Rubondo National Park
A pair of fish eagles guards the gentle bay, their distinctive black, white, and chestnut feather pattern gleaming boldly in the morning sun.
Suddenly, the birds toss back their heads in a piercing, evocative duet. On the sandbank below, a well-fed monster
of a crocodile snaps to life, startled from its nap. It stampedes through the crunchy undergrowth, crashing into
the water in front of the boat, invisible except for a pair of sentry-post eyes that peek menacingly
above the surface to monitor our movements.
Rubondo Island is tucked in the southwest corner of Lake Victoria, the world’s second-largest lake,
an inland sea sprawling between Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. With nine smaller islands
under its wing, Rubondo protects precious fish breeding grounds.
Rubondo Island National Park
The shaggy-coated aquatic sitatunga, elsewhere the most elusive of antelopes, is remarkably easily observed,
not only in the papyrus swamps it normally inhabits, but also in the forest interior. Birds are everywhere.
Flocks of African grey parrots – released onto the island after they were confiscated from illegal
exporters – screech in comic discord as they flap furiously between the trees.
The azure brilliance of a malachite kingfisher perched low on the reeds competes with the glamorous,
flowing tail of a paradise flycatcher as it flits through the lakeshore forest. Herons, storks, and spoonbills proliferate
in the swampy lake fringes, supplemented by thousands of Eurasian migrants during the northern winter.
Wild jasmine, 40 different orchids, and a smorgasbord of sweet, indefinable smells emanate from the forest.
Ninety percent of the park is humid forest; the remainder ranges from open grassland to lakeside papyrus beds.
Several indigenous mammal species – hippo, vervet monkey, genet, and mongoose – share their protected
habitat with introduced species such as chimpanzee, black-and-white colobus,
elephant, and giraffe, all of which benefit from Rubondo’s inaccessibility.