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Published: March 15th 2023
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Despite being born and raised here, Hope and Irene had never been on safari. So I decided we needed a girls trip into the wild!
We took a 3 day trip to my favorite park in Uganda: Murchison Falls. I switched it up this time and booked us on a small group tour. So there were two ladies who joined us from the UK. One is a doctor and the other a nurse, both volunteering for a month working in palliative care.
The first day we went to see the Murchison Falls, or as the locals call them Kabalega Falls. They at the apex of Lake Albert and Victoria Nile and is the most powerful waterfall in the world. We hiked to view them from several vantage points including one where you get pretty wet from the spray coming off the Falls.
We then arrived at our campsite. Our accommodations were tents, while basic they were actually quite nice. The mattresses were much better than any I slept on in Bangladesh.
The next morning we were up before sunrise for our first game drive. We picked up our (female) ranger and set off in search of animals.
One of the reasons I like this park so much is that they have tons of giraffes. Their population here is very healthy at approximately 3000 so you see them at every turn running through the fields or eating from the trees. I could watch them all day, but we did have to keep moving. The ranger really wanted to find some lions so that was our mission, but along the way we saw all the other animals you might expect to see: elephants, hyenas, warthogs, monkeys, cap buffalo, and an assortment of birds. The animals you won't see here are zebras who live by Queen Elizabeth National Park and Rhinos who have to live with around the clock armed guards in a sanctuary to protect them from poachers.
A little more about the engaged rhino and the poachers who have hunted some varieties into extinction and others to the brink.
Rhinos are particularly vulnerable to poaching because they are relatively unaggressive and travel in herds. The poachers are killing them for their horn. While it is not necessary to kill the rhino to take the horn it is of course easier. The horn is ground into a
powder and used in traditional Asian medicine as they believe it can cure a range of health issues and illnesses, including fever and cancer. Poachers can get upwards of $1 million USD for one horn making it is a serious business where a group of men will work together to track and kill just one rhino. The last southern white rhino in Uganda was killed in Murchison Falls National Park by poachers in 1983.
Currently, there are 33 rhinos in a sanctuary near Murchison Falls. All of the rhinos have undergone a surgery to microchip their horns and their bodies. If a rhino was to get poached and the horn was found far away, the chip could be scanned and matched to prove it was obtained illegally. Many poachers and traders of illegal rhino horns have escaped conviction due to a lack of evidence. There is a plan to re-introduce the highly endangered rhinos in Uganda's national parks through a breed-and-release program. But, their safety will continue to be a concern.
We finished the day with a 3 hour boat cruise ending at the base of the Falls. We were able to see lots of hippos, elephants playing
at the water, crocodiles, and a variety of birds. Even though hippos spend their days submerged in water, elephants are much better swimmers. They will easily swim across a river or to an island.
Many wouldn’t guess this but the hippo is the deadliest large land mammal on earth. It is estimated that hippos kill 500 people each year in Africa. It is not only their size and weight that makes them dangerous, but also their sharp teeth. While they are herbivores, they still frequently kill other animals such as elephants.
We finished the night with a huge rain storm which was fun to experience in the tent while enjoying some wine. Hope even did her rain dance for us 😊
The last day we had an early morning game drive before heading back home. The first day the ranger spent much of the morning looking for lions, but the second day we saw so many of them without even trying. There is approximately 300 of them in the Park.
Before going the ladies weren’t sure how different it would be from seeing the same animals in the zoo. But, after they agreed there is no
comparison to seeing them in their natural habitat. I was so happy to be able to experience it with them!
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