The Lion Sleeps Tonight-The Tokens

I awoke at 5:40 to the sound of a morning prayer call.  While most of Uganda is Christian, there is also a large Muslim population as well.  I tried to go back to sleep as we had only been to bed a mere four hours earlier-but couldn’t sleep because of the munching hippo outside the hut.  I woke up Michael and we peeked out our front door to see a hippo lumber into the bushes just ten yards from our hut!  That security guard patrolling at night makes sense now…

We quickly assembled with the group for a 6AM breakfast before heading out on an early morning game drive.  It is so interesting to me that everyone assumes all of Africa is hot.  While it can certainly get warm, because Uganda is on the equator, the sun comes up at 6:30AM and goes down at 6:30PM so the temperature can be quite comfortable in the mornings and the evenings.  As the sun came up we headed out in two safari vans to explore Queen Elizabeth National Park.

We stopped for our entrance passes and then drove to the Kasenyi Plains, an area full of game and known for active lions.  Immediately out of the gate we saw a large bull elephant on the side of the road.  Many people moved to the roof of the safari van as we continued on, watching bushbuck, waterbuck, cape buffalo,and Ugandan Kob (a type of antelope).  About forty-five minutes later, we came across a male and a female lion walking through the grasslands.  We continued to search for animals for awhile before taking a short drink break at a souvenir stand where Michael negotiated for a carved chimpanzee for only $5.

We continued to watch for animals as we made our way back to the lodge.  It was fun to see what the grounds looked like during the daylight hours.  We are staying right along the Kazinga Channel and can hear hippos and frogs all day long.  Most people napped as it was a late night and we'd had an early morning. 

We had a big lunch of soup and spaghetti (luckily I brought plenty of rice cakes, peanut butter, and gluten free granola bars!)  Then we drove about an hour to Mweya Safari Lodge where we were leaving for a boat safari.  On the way we came upon a larger herd of about 15 elephants-they were so beautiful and much, much larger than I remembered!

Because of our elephant delay, we were running a bit behind so it was a mad frenzy upon our arrival to get everyone checked in and boarded on the boat.  As we started, our guide mentioned we might see some elephants, hippo, and buffalo.  Maybe if we were lucky we’d see a crocodile or monitor lizard.  It is safe to say, we were not disappointed.  We immediately came upon three elephants playing and wrestling in the water.  We then sailed around the corner to a larger group of about fifty cape buffalo and soon discovered that mixed in were a number of hippos and additionally some elephants.  We watched these animals closely for awhile and as we were watching, more and more elephants kept arriving at the watering hole.  Eventually there were over 40 elephants and many of them were lined up right in front of us drinking.  It was amazing to see and our guide told us it was quite unusual to see that many elephants all in one place.  Our boat ride continued for another hour and as we cruised the coast of the Kazinga Channel toward Lake Edward, we saw more hippos, a crocodile, more buffalo, elephants, and all kinds of beautiful birds.

 

Our boat ride came to an end and then we spent an hour on the grounds of the Mweya Lodge relaxing with some cold beverages and an amazing view.  This was the first time we’d had any wifi in days so everyone tried to check in with family and friends and, as a result, no one could actually get on the wifi.  It is almost liberating to be unable to use your phone or access email so after a few messages to check in with mom, I switched back over to airplane mode.

Around 5:30 we drove back to our lodge, adding baboons to our list of animals seen on the way.  I finally took a turn riding on top of the van, it was a lot of fun to ride as the sun was setting over the horizon.  Uganda is a truly beautiful country.

We arrived back, just in time for another four course meal.  They had pulled tables out into the courtyard and we ate by lantern light.  Not only is it fun to learn about new places when traveling, but it’s also fun to talk with all kinds of different people in our traveling group and we spent a lively dinner discussing travels, school, and life adventures.

Michael had arranged for our hut to have some hot water so after dinner we were able to take some semi-warm showers in the outdoor shower of our hut.  I tried to look through pictures but was too tired to keep my eyes open and drifted off to sleep to the cackling of birds, frogs, and hippos.

The outdoor shower