Advice on a birding trip in Uganda (2 Viewers)

[Torcol]

Hello,

I would like to visit Uganda next year and I have a few questions.
I plan to go with a birding company because I suppose it's very difficult to organize everything alone in Africa.
I have a good knowledge of European birds but I'm nowhere a pro, I fear lagging behind other participants as it is an area where nearly any birds will be new for me and I will surely not recognize anything by myself. Is that a problem ? Especially since I'm not a native english speaker.

Last January I took a week of holiday in Gran Canaria. I booked a one day birding trip with a local guide as to not pester my wife all the week. There was another customer and I realized that he had a very different approach to birding. We had very good views of laurel pigeons but he just glanced at them for 30 seconds. The guide managed to find the blue chaffinches and once it was done he came back to the car while we searched for more birds. The guide managed to balance our two styles so it was good but if I pay a large sum to go to Uganda I want to spend as much time as possible in the field. I'm worried to be with listers only that dont want to "waste" time looking at the birds or very experienced birders that just want one specific bird and are not interested by the other ones.

Finally I'm not a photographer but I like to do record shots of the birds especially new species. For some skulking species it can means taking some time to get a decent view. Is it done during a birding trip or does the guide says "in this bush you have this warbler singing now let's move to our next stop"

Thanks in advance for your help and advices !

 

[Mike Crawley]

I went to Costa Rica in February.
I spent a couple of months going through the field guide, Google and YouTube for information about the birds I hoped to encounter.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

In addition to going through a field guide, I find doing quizzes quite useful preparation for places I don't know well. The Ebird quiz system works well for this:

eBird Photo + Sound Quiz

Practice your skills. Help science.

ebird.org

in Uganda, you could potentially make arrangements with a Ugandan guide. That's likely to be cheaper than booking on an organised tour and it should mean you can do things more your own way.
Uganda is actually pretty easy to do independently, if you want to. Last year I had a very successful trip there, mostly self-driving, booking my own accommodation and using local guides. I used Roadtrip Uganda for car rental. You can also hire a driver with them if you wish, at fairly low cost:

Self-drive holidays in Uganda | Roadtrip Africa

Embark on a roadtrip and explore Uganda on your own terms. Our self-drive or guided Uganda packages include 4x4 car rental with camp gear or pre-arranged hotels.

www.roadtripafrica.com

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

I went through birding pals, ended up with a group of 5 birders from a range of countries; our guide managed to keep us all happy. The key will be the approach to photography; if you are happy to get a decent chance of a photo of most species, fine, but if you need the time to get a photo of every skulker then there may be friction with some non-photographers.

 

[Sangahyando]

Hello,

I would like to visit Uganda next year and I have a few questions.
I plan to go with a birding company because I suppose it's very difficult to organize everything alone in Africa.
I have a good knowledge of European birds but I'm nowhere a pro, I fear lagging behind other participants as it is an area where nearly any birds will be new for me and I will surely not recognize anything by myself. Is that a problem ? Especially since I'm not a native english speaker.

If you're not a native speaker, it might be a good idea to get a hold of a list of birds of the region with scientific names included, so you can compare the English names from your field notes later. Some tour companies might also provide you with such a list or other means to keep track of your sightings. Obviously (baggage load permitting), you might also want to bring a field guide for the region, in your case e.g. Birds of East Africa by Stevenson and Fanshawe. Or an app, if the book is too cumbersome.

Last January I took a week of holiday in Gran Canaria. I booked a one day birding trip with a local guide as to not pester my wife all the week. There was another customer and I realized that he had a very different approach to birding. We had very good views of laurel pigeons but he just glanced at them for 30 seconds. The guide managed to find the blue chaffinches and once it was done he came back to the car while we searched for more birds. The guide managed to balance our two styles so it was good but if I pay a large sum to go to Uganda I want to spend as much time as possible in the field. I'm worried to be with listers only that dont want to "waste" time looking at the birds or very experienced birders that just want one specific bird and are not interested by the other ones.

