Safari

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight… We headed to Murchison Falls Park, which is located in the northwestern part of Uganda and is southwest from Gulu. We left at 10:30 am on Saturday morning and proceeded to drive along the most ridiculous road… actually I would not even call it a road. It was a cleared area of potholes and massive crevices. Our driver, Dennis, insisted on driving about mock 4, so we were bouncing all over the place. It was the most ridiculous ride, and it lasted 3 hours. Wait, I take that back, it lasted 2 hours and 50 minutes; we rode on a paved road for about 10, which was absolute heaven. At one point, I looked at Lindsey, who is my mutatu partner, and said that I would rather walk and it take 9 hours to get there.
Murchison Falls Park used to be one of Africa’s best national parks; however in the 1960’s, poachers and military almost wiped out the animals. It is quickly making a comeback, and it is easy to understand the draw to this place. The landscape alone is absolutely breathtaking. When we arrived at the entrance, we were told that we still have an hour drive to get to the Nile and our boat tour. As we drove down another bumpy road, I was blown away by the vegetation and the sky. It just went on for miles; the yellow grasses gave way to green trees that gave way to bluish hills that gave way to a gorgeous blue sky and white cumulus clouds. It is scenes like those that confirm my belief in God and his power. That beauty cannot be done by accident. After driving about 20 minutes down this road, we began to see deer like creatures. Officially their names were Kob, Arribe, and Jackson Heart of Beast. They would prick their ears up as we drove by and every so often, they would prance away. Talk about graceful and beautiful to watch. We then saw Cape Buffalo, and while I would not describe them as beautiful, I would say they were impressive. We passed a mud hole, and one was submerged and covered in mud. They say it is to suffocate the ticks on its body, but it was hysterical to see.
Then the giraffes…Standing 20 yards (I think… I don’t really know distances) away from the road and absolutely breathtaking. If you looked at them with a critical eye, I guess that would not seem pretty. Let me tell you, they are majestic. When they move, it is with graceful fluidity, and even running, they seem like they have all of the time in the world. I could have stayed there and watched them all day. However we kept moving as we head to meet the boat for our Nile tour. Next we saw a herd of elephants. Again…wow. They were further away but still amazing.
We finally made it to the Nile. This section is called the Victoria Nile river, and it flows into Lake Albert. We waited about 15 minutes for the boat to arrive; once it did, we headed up river towards Murchison Falls. Our guide’s name Emmy, and he was very informative, especially about the birds, which I was not very interested in. We saw hippos first, and they were mostly submerged. He told us not to worry that we would see many more ahead. And he was right. As we moved farther up river, we saw pods of hippos, and they were beautiful. They look so peaceful just hanging out in the water, so it is hard to imagine that they can be pretty dangerous. We saw several baby hippos that were absolutely adorable. At one point, we saw a pod of about 15 hippos; something startled them, and they all jumped out of the water and began running. You would think because of their size, they would not be able to move very fast, but that is not true. These animals can move quickly both on land and in water. It was a sight to see. At one point, we saw a hippo in front of us in the water; he went below the surface. The next thing we know, he surfaces under our boat and nails us. All I could think was that he was going to capsize the boat, and I was going to be feeding the crocs. It was a little unnerving.
As the day drew on, it got closer to feeding time for the crocodiles, so they began to come into the water. All I can say is that these animals are scary. They are enormous; evidently Nile crocs are some of the biggest in the world. They are creepy, and it seems like they are skulking around the water. We saw a couple get close to a pod of hippos, and we thought there was going to be a rumble. They all submerged, so I have no idea what happened underwater, and I was not about to get in the Nile to find out.
We finally got to Murchison Falls, and it was gorgeous. The water that moves through there is super powerful, and it was so gorgeous. We hung out there for about 15 minutes taking pictures and just soaking it in. I sat there and took a deep breath and just looked. When I am back in America and caught up in the ridiculous details that make up my existence, I will remember that view and know to slow down and appreciate life.
For the boat ride back, I got down in the bottom of the boat, took two life jackets to use as pillows and fell asleep. It was heaven and one of my favorite moments- being in a boat on water. We arrived at our destination and picked up our mutatus to take us where we would be spending the night. We stayed at the Red Chili, where you sleep in tents. Sharon and I shared a tent for two, and it consists of two single beds and a table. I ate a dinner of chicken curry, which was delicious, wrote in my journal and went to sleep. Getting only 3 hours of sleep the night before finally caught up with me.
On Sunday, our departure for the morning game drive was 6:15 am. We piled back into the mutatu and headed back to the Nile to take the ferry across the river. It was a gorgeous sunrise, and yet again, I was so inspired by the beauty around me. Once we crossed the river, we met our guide, named Toban, who joined us in the mutatu. We began the drive by seeing baboons. Several of them had babies on their bellies, and the babies look nothing like the adult baboons. They look more like chimpanzees, so of course that started all kind of jokes referring to “baby daddies”. Once we got away from the baboons, we were able to climb onto the top of the mutatu. Those baboons are very grabby and will take things out of your hands and out of the mutatus. And the drive began. Again, words cannot describe the beauty of this land. We drove for 4 hours and saw many animals again. The only animal we did not see was lions, but the others more than made up for it. As I rode on top of the mutatu, all I could think of was, “I am in Africa looking at these amazing animals in their habitat. I am a fortunate person and am grateful to be alive.”
I wish everyone could come to Africa and see what I have seen. I think viewpoints would change immediately, and people would see that it not a place that should be ignored any longer. I hope you are able to read President Obama’s speech that he gave this week in Ghana. It really hits on Africa, and whether Americans want to admit it or not, we are connected to Africans here and should be concerned about their welfare. In the selfish sense, what happens in Africa affects America. Uganda is a country of absolute beauty in both its landscape and people. There are so many opportunities here now, and Ugandans are ready to grab them and make life better. I love this place and will be so sad when I leave.