Uganda final blogpost: Kisoro Youth festival and summary

Our final leg of the FAM trip was perhaps the most meaningful. We drove from Bwindi to Kisoro, where we participated in the Global Youth Festival for the Conservation of Albertine Rift Endemics. The Festival took place in Virunga Hotel in Kisoro on December 12th-13th. It was so amazing to meet many young birders and conservations that flocked to Kisoro for the Festival, from all over Uganda, also from Rwanda and Kenya. Some of the youth travelled for days to reach Kisoro. Our group participated in the first session of the Festival. The few hours spent together were enjoyable, educational and inspiring. I had a opportunity to talk for a few minutes. I focused on the importance of data collected by citizen scientists, using platforms such as eBird, topped up with photos and sound recording uploaded to eBird and Macaulay Library. I also talked about the importance of flyway-scale conservation initiatives, connected through migratory birds. I talked about Champions of the Flyway, and congratulated Patricia our incredible guide who participated in COTF in 2023. 

Of course, we birded the Virunga Hotel grounds, and spent quality time on the roof, appreciating the fantastic vista of Kisoro and surroundings. There were a few White-necked Ravens loafing on the roof - awesome beasts. 

In Kisoro we stayed at the lovely Ichumbi Hotel. The hotel grounds hosted some cool birds:

Red-throated Crag-Martin

Cape Wagtail

Streaky Seedeater

I especially enjoyed birding the adjacent 'suburban' farmland. This is such an enjoyable aspect of African birding. The bird I appreciated most was MacKinnon's Shrike. We had seen this central African shrike out of the car in previous days, but this was our first proper view, of a pair. 

Chubb's Cisticola showed very well - too well in fact

Too close for my Swarovski ATX85 scope

Yellow Bishop

Western Citril

The original FAM trip plan had included an overnight stay at Lake Mburo, with plenty of birding time in the national park. The visit to Lake Mburo was highly anticipated by our group, because for every bird we asked Herbert and Patricia Where's the best place to see it, the automatic response was 'Lake Mburo'. Eventually, in the final couple of days our team dispersed, as people had to leave at different times. Yannina and I had an afternoon flight to catch from Entebbe (another six hours drive). Our plan for an early morning boat ride on the lake (for i.e. African Finfoot) drowned in torrential rain that cancelled the boat trip, so we missed Lake Mburo completely. Ah well, next time. 

On the way out of the park we drove by Nyakigando Wetland which was actually fantastic, with Rufous-bellied Heron being the highlight, and lots of other wet waterbirds (eBird checklist here).

African Openbill

Malachite Kingfishers - little gems

From there it was a long drive to into Entebbe. Forging Entebbe traffic took some patience.

Eventually we arrived at Entebbe airport, where I submitted my final eBird checklist in Uganda. I said my goodbyes to Patricia, to Shindishi our fantastic driver, and to our group, caught a flight to Addis Ababa (no terminal birding this time - layover was at night) and onward to Tel Aviv.

It was an amazing trip in Uganda, certainly one of my best birding trips ever. Despite being a FAM trip and not a 'proper' birding trip, we did pretty well I think. Check our eBird trip report here. Between the entire group we saw 481 bird species, which isn't bad at all. I assume that during a proper birding trip of the same length and itinerary, the 500 species target is achievable.

I personally had 463 species, 115 of them were lifers, demonstrating how unique is the birding in Uganda, distinctly different from birding in Kenya and Tanzania where I have done lots of birding before. My personal Ugandan birding highlights included Shoebill of course, Papyrus Gonolek, Rock Pratincoles, African Skimmers, Giant Kingfisher, African Wood-Owl, Chocolate-backed Kingfisher and other Royal Mile specialties, Arnot's Chat, Regal Sunbird, Dusky Crimsonwing and other Albertine Rift endemics and Bwindi specialties, and MacKinnon's Shrike.

Check the checklists map above, depicting our classic birding route across western Uganda. These 209 checklists, submitted almost exclusively by myself in real time, required significant effort. As I was not leading this tour, this effort was manageable. It is much more challenging to keep up with eBirding when I'm tour-leading.

Eric kept the mammal list, sort of. Our total is around 35 species, with highlights including Mountain Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Patas and Red-tailed Monkeys, Leopard, and Serval.

I cannot find high enough superlatives to describe the experience of this FAM trip in Uganda. Uganda is a wonderful country. The scenery is simply stunning, people are super friendly, weather is mostly great, food is awesome. The birding infrastructure is excellent, with good local knowledge, and superb accommodation options at prime locations.

Herbert Byaruhanga and his team at Bird Uganda Safaris organized the FAM trip at the highest standards possible. Herbert is such a great guy, and it was a pleasure to spend time with him in the field and also in between field sessions. Thank you Herbert for inviting me to participate in the FAM trip. Thank you also to the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the National Forestry Authority, and selected hotels and lodges, for hosting our group with such generosity and good will.

Patricia Kansiime is an exceptionally amazing guide and person. Thank you so much for your field skills, but also for your friendship and support.

I want to send my deepest gratitude and friendship to our super team - Yousif, Yanina, Uncle Eric, Shawneen, Jim, Rick, Julie, Luis Argentina, Luis Colombia and Penny. You are all awesome and it was a pleasure to share this amazing experience with you. Love you all.

My bottom line - come to Uganda. It's an amazing country with exceptional wildlife, birds and mammals, and a unique wildlife experience. Bird Uganda Safaris are well recommended to help you make the most of your time in Uganda.