Weekend Safari

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Trip Start Sep 13, 2010 Previous
Entry Trip End Dec 22, 2010 Next
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  Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda
Thursday, October 28, 2010

Lions, tigers and bears OH MY…well lions at least.  We arrived in Kampala around noon.  We started at Garden City (the First Lady’s mall) so, that Ian could buy a pair of safari aviators (he wanted to look the part).  After Ian’s purchase we were introduced to a local Muzungu spot called Java Café.  It was pricey but worth it to have a taste of home.  After a delicious lunch, we headed to the craft market to start our Christmas shopping.  We picked up a few really cool things.  Our bartering skills are getting much better.  We then went to our hostel to rest up for our long journey to Murchison Falls and out Safari adventure!
 
Our truck left at 8:30am sharp.  After a 7-hour road trip we reached the turn off for the Falls.  On our way up we apparently just missed a pretty heavy rainstorm.  Lucky for us but unlucky for the 4 school coaches ahead of us on the road trying to make their way back.  With all the chaos our truck got stuck while trying to get around one of the coaches.  We then all had to get out to help push our own bus as well as the massive coach.  While all of this was going on, another coach had managed to back into a tree and was completely jammed.  We soon found out that in addition to that trouble, there was a poisonous snake living in this tree.  So, to be safe one of the drivers felt it necessary to beat it to death with a long stick.  Very interesting.  Finally, after bribing one of the coach drivers with smokes to let us pass, we were on our way. 
 
Reaching the Falls made it all seem worth it.  We did a walking tour and got pretty close to the base.  We got soaking wet; which was nice because we all had bzungu smell!  We got some amazing pics of the Falls.  Next up was a night of rest and relaxation to prepare us for the early start the next day to hunt for the big 5! (lions, elephants, rhinos, giraffes and hippos).
 
The morning was another early start; we left camp at 6:30am to make the ferry  over into the national park.  Once there we found out that our truck only had rear wheel drive, which made the trip very interesting.  Our first hill was a landslide of mud.  Our driver got out of the truck and just laughed.  We all knew he wanted us out so that we could help push.  While walking around the truck and up the hill we saw elephant and lion tracks.  Needless to say, we felt a little uneasy.  Once back in the safety of our truck we couldn’t help but wonder when we would have to get out and push again.  Thankfully with the extreme heat of the morning, the mud dried up and the rest of our journey was bumpy but successful. 
 
The animal tracking started of slow but after a lot of antelope and water buffalo the families of giraffes, elephants and hippos began to appear.  First to make their appearance was a majestic family of giraffes.  Crossing our path and almost posing for a photo shoot, we were all blown away by their beauty and grace.  Very unexpectantly on our way to see elephants we had a very rare spotting of a lioness.  Even more rare were her three cubs following behind.  We then drove closer to the water get a glimpse of a family of hippos.  We didn’t gawk too long because we had a boat ride scheduled for later in the day where we would see many more.  As we moved from the hippos, we were still on the look out for elephants.  We had seen a few families in the distance but nothing too satisfying.  We had nearly given up when we turned a bend to be faced with an enormous elephant right on the side of the road.  Its beauty took us all back.  Unfortunately, that was all short lived when it looked like it might charge us and our guide started insisting that our driver go.  We are still in awe of that beautiful animal and of our great luck to get so close. 
 
After lunch we embarked on a relaxing boat cruise along the Nile.  We sailed 2 hours up steam towards the Falls.  Along the way we spotted dozens of hippos, crocs and beautiful scenery.  After the cruise, we went back to camp for a nice meal, bonfire and some interesting stories from the longest and oldest serving ranger in the park.  It was a nice end to the day,  but we weren’t don’t yet!
 
As a bit of a treat, we were allowed to sleep in until 8am the next morning before we took off for the next adventure – Rhino tracking.  After a long journey, we reached the rhino sanctuary.  The date escapes us now, but in recent history, rhinos were extinct in Uganda so to be able to see them is quite amazing.  We only had to trek 15 minutes into the bush before we found them.  Unfortunately it was quite hot and they were sleeping – but this was a blessing in disguise because we were able to get only feel away from them. 
 
The weekend was long and tiresome but totally worth it!!!!
 
 Lots of love, 
Ian and Jess    

PS. Our camera died by the end of the safari so we didn't get a pic of the elephant.  We are tracking down pics from friends though and will post them soon.        
 
 
  
 
 

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the traffic jam on the way to the Murchison	Can you see the problem	The dead snake and the killer	posing with the Nile
Ian looking suave	Murchison 1	Murchison 2	Murchison 3
Can't get enough of the Nile	Feel the power!	Olly looking pensive	More power!!!
The boys looking tough	what was once a bridge	So calming	local baboons hanging out
Lion tracks	Olly and Jess watching the truck	4wheel drive would have been a good idea	Our first giraffe spotting
Giraffes in the distance	So close and so beautiful	posing for the camera	The lioness
Hippos	Family of hippos	More hippos!	Murchison Falls from our boat
So excited to be on the Nile   Comments!	Duct tape motor - money well spent	pictures cannot do it justice	Ian an Jess on a rock
Warthog	A cactus tree	Chloe and Jess ready to track Rhinos	Single file while lookng for rhinos
They have cows here too!!	Turtle	A sleeping giant - rhino	So you see what I see??!!I
I'm not really scared.	Sleeping rhino	Mama and baby	Papa relaxing
Our ranger	Ele getting ornery	Ele getting ready to charge	Hello Elo   Comments!

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