Chimps of Uganda - Festival 2009 Extension

Friday 29th May 2009

Fly via Nairobi to Entebbe. On arrival transfer to the Emin Pasha for your first night. Emin Pasha Hotel, Kampala

The Emin Pasha Hotel is a small boutique hotel offering a haven of peace and tranquillity in the centre of Uganda's capital city, Kampala. The hotel is a lovingly restored old colonial building with a swimming pool, set in two acres of leafy landscaped gardens. Each of the 20 beautifully furnished rooms is unique, in size, layout and decor - just like a private house. The decor is classic, with gleaming hardwood, crisp white linens, and colourful accents that are right at home in tropical Africa. Amenities vary with some having private garden patios or terrace balconies, but all are fresh and bright with French doors and telephone/internet facilities. The Fez Brassiere and Wine Bar offers eclectic cuisine and a selection of South African's finest wines. Other amenities include a small library and two private lounges.

Saturday 30th May 2009

This morning your safari guide will collect you from the hotel and you will depart through Uganda's rolling green hills towards Lake Mburo National Park (the drive will take approximately 4 hours). You will have a short stop at the Equator for a morning cup of coffee or tea, as well as an informative talk.

Lake Mburo National Park - is a relatively small, but attractive park, comprising rolling hills, flat bush and grasslands, and a large papyrus-fringed lake where Shoebills occur but are seldom seen. Mburo is an extension of the Tanzanian plains with big herds of zebra, impala, Eland and other ungulates. The park has 68 species of mammals in total, such as Oribi, Burchell's Zebra, impala and Bohor Reedbuck. Rare, but present, are Roan Antelope, Leopard, hyena and jackals. The park also has a good range of bush and grassland birds, with African Finfoot, Papyrus Bush shrike among the regular sightings.

Mihingo Lodge is a peaceful and exclusive retreat adjacent to Lake Mburo National Park. It features ten tents, which are built on wooden platforms with stilts, covered by a thatched roof. Suspended under the thatched roof is a spacious and comfortable tent equipped with en-suite bathrooms.

Overnight at Mihingo Lodge (FB)

Sunday 31st May 2009

Lake Mburo National Park is one of the few places in Uganda where you can actually venture out on foot! So take the wonderful chance to take a guided bush walk. Return to the lodge for breakfast and depart for Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is situated on the Kazinga Channel between Lake Edward and Lake George, to the south of the great Ruwenzori Mountains. With rolling grasslands, craters and crater lakes, tropical forests, papyrus swamps and extensive lake shore, 'QE', as it is affectionately known, undoubtedly offers Uganda's best open-country birdwatching and wildlifeviewing. Great herds of Ugandan Kob roam the grasslands, Giant Forest Hog are bold and uncaring, and along the Kazinga Channel you will be able to approach herds of Elephant, Cape buffalo and Hippo by motor launch - an outstanding opportunity for photographers to get some interesting close-up shots of these mammals. You should also be able to get very close to a wide variety of waterbirds on the channel cruise, amongst them both White and Pink-Backed Pelicans, a variety of herons, storks and waders, and graceful African Skimmers. Other mammals here include: Lion, Leopard, Warthog, Bushbuck, Defassa Waterbuck, Topi, and Spotted Hyena (though the latter are shy and more nocturnal than those found in many of east Africa's reserves). Amongst the numerous open-country birds that you may see are a variety of vultures, Tawny, and Martial Eagles, Red-Necked Spur fowl, Little Bee-Eater, and a good selection of larks, cisticolas, flycatchers, weavers and finches. The recovery of the animal population here is a remarkable success story.

Mweya Safari Lodge is a large, first class lodge overlooking the famous Kazinga Channel of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The Lodge comprises of 49 rooms, all of which have en-suite bathrooms and mosquito nets. They have a swimming pool sunk into the large deck, looking out over the Kazinga Channel. They have a boutique from which you can purchase clothing, local crafts, basic necessities and souvenirs. The meals are generally served as a buffet. Overnight at Mweya Lodge

Monday 1st June 2009

This morning you will leave for the 8.00am forest walk in Kyambura Gorge. You are likely to encounter primate species, sight birds and with a bit of luck find a group of chimpanzees that reside in the gorge. These delightful apes, more closely related to humans than to any other living creature, are tremendous fun to watch as they squabble and play in fruiting trees. We will return to the lodge for lunch.

