SAFARI STYLE

11-14 July--- MURCHISON FALLS SAFARI!!!

I wish it were possible to record my thoughts, second by second as I experience them. Throughout the day I think of millllions of things I want to tell everybody about, but then when I finally get the chance to sit at a computer (its been a week since I had any access) my memory fails me. However, I feel like this is going to be a long one, so I apologize if the details seem to drone on and on. Unfortunately, pictures may be a bit of an issue this week because all the computers at the house have gotten crazy viruses from the networks here. Hopefully Ill be able to throw at least a few in, as I’m sure that’s all people are really interested in anyways...

We just returned to Lugazi after a 4 day safari to Murchison Falls in Norhtern Uganda. It was so fantastic!!!!!!! It was overwhelming, breathtaking, INCREDIBLE, and every other mega adjective you can think of.

Thursday night we got to Uganda and came home to whirlwind of people EVERYWHERE. The house is super crowded right now and there are belongings and food and people every where you turn. Good thing I am not one for much privacy, because I feel I wont really be getting any for quite a while. We have 16 people at the main house where Im staying, and another 8 at the Mayor’s house. I quickly met everyone and settled into my first Ugandan dinner- complete with a power outage that left us eating in the pitch dark.

We got up Friday morning and left quickly to go meet the safari vans. There were 12 in our group, so we split between the GIANT SAFARI van (think double decker London bus, with a plastic zip-able top and camo coloring), and a smaller roof-removeable jeep. The first day consisted of mostly driving- which turned out to be an amusing experience in itself. The van had no shocks and due to its giant size, combined with terrible Ugandan roads, bounced ALL OVER THE PLACE. I thought it was hilarious, but others who have been here longer are over the humor of inconvenience and became severely annoyed. We stopped at a rhino sanctuary and trekked out into a big open plain, where we came across 6 giant rhinos. We just sat and took pictures of them and hung out with them for a bit, all the while only 20 yards or so away. We continued on to our campsite for the night, and ate at an amazing restaurant nearby.

We all got little A-frame tents and broke into smaller groups of 2 or 3. I jumped in with Natalie and Ashley and we set it up in a couple of minutes. The night was pretty cold (yeah, I had NO idea that it could get so cold in Africa) but I slept well overall. We woke up to the sunrise, ate some delicious breakfast, and continued on. Saturday we went split the group, and half went on a forest walk, and the other half on a chimp trek. Basically it was divided over who didn’t want to pay an extra $30 to mayyyybe see some chimps. Fortunately, I didn’t pay the extra money because it turned out that none of us actually saw any anyways. We did, however, see plenty of birds and baboons, and the forest was FULL of amazing animal calls and sounds.

Lunch at Red Chili was fantastic, and then we were across the Nile on a ferry directly to a GAME DRIVE. James and I sat on the hood of the jeep up front and a couple girls on the back, and on we went. I feel there is no proper way to describe the rest of the trip, but I will do my best so summarize. The remainder of Saturday evening we saw giraffes, water buffalo, more birds, lotttts of dik-diks (anyone who has been to the BYU Bean Museum knows how cute these “mini-deer” are!!!), and then a WHOLE PACK OF LIONS. No male unfortunately, but the rest were fun to watch anyways. Soon it grew dark, and we drove less than half a mile past the lion pack to camp for the night.

I spent the rest of the night in complete AWE of my life. I was in the middle of the African savannah, camping less than half a mile from a pack of lions, and less than 200 yards from a lake full of hippos and crocodiles. Maybe it was just the fact I was sleeping in a tent with Dan (I switched because the other tent was WAY too crowded, and Dan was all alone), but somehow I wasn’t scared. There was one point I heard strange noises getting closer and closer, but Dan assured me I was safe, and I forced myself to believe him. The next morning we found water buffalo poop all over camp (like five feet from my head), so I’m sure that must have been the culprit of the strange noises all night.

We got up before sunrise and headed out on another game drive. Within minutes we came across a tall and majestic giraffe, which limped its way across the road in front of us. Sarah and Holly (the two British nurses from Kampala who came with us, and quickly became my really good friends) jumped on top of the giant truck with me, and we pulled up nearly eye level with the tall giraffe. It’s crazy to think I was RIGHT THERE with some of the world’s most beautiful wildlife. The rest of the day was filled with more explorations, a ferry ride up the Nile to see TONS of hippos and giant crocodiles, and a big hike up to Murchison Falls.

The hike was great after so much sitting, and the falls were fantastic. They were huge and powerful, surrounded by jungle beauty. We continued past the falls a few hundred yards and set up camp just up an embankment from the river. Kirunda, our cook, prepared an amazing South African curry dinner, and I enjoyed every bite (they tell me the regular food is not as amazing as what we were treated to on the safari… I wish we could have brought Kirunda home with us!!!)

After our chats settled down, a few of us decided to go on a hippo hunt. This was by far the SCARIEST PART OF THE TRIP. The “hunters” consisted of James- my favorite of the group so far, we are more similar than anyone else I’ve met and get along well, Katie- who is awwwesome, as well as two others we met on the safari- Ben from Atlanta, and Seleta from Spain. Some Austrian hippies (think 4 Euro-hotties with the most amazing dreads you have ever seen...) had told us they saw some hippos out of the water down by the bank, so we went down there to check it out. As soon as we came within 10 yards, we heard and saw the grass rustle and truly FREAKED OUT. We all took off running, and James and I were to the top of the hill before we gained enough composure to turn around and see what was going on. Turns out I am one of those fend for yourself selfish people in times of crisis… Oops.

Regardless, we all headed back down the hill to the same place. This time the hippo let out a huuuge grunt, and that was IT for me. James and I were again GONE up the hill and a flash. Ben and Seleta were brave enough to stay, caught a brief glimpse of the hippo, and then turned around to see James and I already back up the mountain. I wish I had seen the hippo, but I was not willing to risk my life over it!!! Hippos kill more people than any other animal in Africa… which was the only thing running through my head as I bolted up the hillside back up to the huts. Sorry that was such a long story, put in the middle of this already longgg entry… but it was truly one of the funniest/scariest things that has ever happened to me, so I had to share!!!

We slept great again, despite ultra hard ground (and an accidental punch to the head from Dan) and again woke up to the sunrise. We ate another great breakfast, packed up camp, hopped in the vans, and headed south for an 8 hour journey home. Despite continued bumpiness on the road and rainy skies, I’m hopelessly hooked. Another six weeks will surely not be enough to last a lifetime.

Today we are off to make stoves, take a tour with all the new group, visit a school and hospital, and do a bit of grocery shopping. Sorry again for this HUGE catchup session, hopefully I will have more regular access to computers and internet so I wont have to jam it all together. And hopefully next time Ill have more pictures too!!! Hope everything at home is great. I love you all!!!