the kampala diaries: day 19, indiana jones is for amateurs.

So now that I've shown you the awe that I experienced on my safari, allow me to tell you about all of the wild things that happened during my safari trip. We left early morning from the compound in a string of mutatu like vans specially made for safaris. A few hours later we stopped at a gas station for a break, and found sour cream onion pringles! However, we also found the first indication that the safari was beginning soon...

We were taking turns using the washrooms... and if you thought that pit stop bathrooms were bad in the U.S., you probably shouldn't road trip much in Uganda. We were each taking turns in the squats... little stalls with flushable holes in the ground, (I'm not making this up) when all of a sudden, our friend Emily came out and said, "There's a frog in there... It was crawling out when I was finishing up."

One: I was shocked at her composure.
Two: I was suddenly glad that there was a bit of distance between me and the squat... if you know what I mean.

But on further investigation, we found that this creature was indeed, NOT a frog, but rather a bat, who had found the closest cave like environment that he could locate, and had most likely woken up to quite literally a crappy surprise.

Anyway, we carried on, and made it to the entrance of Murchison Falls National Park. Although, we were still about 2 hours away from our destination, this was a trip where the journey really felt like the best part. If you want to have the best road trip ever, stick some baboons on the side of the road, cross bridges, pass the roaring Nile (still trying to imagine Moses riding it in a basket- truly a miracle), and have fantastic conversation with the other riders in your mutatu. At one point (on the way back) I even saw a mama baboon pick her baby up and press it to her chest. As she walked off, the baby clung to his mother. That was such a tender scene. But honestly, this park was beautiful.  

                                              

Before we made it to the Nile Ferry, we stopped at the top of Murchison Falls, and stood as the mist and the thick, humid air filled our lungs. It was literally one of the most breathtaking scenes I've ever been able to stand in front of. The ground literally sparkled. I can't explain it, but it was really cool!

We finally made it to the Nile, and saw a hippo on the other side (little did we know that this is what we'd see the most of that day). Across the Nile, we ate lunch at the (4 star) hotel that we were supposed to stay at, but (not so) regretfully, they messed up our reservations, and sent us to the (5 star) Chobe Safari Lodge instead. Cha-ching! After a little lunch, and the best vegetables ever (I forgot how much I missed them after living on limited clean fresh fruits and veggies in Kampala), we took a dip in the pool. Um, yeah. 

After lunch, we took off on the African Queen, and spent the afternoon cruising the Nile. Soooo... good to be on the water. 

The Washington Seminar crew hits Africa. :)

Photo bomb!

The rest of the day was taken up by the game drive. This meant that the top of the car was raised... And this girl got to sit on top of a moving vehicle (woops... sorry Mom). Literally though, it was so amazing. We passed giraffe, baboons, elephants, all sorts of antelope, warthogs, crocodile... YOU NAME IT!

However, our driver didn't really feel the need to slow down... like, at all. Even when we were literally less than 100 feet away from an elephant, we had to shout in unison at our driver to slow down. Looking back, I think the driver didn't want to drive through the game park at night... and for good reason, but really dude? You have people on the top of your car! When lightning started to strike in the distance, we decided we wanted down, and again, it took a chorus of shouts to get him to stop long enough for us to get down. 

The next 2 and a half hours went like this. Break neck speed through tall elephant grass, branches getting caught in the open top (naturally we didn't stop long enough to put the top down) and falling on our faces. One unexpected bathroom break, and stopping up the whole train of safari vans behind us (enter Mike and the "cat call of compassion." We had a pretty good laugh with Rob as Brigham stood out in the tall grass to make sure no animals were headed his way. HILARIOUS.

Needing to go to the bathroom myself, but refusing to go out there in the dark. Hitting these animals: a number of bunnies that darted in front of us, one python, and one porcupine (yup, you read that right). This guy didn't stop for fallen trees, for the animals that we hit (until he kind of slowed down for the porcupine), or of course, for our shouts to slow down. I mean, what if we had hit a larger animal? Brigham posed this question to our driver Jeffrey, to which he just shrugged our shoulders. 

I couldn't begin to imagine where on earth a 5 star resort would be at the end of this winding road... My friend kept saying... I was just waiting to be dropped off and to run into the LRA. Thank goodness THAT didn't happen. Although, ironically, the Chobe Resort did used to be Kony's Rebel Camp. Since the conflict that ended in 2006, an Asian company came in and fixed the hotel up. 

The hotel was an OASIS. At dinner the chef let us pick the custom ingredients for each of our pasta dishes, and I had a DELICIOUS chocolate and cream cake. (Deserts are really hit and miss here... mostly miss). Apparently our hotel was on the Nile, but I couldn't see it at all until we woke up the next morning. Here's the surprise that I woke up to: 

Although, I should have guessed, because as we went to bed, a hippopotamus was munching on the grass outside our hotel room. It was one of the biggest creatures I have ever seen, and it was incredible to see him in his natural environment without cages, walls, or captivity. (However, hippos are also responsible for more human deaths than any other animal in Africa, so with that- I went to bed.) 

The next morning we left early for the drive back through the game park, and took the long drive home.  Two hours away from home, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch. In true African fashion, it took our group a whole 3 hours to be fed... When we arrived at the restaurant there was a man with an AK-47 standing outside... I mean, I've seen them around Kampala, but there's something a little disconcerting about having an AK-47 man standing 20 feet away from you at lunch. Dane got up the guts to go chat with the guard... mostly small talk until the guard said, "Well, I need to keep watching my boss." 

Dane: "Who is your boss?"

Guard: "Idi Amin's son."

What!? So crazy to think that conflict has taken place so recently in this country, and that it has impacted so many people around us- even people from my generation. And even crazier to be that close to one of his forty-something sons. 

So, after sitting at lunch forever... and eating a (crappy) pizza, we finally continued on, and then a couple hours later: made it home! Only to leave for Rwanda in the morning!