Eyes on the Flight – Birdwatching in Uganda

Most of the holidays consist of trips around beautiful beaches, warming your selves in the glowing sun, and playing water sports on the shores or under the blue edge of the water, where you can meet you colorful coral friends. To add to this taste of nature, you might even take tours of wild life safaris watching, and bewaring of, wild creatures, taking sight of their environment, secluded from your daily views. Or, sometimes, to change the tune, you might visit places of architecture and history, like museums and so on. But those looking for a new and a different kind of holiday experience are going to get something to add to the list, a new dish in the menu of wild life experience – Birdwatching. Birds are seen as some of the most colorful and variety creatures of the world. Some of them are melodious to, they sing. An opportunity to know their sounds and lifestyle better can be an experience full of enlightenment. Birdwatching can develop into a real passion.

Some of the salient features of these marvelous creatures, birds, are the beautiful ways in which nature has sculpted and painted them – the Macaws boast with arrogance their scarlet color, curved beaks and bright plumages. In some cases, the friendly nature of these creatures is what underlines the impression of tourists, while in some others, it’s their clever and intelligent behavior. Birds that are of a reserved kind of nature, it, undoubtedly, suits them.

Taking a look at the east of the Nature’s continent, Africa, we find some really beautiful and astonishing birdwatching areas. The Murchison Falls National Park and Budongo Forest, near Uganda, are some of them. Murchison Falls are the spectacular place where the chasms of Victoria Nile plunge, apparently allowing you to cross scenes of animals like hippos, crocodiles, herds of elephants, giraffe, buffalos, and so on. Also, this region provides sights of a great variety of birds which include Rock Pranticole, Denham’s Bustard, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Blue-breasted Kingfisher and Swallow-tailed Bee-eater. The names, themselves, sound so exotic that increases the curiosity to have a look at them right away. Denham’s Bustard is an averagely height field bird with barn feathers, spotted white in between, long legs and a white chest. The Blue-breasted Kingfisher is yet one more exotic and beautiful flying creature – a short tree bird. It is short and plump, having a long red beak; eyes covered with black spots and spotted black wings with rest of the feathers (esp. the chest) in bright lightening blue color, as the name says.

Budongo is an equally superb birding spot varying in species of many west and central African birds, just at the entrance of Uganda. Dwarf and Chocolate-backed kingfishers, White-thighed Hornbills, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Ituri Batis and so many other names- they are all accessible here. This brings for you a bonus chance of sighting the wild chimpanzees.

The diversity in the range of bird life their kinds and habitats allows you to birdwatch almost anywhere in the world. But some help from various travel companies and a little research can get you to choose those areas which enlist reliable weather, authentic food, comfortable accommodation and, of course, wonderful birding opportunities.