Borassus aethiopum in habitat (Uganda)

[Hilo Jason]

My family and I just got back from a trip to Uganda. Even though we lived in country for a year and a half back in 2014-2015, we never made it to Murchison Falls National Park. So we took the opportunity to go there on this recent trip. 

Murchison Falls is in Northern Uganda, just south of the S. Sudan border and just east of the Congo border.  At the top of Murchison Falls, the Nile forces its way through a gap in the rocks, only 7 metres wide, and tumbles 43 metres, before flowing westward into Lake Albert.

And the below photo shows the river, after the falls, flowing on its way to Lake Albert:

This area of northern Uganda is home to many Borassus aethiopum. This thread will show some of the many pictures I took in the park.  Sorry some of the quality is not the greatest as I was only on my iPhone and some of these were taken while our vehicle was moving.  But I hope you enjoy.  

 

[Hilo Jason]

Sonrise drive through the park to see Giraffes and many other amazing animals and Borassus!

Getting stared down by a hyena:

[Hilo Jason]

Ugandan Kob give good scale for these large Borassus palms:

Water buffalo standing behind a very large ant / termite mound:

Jackson’s Hartebeest:

[Hilo Jason]

[Hilo Jason]

[Hilo Jason]

[Hilo Jason]

This area is also home to many large Sausage Trees - Kigelia Africana:

 

Thanks for looking! 

[Kris]

Beautiful visuals...Thanks

Love,

Kris.

 

[realarch]

Beautiful photos Jason.......wow!

Tim

 

 

[palmfriend]

I LOVE palmtalk for this!! 

Thank you so much for sharing!

Lars

 

[Daryl]

Thanks for the photos...good to see something different!

[Darold Petty]

Jason, thanks very much for these great photos !

[PalmatierMeg]

Wonderful habitat photos, Jason. Looks like new generations of Borassus are coming along. I have 2 B. flabellifer but have never seen B. aethiopium. When I went to Cuba in 2014 I saw a whole grove of sausage trees. My husband loved them and planted a young one on our property.

[sonoranfans]

Great photos Jason, nothing quite like habitat photos of these huge fan palms!

[mike in kurtistown]

A unique and fascinating set of photos. Thanks, Jason.

[bgl]

Outstanding photos, Jason! What a fascinating place to visit! Thanks for posting.

Bo-Göran

[Palm Tree Jim]

Thanks for sharing Jason.

 

[Tracy]

17 hours ago, Hilo Jason said:

 

Jason any idea what the spectacular tree is in this photo.  I also wanted to ;point out its great to see some smaller Borassus specimens in habitat among the bigger ones so that we know it is actually regenerating in habitat.  Thanks for sharing, looks like a great trip and hopefully the family had an opportunity to see some old friends while you were there!

[Chris Chance]

Wow Jason looks like an awesome trip! Seeing Borassus in habit is amazing. 

[Palmcycasnut]

Great pictures! I've been looking for seeds, all i can find are flabellifer. Does anyone have any or know anyone that has some seeds to sell?

[hbernstein]

20 hours ago, Tracy said:

Jason any idea what the spectacular tree is in this photo.  I also wanted to ;point out its great to see some smaller Borassus specimens in habitat among the bigger ones so that we know it is actually regenerating in habitat.  Thanks for sharing, looks like a great trip and hopefully the family had an opportunity to see some old friends while you were there!

It looks like an Acacia sp.

[Hilo Jason]

23 hours ago, Tracy said:

Jason any idea what the spectacular tree is in this photo.  I also wanted to ;point out its great to see some smaller Borassus specimens in habitat among the bigger ones so that we know it is actually regenerating in habitat.  Thanks for sharing, looks like a great trip and hopefully the family had an opportunity to see some old friends while you were there!

Sorry Tracy, I'm not very good with IDs outside of the palm world.  I too was wondering this when I was there and probably should have asked our tour guide in the park that day.  

As for the smaller specimens, yes they were everywhere.  Many looked rough, but it's a very harsh climate out there, plus the wild animals that are very plentiful.  Also, I do remember the tour guide telling us that the park burns large areas of the park every year to keep the grasses down.  So that explained a lot of the burnt look I saw on some of these.  I imagine that burning probably hinders many of the young palms from maturing, but as you can see in the photos, they are pretty plentiful and I think they are just tough palms!  Similar to Washingtonia in California.  

It was a great trip overall and we did get to reconnect with so many friends and people we consider family after living there for quite awhile.   The only downside about the trip is the travel time from the big island to Uganda.  You almost can't get further away on the globe!  

[Hilo Jason]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback on these photos.  Glad you enjoyed them.  

[Hilo Jason]

I found a few more photos on my wife’s phone that I wanted to share. These were all taken from a boat that we were on along the Nile river.

a large group of hippos with an old Borassus:

some elephants that had come to get a drink:

[Hilo Jason]

Approaching the falls:

This African Oil palm along the side of the river was the only one I saw in the National Park.  Murchison Falls is in the background.  

This is about as close to the falls as the boat would get:

Ok, I think that’s it. Enjoy!

[Sabal Steve]

Great photos, Jason.  Livin’ the dream!

[Tracy S]

Just finished reading African Game Trails book by Theodore roosevelt.  It describe his trip to east africa, including Uganda where he was collecting game specimens for the Smithsonian. He described the animals and plants that are in your pictures. It's amazing to see the pictures that match his descriptions.

Jason, thanks for sharing these puctures.