6-15-12
Yesterday Rebecca and I got into Kampala around 2:30 in the afternoon; we made pretty good timing seeing as we left Kampala around 9:15. Once we got settled in the Watoto apartments that we stayed at last night we headed to the church to pick up photocopies of our passports (we need them for safari), went to the grocery store to pick up a couple things for the next few days, got dinner, and then walked back to the apartment and talked a bit, watched a movie, and then got ready for bed. It doesn’t feel like we’re going on safari today—it’s 6am and our ride is going to be here in a half hour to take us to the safari office. I’m really excited, but I feel like tiredness is making me a lot calmer.
Yesterday Rebecca and I got into Kampala around 2:30 in the afternoon; we made pretty good timing seeing as we left Kampala around 9:15. Once we got settled in the Watoto apartments that we stayed at last night we headed to the church to pick up photocopies of our passports (we need them for safari), went to the grocery store to pick up a couple things for the next few days, got dinner, and then walked back to the apartment and talked a bit, watched a movie, and then got ready for bed. It doesn’t feel like we’re going on safari today—it’s 6am and our ride is going to be here in a half hour to take us to the safari office. I’m really excited, but I feel like tiredness is making me a lot calmer.
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It’s 9:35pm of my first day/night on safari. It has been such a cool day. We left Kampala around 7:30am and arrive at Murchison Falls (where we started safari) around 2pm. Rebecca and I met a couple cool guys who ended up being in our van driving there; Christian (from Ohio) and Sam (from the UK). The drive was quite long, but being able to talk to Rebecca and making conversation with the guys seemed to make it go by quicker. Once we got into the National Park where the animals are we still had a long drive to get to our camp and to Murchison Falls (our first stop), and we got to see a lot of wild animals on the way. There were a lot of baboons, and we also saw Cape Buffalo, Antelope/Gazelle type things, and wart hogs…and we haven’t even gone on our game drive yet. Once we were at Murchison Falls we stopped to have lunch (but Rebecca and I didn’t realize that we needed to pick up/buy a pack lunch before we left….but Christian and Sam shared some of their food with us). Then after lunch we hiked some trails to get a good look at the falls. It was SO beautiful!! One part of the falls was really intense, water had to squeeze through a very small gorge and the water was so powerful. When we saw it from a distance it looked like we were watching the waves and water crashing on the rocks in slow motion, it was like with helicopter blades that go so fast it looks like they’re actually go slowly. Once we got closer to that portion of the falls we were able to see the true speed and wildness of the water. I just stood against the barrier which blocked off where we could stand and I looked at that section of the falls for quite a long time, I was mesmerized by the majesty of it all.
Once we finished at the falls (about an hour and a half later) we drove to our rest camp and got assigned tents. Then I took a shower and Rebecca and I went to order our dinner. I had a vegetable goulash with mashed potatoes, it was quite nice. Rebecca, Sam, Christian and I ate together at 6:30, and then went to sit by the fire pit (there was to be a fire at 7:30pm). While we sat by the pit waiting for the fire to begin (which never did happen) we started talking with two of the local men who were also sitting close to where we were. They told us a lot about the current conflict in Congo, past battles between Rwanda and Uganda and so many other things. It was really cool to hear what they had to say on the subject and they taught be a lot I didn’t know before.
Tomorrow we have to be ready to go by 6:30am and then we go on a 4 hour game drive, have lunch, and then to a water safari, and then have dinner. I’m really excited about seeing the animals tomorrow and getting pictures and videos of the trip!
It’s 9:35pm of my first day/night on safari. It has been such a cool day. We left Kampala around 7:30am and arrive at Murchison Falls (where we started safari) around 2pm. Rebecca and I met a couple cool guys who ended up being in our van driving there; Christian (from Ohio) and Sam (from the UK). The drive was quite long, but being able to talk to Rebecca and making conversation with the guys seemed to make it go by quicker. Once we got into the National Park where the animals are we still had a long drive to get to our camp and to Murchison Falls (our first stop), and we got to see a lot of wild animals on the way. There were a lot of baboons, and we also saw Cape Buffalo, Antelope/Gazelle type things, and wart hogs…and we haven’t even gone on our game drive yet. Once we were at Murchison Falls we stopped to have lunch (but Rebecca and I didn’t realize that we needed to pick up/buy a pack lunch before we left….but Christian and Sam shared some of their food with us). Then after lunch we hiked some trails to get a good look at the falls. It was SO beautiful!! One part of the falls was really intense, water had to squeeze through a very small gorge and the water was so powerful. When we saw it from a distance it looked like we were watching the waves and water crashing on the rocks in slow motion, it was like with helicopter blades that go so fast it looks like they’re actually go slowly. Once we got closer to that portion of the falls we were able to see the true speed and wildness of the water. I just stood against the barrier which blocked off where we could stand and I looked at that section of the falls for quite a long time, I was mesmerized by the majesty of it all.
