African Adventure

Lucy was no stranger to UK wildlife, but when she went to volunteer in Uganda, there was a whole new world of everyday birds and animals to get used to...

Since I was small I've had a keen interest in wildlife, and regularly help out at my local RSPB reserve, Rainham Marshes. My past jobs have included water vole and lapwing nest surveys, building reed screens, tree painting and water level management. But the most exciting part was yet to come. Last summer, after two years of relentless fundraising, meetings and team-building holidays, myself and fifteen others finally set off to Uganda in Africa for the experience of a lifetime.

As relatively well-informed as I am about British wildlife, it was safe to say that before I went to Uganda I knew next to nothing about the flora and fauna of overseas territories. Present me with a commonly sighted marabou stork in late June and I wouldn't have had a clue what it was. But by early August, as I was getting ready to return home, I had a new familiarity with the bird, and many others I'd come across and learned about over the trip. Eighteen days in Africa's richest birding destination was certainly just long enough to give me an insight into the unbelievably vast number of species that can be found there.

"We spotted some hippos soaking up the morning sun from a muddy pool."

So what was I doing in Uganda in the first place? Well, the main purpose of the expedition was to work in some of the local schools, discovering and hopefully benefitting the lives of children far less fortunate than ourselves. Our work included building, painting and teaching, and was incredibly rewarding but also extremely tiring. That said, to give us some downtime we got the chance to enjoy a range of other exciting, slightly more restful activities.

Lucy's trip along the upper reaches of the mighty Nile revealed exciting wildlife from vervet monkeys to hippos, as well as an African fish eagle.

The upper Nile
And so, after out first week of hard work, we set off to a riverside camp in Jinja. The camp had a breathtaking view across the Nile, and even from dry land I still managed to spot a wealth of birdlife including African pygmy and pied kingfishers. One afternoon we were heading down to the riverbank, surrounded by uncountable stunning butterflies, to board a boat. The river was bursting with life, and I soon found myself becoming the group's own wildlife tour guide, with the help of my guidebooks. Our more impressive sightings included an African fish eagle and a black-crowned night heron, and once off the boat we saw a large group of vervet monkeys feeding in the trees above our heads. One female had a baby clinging to her middle.

On safari
A week later, we were on our way to the beautiful Queen Elizabeth National Park for one of the most exciting parts of the trip. The swallow dormitory at Samba Safari Camp began to stir at 5:30am; an early start to give us the best chance of seeing more animals. On the bus, our safari guide helped us identify everything we saw, including Uganda kob, Defassa waterbuck and Cape buffalo. We also spotted some hippos soaking up the morning sun from a muddy pool; the classic image of, perhaps surprisingly when seeing them like this, the most dangerous mammal in Africa.

On the bank of the Kazinga Channel, we boarded a boat for our second wildlife cruise. As well as myriad birds, including sacred ibis and palm nut vulture, we also greeted a few more hippos and rendezvoused with several Nile crocodiles. The whole experience was awe-inspiring, and certainly one I'll never forget.

This piece first appeared in the RSPB's Wingbeat magazine. Edited by Jack Plumb.