I think you had the right idea, and it touches upon a very common concern for birding in groups, i.e. different styles and interests. The way I see it, it's best to find a company that matches your own preferences, i.e. read their tour descriptions closely and ask them which style the specific tours cater to. There are some tours that are designed with photographers as the target demographic, while others are aimed at getting as many species as possible. Still others may try to attempt a compromise. Etc.
It's also worth noting that very experienced birders who are only going for a few select target species are more likely to go on their own self-organised tours and not bother the newbies or people with broader interests, but of course that's not guaranteed and there are some oddballs out there.

Finally I'm not a photographer but I like to do record shots of the birds especially new species. For some skulking species it can means taking some time to get a decent view. Is it done during a birding trip or does the guide says "in this bush you have this warbler singing now let's move to our next stop"

Thanks in advance for your help and advices !

Generally speaking, a competent guide will want to ensure that everyone in the group gets a look at every bird that is new for that specific tour. Oftentimes, that's not enough for a brilliant picture, but record shots should be possible even with the more ambitious tours. Of course, sometimes a bird just doesn't want to show.

 

[Torcol]

Thanks for your answers

I went to Costa Rica in February.
I spent a couple of months going through the field guide, Google and YouTube for information about the birds I hoped to encounter.

Yes it sounds like a good idea.

In addition to going through a field guide, I find doing quizzes quite useful preparation for places I don't know well. The Ebird quiz system works well for this:

eBird Photo + Sound Quiz

Practice your skills. Help science.

ebird.org

in Uganda, you could potentially make arrangements with a Ugandan guide. That's likely to be cheaper than booking on an organised tour and it should mean you can do things more your own way.
Uganda is actually pretty easy to do independently, if you want to. Last year I had a very successful trip there, mostly self-driving, booking my own accommodation and using local guides. I used Roadtrip Uganda for car rental. You can also hire a driver with them if you wish, at fairly low cost:

Self-drive holidays in Uganda | Roadtrip Africa

Embark on a roadtrip and explore Uganda on your own terms. Our self-drive or guided Uganda packages include 4x4 car rental with camp gear or pre-arranged hotels.

www.roadtripafrica.com

I didn't know Uganda was doable solo with a local guide. I will look into this, thanks for the information.

I went through birding pals, ended up with a group of 5 birders from a range of countries; our guide managed to keep us all happy. The key will be the approach to photography; if you are happy to get a decent chance of a photo of most species, fine, but if you need the time to get a photo of every skulker then there may be friction with some non-photographers.

Yes I admit that I like to get a shot of every new specie even if it's a brown cisticola of some sort so it could be annoying for non photographers in a group.

Generally speaking, a competent guide will want to ensure that everyone in the group gets a look at every bird that is new for that specific tour. Oftentimes, that's not enough for a brilliant picture, but record shots should be possible even with the more ambitious tours. Of course, sometimes a bird just doesn't want to show.

Records shots are just what I expect but yes I suppose if I decide to go with a company I should choose carefully if their style will be good for me.

 

[Jim M.]

Hello,

I would like to visit Uganda next year and I have a few questions.
I plan to go with a birding company because I suppose it's very difficult to organize everything alone in Africa.
I have a good knowledge of European birds but I'm nowhere a pro, I fear lagging behind other participants as it is an area where nearly any birds will be new for me and I will surely not recognize anything by myself. Is that a problem ? Especially since I'm not a native english speaker.

Last January I took a week of holiday in Gran Canaria. I booked a one day birding trip with a local guide as to not pester my wife all the week. There was another customer and I realized that he had a very different approach to birding. We had very good views of laurel pigeons but he just glanced at them for 30 seconds. The guide managed to find the blue chaffinches and once it was done he came back to the car while we searched for more birds. The guide managed to balance our two styles so it was good but if I pay a large sum to go to Uganda I want to spend as much time as possible in the field. I'm worried to be with listers only that dont want to "waste" time looking at the birds or very experienced birders that just want one specific bird and are not interested by the other ones.

Finally I'm not a photographer but I like to do record shots of the birds especially new species. For some skulking species it can means taking some time to get a decent view. Is it done during a birding trip or does the guide says "in this bush you have this warbler singing now let's move to our next stop"

Thanks in advance for your help and advices !

