Driving up to the Mabira Forest Tourist Center I was geared up and so excited by the fact that in a few minutes I would be going on a forest walk in the Mabira Forest, the largest rain forest in Uganda. I had all sorts of expectations, many unrealistic, but we'll get to that later. Mabira forest is located in Eastern Uganda and can be accessed via the Kampala-Jinja highway.
It is a tropical rainforest that spans about 300 square kilometers. Rainforests are characterized by high rainfall and are home to over 50% of the world's indigenous species. The thick forests also mean that very little sunlight gets through to the ground restricting the plants that can survive there and making it easy for people to walk around.
We arrived at the forest center donned in jeans and sneakers (tennis shoes) ready to meet with the forest and all its creatures. After paying the fee at the office, securing a guide, and choosing a trail, we were advised to rent gumboots as it had rained only the night before and the guide didn't think our shoes were appropriate (The boots came in only one size so take note and come with your own for comfort). I expected to see all sorts of birds, snakes and learn about the many medicinal plants that were indigenous to Mabira forest. I didn't see any of these things, and if I saw any medicinal plants which I am sure I did, I didn't know the difference. In all honesty our guide had probably just started at this job and he didn't know much except for the trails and one or two trees.
The forest was dark, with sporadic streams of sunlight coming through here and there. It was eerily quiet though, but this was attributed to the time of day of our visit. The plentiful birdlife was not so active at that time of the afternoon. We were disappointed that we didn't see any bird life and our guides inexperience meant that since we didn't have much knowledge about birds, we couldn't identify the few birds we heard. The walk was interesting once we got over our initial unrealistic expectations. The majesty of the forest cannot however be understated. We got to see the strangling fig tree which feeds on its host eventually obliterating it and taking over completely. Emerging into the open air and sunlight meant our forest walk was over, we returned the boots and continued on our way to Jinja.
We arrived in the sleepy Jinja town ready for lunch. A quick drive up and down main street and we decided to head to one of the hotels in the area to eat. The food was great and despite having a vegetarian, a celiac and some ardent meat eaters in the group, everyone was able to get a good meal. Our table had great views of the Nile and was altogether very relaxing. After our reverie, we headed for the source of the Nile where we went on a boat tour of the area known as the source of the Nile. The guide took us to the place where the John Hannington Speke identified the Nile as flowing from Lake Victoria and thus naming the lake as its source. We also saw a small island which is home to literally thousands of birds and whose sight would be a bird watchers dream. The sunset boat ride was the perfect end to the day, we docked just before it got dark and started our drive back to Kampala.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bali_B._Bukenya |
