Our First Safari

Our First Safari

Last week was a mid-term break for Zalina, so we took advantage of it to take our first trip out of Kampala.  We didn’t want to travel the whole time, as Zalina needed some downtime at home to relax after an intense first month of MYP1 (middle years program 1) or 6th grade.  With 15 classes and a different schedule every day, it’s been quite a change and at times, stressful for all involved. 

In the few days off before we left, Shannon and I got to celebrate our 7th anniversary with a very nice dinner out with Zalina at Mediterraneo, an upscale Italian restaurant.  We’ve often travelled for our anniversary, but were especially grateful and excited to be able to celebrate here in Uganda with the whole family.  

We decided to visit Murchison Falls National Park to see some wildlife, and boy were we rewarded.  We upgraded our car for the trip, to one with more room, good AC, and a functional radio, so we were excited to have music to listen to. Our driver had prepared some tunes for us, so the trip started with Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, as they are well loved here in Uganda.

 On the way North to the park, we stopped and spent one night at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.  We got there in the afternoon, so went right out to find some rhinos.  Our guide took us straight to them and we got to see a male (the oldest living at Ziwa) and a group of females, one who was ready to mate.  Then we walked over to see a mature female and a young one.  The two groups ended up joining together, much to the chagrin of the male, as his mating plans were foiled.  We came back to check in, get some dinner and a good night’s sleep.  We were the only guests staying at the sanctuary- besides the wildlife- so that was both nice and a bit eerie at the same time. Ziwa is also home to bushpig (or warthog) and gave us our first chance to spot monkeys, and we also saw the national bird up close, the Crested Crane.  When Shannon visited Ziwa in 2006, there were 6 White Rhinos, now there are 35.  When they get to 50, they plan to introduce them back into the wild at Murchison Falls National Park.

       

After breakfast we headed for Murchison River Lodge, where we would be for the next 3 nights.  We drove through the National Park to get to the lodge, seeing many baboons along the road, but not too much else.  The park is bisected by the Nile, the southern part being more wooded with less animals.  The northern part is savannah and full of animals.  Arriving in time for a late lunch, we made plans for a safari the next day and spent some time at the pool.  The Lodge is located on the Victoria Nile, as different sections of the Nile in Uganda have different names, the Albert Nile, White Nile, and Victoria Nile.  They have campsites, safari tents, and thatched cottages, which is what we had.  Meals are served in an open-air dining room overlooking the river, with the sounds of hippos always present.  They supposedly stroll around, thus staff escort diners home each night in the dark, but we never saw one out of the water- besides the various sculptures that dot the grounds. 

 

We had to get up early to make our 6:30 pick up for the safari.  Once we crossed the river over to the north side of the park, we started to see animals.  From the bridge, we saw a crocodile, then Nile buffalo.  Once we turned off the paved road, we started to see even more, giraffe, lion, elephant, bushbuck, a type of antelope called Jackson’s hartebeest, hippopotamus, baboon, and many birds.  

 

 

 

  

 

Safari was over by 11:00 am, so we ate lunch and spent a marathon afternoon at the pool, which was wonderful. It overlooks the Nile and has an "honest" bar, something not too common in the U.S. Z met two American kids, a South African boy her age, and three British kids ages 11-16 who had been living in various parts of East Africa for the better part of their lives. They played and swam in the pool for nearly 4 hours and it was great to see Z's spirits lifted through socializing.  After another delicious dinner, we headed to bed early as it had been a long day.  

                  

On Saturday, we slept in until nearly 8:00 and then departed to hike to the top of Murchison falls. This was a short, but fairly steep up and down climb with several viewing spots, including a view of another waterfall-Uhuru Falls-just adjacent to Murchison Falls and one that involved us “bathing” to quote our guide in the heavy spray from the falls. It was impressive to see all that water from the Nile forced through such a narrow crevice.  After the hike, we drove down the river to catch a river cruise up the Nile to see the falls from below.  

 

 

Along the way we saw many hippos, a crocodile, elephants, black and white colobus monkeys, many birds, and more.  It was such a nice day on the river, seeing animals, enjoying the cool breeze and shade in the warm weather.  

 

Sunday we enjoyed a last breakfast while dining on the Nile and reluctantly packed up for the 6 hour drive back to Kampala. Since September, we have relied on Gerald to safely drive us around Kampala, so we would be remiss not to mention that he accompanied us on much of this recent adventure as well. We shared the rhino hike, waterfall hike, and several meals together where we had amusing discussions on various cultural differences- likely the exact goal Fulbright aims to achieve in supporting our time here and simultaneously VERY embarrassing to Zalina when Noah and Shannon launched into an animated discussion of the Halloween festivities we are missing this time of the year back in Michigan.

The only animal at the park that we missed was the leopard, which is always tough to spot (pun not intentional).  The big 5, generally known as the 5 most dangerous animals in Africa, are the lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and African buffalo.  On our first safari trip, we got to see 4 of the 5, so I’d say it was a resounding success.  Not to mention the chance to explore the country outside of Kampala. Zalina had a great time and enjoyed the break from school.  We are already planning our next trip!