Well, where to begin...

Took a trip to Murchison Falls National Park this weekend, it is situated in Western Uganda near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The park is made up of 2000 miles2 of rainforest, woodland, savannah and wetlands, with the Nile flowing through it.  The park is a designated conservation area although locals are not allowed to live in the park they are able to fish on the Nile.

Set off early Friday morning – taking a short cut through the countryside to avoid Kampala and reduce the travel time (9hrs).  Although the road was pretty bad it was good to see parts of the country I haven’t seen before and the road cut up through central Uganda.  The roads are very straight and very long – disappearing off into the distance and seeming neverending.  I was reminded of a book I’d read earlier this year about the Congo – how, if you put a stick in the ground it will grow into a tree.  There were often trees and small bushes sprouting up at the edge of the road.  It is  such a fertile country that it is easy to imagine that with no passing traffic or maintenance the roads would disappear in a year; as if they had never existed. 

 

As we’d left pretty early we saw lots of children on their way to school.  Along the road side there were long streams of brightly dressed children of all ages walking alone or in small groups, some with books, some without, some with shoes, some without and those that were a bit late scurrying along at a faster pace.  Some children remain at home with their parents who decide not to send their children off to school, particularly if they themselves didn’t attend; instead the children work in the fields.  The driver was telling me that there are very few text books in the schools and children have to provide their own workbooks.  Not all families can afford to buy the necessary supplies and so some children can leave primary school without being able to write their names.

I’ve mentioned previously every home seems to have at least a cow and a goat, in Western Uganda Ankole cattle are a popular breed. Their horns are HUGE, not to be messed with!  I saw many of these.

During the drive I also spotted a pair of red tailed monkeys swinging from some trees.  Also a HUGE Marabou stork – I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a large bird flying overhead – but goodness was it ugly!

Had lunch in a town called Masindi were I caught the news about the miners trapped in the mine in S Wales. 

Stopped off en route to the park to see some white rhinos.  The authorities in Uganda have set up an enclosed sanctuary of 70km2 to encourage breeding with the hope of returning white rhino back into the wild in the future. I was expecting them to be fenced off – but no, how wrong I was.  Instead I found myself standing about 15m away from a mother and two baby rhinos.....I had earmarked the trees I would head for if they charged!!  The rhinos roam around the sanctuary looking for tasty grass - apparently they have favouite types.  There are currently 10 rhinos in the park soon to be 12 (one of the male rhinos has been very busy).



Bella and Augustu




Obama



Arrived at the NP late afternoon to a be greeted by a rainstorm, luckily it soon stopped so we could head to see the top of the Murchsion Falls where the Nile squeezes through a small gap to crash down some 50m.   The falls were great from the top – the river was wide and very powerful – there was a lot of spray so I had a very good cooling off!!  The fall was much more powerful than those at Jinja and Sipi. Many baboons and a mud bath of buffalo greeted us on the way to the lodge.




mud glorious mud

 

The Falls



Accommodation was great with the luxury of walking around bare foot and turning on a tap to have water running out!  Food was also very nice and had my first glass of wine in 7 weeks.  All rooms had balconies facing the Nile and the entrances to the rooms was via an open walkway – getting to and from the dining room meant running the gauntlet along the walkway dodging the many flying bats!  I know they are supposed to know you are there but I did have my doubts at times – anyone watching me walking along ducking and diving would have found it hilarious.

Have finally discovered what the blue and white nets are for that I see hanging from trees – they look like abandoned kites but are for trapping tsetse flies which can cause sleeping sickness.  Our van was bombarded with these flies at one point – it felt like one of those thriller movies with mad bees.

Saturday started with a game safari – taking the advice of the driver we had an early start, 6.00am we were the first ones out.  I wasn’t really all that bothered about this part of the trip – how wrong was I, it was great fun!  The roof of the van lifted up and as I was on my own I had a 360 view.  Perfect.  We set off in the dark and about 20 mins later two giraffes loomed out from the side of the road.  We were so close I could hear them breathing.  They were less fussed, and after a few minutes, trotted off.  Throughout the morning I ended up seeing lots of giraffes.  They seemed to run in slow motion which was quite strange to see.  Saw lots of different antelopes, giraffes, a few warthogs, lots of birds, a Patas monkey and many hippos in the hippo pool.  The landscape changed a lot throughout the drive and so did the smells.  The animals mark their territories, I can assure you some smell a lot nicer than others.  

larking about

However we were the early birds that caught the worm.  We had tried to pass down a road but got stuck in the mud trying to turn; in the end the driver got us out of the mud and we looped around a different way through the park.  Turning a bend, there in the middle of the road blocking our path was a pride of lions.  Two cubs and a mother just in front of our van with two young adults and the male further down the road.  If our original route hadn’t been foiled by the mud we would have seen the male lion first and not had such a good view of the mother and cubs. 

What luck – it was great watching the cubs lark about.  After about 15mins they sloped off to a nearby bush and the male started walking towards us before moving away.  We were the only ones to see this sight, other vans were arriving as we were departing, my driver having a lot of kudos from other drivers for his find!

Later in the day I took a boat cruise up the Nile to the foot of the falls.  I saw many more hippos – their heads would suddenly pop out of the river.   They are warm blooded and also easily sunburnt so keep cool in the water, often submerging themselves for 5 or 6 minutes at a time. Managed to also see some speedy Nile crocodiles – one second on the bank the next they’ve disappeared into the water.

Yesterday I went chimp trekking in the rainforest and spotted two male chimps up a tree grooming each other.  They were very meticulous and were making a very thorough job of it, also being very human like in some of their movements.  On the way back the floor of the forest began moving – a swarm of Army ants.  One of the critters got into my shoe; I can confirm that it has a sharp bite! Another stuck on my trousers was also having a good nip. 

As you may expect there were many different types of tree in the rainforest including a 600 year old Mahogany tree.  It was so big I couldn’t even see the top of it, and apparently it takes 12 people handling hands to circle it's trunk.



Me and the Mahogany





lunch in the bush on the way home



Final week this week, I’m hoping to explore Kampala and get in a visit to the Botanical Gardens before I fly out next Sunday.