Massive thanks to Michal, Pat, Tom, David, Val and Marcia for being so wonderful on my latest Uganda trip which we’ve just finished. (There’s also a trip report and a few photos from our earlier Uganda trip here.) I normally start these trip reports with a mention of our mountain gorilla encounter as I do realise that’s the ultimate motivation for people choosing this trip. But Uganda is so much more than a one trick wonder with wildlife oozing from every pore of this gorgeous country. In a period of just two hours one morning we experienced an intimate encounter with chimpanzees in the Kyambura gorge before seeing leopard, lion and elephant in the nearby savannah. So I think I might start there …

I’d never witnessed this behaviour with chimpanzees in the wild before when a juvenile came out of the forest and did a somersault using a branch right in front of us.

And then barely an hour after we’d walked out of the  gorge we had great sightings of elephant …

Leopard …

And three tree climbing lions.

As usual here in Uganda our number of hippo sightings was fantastic …

A heart shaped glimpse of Bwindi forest on our journey ever nearer to the mountain gorillas … and a few more landscape photos taken on my mountain gorilla trips are here.

Eagle’s Nest tented safari camp where we stayed in Lake Mburo National Park which has large herds of Zebra.

With over 1200 species of birds, Uganda is a haven for lovers of our feathered friends; there’s a  seperate blog post here about our Shoebill encounter in Mamamba swamp on the first day of this trip. For more information and photos of other bird species seen on these trips please click here. 

Ok enough waffle … on this trip we had permits to meet the Bikyingi mountain gorilla group in Bwindi National Park. Dr Ricky from Gorilla Doctors came and gave us a great presenation about the work of this wonderful NGO the evening before our trek. (I make a donation from all of my mountain gorilla holidays to Gorilla Doctors.) 

Every mountain gorilla encounter is unique and we spent plenty of time observing the Silverback on this trip.

And also some lovely sightings of an infant and a juvenile …

No mention of Uganda would be complete without mention of some of the other primates we saw including superb sightings of Red Tailed Monkeys, Black & White and Red Colobus monkeys at our lodge in Kibale forest.

There’s a few more mountain gorilla photographs here and also some shots of the other primate species in Uganda here. I’m always sad to leave Uganda as it’s one of my favourite countries in the world but I’ll return here in January 2019 for my next mountain gorilla holiday where we’ll now be doing two different gorilla treks.

“My trip to Uganda turned into a wonderful, unforgetable adventure.  To find myself in such beautiful places, so incredibly close to an amazing variety of wildlife that I have, all my life, only marvelled at in books & TV documentaries was a surprisingly emotional experience.  From the rareshoebilll in swamps to chimpanzees & awesome gorilla families in their forest homes. Lakes filled with exotic birds, crocodiles & hippos. And so fortunate to see up close lions & leopard relaxing in trees on the savanna. We watched beautiful sunrises & sunsets from our comfortable lodges. Oh yes nearly forgot – my photograhpic skills have definately improved & I have some pleasing photos that I shall cherish forever. So a big thank you Ian. Warmest wishes Pat x”