![]() ![]() Even if you don't see one of the big birds, the trip is still well worth it. I would definitely agree with the positive reviews here, both for the time spent at Mabamba and with our experience with Mabamba Shoebill Tours. It was interesting to meet some local people and see big bags of charcoal being loaded into the boats to be sold in Entebbe. A bonus that I'm not sure is included in every tour or not was a stop at Bussi Island, which is home to farmers, fishermen, and charcoal makers. Shoebills are found in East Africa’s freshwater swamps and marshes, including Uganda, Sudan, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia. They are sometimes referred to as ‘ whalehead ‘. They may be big, but they can fly if they want to. The shoebill is a large, elusive, stalk-like bird with an almost prehistoric appearance, due to its oversized shoe-shaped beak. Here are seven reasons to love this big bird: 1. Despite his prehistoric appearance and the craziness that is his proportions, the shoebill stork is actually quite endearing if you bother to dig a little deeper. You will want to bring a few snacks of your own, and definitely your own binoculars and telephoto lenses. He has massive feet, an enormous beak and is very, very tall for a bird. Mabama Shoebill Tours provided water, biscuits, and two umbrellas in case of rain (it didn't). There were handshakes all around for a dedicated job of guiding us to see it, and it was of course the highlight of the trip out. Finally as we were just about to admit defeat, around a corner was a Shoebill and we were able to observe and photograph it at length. He would not give up the hunt, even as our time on the tour grew longer than planned (no complaints from us though!). Without any prompting for us, Vincent worked as hard as he could, standing on the bow of the boat and constantly scanning the marsh for the illusive bird. The shoebill stork, also commonly referred to as whalehead, whale head stork, or just shoebill is a large swamp-dwelling bird found in east Africa. The ultimate quest, however, the unique and magnificent Shoebill, was difficult to find. Even though we chose to go in the afternoon, there was a steady stream of birds, and Vincent and the other boatmen were constantly scouting ahead to point them out to us. After a slightly wave-y trip across the lake (expertly piloted, however), we got into smaller boats and were given an extensive tour of the swamp lands, going in and out of many lush green channels. They accommodated our group of seven for an afternoon trip from a same-day inquiry, There was a reasonable charge for picking us up, as we were staying further out in Entebbe than most hotels, which was fine with us for the convenience of being picked up and returned to our hotel. Based on good recommendations here, we booked with Mabama Shoebill Tours and they were great. As an avid wildlife photographer, I was eager to see the birds of Mabamba Swamp from the water. ![]()
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