Head back to the lodge for lunch and later in the afternoon embark one of the boats for a boat trip. This will allow you to experience wildlife up close where hippos' huff and spray mere feet away, buffalo linger in the shallows and a tremendous variety of birds grace the grasses on the river's edge. Amongst those you will see are the malachite and pied kingfishers, great white and pink-backed pelicans and the open-billed stork. With some luck you will even spot elephants on the riverbanks coming for a drink and a bath. We return to the lodge for dinner.

Overnight at Mweya Lodge (FB)

Tuesday 2nd June 2009

This morning starts with a game drive to the Kasenyi Area to look for lion prides and other wildlife. Uganda kobs mate around this area and this gives you a chance to see their breeding behaviour. Many animals will cross your paths, elephants, antelopes and with a bit of luck also lions or hyenas. You return to the hotel for breakfast and then depart for Semliki Wildlife Reserve.

Semliki Valley Wildlife Reserve was gazetted in 1932 making it Uganda's oldest protected area. It is home to a staggering array of flora and fauna and remains one of the last remaining truly 'wild untouched parks. Wildlife is plentiful but shy, including chimpanzees, forest elephant, savannah elephant, leopard, warthog, antelope species, buffalo, and wonderful birds. The Reserve (545 sq km) is situated in the basin of the Western Rift Valley which is one of the most diverse habitats in Africa with wonderful examples of Riparian forest, gallery rain forest, Borassus palm forest, and short and high grass savannas. Lake Albert borders it to the North and gives the park an additional attraction.

The Semliki Safari Lodge is a beautiful small-tented lodge nestled on the crest of the Wasa River Valley. It is the only lodge in Uganda to be a member of the prestigious 'Classic Safari Camps of Africa'. The large rooms are tented with permanent thatched roofs. Each tent is furnished with a large four-poster bed, Persian carpets, fleecy blankets and en-suite bathrooms with running water. Private verandas provide panoramic views across the bush and compliment the lovely swimming pool area - ideal for relaxing, while still feeling as though you are truly in the heart of Africa. Highlights here are the night drives allowing for viewing of nocturnal species such as Large Spotted Genet, African Scops Owl, Pearl-Spotted Owlet and nightjars. Other activities include: Chimpanzee tracking at dawn and dusk, forest walks, and boat trips on Lake Albert to see the rare Shoebill and numerous other species.

Wednesday 3rd June 2009

An early morning rise, tea in your tent, and then you will go down into the beautiful gallery rainforest to track wild chimpanzees. Researchers in Semliki track chimps at dawn and dusk, as they tend to disappear in the middle of the day. The Uganda Safari Company and the University of Indiana jointly run the Semliki Chimp Project. The project was initiated to study bipedalism and the rare geography of Semliki makes ideal to study this important stage in man's development. There are also a number of bird species, which are found in this picturesque forest. The time of this walk is hard to predict - please seek information previous to the walk from our lodge managers and the researchers to find out more about the current location of the chimpanzee groups and the likeliness of finding them.

A spot light night game drive will give you the chance to see fantastic nocturnal species. This is the only place in Uganda where you can do a night drive! You never know what you may see. Sometimes the big cats (lions and leopards) are sighted as well as the diminutive genet and Serval cats. Unusual nocturnal dwellers also show themselves such as forest elephants, white tailed mongoose and slender mongoose, standard and pennant winged nightjars depending on the time of year. There are always surprises on the night drives. Overnight at Semliki Safari Lodge (FB)

Thursday 4th June 2009

After breakfast climb aboard the vehicle for a boat trip on Lake Albert to try and see the incredible and rare shoebill, visually a cross between a dodo and a dinosaur. The lake is superb: there are sand cliffs where brightly coloured colonies of red-throated bee-eaters dart in an out of their burrows, there are waterfalls several kilometres up the lake which provide a great picnic spot, and several fishing villages along the way, virtually untouched by the 'western world'. The drive back to the Lodge through the Borassus palm forest and the acacia savannah reveals different species of raptors and passerines. Overnight at Semliki Safari Lodge (FB)

Friday 5th June 2009

Rise early and be taken on a forest walk in the Mugiri River Forest. This is a beautiful riverine rain forest bordered by riparian forest. Colobus monkeys, red tailed monkeys and chimpanzees live here as well as a host of butterflies and bird species. There are also large mammals and sometimes seen are the shy forest elephants. After this you depart for Entebbe for your flight to the UK via Nairobi Overnight flight

Saturday 6th June 2009 - Arrive back into the UK