Uganda - Through the Lens of My Granddaughter

In July 2025 we visited Uganda, Africa with our 16 year old granddaughter (who online we refer to as "Bug"). I had a Canon camera with a Tamron 100 to 600 mm lens that I let her borrow and she learned photography on the fly in Uganda. She took over 1,500 photos and I spent some time using Lightroom, cropping and modifying them a bit. Following are some of my favorite photos she took. Many of them are much, much better than the photos I took of the same animals.

Black and white casqued hornbill at Nkima Forest Lodge outside Entebbe. 

Red-tailed monkey at Nkima Forest Lodge. It was very early in the morning and the light was bad. She was outside our cottage early taking photos of the monkeys. I wasn't even able to get a photo of this monkey's face. 

African jacana in the Mabamba Swamp outside Entebbe. She was able to get the long spindly feet which are so wonderfully weird.

Little egret in the Mabamba Swamp.

Purple heron in the Mabamba Swamp.

Shoebill in the Mabamba Swamp.

Yellow-billed egret in the Mabamba Swamp.

Malachite kingfisher in the Mabamba Swamp.

African swamphen in the Mabamba Swamp.

Long-toed lapwing in the Mabamba Swamp.

White-faced ducks in the Mabamba Swamp. Such a wonderful photo.

Long-tailed cormorant in the Mabamba Swamp.

Hadada ibis in the Mabamba Swamp.

Emerald snake at Nkima Forest Lodge. She discovered this on her own on the patio. She is a lizard and snake magnet. 

Female Finch's agama at Pakuba Lodge in Murchison Falls NP. 

Male finch's agama at Murchison Falls NP.

Chimpanzee at Ngama Island in Lake Victoria. 

Angola swallow at Ngama Island.

Vervet monkey at Nkima Forest Lodge.

Vervet monkey at Nkima Forest Lodge. One of my favorite photos of hers. 

Piapiac (bird) on a white rhino in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.

Piapiacs on a cape buffalo.

Piapiac on an elephant in Murchison Falls NP.

White rhino in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.

Northern bushbuck in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.

Elephants in Murchison Falls NP.

Northern red bishop in Murchison Falls NP.

Ugandan kob in Murchison Falls NP.

Ugandan kob in Murchison Falls NP.

Hippos along the Victoria Nile in Murchison Falls NP.

Male Abyssinian ground hornbill in Murchison Falls NP.

Same as above.

Jackson's hartebeest in Murchison Falls NP.

Oribi in Murchison Falls NP.

Cape buffalo that has been wallowing in mud in Murchison Falls NP.

Olive baboon in Murchison Falls NP.

Gray kestrel in Murchison Falls NP.

Red-throated bee-eater in Murchison Falls NP.

Rothschild giraffe in Murchison Falls NP.

Desfasa waterbuck in Murchison Falls NP.

Rock hyrax in Kidepo Valley NP. I think Bug had a soft spot for these creatures. 

Bush hyrax in Kidepo Falls NP.

African gray hornbill in Kidepo Valley NP.

Maneless zebra in Kidepo Valley NP.

I really like the rusty brown color between the black lines. I think it was darker there than anywhere I've seen. 

Cuckoo finch in Kidepo Valley NP.

Wonderful warthog in Kidepo Valley NP.

Bug got some particularly good photos of the vultures feasting on a kob carcass in Kidepo Valley NP. This is a Ruppell's griffon vulture.

The dark billed vultures are white-backed and the white billed vultures are Ruppell's griffon. 

The red head and neck is evidence that they've been putting their whole head and neck inside the kob under the skin. 

Side-striped jackal in Kidepo Valley NP. This is another animal that captured Bug's heart. 

A great photo of a galloping eland. 

One of several large mushrooms growing in a termite mound. 

Zachary, our ranger in Kidepo Valley NP, took them back to his home and cooked and ate them. 

A west African crocodile that Bug spotted in a boggy part of Kidepo Valley NP. 

A white-headed vulture in Kidepo Valley NP.

Note the particularly funky hairdo. It reminds me of the Joker. 

A Ruppell's starling in Kidepo Valley NP.

A black-winged kite in Kidepo Valley NP.

A hamerkop in Kidepo Valley NP. Bug had problems with the camera and was not taking photos the last part of our trip in Kidepo Valley NP.