Gorillas, chimps and animals galore!

Tina Hopkins on 28 June 2018
We had so much planned for our trip to Uganda and Tanzania that we flew into Kigali in Rwanda to minimise our travelling time as much as possible. After a good night’s rest, we were collected by our guide who transferred us to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest over the border in Uganda for what was undoubtedly the highlight of our holiday – gorilla trekking. We were lucky enough to spend one hour in the company of these magnificent apes. While we had to keep our distance from them, nobody had told the gorillas and they passed by us within arm’s reach, getting on with their daily routine! There was the dominant male silverback, mother and baby, the old boy who had been ousted from his position as dominant male and the youth who just wanted to laze around! Whilst these gorillas are wild animals, over a long period of time they have been habituated to humans and they were very happy to just get on with doing what gorillas do whilst ignoring their doting public.

As we had travelled so far, we also opted to do chimp trekking which involved travelling to Kibale National Park where there are many habituated chimps. Once again, we spent an hour in the company of these delightful apes – they’re scarily like us! Many of the chimps we saw chose to remain in the trees, but one young chap posed for quite a while giving us the opportunity to take our pictures. He laid down, sat up, inspected his arms in detail and then scratched himself before laying down again. There were short sightings of other chimps running around on the ground, but we had to be quick to get a picture as they’re much faster than gorillas.

En route from Bwindi to Kibale we made a night stop In Queen Elizabeth National Park. We were keen to see the tree climbing lions in Ishasha and struck gold – eight lions up in the branches of one tree, dozing in the shade of the canopy. Whilst visiting Queen Elizabeth National Park we also took a boat ride on the Kazinga Channel for a different perspective on the wildlife. We saw many hippos, all virtually underwater, the tops of their heads just poking out above the waterline. They disappeared every now and again to surface a bit further away. The crocodiles nearby didn’t dare start a fight as hippos are more than a match – so they sat quietly soaking up the warm sunshine. There were water buffalo sitting in the shallow water regulating their body temperatures and just minding their own business. Pied kingfishers flew all around us, in and out of their homes made in holes in the banks of the channel and there were cranes, Egyptian geese, marabou storks (one of the ‘Ugly 5’ – with good reason!) fish eagles, sacred ibis and cormorants.

All too soon we were boarding a flight from Entebbe Airport to Kilimanjaro for our next African adventure in Tanzania. We spent our first two nights in Arusha and visited Tarangire National Park on our one full day. Famous for its many elephants, we were treated to many sightings – singletons and in groups with babies. But Tarangire also has lots of other game and we also saw ostrich, giraffes, mongoose and baboons. Undoubtedly though, the most spectacular sighting was of a cheetah with her two cubs. Although the cubs were ‘hidden’ in the grass, every now and then one of them raised their head just a little to give us a glimpse of their beautiful face, before laying down again and disappearing. Mum laid in the grass partially obscured some of the time but sat up regularly to have a good look around at what was going on and giving us the opportunity to take some magnificent snaps.

We spent our last few days close to Lake Victoria in Tanzania, just outside one of the many entrances to the Serengeti National Park. We were perfectly positioned to witness the wildebeest migration as they travelled north in search of good grass. However, you can never plan for anything in nature and the wildebeest were still enjoying the grass much further south, although we did see some sizeable herds. There were early signs they were on their way as the zebras (who graze on the longer grass just ahead of the wildebeest) were present in their hundreds. We were fortunate enough to view a family of five lions, two fully grown lionesses and three juveniles. For 45 minutes we sat quietly watching them watching us – no other people or trucks to disturb the peace. But we had to drag ourselves away eventually and we also saw ostrich, warthogs, eland, topi, baboons, elephants, giraffe, hyenas, impala, hippos and waterbuck. For me what stood out most in the Serengeti was the sheer volume of some of the game not just one or two at a sighting. But whether we saw just one or hundreds, the spectacle of seeing them in their natural environment was most special.

This holiday really was all about the animals and it delivered on all counts. Our accommodation throughout the trip was beautiful and we woke up to some fantastic views. It was all en suite with flushing toilets and whilst I couldn’t use my hairdryer in some places, I managed fine - and there was always enough power to charge a phone or camera battery. We were fed (far too much) good food and without exception our hosts couldn’t do enough for us. Both Uganda and Tanzania are wonderful countries and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend either for the holiday of a lifetime. We may have ticked them both off of our ‘to visit’ list however they’ve just been added to the list of ‘places we’d love to go back to’. Happy travelling!