A Drinking Couple with a Traveling Problem: The Kazinga Channel

After our awesome time in Ishasha, we made our way up through the park for some more safariing. On our way up the park, we were very excited to pass through a large open green space and see some Crested Cranes, Uganda’s national bird. We had seen a few others on our trip, but this was the first time we were able to get some good shots of them.

Crested Cranes and a Sacred Ibis.

Our first main attraction was a hike to a bat cave. At the beginning of our trek, we were greeted by black-and-white colobus monkeys as well as the very shy blue monkey. Unfortunately for us, the blue monkey seemed to spot us at the same time and quickly ran into the thicker bush. We believe we also saw a blue monkey in Bwindi, but they, in general, are really camera shy and we didn’t get any good shots of them there either. As we made our way through the trail, our guide told us all about the plants, animals, and local communities in the area. We knew we were close to the bat cave when we were greeted by the most horrible smell you can imagine. I honestly didn’t think I could breathe the smell was so overpowering. We were informed that this tiny cave was home to over 28,000 bats. That many bats leads to lots of large snakes and birds of prey looking for an easy meal. This was evident by the large number of bat skeletons littering the ground. Unable to stand the stench, we didn’t overstay our welcome.

Off to the Bat Cave!

Blue Monkey in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Finally got a semi-shot of the very shy Blue Monkey!

Palm-Nut Vulture in Queen Elizabeth National Park

A Palm-Nut Vulture waiting outside the Bat Cave.

There are over 28,000 bats in this tiny cave!

A bat holding on to the wall at the Bat Cave in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Hanging on.

A bat skeleton in Queen Elizabeth National Park

This guy wasn't so lucky.

Our next morning we set out early on safari and were greeted by a heard of elephants on the side of the road. We watched as they ate some berries off bushes until they decided we were too close and one decided to angrily approach our car. As we continued on, we finally found what I had been waiting for, baby lions! I was in seventh heaven as we watched three cubs hanging out in the grass and bushes just a few feet from our car. After a little while, mom finally made her appearance and the cubs followed her off. Interestingly, mom had a collar around her neck which meant she was being tracked.

An elephant eating berries in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Munching on some berries.

A baby lion in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Finally, baby lions!

baby lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park

There were 3 cubs in total.

A female lion with a tracker on her neck in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Mama with her tracking collar.

After our awesome experience watching the mama with her cubs, we ventured outside of the park in search of the migratory flamingos. While we unfortunately didn't get to see them, luck was on our side as we saw the largest herd of elephants on our trip. Over 50 elephants of all sizes gathered around the edges of the Kazinga Channel from the mid-day heat to cool off. I was in love with the amount of babies around. Since I took way more pictures than I'd like to admit, check out our SmugMug page for all the elephants and the rest of our Queen Elizabeth trip.

Soooo many elephants of all shapes and sizes.

Strutting their stuff.

Everyone was making their way to the water. Ankole in the front, hippos in the water, elephants on the shoreline, and some antelope-like animals behind them.

We had to leave the elephants because we were off for a two-hour boat tour on the Kazinga Channel with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). Here we were greeted with an array of birds, crocs, hippos, and tons of other animals coming out for a drink or swim.

A Pied Kingfisher caught a little silver fish before we hopped on the boat.

(L to R) Spur-winged Lapwing, the larger bird in the middle is a Yellow-billed Stork, the birds to the right are Black-winged Stilts, and obviously, Mr. Croc is chilling out on the shore.

Everyone was making there way to the channel.

The next morning we were up and out early as our time in the Southern hemisphere was over and we had a very long drive ahead of us to make it to Murchison Falls National Park. We once again got to drive through the Equator, which is always a cool thing to say you've done.