Murchison Falls National Park Safari

We left Saturday immediately after the conference to take (quite possibly) the most miserable mutatu ride ever to Murchison Falls National Park. Calling it a road would be like calling a double bacon cheeseburger healthy.
The safari was amazing. We did both the land safari and the river safari on Sunday. Even though I did this trip last year while here, it never ceases to amaze me how beautiful it is to see these animals in their habitat. I have decided that my favorite animal is the giraffe; they are so graceful. Francis, our guide, said that giraffes are so peaceful and easy going. They don’t fight; they are just calm. We also saw oribbe, heart of beasts, kobs (the Ugandan animal); these are all DLTs (deer like things); they are pretty cool to watch as well. The elephants were awesome; we saw several babies, which is so great to know that the population is rebuilding. One the river safari, we saw hippos, tons of hippos. I really wanted to see the crocodiles as we did not see very many last year. Ask and you shall receive… as we got closer to Murchison Falls, Anthony, our river guide, took us closer to the shore. We saw a couple of crocodiles laying low in the water. All of a sudden, from a shade tree near the shore of the Nile, crocodiles started emerging. There must have been 15 crocodiles that emerged, and let me tell you, they are scary looking. It was incredible. As we left the viewing of Murchison Falls, we saw a herd of about 15 elephants on the shore. Anthony drove the boat closer for us to take pictures; the elephants heard us, and immediately rounded up to protect the babies. They form these circles, put the babies in the middle and stand guard. It was so great to watch and so beautiful.
I know that in times of great stress when I am back in the States, I simply need to think of the beauty of Murchison Falls and know that everything will be okay. This beauty confirms my belief that God (or whatever you choose to call it) does exist, and that He is so loving. Beauty like that is not just evolutionary chance. There is a higher power at work on this planet.