang, waking me up for the day's itinerary which usually started around 7 O'clock in the morning.
I had hardly finished taking breakfast, when the nature walk guide called out to us to assemble. It was almost time to start.
Five young fellow travelers poured into the open space in front of the Kanyanchu visitor center. The commanding guide had the job of leading us through the moist evergreen rainforest and their diverse array of landscapes; lowlands and montane.
Where we came from, the purpose of visiting the national park, what our level of preparedness was, were all of glorious relevance.
The nature hike was a dreadful task, tiresome; and that would come later, for some.
I was more energized than most, and couldn't wait; the chow was unavoidable, but with it, would come great experiences.
Unlike my previous safari destinations, I felt a presence of natural fresh air and learnt about different flora and fauna species in Kibale forest.
Most captivating of all on the trail was the sight of the chimpanzee community. Unsurprisingly since the park was a home to approximately 13 species of the majestic primates.
Kanyanchu chimps had lived in the park since 1993, multiplied and raised their young ones under the watchful eye of the government of Uganda; tracked by tourists over the years making them accustomed to visitors, hence improving the odds of spotting them.
Coming from a fairly urban area, trees were sparsely scattered, and mainly new and exotic species. The nature hike at Kibale national park provided an opportunity to interface with a great number of tree species; some of them endangered like the African cordia or drum tree (cordia millenii) and brown mahogany or Kilimanjaro mahogany (Lovoa swynnertonii).
Broad leaf ferns and grasses, shade tolerant shrubs and herbs like the marble berry (Pollia condensata) dominated the forest's under strong.
The benefit of starting the trail early was the rare opportunity it presented at sighting rare bird species.
Boasting approximately 320 bird species, Kibale national park was a haven for bird watchers and enthusiasts. The Ground thrush, endemic to the park, were easily spotted while still in their nests.
The chirping of the western tinkerbirds echoed through the forest. The group and I had been promised sights of grey parrots but, unfortunately we didn't get a glimpse of any.
By the time the Chimpanzee tracking and nature hike came to an end, in 3 hours time, my group mates and I had spotted graciously habituated communities of chimps, some monkeys munching on leaves like the long limbed and tailed, adorned with white upper eyelids, Uganda Mangabey monkey, and the reddish brown coated Ugandan red colobus monkey.
I had no luck in spotting some elephants as we had earlier been told it was their migratory season and on route to the neighbouring Queen Elizabeth national park...
But more was in store as this afro foot-trail continued...
Image Source: Pinterest
No comments:
Post a Comment