Hi,

I have been on about 20 tours with about eight different companies. It is standard practice on commercial bird tours to permit time for record shots of any bird seen. It is also assumed that everyone wants to see the bird – not just hear it. So a lot of the time on tours with skulking birds is often spent trying to get a view. So you shouldn't have any concerns about those issues.

On every tour I have been on, there has been a wide variation among the participants in the level of knowledge and previous experience with the birds in the region. So everyone understands that there will be compromises, and generally the tour guide will make every effort to accommodate even the least experienced and knowledgeable person. And I would say that on most tours there are going to be several participants who are going to be pretty clueless about what birds they are seeing until they are told. So I wouldn't have any concerns about that either. However, I will note that I expect that Uganda is an infrequent choice for birders to go on a first tour of Africa. I think South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania are more usual choices.

I second the recommendation to prepare for a tour via quizzes or other forms of study. I personally am somewhat of a fanatic about that – I download thousands of photos and create simple flashcards to help me learn how to recognize the birds I'm going to see.

Finally, if you're going to be on a tour where the language is english, you will obviously need to learn the common names of the birds in english. If that is going be a problem, you should see if you can find tours run in your language of choice.

Hope this helps,
Jim

 

[Steve Babbs]

It very easy to do yourself, and many people do, although you will need guides to see some things, the pitta and gorillas being the obvious ones, in fact to walk anywhere in forest reserves except along the roads. The idea that all of Africa is difficult to do independently is something of a myth: South Africa and Namibia are extremely easy as was, the admittedly small, part of Tanzania which I went to. You will obviously need a 4WD.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Just another comment on the ease of independent travel in Uganda - I have travelled fairly extensively in most of Africa and, agreeing with views expressed by Steve etc, Uganda is one of the easiest and safest on the continent to do independently. Independent travel to South Africa and Namibia is essentially identical in terms of ease to independent travel in Europe. Uganda is a little more demanding, yes you need a 4WD to some parts, you need to organise permits to reserves for the gorillas etc, but it is straightforward and just takes a little pretrip planning.

 

[Steve Babbs]

Car hire companies will sort out gorilla permits for a small fee.

 

[Mysticete]

A lot of companies will offer tours geared towards folks into photography. It might be useful to look into such a tour if there are concerns over photography. My sense is that while a lot of tours are fine with spending enough time on getting shots of birds, depending upon your skill level as a photography and how thorough you are with your photography, there could be tension. After all, a tour is limited in time and often is expected to cover a wide swath of habitats and sites, with the expectation of a reasonably large trip list. You don't want to be the guy that is dragging the pace of the tour down, making things less fun for everyone else.

Downside is that if you go with this approach you may see a greater focus with the guides on birds that make good photography targets, and there will be less of a focus on wracking up a large trip list.

When in doubt, always email the company and guide, and get there thoughts.

 

[Jim M.]

Independent travel to South Africa and Namibia is essentially identical in terms of ease to independent travel in Europe.

Torcol,

Personally, I wouldn't go on a first trip to Africa independently unless I had lots of time to do exhaustive research beforehand or was going with someone who had been before. There are obviously lots of things you will encounter in sub-saharan Africa you won't encounter in Europe. You don't have to worry about being attacked by a lion or hippo if you get out of your car in Europe, or being attacked in your car by an elephant, or having food stolen by aggressive baboons or monkeys, etc. And crime rates are of course significantly higher in places like South Africa than Europe.

 

[Jim M.]

A lot of companies will offer tours geared towards folks into photography. It might be useful to look into such a tour if there are concerns over photography.

Dedicated bird photography tours will do things like spend a lot of time trying to get the "perfect" shot of common, yet attractive birds. The original poster says he only wants record shots, so I expect he would be bored or feel frustrated on such a tour. Especially when most of the birds are going to be new to him and spending more time on one may mean missing out on others. In any event, I am a pretty keen photographer myself, but I have never felt rushed or have had complaints from others on regular birding tours if I spend a little time trying to get a better shot of a bird.

