Ngamba Island Uganda | The Chimpanzee Sanctuary

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Ngamba Island Uganda | The chimpanzee sanctuary : is nestled South-East of Entebbe City, near the Equator on Lake Victoria in Uganda. The sanctuary was established in October 1998 to care for both orphaned and rescued chimpanzees all over East Africa. Most of them were rescued by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) from poachers and they are victims of illegal poaching for pet trade and bush meat.

Ngamba Island is 100 acres (40 ha) of the rainforest hosting over 49 orphaned chimpanzees surrounded by the peaceful waters of Lake Victoria. The Island also offers an excellent secondary forest that provides habitat for the chimpanzees and other wildlife species. These include; fish eagles, spiders, otters, fruit bats, monitor lizards, not to mention but a few. The Island harbors a wide variety of natural wildlife and provides a diversity of natural foods for the chimpanzees.

What to do at the Island
Guided forest walk

Overnight visitors at Ngamba island chimpanzee sanctuary can participate in guided forest walks. Here, being part of the team involves going out with the chimpanzee infants. You give them support through holding them as they get introduced to the older individuals. They are also shown different parts of the forest thereby showing them that it is a safe and better place for them live. While here, you will be in the company of several chimpanzees ranging from 5-9 years.

Swimming

You will have a chance to swim before continuing to the mainland. If interested in swimming, the Equator is the right point and you will be allowed a couple of minutes to enjoy the waters before proceeding with the journey.

Sunset Cruises

This Island also offers exclusive sunset cruises for basically overnight guests. You will enjoy the unique view of fishermen casting their nets. You will wind down the day along with views of the beautiful sceneries of the sunset. The thrill comes from knowing that you are crossing the globe from the northern to southern hemisphere as you sip away on cold drinks in a stable of natural bliss.

Fishing

The Island offers either half or full day fishing excursions on Lake Victoria with UK certified fishing guides. If you love fish, then you won’t want to miss the opportunity to catch a Nile Perch on this iconic Lake.

Equator Experience

You will have a stopover at the Uganda- Equator to observe your boat being thrust by forces. This is  both on the North Pole and South Pole, Making it almost stationary in one place.

Day care Giver 

Here, you will get an exciting opportunity to not only view the chimpanzees feeding but to also participate in preparing their food and feeding them. You will also have a chance to assist the staff with any activities happening at the sanctuary. These include; preparing the holding areas for the chimpanzees, administrative work, medical checkups and over all monitoring of individual chimpanzees. This experience helps to raise funds for the sanctuary and your donation goes directly to the feeding of the chimpanzees living at the sanctuary.

 Volunteering programs

This place holds out volunteering programs to make a difference in the lives of the chimpanzees through volunteering in a variety of tasks like. Some of these include; preparing their food, feeding them, community work, behavior observation, cleaning and record keeping. Volunteering programs include;

  • Behavioral Observation: Volunteers will work alongside caregivers at the sanctuary, studying chimpanzee social dynamics around distribution and collecting data.
  • Behavioral Enrichment: Volunteers will be involved in creating permanent or temporary behavioral enrichment structures. They will as well as organize temporary challenges in order to further the behavioral enrichment of the chimpanzees.
  • Infrastructure improvements: Volunteers will help with whatever current enrichment projects are taking place during their placement. They may include; building picnic sites and shaded viewing shelters or putting up information boards to educate visitors.
  • Daily Caregiver Schedule: preparation of chimp foods, clean chimp holding facility, recording chimp data and health monitoring.
Viewing time
  • Morning viewing between 9.00am- 1.00pm
  • Afternoon viewing 12.45pm- 5.00pm
How to get to Ngamba Island

Using a speedboat travel from the dock in Entebbe to the Island is approximately 45-50 minutes. On the other hand, a traditional motorized canoe the commonest and cheapest takes nearly 90 minutes.

Mabamba Swamp Birding Uganda

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Mabamba Swamp Birding Uganda : The swamp is famous for the shoebill with over 12 shoebill storks  (locally called “Boolwe”). Besides, the bird is Uganda’s most sought-after bird by Uganda birding tourists as well as nature lovers. The swamp is generally a prime wetland birding site located on the northern fringes of Lake Victoria in Uganda. It covers 2424 ha with thick marshes of papyrus, water lilies and other wetland grasses.

As a matter of fact, the mysterious shoebill is known to occur in mainly four countries. These include; Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Zambia. However, in Uganda it is best seen at Mabamba swamp. In 2006, the Ramsar Convention on the wetlands awarded this swamp the status of a wetland of international importance since it contains globally threatened species. The wetland is also a Ramsar site and Important Bird Area (IBA) which hosts over 300 bird species. The wetland also hosts huge flocks of Palearctic migrants every year from October to March.

Activities done at Mabamba Swamp
Canoeing

Basically, birding in this place is done on a canoe by riding through a maze of trails cutting through the thick marshes in such for bird species. Some of the birds include the rare shoebill, white-winged warble, blue swallow, black-headed weaver. Papyrus gonolek, swamp flycatcher, pallid harrier, pigmy goose, Carruthers cisticola, lesser jacana, grosbeak weaver. Viellot’s weaver, northern brown-throated weaver, Clarke’s weaver, palm-nut vulture. Papyrus yellow warbler, African purple swamp hen, African water rail, blue breasted bee-eater. Winding cisticola, goliath Heron, African fish eagle, long tailed cormorant, yellow billed duck, malachite kingfisher. Glossy ibis, white-winged tern, hamerkop, great cormorant, grey-headed gull. White-faced whistling-duck, knob-billed duck, little stint to mention but a few.

