At the heart of Queen Elizabeth National Park, This haven of
wild life is one of the must visit places in Uganda. The most incredible thing
about the park though, is the fact that each visit is a novel experience and
maybe even better than the first.
Like a colleague quipped, you can never get enough of Queen
Elizabeth National Park. This statement is very true. Every time you get
there, there is still something new to discover. Although I had been to this
place before, it was still quite refreshing to revisit what Uganda Wildlife
Authority dubs as Uganda’s most popular tourist destination.
A light drizzle accosted part of the morning ahead of the
wonderful safari. On that Friday morning, a group of journalists and I set off
from National Theatre at 11.15am, one hour late from the originally scheduled
time.
A journey of learning
Our two safari Omnibuses were to move together, as matter of
policy from Ugandan Tour, our hosts.
A stopover at the equator which divides the earth into the northern and
southern hemisphere was made and as usually happens here, Kodak moments took
centre stage. “Smile, say cheers,” and other such requests combed the air as
camera flashes shone on our faces.
Kato William, our guide and driver was good company as he
explained several things along the way, things he had learned over the years
from when he was an “intern” of sorts, like he were reading from a book about
the park.
Going through its unique selling points, he said the park
used to have rinderpest and tsetse flies in the past. These helped drive away
many people who had started encroaching on the land. When it was sprayed and
eventually rid of the “enemy”, people moved back into it but are now mostly
live on its fringes.
At the haven of nature
We arrived some minutes past 7pm, exhausted. After we were
allocated double and triple rooms, dinner and sleep occupied our minds most
ahead of Saturday’s game drive. On Saturday, we woke up for a 6am breakfast and
William spread out the itinerary.
“The park has about 2,500 elephants. Males have rounded
foreheads,” he explained. The park has a network of many game tracks which end
at the Kasenyi fishing village. As William had intimated, we saw elephants,
waterbucks, warthogs, the Uganda Kob and herds of Buffaloes.
Kobs make sharp sounds to alert each other of potential
danger in case they see strange faces or a lion in vicinity; such sounds were
made when our vans inched forward. When mating is a whole different game.
However, our highlight was when we quietly watched lions at
their mating ground. With the aid of binoculars, we saw about four lying down
quietly around a rock. Not far from them were the Kobs, also at their mating
ground, north east of Mweya. “Males have their own territories they keep from
fellow males,” says our guide.
He added that females search for strong males to mate with
preferably those with better genes. Uganda Kobs prefer flat areas because they
can then easily see the lions from a distance. We saw a female Kob trying to
win the hearts of some males but by the time we left she had been unsuccessful.
Edroma told us that unlike humans, the female Kobs search for their mating
partner.
They swing their tiny tails as a sign that they are ready
and available. Although the males sniff at the tails when wooed, it is the
females to make their pick, a tumultuous task, so we learned with first-hand
experience. We don’t know if our presence and prying cameras made life hell for
the animals, but we let them have their peace and off we continued to Kasenyi.
The Kasenyi community
At Kasenyi crater where Lake Bunyampaka lies, William told
us, plots (portions containing salt in the lake) are demarcated and sold the
way land is sold. In the Kasenyi community, we saw how life entirely depends on
fish. Most people here say they do not benefit from the animals and that the
animals sometimes encroach on their land. Life is slow and residents have many
children. Most houses are made of mud and wattle and people spend time
conversing as they wait for the fishermen.
At Kyambura
Gorge, Bernard Twine, another guide told us that the 100 metres deep place
has five primate species. It comprises the gorge, Kyambura River and Kyambura
Forest. I was lucky to have visited this gorge sometime back, unlike my
colleagues because it wasn’t on the itinerary. Seeing that this large expanse
is also within Queen Elisabeth National Park, it tells you how big this park
is. Touring it in two days may seem quite hectic, but you won’t have seen
everything.
Cruising along Kazinga Channel
The following day we set off at Kazinga Channel at 3pm. Edna
Pukwatsibwe, our guide, took us through the history of the place as we sailed
on the waters. It is then that I remembered she was the same guide some years
back when I visited the park no wonder she knew the channel like the back of
her hand.
Edna says the channel is within the Albertine Rift Valley.
The natural channel is eight metres deep and stretches 40km long. It is home to
95 mammal species and 612 bird species. Hippos, which live for 45 years, can
kill but do not eat people. Hippos stay in groups called schools. A school has
40 members usually with one dominant male.
Elephants have 80-100 year life span, we learned. Edna said
an elephant has a sharp memory. It can take revenge if you encounter it again,
years after doing something bad to it. Along the channel, there are plenty of
fauna to see.
There were lots of bird species such as Egyptian geese, the
yellow billed stork and white pelicans as well as hippos swimming side by side
with buffaloes. Elephants and crocodiles were also a good sight attraction. The
two hour journey includes a point where Lakes Edward and George “meet.”
At 5pm, true to the guide’s word, we were back at the shore
with our vans waiting for us. Departure on Sunday morning at 7.50a.m made us
yearn to reach our respective homes.
Viewing lions on our way back made the whole trip
worthwhile. Several tourists’ cars inched close to the animals who felt
agitated seeing cameras flashing away and disrupting their seemingly peaceful
and quiet evening.
