Saturday June 2nd 8 pm
Where is this trip going? For the first time since being here, I’m
actually behind on typing up my blog posts. So to save me time and allow me to
actually journal for my class work, I’m combining the past three days into one
post. Thursday we woke up at ate breakfast, some really good pancakes, at Red
Chilli in Kampala before loading up our safari vans and heading to Murchison
Falls. The car ride was quite the hike, but I would say in the long run it was
definitely worth it. We stopped for lunch in a town right before we hit the
national park. I had fish, which was definitely the right decision because the
other two options were just not good.
Once we left lunch we entered
into the national park, but still had two hours before we reached the Red
Chilli in Murchison Falls. These two hours seemed to go by a lot quicker though
because the entire way we were seeing baboons, warthogs, and on the look out
for other animals. Once we reached Murchison Falls we settled into our new
cabin and had dinner. For dinner I had a pasta with vegetables and we enjoyed
our gorgeous view. It was really funny when after dinner we were sitting around
the fire pit and Megan all of a sudden stood up claiming she heard something.
We were all like what are you freaking out about and then sure enough two
warthogs emerge from the grass just in front of us. That pretty much ended our
night and we all went to get situated in our new living arrangements and sleep
so we could get up bright and early for the safari.
Friday morning our alarm went off
obnoxiously early at 5:15, but it was definitely worth it. We got ready, picked
up our packed breakfasts, and raced to be first in line to get on the first
ferry. Our driver, Sula, was awesome and aced out everyone else in our group.
The ferry crossed the Nile at 7 and then for the next 3.5 hours we were having
the adventure of a lifetime. We got to sit on the front of our safari jeep and
enjoy eating dirt while looking at the vastness and beauty of the national
park. There is absolutely no way to put this incredible, life changing, breath
taking experience. I’ll post a couple of pictures so you can try to get an
idea, but there just is no way to capture the beauty. We just kept reveling in
what we were doing and occasionally singing lion king songs. We saw giraffes,
wart hogs, lots of antelope, some elephants, and lots and lots of hippos.
Unfortunately we didn’t get to see a lion or a leopard, but it was still
definitely worth it.
After the safari, we rode the
ferry back to Red Chilli for lunch and a little bit of a rest before our boat
ride. For lunch I had a bacon and egg sandwich, which was really good, and then
I even snuck in a short nap. Then it was back on the van to head to the boat. I
sat on the top deck of the boat and we had a nice 3.5 hour float on the Nile
River. We saw some more animals, lots more hippos, some elephants, warthogs,
water buffalo, and crocodiles. The halfway point of the cruise was seeing the
actual falls themselves. They are absolutely gorgeous. After the boat ride it
was back for dinner, a campfire, and bed. Dinner was lasagna and we had some
good bonding time while playing games around the fire. Before we knew it, it
was time to head to bed so we could head back to Kampala the next day.
This morning we got up and packed
our bags for the last time, until we pack to come home, loaded up the safari
vans and headed back up the dirt road. Before heading straight back we
navigated our way up to the top of Murchison Falls. Unfortunately someone on
the trip fell and got cut up pretty badly in the parking lot, so that put a
little bit of a damper on the day. He left to go to a clinic and get cleaned up
and to see if he needed stitches and the rest of us ventured on to the falls.
The falls from the top were even more
beautiful than the falls from the boat. They are definitely some strong falls
that could do some real damage. I got some pretty good pictures, but I think
the coolest part was seeing the rainbow that is there in between the rocks.
After the falls we were ready for our long trek back to Kampala.
We stopped at the same restaurant
for lunch and unfortunately I almost had another fainting situation. Luckily I caught
it in time and was able to lie down, get some water, and eat a granola
bar. I still feel a little out of sorts,
but was just really happy that I didn’t actually pass out this time. I feel
like I’m drinking water, but it’s never enough (plus listening to everyone else
talk about the injury wasn’t helping either). I ate the fish again along with
three bottles of water and was ready to finish the journey back.
Over five hours later, we finally
arrived back at Red Chilli. I had a
pizza for dinner, am catching up on some email and facebook, before finally
taking a shower. I’m pretty sure we all have at least one solid layer of dirt
on us (which is making us deceptively tan). We get to sleep in tomorrow because
we don’t have to be anywhere until 11 which I’m really looking forward to.
Just enough time to gear up for
our last 5 days in country. I think I’m slowly getting ready to leave, but it’ll
definitely be mixed emotions. I’m more than ready for American food and to see
my family and friends, but it’s going to be hard to leave such a life changing
country, experience, and group of people.
Safari pictures to come soon!
~Mary
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