24 July 2019: Royal Mile Fiasco

I am here somewhere....

An early morning start to the Royal Mile, supposedly to one of the highlights of our trip, turned out to be the stuff of birding nightmares. Various delays and time lost waiting on the ferry, as well as horrendous road conditions, resulted in us arriving at the Royal Mile at twelve o’ clock instead of eight o’ clock. We started birding very enthusiastically, but this was short-lived because the heavens opened up and drenched us in a downpour that lasted two and a half hours. This was an authentic rain-forest experience! We were rewarded with 30 minutes of birding before the heavens opened up again. During this break we managed to see the following species: Crested Guineafowl, Hairy-breasted Barbet, Blue-throated Brown Sunbird, Narrow-tailed Starling, Red-tailed Greenbul, Crested Malimbe, Fire-crested Woodpecker, African Shrike Flycatcher and Sabine’s Spinetail. When the second downpour started we left to be back in time for the last ferry departure – little did we know…. Midway, our vehicle started to overheat (again!) and we proceeded at a snail’s pace, stopping on a regular basis to cool down the engine. A motorbike and bicycle mechanic in a local village repaired the vehicle to the best of his ability while Maans sent us away discreetly to the local shebeen where we distributed some wealth. The beer was cold and the local woman not so hot. After two hours, well after dark, we were able to finally proceed to the ferry where we left our vehicle and crossed the Albert Nile by boat. A game-drive vehicle from Bwana Tembo Lodge was waiting for us and we concluded the night with a very late dinner. We were all too tired to lift Captain Morgan’s skirt.

Finding a Lifer

Distributing wealth