Kazinga Channel

As soon as we arrived at Mweya Lodge we rushed down to the jetty to catch the 4:15pm Kazinga Channel boat ride.  The channel connects Lake George with Lake Edward.

The shores were teeming with wildlife; I could hardly write down the names of the birds that we saw fast enough. These included skimmers, least terns with red bills, goliath heron, grey heron, yellow billed stork, saddlebill stork, great egret, little egret, yellow billed egret, sacred ibis, hadeda ibis, spoonbill, pink backed pelicans, cormorants, African fish eagles, Egyptian geese, water thickknees, black crake, sandpiper, stilt, plover, hamerkop, pied kingfisher, malachite kingfisher, red bishop, palmnut vulture.

This is a spoonbill - notice its spoon shaped bill. It was the first and only one I saw in Uganda.

 Goliath Heron

 Pied kingfishers nest in holes in the riverbank and hover high over the water when fishing.

 Black crake - walking very fast!

 Egyptian goose

 Yellow billed stork keeping a beady eye on a crocodile

 Sacred ibis

 Red / yellow bishop

 African fish eagles pair for life.

 Saddle billed stork among cormorants.

 Palm nut vulture

 Pink backed pelicans

These two water thickknees were defending their nest from a predatory monitor lizard.

Hippos and buffalo wallowed in the riparian mud

 

There are several fishing villages on the lakes.

The highlight of the cruise was the sighting of six lions; one in the thickets and the others sunning themselves on the cliffs.

As we drew near to the lions lightning started to flash in the distance and then the rain came with huge thunderclaps so we sped back across the channel and to Mweya lodge.