Last-minute opening for 1 person to join me in Late Jan-Early Feb in Uganda

Hi everyone,

So my Fiance is bailing out on me because of her fear of travel during corona, due to compulsory quarantine upon return… but on the bright side, she’s allowing me to go alone ;-P

I’m planning on flying to Uganda in late Jan for a 14-day tour of Uganda, and I’m looking for a partner. I’ll present: 1. the itinerary, 2. ballpark cost, 3. the logistics of travel during Covid-19 and 4. target species:

1. Here’s the itinerary:

Day 1: Meet in Entebbe

Day 2: Mbamba Swamp (Shoebill) to Murchison Falls, staying in Pakuba Lodge. Afternoon and night drive in Murchison Falls

Day 3: Murchison Falls all day, including river ride on the Nile to the falls, and night drive. Staying in Pakuba Lodge

Day 4: Early morning in Murchison falls, and then transfer to Semliki Wildlife Reserve. Stay at Semliki Safari Lodge, and explore both savanna and forest habitats for regional specialist which don’t occur in other places in uganda, such as the Pousargue’s mongoose, Dent’s monkey, De Braaza’s monkey, the recently observed Semliki Red Colobus and many many others. Technically, even Central African Oyan (linsang), red river hogs, and many other species occur in the area. Stay at the luxurious Semliki Safari Lodge and night drive to find more animals.

Day 5:  All day in the Semuliki National Park, hiking up to Semliki river which borders the DRC on the other side. The other side of the river is Itury forest (home to Okapis, among others) and many animals inhibit this park which don’t occur anywhere else in Eastern Africa. Night inside the park, in Ugandan Wildlife Authority cottages, with option to hike back through the forest after dark/spend the night in the forest. Alternatively, a night hike.

Day 6: Early morning in Semuliki and then transfer to Kibale. Afternoon exploring the forest habitat for any of 13 primates which occur in the area, and even for some birds.. Night drive/hike in the Sebitole section of the park, which based on (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303381973) has as healthy a population of golden cats as anywhere, and is the only place other than Gabon where an extensive research has been done about the cats. Stay – Kibale Primate Lodge

Day 7: Chimp Trekking. Afternoon primate and bird watching. Night hike or drive.

Day 8: Bigodi Swamp primate and bird watching, in hopes to see (among others) L’hoest monkey and  others. Transfer to Queen Elizabeth National Park, to Bush Lodge. My personal targets in QENP are servals, otters, and the odd extreme rarities. Night drive in QENP – Mweya area.

Day 9: All day in QENP, transferring from Mweya area to Ishasha, game driving along the way, and Chimp trekking if, for any unlikely reason we were not satisfied with the Chimp experience in Kibale. Stay in Topi lodge, and night drive in Ishasha sector.

Day 10: Morning drive in Ishasha sector, and then transfer to Bwindi national park to Buhoma Sector, staying at Silver Back or Haven Lodge, and exploring the area afternoon and night hiking.

Day 11: Early morning in Buhoma and “the neck” of Bwindi (particularly good for some birds…), then continuing to Ruhija sector for mammal and bird watching, staying at Broadbill Forest Camp. The road that runs through Bwindi and passes Broadbill camp is also where Patrick Gijsbers saw his golden cat right in the middle of the afternoon. Which BTW – according to all research, golden cats are equally active all parts of the day, excluding perhaps the hottest part of the afternoon. We will extensively mammal-watch this road and the area day and night.

Day 12: Gorilla Trek in the morning. Afternoon and night mammal watching Ruhija sector – Broadbill Forest Camp

Day 13: Early morning we will do some…. birding. Yes. Search for African Green Broadbill, and other birds and primates. But also Rwenzori Duiker and other forest animals. Afternoon and night try our luck with the golden cat and other creatures.

Day 14: Early morning Ruhija section mammal and bird watching, and then start the journey home. Either drive back to Entebbe (10 hours) or fly via either Kisoro or Kihihi to Entebbe, landing in the afternoon and connecting home (or wherever).

2. The cost: 
I’ve talked to 2 companies which were highly recommended on here, and got a very attractive cost.. which got even better due to a special promotion by the UWA in the first quarter of 2021. I can’t put an exact price here as I’m not a tour operator, but please contact me for the exact number. If we share a room, it’s under four thousand USD for everything on land, including ALL night hikes and drives, game drives, Gorilla and Chimp permits, lodging, guide, meals, park entrances, river rides, etc. If we don’t share a room, the price will go up quite substantially, but we can ask for another quote. Of course international flights aren’t included, and if we choose to fly the last day, it’s not included either (about $350 per person for domestic flight from last time I checked).

