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Published: January 1st 2018
Murchison Falls
On the way to the safari, that's my van in the front rolling off the ferry.Early morning start for another safari. The earlier you start, the greater the chances are of seeing lions coming back from their nightly hunts, and the rest of the animals grazing for food before heading for shelter to avoid the midday sun. The camp was buzzing with activity, and for most people, this was their very first safari. It's always fun to watch people get so excited for their first time doing something incredible: a safari, Machu Picchu, first time to Europe, the list goes on.
To get to the park, you have to cross the river via ferry. Everyone was trying to reach the ferry first, so that you could board it first, therefore allowing you access to the park before all the other cars crossed over. It also takes a bit of time for the ferry to makes its way back to where the cars are, so you don't want to be last in line. I was lucky enough to be on the first ferry over. It didn't take too long before we spotted the prized lion, which was pregnant. A few times we were stuck in the road due to a traffic jam -- giraffes
walking to the trees to eat from. Not a bad delay. We saw elephants, hippos, hyenas, birds, buffalo, and lots of disappointed travelers who would ask me as we passed by if I had seen the lion, as they were looking for it.
The way it works while doing a safari is this: if you see a car parked by the side of the road, it usually means there is something good to see. If you see several cars parked together by the side of the road, it means there is something
very good to see. Parked cars always give it away. Just as we were ending our trip to return to the ferry, we saw a bunch of cars parked together. They had just seen a pack of four lions. I was able to see the back and tail of one of them as it leaped across the tall grass, and was happy with that. Just moments before, cars were still stopping us as we passed to see if we had seen the lion others had seen. Seemed like very few people got to see the lion.
After lunch, it was another boat
ride up another channel to where two waterfalls converge. (These waterfalls have a significant meaning to the people to Uganda. During the reign of Idi Amin, he would often have political prisoners thrown into the waterfalls. If they beat the odds and survived, then the crocodiles would be patiently waiting for them at the bottom of the river.) Once you reach the waterfalls, you can disembark and walk to the top of the mountain for a view of the falls. The hike is supposed to take about one hour, but it was hot as hell, so took us about two. The hike was more strenuous than I expected. I'm sure I smelled really, really good after.
For a second day in a row, the staff at the camp kept on me for not zipping up my tent. Tsetse flies, they kept warning me, tsetse flies. I remember those from all those jungle movies.
At night, the electricity is cut, so we are dependent on the lanterns they hang around the place for any light. The only generator they have is to keep the beer ice cold, which all the other visitors are drinking in
large amounts. I look around the outdoor restaurant, where everyone hangs out all night, and everyone appears to have at least four empty bottles before them, along with the one in their hand that they are gulping from. All I could think of was this bar in Cape Cod, whose tag line is "A vacation in every pint." Everyone was mentioning about how good the cold beer tasted on such a hot day, so the tag line must be true. I wish I drank, I have plenty of reasons for it. It would have helped down another blah meal, where -- like all over Uganda -- you have two choices for dinner: beef stroganoff or vegetarian lasagna. I'm not a fan of either. The beef stroganoff looked disgusting, even in the dark, so opted for the lasagna.
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