Sunday August 15, 2010 – Bigodi Swamp, colobus in the campsite, and the Top of the World

Sunday August 15, 2010 – Bigodi Swamp, colobus in the campsite, and the Top of the World


Up close to sunrise at 7:00 we have our breakfast and then set out for the day’s outing – a walk at Bigodi Swamp. We take one of my short-cuts as read about in the guidebook – it turns out actually to be a short cut but it the road is definitely used more for cows and bicycles than it is for vehicles. Fortunately we didn’t meet anyone coming in the opposite direction until we get back on the “main”road. We pass through Kibale National park – they have camping and chimpanzee trekking in the forest here, but we’ve seen chimps and at 30$ per person + camp fees to stay here for 24 hours we decided to stay elsewhere. But the forest is lovely and rich and tall, and the public road passing through it is practically lined by baboons sitting on logs grooming themselves and each other. Bigodi Swamp is just the other side of the park, adjoining it in several areas, and is a community run conservation area. The entrance has several gifts shops and guides sitting around waiting for the tourists. Our guide Kenneth is not the most charismatic person of all time, but he’s sincere and prepares to lead us off on a walk through the swamps. Actually it turns out to be a 2.5 hour walk around the edge of the swamp, which certainly gives an excellent view of the difference between community and forest land, and of the encroachment of the former onto the latter. We circle a large papyrus swamp, which does actually have a boardwalk cutting through a portion of it. And we see primates, which was one of the main points of the walk. First are the olive baboons, which were off in the community land raiding crops or doing something they shouldn’t as we passed by. The sentinel gave an alarm bark and they all raced back into the swamp/forest area. Just a bit further long the way we saw grey-cheeked mangabeys, a new species for me, up in the tree tops. The guide also points out the coffee trees in the community lands, and seems able to recognize a number of birds by sight and sound. A bit further crossing a roadway we see a troop of red colobus feeding and playing about up high in the trees. The rest of the walk is along the cultivated edge, where we spend way too long conferring with another group about the identity of a large raptor sitting up in a tree in full sight (never resolved to everyone’s satisfaction), cut through the papyrus on a long and slightly rickety boardwalk, climb a tower (Sarah with assistance up and down) for a view over the swamp, past an area where they are cutting out the introduced eucalyptus to replace them with indigenous trees, and then just as we are about back to the start point we see primates species number 4 – black and white colobus. It was a hot walk, Sarah took some urging along, and I definitely bored Elizabeth with the birding, but hopefully it was worth while.
And back we go, through the park and making a stop at Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse, where we were going to stay until we heard about the lake at Nkuruba. It is a lovely spot – a European style house perched up on a hill overlooking a large grassy campsite and then the tea plantations. They also have very pretty bandas looking over the forest. We order tea and coffee and sit on the verandah sorting through our maps and permits for Queen Elizabeth National Park, tomorrow’s destination, and enjoying the company of a large, hairy, and grubby golden retriever cross dog who apparently adores European visitors. Our caffeine levels more than topped up, we make our way back to Lake Nkuruba. There seems to be quite a brick industry along the way – several houses have mudpits on their front yards where men are trampling mud, and there are many towers of bricks, some of them with fires in their centres to cure the bricks.
Back at Nkuringo we put on our bathing suits and traipsed down the hill to swim. At least Elizabeth and I did, Sarah refused to go anywhere near the water and kept an anxious eye on us from the shore. But it was great to immerse ourselves and wash away the sweat and the dust. The water was pleasant and still, and as long as we didn’t think about how deep it is we were good. A groups of local children were also swimming on the opposite side of the crater – splashing and leaping about enjoying the water as well. The lake small, one could easily swim across it in a few minutes, but picturesque with its steep sides heavily forested in mature forest trees. Walking back up we stopped to watch a troop of red colobus feeding in the trees along the path, and then to our surprise we discovered a group of black and whiter colobus sitting in the trees right up above the campsite. They are probably my favourite primate – I like the way their long tasseled tails hang down from the branches. A troop of mongoose appeared on the lawn and went through what was obviously their standard routine – checking on all the garbage cans and searching for interesting edibles left behind by tourists. The garbage situation is an issue. It is an odd quirk that the people managing campsites just don’t have the same sensitivity about garbage as we do – a pile of empty water bottles and Pringles cans was under a tree when we arrived, and is still there today. But the hardpacked dirt areas have all been swept and a number of household chores done first thing. I overheard someone explaining the garbage disposal method – there is a big sinkhole next to the campsite into which the rubbish is pitched. According the explanation – “it is so large it can never be filled”. About 5:30 I had the idea of going to the “top of the world” viewpoint on one of the craters. Apparently one needs a guide (or at least no one was telling us how to get there for free) so we loaded up Kenneth and ourselves in the car and drove about 10 minutes round the lake to a quite spectacular hill where the owner had cleverly created a parking and a banda on top of a mowed area with 360degree views of three crater lakes and the surrounding countryside. Lovely and breezy as well. It would be a great place to watch the sun go down with a drink in one’s hand, but we settled for just appreciating the view before heading back for dinner. Tonight we ate in the restaurant – it’s a challenge figuring out how much Sarah will eat – some days she eats almost nothing, others she is looking for food every half an hour. We’ve decided that snacking her about 5:00 and then sharing a dinner with me at 7 or 8 seems to work best – we have to work on keeping her going this late though – she’s set for bed pretty early, as are Elizabeth and I actually.