Also, if we want to add chimp trekking in QENP it’s another $100US if I’m not mistaken with the UWA promotion.

3. COVID Travel:
Landing in Uganda requires a negative COVID test less than 72 hours from the landing time in Uganda.
Based on the global assessment, Uganda is actually doing pretty well with COVID, plus we will only spend 1 night in Entebbe prior to venturing out to very little-populated areas. Of course if you get a chance to vaccinate before, it’s highly recommended, as the vaccines are starting to make their way across the globe.
The actual dates I’m looking at are: 18-21 of January for the starting date, but it’s Flexible. Note that End of January is the driest period of the “short dry period”, which is a great time to visit Western Uganda. Bwindi is the only park that is more rainy in the Short dry period than the Long dry period (peaking July-August).

4. Target Mammals:

So obviously chimps and mountain gorillas!

But going out every single night for 14 nights with my thermal camera and the guide, I’m hoping to catch a glimpse of many interesting and perhaps rare animals.
I’m also interested in potentially scoping out Giant Otter shrew, and of course putting in substantial efforts into golden cat, giant pangolin, etc.
I put together a list of some interesting mammals in Uganda, and numbered species which I’m specifically interested in seeing. I used lodge and parks mammal list, and did a lot of research on my own. Some comments on that at the end:

			Murchison Falls	Semliki  & Semuliki	Kibale	Queen Elizabeth	Bwindi
	TERNECIDAE
1	Ruwenzori otter shrew	Micropotamogale ruwenzorii		?
2	Giant otter shrew	Potamogale velox		X	X	(X)	X
	SORICIDAE
3	Chequered Elephant Shrew	Rhynchocyon cirnei		X
	Procaviidae
4	Western Tree Hyrax	Dendrohyrax dorsalis	?	X	X	X	X
	PRIMATES
	Potto	Perodicticus potto		X	X	(X)	X
5	Dusky bushbaby	Galago mastchiei		X	X	X	X
6	Patas Monkey	Erythrocebus patas	X
	Vervet Monkey	Cercopithecus aethiops	X	X	X	X
7	Red-tailed Monkey	Cercopithecus ascanius		X	X	(X)
8	L’Hoest’s Monkey	Cercopithecus lhoesti			X	(X)	X
	Blue Monkey	Cercopithecus mitis		X	X	X
9	De Brazza’s Monkey	Cercopithecus neglectus		X
10	Dent’s Monkey	Cercopithecus denti		X	X*
11	Uganda (grey-cheeked) Mangabey	Lophocebus ugandae			X
	Olive Baboon	Papio anubis	X	X	X	X
	Black-and-White Colobus	Colobus guereza	X	X	X	X
12	Angola Colobus	Colobus angolensis		X
13	Ugandan Red Colobus	Procolobus tephosceles			X		X
14	Chimpanzee	Pan troglodytes	(X)	X	X	(X)	X
15	(Mountain) Eastern Gorilla	Girilla beringei					X
	MUSTELIDAE
16	Striped Polecat	Ictonyx striatus	X	X	(X)	X	(X)
17	East African Striped Weasel	Poecilogale albinucha		X	X	X	X
	Honey Badger	Mellivora capensis	X	X	(X)	X	(X)
18	Spotted-necked otter	Hydrictis maculicollis	X	X	X	X	X
19	African clawless otter	Aonyx capensis	X	?
	Congo clawless otter	Aonyx congicus			X	X	X
	VIVERRIDAE
	Small-spotted Genet	Genetta genetta	X	X
20	Giant Genet	Genetta victoriae		X		(X)?
	Servaline Genet	Genetta servalina	X	X	X	(X)
	Rusty Spotted Genet	Genetta tigrina	X	X	X	X
21	Central African Oyan (Linsang)	Poiana richardsonii		X
	African Civet	Civetticus civetta	X	X	X	X
	African Palm Civet	Nandinia binotata		X	X	X
	HERPESTIDAE