Once we finished at the falls (about an hour and a half later) we drove to our rest camp and got assigned tents. Then I took a shower and Rebecca and I went to order our dinner. I had a vegetable goulash with mashed potatoes, it was quite nice. Rebecca, Sam, Christian and I ate together at 6:30, and then went to sit by the fire pit (there was to be a fire at 7:30pm). While we sat by the pit waiting for the fire to begin (which never did happen) we started talking with two of the local men who were also sitting close to where we were. They told us a lot about the current conflict in Congo, past battles between Rwanda and Uganda and so many other things. It was really cool to hear what they had to say on the subject and they taught be a lot I didn’t know before.
Tomorrow we have to be ready to go by 6:30am and then we go on a 4 hour game drive, have lunch, and then to a water safari, and then have dinner. I’m really excited about seeing the animals tomorrow and getting pictures and videos of the trip!
6-16-12
Today was our first full day of safari. It started pouring rain at around 4am, and didn’t stop until we got into our safari a ways. We got up at 6am, had breakfast, and then got into our van and left by 6:30. We then took a ferry across the Nile toward the safari trails. Our guide (Janet) then joined our van and we began our journey. We started off by seeing a lot of Ugandan Coves, Water Bucks, and other animals that looked a lot like antelope or gazelle. They were really beautiful, and some of them got quite close to the vehicle. We were able to pop the roof of our car up so that we could stand on the seats or sit on the back of the car. Eventually we started seeing more popular safari animals—giraffes and even three lionesses. Giraffes were everywhere in the park. It was so cool to see them in their natural environment in person, it seemed surreal. The lionesses were quite a rare thing to see, even our guide got really excited about seeing them—they were trying to hunt some Ugandan Coves, but we ruined those plans. When we didn’t see animals we just looked at the scenery which was absolutely breathtaking. We could see for miles and miles, and all we could see was nature/creation. It was SO incredible. Even though it looked pretty identical from all viewpoints I was captivated by the majesty and utter beauty of the place. It was completely untouched by any sort of development.
We also saw Cape Buffalo and Hippos. Apparently on safaris Hippos usually just sit in the water and don’t move or do anything, but today was a different story. We got to see hippos playing, which looked like they were trying to bite each other’s faces off, and they were popping up and down in the water and just having a ball, and making a bunch of noise. They sound like a combination between a pig and a cow, it’s quite interesting and not at all what I expected them to sound like. The only thing I was hoping to see was elephants on safari. Obviously I wanted to see other things and was completely stoked to see lionesses, giraffes and hippos, but I felt like if I didn’t see elephants I would be disappointed to some degree. I knew going in that seeing elephants would be a rarity, it’s really hit or miss when it comes to what you’ll see, but I was praying for a miracle. We got all the way through our safari and had turned around on the trail to head back to camp. We were over half way back to camp and I had succumbed to the fact that I wouldn’t be seeing an elephant today. A few minutes later I hear Rebecca saying to me, “Michelle, elephants!” I looked to my left and there they were…a herd of elephants in the distance. Mommy, daddy and baby elephants just hanging out and eating. I was thrilled. It was hard to see them really well, but I was so happy. We drove off after getting a few pictures and then about 200 yards ahead there were about five more elephants on our right side, really close to the road. I could see every wrinkle in their skin and every muscle that contracted as they sucked water into their trunks and stuck them into their mouths to drink. There were three bigger elephants, one medium sized one, and a little baby elephant. It was more than I could have asked for!! I was on cloud nine.
The entire day was literally perfect…in the morning we went on our game drive and needed it to be cloudy out so that it wasn’t too hot for the animals…and it was cloudy the entire time. During our lunch break it began to warm up and the sun came out. We then went on our river boat tour for the water animals (basically more hippos, crocodiles, and exotic birds) and we needed it to be hotter out so that the animals would go into the water to cool down, and it was. It was literally better than we could ask for, we saw so many animals and got so many pictures! I kept trying to hold the images in my mind because even though I was getting pictures I knew it wouldn’t be the same. I kept trying to memorize the shade of green of the grass and trees, the look in the eyes of the lionesses and the elephants, the sound of the hippos, everything. This whole experience (being in Uganda) is something I’ll never forget, and getting the chance to do rafting, and going on safari is so beyond my wildest dreams. Getting to cross off items from my bucket list while living out a dream I’ve had for years is so amazing! I am blessed in crazy ways!
