Saturday, July 3, 2010 Mweya

Being from New Jersey Janis thought we were saying Moya (rhymes with Goya), but it’s really pronounced mWAYah. Mweya Safari Lodge is like a 5 star hotel in the middle of the African bush. We just finished lunch at the Lodge overlooking the Kazinga Channel and we’re now on the road to Kibale and the Makarere University Biological Field Station (hereinafter referred to as the Field Station).

We started on the road to Mweya early and saw our first elephant (this trip) at about 200 yards on the right side of the road leaving Ishasha. Before this day was over we were to get much closer to elephants than that. We got to Mweya right on time for our 11:00 boat ride through the Kazinga Channel. In fact we had enough time to order lunch first before we left for our trip so that it would be waiting for us when we returned.

Much to Chris and my surprise we were booked on a small boat (seats about 10) and we were the only 4 guests on the boat. This was to be a custom trip. It seems that Wild Frontiers has moved all of their tours to this smaller boat and the results were significantly better than our last trip. The Kazinga Channel is about 37 kilometers long and connects Lake George and Lake Edward while dividing Queen Elizabeth National Park into two parts. The wildlife and birdlife in this Channel is incredibly abundant and diverse.

Our boat guide Robert was, as usual, extremely knowledgeable and accommodating. We got great pictures of hippos and the many different bird species. The black and white kingfishers were putting on a show for us as they helicoptered above the water before diving into the channel for fish. We saw great white egrets, cattle egrets, sacred ibis, malachite kingfishers, lapwings, hammercocks, grey herons, and a pair of nesting fisher eagles. These were just some of the bird species seen. Our guide explained that the migratory species were not expected back to Kazinga until next week.

We also got close to some Nile crocodiles. The crocs were sunbathing among the birds on the shore with their mouths open and we were close enough to be able to look inside. Our guide explained that these crocs just feed on fish from the river. They are not meat eaters and thus live in harmony with the birds and mammals on the shore. We also saw a small monitor lizard and got close up pictures of that famous hippo yawn. Halfway through our ride we spotted a herd of elephant coming down from the hills above towards the Channel. So we moved a little more and waited for them to come down. We were rewarded by being able to see and hear about 15-20 elephants as they came down to drink or take dust baths by the Channel. Our driver parked our boat into a small set of vegetation just off shore so that we could view them closely and hear the big mama elephant trumpeting. She probably thought we were too close, but later we were to get even closer.

We continued up the Channel towards Lake Edward and saw the fishing village that is allowed to remain inside the park. This village is partially supported through tourist dollars and thus have been able to make improvements to their village school and to their water system. Our guide mentioned that there once was a lion that killed 13 people (over time) in this village. As a man eater that lion had to be hunted down and killed. It is now stuffed and on display in the visitors’ center in Mweya.

It was on the way back that we were to get the double overtime bonus to this ride. We spotted three more male elephants (small medium and large) on the shore. Our boat driver cut the engine and let us drift in towards shore. We got so close to these elephants that we had to take all the zoom off our cameras in order to take pictures. We were all shocked at how close they allowed us to get. We left the elephants and thought that our trip was about over, but then the driver once again pulled in very close to shore. We had gone there to see a hippo, but when we got close in, the guide spotted a very large monitor lizard in a tree. This lizard was at least 4 feet long! All in all it was quite an amazing ride through an ecosystem teeming with wildlife.

During lunch at the Mweya Safari Lodge overlooking the Kazinga Channel we toasted our good fortune and our driver Joseph. We were to be with Joseph for only the next two hours as he drove us to the Field Station and said goodbye. We knew that our experiences were about to change as we began and/or renewed our journey into the Kasiisi Project Schools. As we expressed over lunch those experiences would be different but just as rich or in many ways richer.

At the Field Station

We arrived at about 5:00 p.m. from Mweya and were properly welcomed by the staff. We were shown to our rooms and unpacked and settled in. For the first time we are staying in one place for over a week and will be able to stop living out of suitcases for a while.

Dinner at the Field Station was not surprisingly a ceremonial affair. We were joined for dinner by Kagaba Joshua (Headmaster of Ft. Portal Secondary School), John and Lydia Kasenene, Sunday Godfrey, Matthew Koojo, Claudia Krimsky, Greg Kee, Julia Kee, Laura Kee, and _____________ a chimp researcher from Harvard. After much introducing and sharing we went over in some detail the itinerary for the next 12 days. I’ll post some of that when I get a clean copy. For tomorrow we are going to St. Stephen’s Church (immediately adjacent to Kasiisi School) and then to Ft. Portal to visit King Leo’s, Kiabambe and St. Maria Goretti’s Secondary Schools in order to visit with a number of Kasiisi Project scholars. I’ll try to post the last few days blogs tomorrow as Mathew informs me that there is Internet here in Chimp Building 2.