Who Is at my Door?

Foreign travel particularly alone, often has surprises.

            I decided to retire from the management position I held at one of the major Defense contracting companies.  I was to stay on as a staff member but no longer have line management responsibilities.  My duties as a manager were to end on December 31, 1999.  I was to start the new millennium a free man.

            To celebrate my newfound freedom, I first joined an Ornifolks birding trip with a group of folks, most of whom I knew, to Ethiopia.  The trip was four weeks long, beginning the second week of January 2000 and ending after the first week of February.  It was a wonderful trip.  I saw lots of birds and had a wonderful time with my birding pals.  I will at some point recount some of the stories from that trip.  Most somehow were related to the secession of Eritrea from Ethiopia.  Our birding guide was from Eritrea.

Being greedy with my footloose existence, I went on from there to Uganda by myself.  I only took another week, but it was with a very specific objective in mind.  Continuing my goal of seeing at least one member of each family of birds, I had one species in mind.  It was the Shoebill, a bird so unique that it is a family by itself (out of the 250 families worldwide).

Figure 1: The Majestic Shoebill

            The Shoebill has a very restricted range with a very specialized habitat.  It is found only in Papyrus reedbeds in central Africa. One of the best known places to see it was at Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda.  Thus, my journey to Uganda.

Figure 2: Shoebill Range in Central Africa

            I arrived in the late afternoon on February 5 at Entebbe airport near Kampala.

                                    Figure 3: Entebbe Airport

            The internet was alive and well in 2000, so it was easy to prearrange a car and driver to pick me up at the airport and stay with me for the entire trip.  The driver also had some knowledge of the birds of Uganda, though not a full-fledged bird guide.  I was met.

Figure 4: My Transport with Driver

            He took me to the fancy hotel that I had booked.  I needed a night to catch my breath and arrange my gear.  The accommodations in Ethiopia had been pretty basic, and the rest of my accommodations in Uganda were to be minimal.

Figure 5:My Hotel in Kampala

            I was up early in the morning, and we were off to Muchison Falls.  It is about 4 hours by car from Kampala, so I was able to bird along the way and still get there in time for my river trip on the Victoria Nile up to Murchison falls.  The departure time was 2:30 in the afternoon.  The Victoria Nile feeds into Lake Albert which then empties into the White Nile.  The Blue Nile that arises in the Ethiopian highlands merges with the White Nile at Khartoum in the Sudan to form the Nile found in Egypt.

            My research told me that the Shoebill could be seen in the reedbeds along the river and that a good chance for seeing them was to take the boat trip to the falls.  I arrived in time and boarded the boat.

Figure 6: Murchison Falls River Cruise

            It was a wonderful ride up to the falls.

Figure 7: Murchison Falls

            We went up and back to the falls and saw plenty of birds and wonderful sights, but no Shoebill.  The captain assured me that it was normally seen, but not on this day.  Dejected, I had my driver take me to my quarters for the night.  We planned another attempt tomorrow.

            My quarters for the night were in a hut with a grass roof.  I was the only occupant.

Figure 8: My Murchison Falls Accommodation

            The hut had neither running water nor electricity.  A big water jug was provided for drinking and bathing.  A porta potty was provided for its obvious function.  A Coleman lantern was provided for light.  The bunk was basic but fine.  I had picked up snack food on our way to the park.  That was going to be my evening meal.

            When my driver deposited me at the hut, he said, “Don’t leave the hut after dark.  It is not safe.”

            “But where will you be?”, I asked.

            “I sleep in my van, and I definitely don’t leave it after dark.”

            “Thanks.  Come get me in the morning then.  I sure won’t leave the hut.”

             I went in the hut, shut the door firmly, and went about my nighttime activities.   I was soon asleep.

            Sometime later, I came awake with a start.  Something was at the door.  I could hear it sniffing and brushing against the door.  I could only imagine what it was, but nothing good came to mind-wild boar, wild dog, leopard, lion.  Yikes.  There were no windows in the hut, so I couldn’t look out.  I wanted to go and push something against the door so whatever it was couldn’t force the door.  I thought better of it.  Better be still and not make any noise.  I waited.  After about five minutes or so, the sniffing stopped.  I waited.  It seem to stay stopped.

