After our morning full of cats, we went back to our lodge for lunch before heading to the Kazinga Channel for a boat ride. The Kazinga Channel connects Lake George with the Uganda part of Lake Edward, and it was within sight distance from our lodge if you stood on the upstairs balcony.
We got on our boat and headed up the channel. We saw lots of birds like this yellow-billed stork.
and my new favorite small bird, the malachite kingfisher. I'm pretty sure I've already included good pictures of most of the other birds that we saw.
We saw and heard sooo many hippos! We got a little close to one group, and they let us know it, though they didn't act aggressive (which was really good for us)!
And with the millions of hippos shots I have, I finally got one with his mouth open! The guide said local folklore is that they open their mouths to show God that they haven't eaten any fish. Though we know they are primarily grazers, there have been accounts of hippos eating meat, including being cannibalistic! He appears to be eyeballing somebody on the boat, so it's a good thing we got out of there!
We passed by other animals, like a couple of "loser" buffalo. I don't remember noticing the crocodile in front of them at the time (about in line with the front leg of the one in back and in line with the chin of the one looking at us). Maybe we did see him, but maybe we didn't. He was a surprise when I was going through the pictures, though, so...
The rest of the time, we spent watching various herds of elephants that came down to the channel for water.
The guide said this little guy you can see under his mother is about two days old.
When we got back for dinner, we asked the guys at the lodge if they would spotlight the hippos for us so we could see them from the second story, where we promised we would be safe. They obliged us and it was magnificent! They just come right up into the yard and start eating the bushes! I haven't yet figured out how to take night shots, so the pictures aren't very good of this, but a bad picture is better than no picture!
The staff gave me a big flashlight in case I heard munching during the night, but alas, no such luck. But after we got up for breakfast, we looked back at the cabins from the lodge, and what to my wondering eyes did appear but an elephant at the cabins I had just left!
This made breakfast a little difficult to eat since so many pictures needed to be taken! But, I did manage somehow! We kept an eye on him until I couldn't see him anymore. He was headed toward the channel.
this little bea eater
and this guy who we couldn't get a good enough look at to even tell he was actually a bird. I forgot to show Kalema and Gody the picture after we got back because there was so much excitement in the day, but a Google image search says it is probably a banded snake eagle!
We kept driving, and at one point we were so close to the Congo border that we could see the Congo just on the next hillside! We finally gave up (kinda close to reaching the Congo border) and started heading toward our next destination, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Not long after we got turned back and onto the right road, Kalema had Gody stop. Way, way off in the distance, somehow Eagle Eyes was able to spot two lions in a tree! The Lumix couldn't touch them. I do have a couple of shots, but you can't even tell there is anything other than tree. But, the Baby (the Canon mirrorless with the Sigma 150-600 lens) was able to get some really good shots!
Eagle Eyes then thought we could probably get a better view of them a bit further up. And she was so right!
We also stopped by one of the tea fields and learned that when they pick the tea, they only pick the tiny top leaves. Since most pickers get paid by the kilo, it takes an awful lot of labor to make a decent wage!
Soon after the tea plantation, we made it to our lodge. Here's hoping for an eventful trek to see the mountain gorillas tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment