Safari Weekend

June 26th, 2008 by ehamsher

Greetings from Kampala! I decided I needed some alone time this afternoon, so after school I hopped on a taxi in to the city. I spent the afternoon walking through the craft markets and enjoying a sunny Wednesday!
So, as I left off yesterday, this past weekend was spent at Murchison Falls on safari. The trip began early Saturday morning with the bumpiest six hour drive I’ve ever experienced. I developed a lump on the top of my head from being tossed up in the air as we went through all the pot holes on the Ugandan dirt roads. Just so you can get an idea of how bad the roads were, the driver often chose to go offroading on the side then to actually drive over the holes. yikes. After a quick lunch break and a few more hours on the road, we finally made it to the campsite in the late afternoon. We were greeted by warthogs scattered all over the campgrounds sunbathing, and we were warned not to leave food in our tents because of the warthogs intense sense of smell. After getting settled in we spent a relaxing evening looking out over the trees, watching the sunset, and enjoying Western style food. After a few rounds of cards and some interesting conversations with some girls from Denmark, we called it a night and prepared for our early morning.
On Sunday we woke up before the sun, grabbed a breakfast of a chapati and a banana, and hopped in to the safari vehicle for a four hour game drive. We spent the next four hours driving through the wildlife, and photographing giraffes, lions, antelopes, monkeys, various birds, and more. Being so up close and personal with the African wildlife was amazing. I can’t wait to share my pictures so you can see how close we were able to get to these wild animals in their natural habitat.After the game drive finished up at 11 we went back to the campsite, grabbed some lunch, and then departed again for the water where we had a three hour boatride so we could get up close and personal with the hippos, elephants, and crocs. I guarantee there is nothing more relaxing than sitting on the water in Africa with hippos less than 20 feet away from you. After the boat ride wrapped up we headed back to the campsite, exhausted after our early morning and exciting day. We again relaxed, watched the sunset, and chatted with others from all over the world.
Monday morning we again woke up bright and early for a morning trek up to the top of Murchison Falls. We went on a hike around the falls, getting different angles to photograph. At one point the guide lead us to a spot so close that we were being soaked by the spary of the falls, as we all tried to protect our cameras from the water and capture a photo of the rainbow across the water against the morning sun.
After the trek it was time to jump back in to the van for the long ride back to Kampala. Tired from the trip, many of us slept the best we could over the bumps. After way too many hours on the road we finally made it back to Kampala, where we then head to sit on a taxi for another hour back to Mukono. Never have I been so excited to see the guesthouse! We all vegged, ate the delicious food our housemom Esther had prepared, munched on cookies, watched episodes of Scrubs on my laptop and finally called it a night.
The past weekend was so much fun, and the safari was definitely a great experience. Now, for the rest of the week I’m just trying to mark things off my list of things to do before I leave. Hence, the craft markets this afternoon. Can’t believe I’ll be home this time next week. I’m looking forward to mom’s cooking, clean feet, a hot shower, and western toilets, but weekends like this past remind me how beautiful this country is, and it makes me sad to go.
Wishing you all a happy wednesday, love.