In Search of the Shoebill
Deep in Uganda’s papyrus wetlands, we went searching for a bird that looks as though it belongs to another age
Birthdays on the road are rarely conventional, and in Uganda Richard gave me one I’ll never forget: a boat trip into the Mabamba wetlands in search of the extraordinary Shoebill. We moved quietly through dense papyrus while our guide scanned the reeds for a bird that can seem almost too strange to be real.
In Uganda, Richard surprised me with a Birthday boat trip into the Mabamba wetlands where we poled silently through dense papyrus in search of one of the world’s rarest birds.
After hours of keen-eyed searching, our guide raised a finger and whispered, “Shoebill.” Time seemed to pause. When the Shoebill finally emerged, prehistoric, immense, utterly self-possessed, I felt that familiar catch in my throat.
There are only twelve of these birds left in this region.
Twelve.
And here was one, blinking at us as if time were irrelevant.
Seeing something so rare carried its own strange weight. The joy of the encounter sat alongside the knowledge that the world it depends on is becoming increasingly fragile.
Excerpt from : The Accidental Motorcyclist, 2026