The only time I remember photography creating tension on the more than 20 tours I have been on was when a guy who taught photography courses was on a regular tour, but wanted to spend time waiting to try to get the perfect shot of a bird on a nest that we had already photographed well. That was when I complained that the tour was not a dedicated photography tour. But that only happened once on the tour.

 

[Steve Babbs]

And crime rates are of course significantly higher in places like South Africa than Europe.

It's getting away from Uganda but on a trip to South Africa - which was my first trip to Africa, I suspect the cheapest place in Africa and the place I'd most recommend - you would spend most of the time in the national parks where the crime rate is very close to zero. My son first went to South Africa (he's been four times) when he was three, my daughter four. I may take risks with my own safety but not theirs.

I was travelling in Uganda with my wife and daughter and I never felt in the slightest worried although I did have to do pretty rapid step backs from hippos. But that would be the same on a tour: they wander around hotel grounds.

A tour will get you more 'ticks' but you can spend as much or as little time as you wish with a bird on an independent trip and they're a lot cheaper.

I do realise that some people find independent travel a bit worrying.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Torcol,

Personally, I wouldn't go on a first trip to Africa independently unless I had lots of time to do exhaustive research beforehand or was going with someone who had been before. There are obviously lots of things you will encounter in sub-saharan Africa you won't encounter in Europe. You don't have to worry about being attacked by a lion or hippo if you get out of your car in Europe, or being attacked in your car by an elephant, or having food stolen by aggressive baboons or monkeys, etc. And crime rates are of course significantly higher in places like South Africa than Europe.

In Namibia for example, none of that is true - crime rates low, danger from animals not an issue outside Etosha and other national parks (where a modicum of normal sense will serve well). Obviously, all folks are different, but first timers can visit Africa independently without any issue.

 

[Steve Babbs]

In Namibia for example, none of that is true - crime rates low, danger from animals not an issue outside Etosha and other national parks (where a modicum of normal sense will serve well). Obviously, all folks are different, but first timers can visit Africa independently without a y issue.

Ironically Namibia (Windhoek) is the only place where I've had an issue. Someone grabbed by wife's bag; someone else grabbed it back and returned it.

 

[Mysticete]

Dedicated bird photography tours will do things like spend a lot of time trying to get the "perfect" shot of common, yet attractive birds. The original poster says he only wants record shots, so I expect he would be bored or feel frustrated on such a tour. Especially when most of the birds are going to be new to him and spending more time on one may mean missing out on others. In any event, I am a pretty keen photographer myself, but I have never felt rushed or have had complaints from others on regular birding tours if I spend a little time trying to get a better shot of a bird.

The only time I remember photography creating tension on the more than 20 tours I have been on was when a guy who taught photography courses was on a regular tour, but wanted to spend time waiting to try to get the perfect shot of a bird on a nest that we had already photographed well. That was when I complained that the tour was not a dedicated photography tour. But that only happened once on the tour.

Yeah it was hard exactly for me to gauge his level of photography interest. As described he seems maybe more into it than some birders but not as into it as someone who is hardcore into photography.

He might be fine on a normal tour, as long as he avoids some of the more intense bird companies like Birdquest. And of course this is always going to be relative, since the group you are with will influence things quite a bit.

 

[Jim M.]

Obviously, all folks are different, but first timers can visit Africa independently without any issue.

If you read my post again, I didn't deny that. My point was that you would need to learn a lot before going there independently. Nothing in Europe, for example, is going to teach you what wild lions, hippos, or elephants are capable of or are likely to do – I don't think there is any "normal sense" about that.

 

[Jos Stratford]

If you read my post again, I didn't deny that. My point was that you would need to learn a lot before going there independently. Nothing in Europe, for example, is going to teach you what wild lions, hippos, or elephants are capable of or are likely to do – I don't think there is any "normal sense" about that.

Italian was killed by a bear two weeks ago hiking in the hills of northern Italy

 

[Andy Adcock]

In Namibia for example, none of that is true - crime rates low, danger from animals not an issue outside Etosha and other national parks (where a modicum of normal sense will serve well). Obviously, all folks are different, but first timers can visit Africa independently without any issue.

Three words,
'Baboon', 'back' 'seat'................