Maramagambo Forest is among the biggest forests located in Queen Elizabeth national park-Uganda one of the leading tourist destinations to visit on your Safari in Uganda. Maramagambo is a local word that means “short of words” and according to history, the forest got its name following an event where a group of people got lost within during their nature walk and by the time they were found, these were too tired to talk, in other words, they were all short of words. The locals believed that that had everything to do with the forest thus the name.
It is a big and mature forest covering some part of the Albertine rift, cuts across the central parts of Queen Elizabeth Park originating from areas around Kichwamba escarpments proceeding towards Lake Edwards. There is so much that this forest offers to both the locals and the visitors in the region.
What to expect from Maramagambo
Primates
If you happened to go for a walk in this forest, you can expect to see lots of primates because this forest is a home to about 7primates species. There are primates like the chimpanzees; there are different types of monkeys which include the L’hoests, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, the blue monkeys, baboons, among others. There are also the bush babies as well as the pottos which are commonly seen in the night since they are nocturnal. Presence of these animals makes it a great primate watching site on your Uganda Safari Tour, among so many locations across the country and in the long run makes Uganda a great primate safari destination.
Bird species
Maramagambo forest is also a great birding destination. There is plenty of birds found in this forest therefore the bird watchers will definitely find the place really amazing since you will be able spot hundreds of birds from the moment you enter into the Jungle. There are birds like the Forest Flycatchers, the Rwenzori turaco, the White Naped Pigeons, white tailed lark, black rumped buttonquail and black Bee eaters, among so many others. The bird watching a great tourism activity done in various places and attracts hundreds of tourists from different parts of the world.
The bat caves
During your visit to Maramagambo, you can go for walks and this can be any kind of walk you wish to have for example it can be a forest walk and during this, you should have a trained UWA guide to help you spot things like the unique tree species, birds, animals, insects and whatever you may otherwise miss seeing, help you find the route and also keep you safe while in the jungle. You can also go check out the bat caves which are under the forest canopy. This is an activity that you should never miss if you are really interested in seeing them in plenty. Viewing is done from a room built with fund from centre for disease control, it’s within this room that tourists watch both the bats and python snakes which very common in the area too.
The walk to the bat caves is very popular because it is very interesting to both the local and foreign tourists who visit Maramagambo forest. Within these bat caves, there are thousands of bats often seen resting since they are active in the night. All nature walks done in this forest are made easy by following the already marked trails/ paths to follow.
If you want to have more of the cave experiences, you can also visit places like the Nyanzibiri historical caves and there, you will have a local guide to give you all the history of the caves which makes the Uganda safari Tour more exciting and adventurous.