8-18-12Today was our first full day of safari. It started pouring rain at around 4am, and didn’t stop until we got into our safari a ways. We got up at 6am, had breakfast, and then got into our van and left by 6:30. We then took a ferry across the Nile toward the safari trails. Our guide (Janet) then joined our van and we began our journey. We started off by seeing a lot of Ugandan Coves, Water Bucks, and other animals that looked a lot like antelope or gazelle. They were really beautiful, and some of them got quite close to the vehicle. We were able to pop the roof of our car up so that we could stand on the seats or sit on the back of the car. Eventually we started seeing more popular safari animals—giraffes and even three lionesses. Giraffes were everywhere in the park. It was so cool to see them in their natural environment in person, it seemed surreal. The lionesses were quite a rare thing to see, even our guide got really excited about seeing them—they were trying to hunt some Ugandan Coves, but we ruined those plans. When we didn’t see animals we just looked at the scenery which was absolutely breathtaking. We could see for miles and miles, and all we could see was nature/creation. It was SO incredible. Even though it looked pretty identical from all viewpoints I was captivated by the majesty and utter beauty of the place. It was completely untouched by any sort of development.
We also saw Cape Buffalo and Hippos. Apparently on safaris Hippos usually just sit in the water and don’t move or do anything, but today was a different story. We got to see hippos playing, which looked like they were trying to bite each other’s faces off, and they were popping up and down in the water and just having a ball, and making a bunch of noise. They sound like a combination between a pig and a cow, it’s quite interesting and not at all what I expected them to sound like. The only thing I was hoping to see was elephants on safari. Obviously I wanted to see other things and was completely stoked to see lionesses, giraffes and hippos, but I felt like if I didn’t see elephants I would be disappointed to some degree. I knew going in that seeing elephants would be a rarity, it’s really hit or miss when it comes to what you’ll see, but I was praying for a miracle. We got all the way through our safari and had turned around on the trail to head back to camp. We were over half way back to camp and I had succumbed to the fact that I wouldn’t be seeing an elephant today. A few minutes later I hear Rebecca saying to me, “Michelle, elephants!” I looked to my left and there they were…a herd of elephants in the distance. Mommy, daddy and baby elephants just hanging out and eating. I was thrilled. It was hard to see them really well, but I was so happy. We drove off after getting a few pictures and then about 200 yards ahead there were about five more elephants on our right side, really close to the road. I could see every wrinkle in their skin and every muscle that contracted as they sucked water into their trunks and stuck them into their mouths to drink. There were three bigger elephants, one medium sized one, and a little baby elephant. It was more than I could have asked for!! I was on cloud nine.
The entire day was literally perfect…in the morning we went on our game drive and needed it to be cloudy out so that it wasn’t too hot for the animals…and it was cloudy the entire time. During our lunch break it began to warm up and the sun came out. We then went on our river boat tour for the water animals (basically more hippos, crocodiles, and exotic birds) and we needed it to be hotter out so that the animals would go into the water to cool down, and it was. It was literally better than we could ask for, we saw so many animals and got so many pictures! I kept trying to hold the images in my mind because even though I was getting pictures I knew it wouldn’t be the same. I kept trying to memorize the shade of green of the grass and trees, the look in the eyes of the lionesses and the elephants, the sound of the hippos, everything. This whole experience (being in Uganda) is something I’ll never forget, and getting the chance to do rafting, and going on safari is so beyond my wildest dreams. Getting to cross off items from my bucket list while living out a dream I’ve had for years is so amazing! I am blessed in crazy ways!
So I’m back from safari, and it was amazing! There were so many fun/cool/interesting things that happened; it was such a good time! My last night on safari a bunch of us (me, Rebecca, Christian, Sam, Sara and Dan—from the UK) went to see the sunset by the Nile, which was only about a 5-10 minute walk from our camp site. The sunset was pretty much over by the time we got down there, but we decided to hang out anyway. Dan and Sara went up to a shack type thing and the rest of us went down by the dock and ended up looking at the stars. At one point Sam (a guy from the UK who at time is like a stereotypical frat guy, but really funny and a good guy) tried to convince one of the locals to take us out on the river in his boat, but the man just laughed and said it was too dangerous. After a while Sam said that one of the local guys had said that the hippos would be coming out of the water onto the land soon and it would be dangerous for us to head back to camp—that’s when Rebecca and I frantically decided we were going back to camp.
We all headed up the road back to our camp and had no trouble along the way…until about 20 yards from our destination. I was near the front of the group and was the first one to see it—lit up by car headlights far in the distance was a huge shadowy figure I assumed to be a hippo. We stopped dead in our tracks and didn’t know what to do. Hippos are usually peaceful animals, but when they feel threatened they can easily kill—they (we were told several times by our guides) were the most dangerous animals we would see on safari, including the lions—they kill more people in Africa than any other animal. Sam took charge and told us to stand our ground and not move, not to run, so we all tried our best not to panic. We found out later that we’re supposed to hold our ground when we run into lions and run like hell for hippos, but we stood there and eventually the car that had illuminated the hippo came close enough to force the hippo away from the camp/road and into the darkness on the other side of the road. We thanked the man (who, I’m sure, thought we were crazy white people) and got safely back to camp.