While here, you will meet the local fishermen and discover that there was a time when the local community used to be enemies with the birds as they competed for the same fish resource. But today, many local people have been trained as tour guides who now strive to preserve both the birds and the swamp. Otherwise, guides are now a part of the Mabamba Wetland Eco-Tourism Association.  They share their knowledge of the swamp and part of the revenue from their tours is re-invested in conservation projects which protect the Shoebill.

Fishing

The community is happy to tell you a story about how this Swamp got its name after a lungfish locally known as “Emamba” which inhabit its waters, and they form the staple of the shoebill’s diet. The swamp is rich with lungfish locally known as “emamba” which is also the favorite food for the shoebill. However, the lungfish is also one of the most sought-after fish by the local fishermen, creating competition with the shoebill. These fishermen had long held a superstition that seeing a shoebill resulted in a poor catch that day so they hunted and killed them leading to the decline in their number and almost rendered them extinct in the wetland.

Others

The site supports a lucrative fisheries activity and a source of fish for home consumption and commercial use. It provides raw materials for local crafts, building materials, water for domestic and livestock use and non-wood products. Factors needing attention are the dry season incursion into the swamp by fishermen; hunting of the sitatunga by the local people; the proliferation of the Water Hyacinth and poaching of the Shoebill. The proliferation of flower farms along the shores of Lake Victoria and the use of agrochemicals is likely to have an impact.

Best time to visit

This place in Uganda is visited all year round but dry months are much preferred as the water levels are low. This also gives much better feeding places and the grass is short. This is in the months of June to September and December to February.

How to get there

Mabamba swamp can be accessed by water and road. From Kampala city or Entebbe town, but the easiest route is through Nakiwogo landing site in Entebbe.  You will take a motorized boat to the island led by a guide to search for the elusive shoebill. The easiest route is through Nakiwogo landing site in Entebbe where you take a motorized boat to the swamp.

Lutembe Bay | Uganda Birding

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Lutembe Bay | Uganda Birding : is a Ramsar site and Important Bird Area (IBA) on Lake Victoria located about 4 km off the Kampala–Entebbe highway from Namulanda. The Bay is generally one of Uganda’s 33 Important Bird Areas and since 2006 a Ramsar-listed wetland of international importance. In addition, this bay is notable for its population of as many as 1.5m white-winged tern. This bay being a wetland on Lake Victoria is home to lots of water and wetland associated birds. However, the site extends beyond the papyrus filled lake shore to cover more wooded grasslands, thickets and gardens. As a matter of fact, these contribute to a high diversity and volume of birds in Lutembe area with over 200 species of birds. Additionally, the wetland is home to 8 of the 12 Lake Victoria biome species in Uganda.

Birds spotted at the bay

Bird species include; Tawny Pipit, Madagascar squacco heron, Purple starling, House sparrow, Brown twin spot. Fawn-breasted waxbill, Black-necked weaver, Holub’s golden weaver, Speckle-breasted Woodpecker. Africa-pygmy kingfisher, Scaly francolin, Black kite, Grey-backed fiscal, Black-headed gonolek. Black-crowned waxbill, Barn swallow, Helmeted guinea fowl, Wire-tailed swallow. Brimstone and the Yellow-fronted canaries, Little ringed plover, Collared pratincole, Splendid sterling.

Pin-tailed whydah, Yellow-browed camaroptera, Common waxbill, Marico sunbird, Tree pipit, Grosbeak weaver. Blue-breasted bee-eater, Cape wagtail, Africa wattled lapwing, Senegal lapwing, Yellow-throated longclaw. White-headed saw-wing, Broad-billed roller, White-browed and the Brown-backed scrub-robins. Whiskered tern, African green pigeon, Sooty chat, Plain-backed pipit, Tropical Boubou, etc.

Attractions at Lutembe bay
Bird watching

The bay just like a number of other bays, does support quite a big population of about 200 different bird species and 26 of these are migrants. This group of birds includes the endangered species like the Holub’s golden weaver, the African pygmy kingfisher, etc. Other birds include; the road-billed Roller, the Brown-backed Scrub-robins. Whiskered tern, Lead-coloured flycatcher, the tropical Boubou, African green pigeon, Sooty chat, etc. In fact, the existence of these birds makes it a great birding spot in the country.

The migratory species come from as far as Liberia and cross over into East Africa landing at the shores of Lake Victoria in Entebbe. There are also those that migrate from countries like Russia, the Scandinavian countries and also from the Main land of Europe. Once they land, they usually stay for about 6-9 months after which they fly back to wherever they came from to breed. Most of these birds usually start arriving in the bay around September or October and then depart in the middle of February or March. They always fly back when the weather is favorable for them to breed and the cycle repeats itself the following year.

Butterflies

The wetland is also a home to a great number of butterfly species and it is recorded that over 100 butterfly species exists. These include; the 3 rare species that are not recorded in any other IBA of Uganda. These species include; Acraea Pharsalus, Belenois solilucis and Cacyreus virilis. Thus, these makes it a perfect safari destination for Butterfly lovers in Uganda.