After an easy mornings travel we found ourselves driving through the most beautiful, thick canopied forest. This was the Royal Mile, a section of dense forest belonging to the king and thus protected. It is not a national park, there are no entrance fees and no wardens or rangers. No trees are allowed to be cut down and no hunting is allowed within its perimeters, creating a “real” ecosystem surviving on its own.
Next to this forest we found a campsite for the night. Unfortunately the campsite was very run down and nothing was working, but the forest was so beautiful, that we decided to stay the night.
After setting up camp
we set off down a trail into the forest, and as so often is the case, we wanted to look for birds. However, the forest is extremely dense blocking out sunlight and sound equally effectively, making it very difficult to find and identify any birds at all. We were still fascinated though,
as there are 389 different species of butterfly to be found. All we did was follow one beautiful butterfly after the next, leading us ever deeper into the forest. We had to make sure to remember the right path back though, as all paths look the same in the little light that filters through the canopy.
Here we also spotted our first Blue Monkeys, as well as the Red Tailed Guenon Monkey. Although this was not the first time we saw them, the Black and White Colobus were very vocal and prevalent, almost seeming to shadow us through the forest. There is also a very large family of Chimpanzees that can be tracked, but we saw no sign of them.
We enjoyed our walk through the forest so much, that only the rain forced us to return to camp. Here we huddled under a small shelter waiting for the rain to stop.
During the night the noises of the forest kept us awake for some time. Most notably we heard a primal scream. Sometimes increasing in volume, then dying off, then starting all over again. Considering the forest we were in, we weren’t sure what could cause this shrieking. In the morning we learned that the noise was created by the Tree Hyraxes, with the pitch of the scream changing when the hyrax either climbs up or down the tree.
Fascinating and beautiful as the forest was, our goal was Murchison Falls National Park. So after a fascinating day and an interesting night we set off once again.
