Lake Mburo wanderings

I went to Lake Mburo about a month ago. I’ve shared most of the best pictures somewhere by now—either here or Instagram (or on my own screensaver, which I realize that nobody but me can see but which is somehow satisfying anyway). Here are the last of the ones I wanted to put out, though.

I’m actually heading out on another road trip this weekend, on a loop of southwest Uganda (no gorilla trekking, though—I’ll save that for another trip). But in the meantime, a last look back on my lazy weekend at Lake Mburo National Park.

The view from the top of Rwakobo Rock is stunning, and the drop-off not as scary as it looks.

Uganda has a ridiculous number of birds. I forgot the actual statistic, but it’s something like half of all the bird species in Africa. I’m trying to get to know them all. I want to say this one is an African Pied Wagtail, but I could be wrong.

This, I am pretty sure, is a starling. Starlings tend to have cool names: there is a Splendid Starling and a Superb Starling, but this one is (again, I think) a Rüppell’s Long-Tailed Starling. Bonus point for the umlaut.

It does sometimes feel like walking through a dream. It becomes easy to confuse zebras with unicorns.

These teenagers just stood in the road, looking all annoyed at us for trying to get through.

The only reason why they aren’t texting and taking selfies is that they don’t have thumbs.

Babies of Lake Mburo

You don’t go to Lake Mburo National Park because it’s the most exciting park in Uganda—you go there because it’s the closest to downtown Kampala, and because the park is surrounded by cattle-grazing land instead of cultivated farms, meaning that the animals on the park pay zero respect to the official boundaries, which means that you don’t even necessarily need to leave your hotel in order to look at zebras, kudus, or other wild animals.

Because I made it that far, though, I did go into the park, albeit on a very lazy loop that barely scratched the surface of what this park has to offer. Most of the best of my pictures already went up on Instagram, but there were a few others that I liked that I didn’t upload. For example, these pictures of babies (and some mommas, too):

This baby zebra did a double take when it saw me taking a picture.

It paused long enough for me to be sure that it was posing.

This baby waterbuck was either about to have or just waking up from a nap. It didn’t seem to notice me at all.

Momma waterbuck noticed me, though, and though she didn’t seem afraid, she did keep an eye on me. I took a few pictures of her, too, in case appealing to her vanity would help.

Mama Warthog was way less chill. One look at me and she sent her piglets scampering to the nearest bush.

All this nonsense is for the birds

A pair of Ross’s turacos have decided to build a home in the bamboo grove in the corner of my yard, and it is really freaking my chickens out.

It’s okay if you don’t know what a Ross’s turaco is. I didn’t know, either, until a few days ago, when some naughty bird tried to eat one of my chickies and I decided I needed to educate myself on the creatures that infest my house and their likelihood of eating my pets (or myself?).

I am an unapologetic urbanite, most comfortable when ensconced in an apartment tower a few stories above a medium-busy street, ideally in New York but I’ll take anywhere. Since last summer, though, I’ve made a nest for myself in Uganda and slowly–very slowly–am coming to grips with living in a leafy suburb.

I have a giant yard, and I thought it would be fun to put some chickens in it. Free eggs, some minor pest control, and a little entertainment.

Continue reading “All this nonsense is for the birds” →

D. Bayar

Drafts and fragments of musings and arguments.

Tag: wildlife

Lake Mburo wanderings

Babies of Lake Mburo

All this nonsense is for the birds

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