Mabira Forest Herping Adventure!
I came to Uganda after spending over 3 months in the South African bush, completing the FGASA Field Guiding course. The course was incredible, it had us tracking Elephants and Lions and I learned more about African Wildlife than I could have ever imagined I would! However, I was craving something new.
My passion for reptiles has been strong, ever since I was a little boy. Now, at age 36 I am craving a good old-fashioned Herping trip!
We dropped our stuff off at the Air BNB and headed to the location in Mabira Forest Reserve, where we met our two guides. We followed the two guides through a small village, across some fields and finally, into the forest. The rain had stopped, but the ground was very wet, so we carefully negotiated the muddy trail.
We searched around the tropical forest for a few hours. The forest was dense, green and lush with the sounds of tropical birds all around us!
After a few hours of enjoying the sights and sounds of the rainforest, we went back to the village where we had started our trek. Emmy mentioned that he knew a spot where we could probably see some Chameleons, and its just a sort walk. Along the way, we hunted down various species of frogs and toads in a pond off the side of the dirt road. Then we came to a hedged area and before long, we started spotting these little baby Chameleons all over the place! Then an adult female and an adult male! Awesome way to end the day!
We had an early start the next morning. Unfortunately it was pouring rain again, but we were going to give it our best shot anyway. We were searching in a fringe habitat; where the thick tropical rainforest bordered a small agricultural field.
One of our guides yells something from within the bush. Mukasa - “come on, he's found something!!”. We followed the guide’s voice, through the bush and into a small opening, where he stood proudly next to a stunningly beautiful, Rhinoceros Viper!
I had to take a moment to just stare at this thing! The snake was calmly sitting in some low-hanging branches, probably getting up off the saturated ground. We gently repositioned the animal for a few photo’s. It was calm and un-offended by this. We wanted to disturb the snake as little as possible, so after taking a few photos the guide gently picked him up and placed him back in the spot where we found him.
What an incredible experience to see this beautiful animal (which up to this point, I’d only ever seen in books), just existing in its natural habitat!