            I quietly tried to go back to sleep, but it took a while for the adrenaline to dissipate.  I did get back to sleep, but I was pretty tired in the morning when I heard the driver knocking at the door.

            I opened the door and said, “Something was sniffing around my door last night.”

            “Yes.”, he said, “It was a lion.  It came sniffing around the van as well.  Like I told you, it is not safe out here at night.  The lions regularly come into camp.  Let’s go up to the lodge and get some breakfast.  I am going to take you on a ride on the game drive this morning.  It runs down toward Lake Alfred where there are lots of Papyrus reeds.”

            We went and had a quick breakfast, and then headed off on the dirt track that was the game drive.  It wasn’t long before we came upon lions.

Figure 9: Lions on the Game Drive

            They were just lazing around since they do most of their hunting at night. Yikes.  They were plentiful as we continued our drive down to the lake.

            The road ran through an area near the lake where the reeds were plentiful.  After an hour or two, sure enough, we came upon a Shoebill very close to the road.  It did not flush, so I was able to study it for quite a while.  Hooray, I met my objective and did not get eaten by a lion.

            We headed back to the lodge, birding along the way, and arrived in time for a very late lunch.  After lunch, we headed to another famous Uganda park, the Budongo Forest.  The makeshift map below gives some sense of the geography.

Figure 10: Uganda Makeshift Map

            Among other things, Budongo is know for its tribe of Chimpanzees.  I was eager to see them and get some time birding the forest, rather than the open lands that I had been birding.  New habitat, new birds.

            We stopped for dinner along the way and arrived at the forest close to dark.  I had not pre-booked lodging but was happy to learn that a small cabin was vacant.

Figure 11: Cabin Lodging at Budongo

            Although it was large enough for many people, I had it to myself.  No running water here either, but a definite step up as there was electricity.  My driver dropped me off, and I went in and quickly settled down for the night.  I was very tired because of the lack of sleep the previous night. 

Sometime later I was again awakened.  Nothing was at my door, but there was an unbelievable screaming going on, like something was being tortured.  I knew that Chimps screamed, but only during the daytime.  They would be fast asleep now.  The screaming persisted.  I turned on the outside light and I could see out the windows that nothing was around.  I waited a while, but it continued.  Feeling more confident that nothing was coming to my cabin, I got out the ear plugs I always carry, inserted them, and went back to bed.  My mind was racing, but I was finally able to go back to sleep.

            When my driver came to fetch me in the morning, I asked, “What in God’s name is doing that horrible screaming last night?”

            “Oh, I am sorry I didn’t warn you.  They do that every night.  They are really harmless.  They are Tree Hyraxes.”  He then fetched his animal guidebook and showed me a picture.

Figure 12: Tree Hyrax at Budongo

            I read the description and said, “Well, they are pretty big, nearly 2 feet in length.   But why the devil are they doing it all night?”

            “They are communicating with each other, mostly to stake out territory.  They need nesting cavities for their daytime sleep.  Of course, sometimes mating is involved as that is done at night.  Moreover, there are a lot of them here.”

            “Thanks for the information.  Is there anyplace we can get breakfast and then get a quick look at the Chimps”

            We found a roadside stand, had a bite, and headed into the forest on a dirt track.  My driver knew what he was doing because we soon saw a troop crossing the track.

Figure 13: Budongo Forest Chimp Troop

            We then went  to another location where the chimps congregated and spent quite a bit of time just observing their behavior ala Jane Goodall.  We then hit the road back to Kampala.

            I caught up on my sleep in the same fancy hotel in Kampala.  In the morning, my driver got me to Entebbe where I caught a flight back to Ethiopia, where I caught a connecting flight that ultimately got me back home.

            What a trip.  Saw the Shoebill as well as a total of 192 bird species including 68 that were new to me.  But I must confess, I did lose a lot of sleep.