Later that night we made a bonfire and then we went to bed. In the early hours of the morning I was awoken by hippos outside of our tent. There were at least two, and I could hear them walking around and eating the grass. The hippos come out of the water and eat at night, but I never was able to hear them before. It was kind or cool and scary knowing they were out there, I was just thankful I had gone to the bathroom earlier in the night. I rarely, if ever, get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom here, but both nights on safari (when I had to get out of my tent and walk 30-50 yards to the bathroom) I had to go at least twice…funny how that happens.
The last day of safari was really great; on our second game drive (which was shorter than the first one) we saw everything we’d seen the first time except for the lions. So we got to see elephants again, I was so excited! This time one of the elephants actually blew their trunk too, it was awesome. The scenery was amazing—something you can’t describe with words, and something I hope I never forget. We then drove to Kuruma Falls and got to hike down really close to them and got some photos, it was really nice. Then we ate lunch and headed back to Kampala. On the drive from Kuruma to Kampala there were some interesting things that happened. In one of the villages we passed through a goat was crossing the road (not too unusual in Uganda), we came across it so unexpectedly though that Sula (our driver) didn’t have time to stop and we hit it head on. Everyone but me looked back to see how bad the damage was and according to them we took off a leg. It was still alive, but I’m guessing we significantly decreased his life expectancy…he’s probably going to be someone’s dinner very soon.
The other thing that we came across on the drive back was a crazy bus/bus driver. There was a big yellow coach bus heading to Kampala that was going FAST! The first time it passed us I noticed it was in a fish tail, and it wasn’t straightening out, the bus was stuck in a 1 o’clock position going down the road, with the front part of the bus partly in the other lane and the back part of the bus barely staying in the correct lane (Sula would later tell us that the bus most likely had broken it’s center belt). We saw the bus a couple times during our drive because at certain points (well after it had zoomed past our field of vision) we could come across the bus on the side of the road—I assume the bus had skidded to the side and the driver had to stop to make sure he didn’t completely lose control of the bus. But after we would pass it on the side of the road and gain quite a bit of ground on it we’d see it in our rearview again, still fish-tailed, and coming up on us fast and eventually passing us again. At one point we saw it on the side of the road pulled over by traffic police…but it caught up to us later. I think the third time we saw it on the side of the road…skidded off again…was the last time we saw it—thank God.
It was a fun time. The group we were with (mainly Christian and Sam) made the trip, and safari, that much more fun. It was such a great experience!
Originally Rebecca and I were going to head back to Kampala this morning or afternoon, but Rebecca wasn’t feeling well yesterday so we decided to push going back to Gulu until tomorrow morning. We’re staying at Watoto apartments in Kampala (the same ones we stayed at the night before we left for safari) and this morning I got the first hot shower I’ve had in almost a month. It was really nice…but it was kind-of weird; I didn’t really care that it was hot after a while, apparently my shower temperature is no longer very important to me, as long as I can have running water for a shower (and not a bucket shower) I’m happy J.
Here’s the rundown of my plans for the rest of my time in Uganda, which is running quite low. I’ll head back to Gulu tomorrow and work at the babies home Monday, Tuesday (have Wednesday and Thursday off), Friday, Saturday, Sunday and the following Monday. Head back down to Kampala Tuesday for the volunteer meeting on Wednesday, go to the meeting and then Thursday head to Jinja with Rebecca. In Jinja we’ll do last minute souvenir shopping and head back Friday afternoon and get back to Kampala Friday night. Then I’ll have Saturday and Sunday in Kampala and then I’ll leave for the airport at around noon on Monday and then fly out that afternoon/evening headed for home!!! I cannot believe how fast this last part of the trip is going. Before I know it I’ll be back in Stetsonville, Wisconsin redoing my room and seeing my friends and family and being surrounded by tons of white people all speaking English, and having hot showers and power all the time and being able to drink out of the tap and so many other things. I’ll be driving a car again…that’ll be nice, and a little weird. It doesn’t seem real yet. I’m glad I’ll have 12 hours on my flight from Ethiopia to D.C. to process through some of my emotions…if I don’t sleep the whole way that is J.
Belles,
ReplyDeleteThis was so exciting to read! I was hoping to see pictures and or video but to read the excitement and joy ( and fear) was almost as good. Still looking forward to pictures though... What a experience.
Love you
Mama & Papa