Also at Queen Elizabeth I saw an Elephant with the biggest tusks I have seen anywhere in Africa. Generally speaking, Ugandan elephants are quite skittish and not as used to people and vehicles as in more frequented parks of Kenya or Tanzania, but this particular one seemed so self-confident that he allowed us to stay very close. He threw some dirt in the air and flapped his ears a couple of times, but his mood seemed more playful than threatening.


The big tusker at Queen Elizabeth

Groups of Elephants became slightly less nervous as we approached Mweya Lodge, overlooking the Kazinga Channel that joins lakes George and Edward. They gather in numbers along the channel to drink and bathe, together with hundreds of Cape Buffalo and Hippopotamus.

A boat ride departs from the lodge and provides excellent close-upviews of these heavyweights, plus many common water birds. Buffalo have an often justified fearsome reputation, but at a fishermen's village up the channel they grazed and rested among people, apparently without any trouble.

Although we weren't in the best season for birding, there were still many birds in and around Mweya. A huge Verreaux's Eagle Owl roosted by a trail leading to the lodge, Red-chested and Green-headed Sunbirds were common in the gardens, where I also saw an African Pigmy Kingfisher, and Slender-billed and Golden-backed Weavers nested within its grounds and had become very bold around the bar and restaurant.
Grey-headed Kingfisher could be found perched on the tall cacti throughout the small peninsula where the lodge is located.

Banded Mongoose

Swamp Flycatcher are common almost everywhere in Uganda, but at Mweya they live inside the hotel, where they have learned to hunt for insects at the big panoramic windows without smashing against the glass. Unlike the slightly annoying, begging weavers, they keep to themselves and are a delight to watch while they hunt from the lobby furniture. Another nice find in the lodge grounds was a Montane Side-striped Chameleon (Chamaeleo ellioti).


View from Mweya lodge



Ungulates like the safety offered by the proximity of the lodge, and several species are frequently found in the dense bush trails in the peninsula. Waterbuck are common, and the elusive Bushbuck can be spotted late in the evening.