	Marsh Mongoose	Atilax paludinosus	X	X	X	X
22	Pousargues’s Mongoose	Dologale dybowskii		X
	Egyptian Mongoose	Herpestes ichneumon		X	X	X
	Slender Mongoose	Herpestes sanguineus	X	X
	White-tailed Mongoose	Ichneumia albicauda	X	X		X
	Banded Mongoose	Mungos mungo	X	X		X
23	Alexander’s Cusimanse	Crossarhus alexandri		X	?
	HYAENIDAE
	Spotted Hyaena	Crocuta crocuta	X	X		X
	Canidae
24	Side-striped Jackal	Canis	X	X	X	X
	FELIDAE
25	Serval	Felis serval	X	X		X
	Lion	Panthera Leo	X	X
	Leopard	Panthera pardus	(X)	X	X	(X)	X
26	Golden Cat	Caracal aurata		X	X		X
	Manidae
27	Giant Pangolin	Manis gigantea	X	X	X	X	X
	White-bellied Pangolin	Manis tricuspis		X	X	(X)	X
	Black-bellied Pangolin	Phataginus tetradactyla		X		(X)	X (?)
	ELEPHANTIDAE
	African Elephant	Loxodonta africana	X	X		X
	Forest Elephant	Loxodonta cyclotis		X	X
	ORYCTEROPODIDAE
	Aardvark	Orycteropus afer	X	X	X	X
	ARTIODACTYLA
	SUIDAE
	Warthog	Phacochoerus africanus	X	X	X	X
28	Bushpig	Potamochoerus aethiopicus	X	X	X	X
29	Red River Hog	Potamochoerus porcus		X
	Giant Forest Hog	Hylochoerus meinertzhageni		X	X	X
	Artiodactyla
	Hippopotamus	Hippopotamus amphibious	X	X	X	X
30	Water Chevrotain	Hyemoschus aquaticus		X
31	Rothschild’s Giraffe	Giraffa camelopardalis	X
32	Okapi	Okapia johnstoni		(?)***
	Topi					X
	African Buffalo	Syncerus caffer	X	X	X	X
	Bushbuck	Tragelaphus scriptus	X	X
	Sitatunga	Tragelaphus spekei		X	X	(?)
	Blue Duiker	Cephalophus monticola		X	X
	Bush / Grey Duiker	Sylvicapra grimmia	X	X
	Defassa Waterbuck	Kobus ellipsiprymnus	X	X		X
33	Ugandan Kob	Kobus kob	X	X		X
	Bohor Reedbuck	Redunca redunca	X	X		X
	Ruwenzori Duiker	Cephalophus rubidus					X
	Yellow-backed Duiker	Cephalophus silvicultor		(X)			X
	Black-fronted Duiker	Cephalophus nigrifrons		X			X
34	Jackson’s Hartebeest	Alcelaphus buselaphus	X				X
35	Oribi	Ourebia ourebi	X
	RODENTIA
36	African brush-tailed Porcupine	Atherurus africanus	(X)	X	X	(X)	X
	Crested Porcupine	Hystrix cristata	X			X
37	Lesser Cane Rat	Thryonomys gregorianus	X	X	X	X
	Common Cane Rat	Thryonomys swinderianus	X	X	X	X
	Lord Derby’s Anomalure	Anomalurus derbianus		X	X	X	X
38	Dwarf Scaly-tail	Anomalurus pusillus		X		(X)	X
	Beecroft’s Anomalure	Anomalurops beecrofti
39	Pygmy Scaly-tail	Idiurus zenkeri	?	?	?	?	?
	LEPORIDAE
40	Bunyoro Rabbit	Poelagus majorita	X	X
	Erinaceidae
41	Four-toed hedgehog	Atelerix albiventris	X	X		X

Some mammals like the oyan/linsang haven’t actually been recorded in Uganda, but according to the IUCN distribution maps it occurs well into the Semliki and Semuliki ecosystem, which is also one of the least-explored ecosystems in Uganda. Okapi distribution technically ends about 8km west of the river into the DRC, according to the IUCN distribution map… so obviously the chance of an animal coming to the river and visible from the Ugandan side is extremely low, no matter how many hours we may spend sitting there. But it will definitely be interesting to see what animals we pick up, as there are not very many reports from night activities from these ecosystems, especially using a thermal imager.

If you’re interested, please contact me soon so we can close in on the dates and get this trip going 🙂

tomer.ben-yehuda@hotmail.com

Cheers!

Tomer