In June of 2022, I landed in Kigali, Rwanda for yet another life altering experience. I had planned to visit Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2020 for gorilla trekking expeditions in all three nations. Well, Covid had other plans so my trip was pushed to 2021. Upon realization that my itinerary, as it stood, would still not be possible in 2021, I made the decision to delay the trip to 2022. God’s timing is always perfect and the timing of this trip was spot on.
I had paid for the gorilla permits for both Rwanda and Uganda back in 2020 and was concerned that I would never see that rather large deposit again but the company I had selected to handle my itinerary, Encounter Africa Safaris, was phenomenal. They held my deposit for me and arranged everything as we had discussed so many months prior. Unfortunately, about 8 weeks before I was slated to travel, the Congo erupted in social strife once again, so, due to safety concerns that part of the itinerary had to be canceled and Patrick, my travel advisor quickly rearranged a few things so there were no gaps in my trip and everything flowed seamlessly. I was assigned an amazing historian/naturalist/driver named Elias. Elias was an absolute dream – he was knowledgeable, personable, considerate, kind, funny and made sure I was comfortable and safe the entire 18 days I was with him.
Our first stop was the Hotel Milles Collines (the movie Hotel Rwanda was based on events that occurred there during the genocide). Next was a visit to the Genocide Memorial and anyone who knows the history of Rwanda can imagine how difficult it was to visit a place that memorializes the atrocities that were committed in this nation back in 1994. If you were unaware of the history, you would not believe that this is the same nation. They have vowed to never forget and have vowed to remain forever united as Rwandans.
Volcanoes National Park
Next up was Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda then it was off to Uganda where I would visit Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kibale National Park and Murchison Falls park.
Volcanoes was the first national park to be created in Africa and lies in northwestern Rwanda covering 62 square miles of rainforest. The park encompasses five of the eight volcanoes found in the Virunga Mountains: Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo and borders Virunga National Park to the west in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park to the north in Uganda.
Volcanoes is home to the endangered mountain gorilla and golden monkey and served as the base for the primatologist Dian Fossey from her arrival in 1967 until her death at the hand of gorilla poachers in 1985. Dian was credited with saving the gorillas from extinction by bringing their plight to the attention of the international community. Unfortunately, she was murdered by unknown assailants (likely at the hands of the same gorilla poachers she dedicated her life to fighting) at her home in 1985 and is buried in the park next to the gorillas she spent her life protecting and studying. Her life story was portrayed in the movie Gorillas in the Mist in 1988.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Bwindi is located on the south-western border of Uganda – and the mountains of the DRC were under an hour’s drive away. The name “Bwindi” Bwindi is derived from the Runyakitara word Mubwindi meaning “a place full of darkness”. This is a reference to the bamboo and thick ground cover of ferns, vines, and other plant growth that truly created a “jungle-like” effect and made trekking here significantly more challenging than the trek in Rwanda. The forest is one of the most biologically diverse areas on earth and houses half of the world’s population of endangered mountain gorillas. At present, the forest is believed to contain 120 mammals species, 348 bird species, 220 butterfly species and 27 frog species. Who knew!
Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park
The Ishasha sector lies on the southwestern rim of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The Ishasha sector is best known for its population of tree climbing lions. While the lions weren’t “receiving visitors” while I was, it was still a really good game drive. After Ishasha, we ventured further into Queen Elizabeth National Park. The park was founded in 1952 as Kazinga National Park by combining the Lake George and Lake Edward Game Reserves. Two years later, Kazinga was renamed Queen Elizabeth National Park in commemoration of a visit by the monarch. Encompassing 764 square miles, the park also features the Kazinga Channel which connects Lake George and Lake Edward and is home to one of the world’s largest concentrations of hippos not to mention numerous Nile crocodiles and other wildlife.
Kibale National Park
We then traveled from Queen Elizabeth National Park northeast to Kibale National Park. Kibale measures 296 square miles and encompasses a diverse array of landscapes. The park was gazetted in 1932 and formally established in 1993. The park forms one continuous forest with Queen Elizabeth National Park and is most well known for its population of habituated chimpanzees.
Murchison Falls National Park
Murchison Falls National Park located in northwestern Uganda measures 1,503 square miles and is the largest national park in the country. The park is best known for the most powerful waterfall in the world. Every second, a deluge of water traveling at a mind boggling 11,000 cubic feet per second (the equivalent of 200 bathtubs full of water) is forced through a gorge that measures only 23 feet across before plunging 141 feet down. The pressure of the water forcing its way through that gap is so great that the ground trembles around it.
The falls are on the Victoria or White Nile River and unsurprisingly, the park is the home of the largest population of crocodiles. In addition to the large population of crocodiles, there are around 75 species of mammals. Some of the larger and more popular wildlife species include lion, leopard, giraffe, elephant, waterbuck, hartebeest, buffalo, hippopotamus, and chimpanzee. There are about 800 chimpanzees living across the national park boundaries. Murchison Falls National Park is also a haven for bird watchers with over 450 species of birds that nest or migrate through the park.
In the final 48 hours of my latest African Adventure, I visited the Ziwa Rhino sanctuary in Nakitoma, Uganda and Mabamba swamp in search of the great shoebill stork.
Ziwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch
Ziwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch located in Nakasongola district is the only place in Uganda you can still see rhinos in the wild. Both white and black rhinos were hunted intensively during the British colonial period then the chaotic reign of President Idi Amin from 1971 to 1979 finished the job. When he came to power in 1971 there were around 100 white and 300 black rhinos in northern Uganda; by the time he was overthrown eight years later, Uganda was starving, awash with guns, and devoid of all but a handful of rhino. Three years later they were extinct. Amin allowed rampant poaching of the animals leading to their extinction.
Rhinos are poached for the illegal trade in their horns – powdered horn is used in traditional Asian medicine as a supposed cure for a range of health issues, including fever and cancer. Rhinos are particularly vulnerable to hunting because they are relatively unaggressive and travel in herds. Presently the sanctuary is home to 32 southern white rhinos. Their mission is to reintroduce these majestic creatures back into the wild. I hope to see them back where they belong one day.
Murchison Falls National Park
Mabamba swamp / wetlands sanctuary is a vast waterlogged area stretching through a long, narrow papyrus filled channel on the outer shores of Lake Victoria in Entebbe, Uganda. [Lake Victoria is the largest inland fresh water lake in Africa and the second largest freshwater lake by surface area after Lake Superior in North America.] The name Mabamba was adopted because the area has abundant lung fish (mamba in the local language). The Mabamba wetlands sanctuary has over 260 species of birds making it literally a birder’s paradise.
