Safari-hari

Not going to lie, one of the major reasons why I wanted to do Peace Corps in Africa was to go on a safari. I have always always loved animals, especially the wild ones you see on Animal planet, and my mom and I shared the dream of seeing those majestic creatures in real life. During the school holiday I had the chance to go to Murchinson Falls, if anyone ever wants to do a safari I recommend here. We spent two days and one night for super cheap because we know someone; time of my life!

Eleven of us crammed into this safari car, which has a roof that opens up and racks on the top. Upon entering the park we are greeted by a giraffe (hi Mom!). As we move deeper in we see tons and tons of antelope/gazelle/long faced deer, more giraffes, warthogs, water buffalo, and even some elephants. Not only the animals were cool but the scenery was gorgeous and driving through sitting on the roof of this van was such a satisfying experience for us, not to mention being surrounded by awesome people the whole trip! We take lunch at this incredibly fancy lodge, which costs 250 muzungu dollars a night, and got ready for our river cruise…yes a cruise on the river, the Nile River! On this boat ride we saw many hippos, crocodiles, tons of birds, more elephants, and the falls the parked was named for. I even got to drink a Nile Special beer while on the Nile River. Lucky for me I had the binoculars my friend Matt gave me so I could spot all the animals from really far away before they scattered. After the cruise was over we got back in the van and set out for our evening game ride. The sun was setting soon, but we were on a hunt for the illusive lion that we heard was in hiding today. We saw more and more giraffes, which looked awesome silhouetted in the sun and even saw a family of them running away. Then all at once the drivers got quiet and one of my friends noticed something laying down in the distance. Was it another deer? No, it was the lions! We quickly switched course and went off road to right where they were resting, we literally drove right up to 10 feet away from them. It was a male and a female and they really could care less that we were there. We probably stared and took pictures for 5 minutes before the female growled and walked away. We moved to a different spot and then the male stretched and walked away too; only he had just three legs so he sort of hopped! Seriously one of the coolest moments of my life. We continued on to the Nile Delta where we watched the sun set, saw the DRC in the distance, and stared down a hippo that was on land…they are huge. We then made the long trek back to where we were staying, driving in the now night sky with tons of stars above us, the only people for miles and knowing that we were still surrounded by wild animals in Africa.

The next day we had a nice breakfast and set out for our hike along the falls. Before reaching the hike our van was attacked by Tse Tse flies and everyone was swatting like crazy. The trick is to sit still and they move on to more attractive flesh. The hike started out nice, going right to the top with a  few of both falls and the river. As we moved on we got closer and closer till we were right at the falls, rainbow and all. We took tons of pictures and got our feet wet in the Nile. Such a fun day, but now time to head back. However, what should have been a quick 2 hour game drive trip home turned into quite an adventure. After lunch we had not heard from our driver, so we walked to catch the ferry that only leaves every 2 hours. Well of course we missed it; some went back to where we took lunch and some of us waited around till we somehow got a private boat to take us across to wait at the fancy lodge; did I mention they had margaritas? A couple hours and some drinks later we learn the van got in an accident so we were waiting for another vehicle to come and get us. Of course we could do nothing but drink while we waited. Eventually it came so we piled in, drunk at this point, and drove off. Instead of doing the game drive we sped through the park and continued to drink, both inside and on top of the van. Needless to say debauchery ensued and we had ourselves quiet the time. Now is probably a great time to point out that I love my friends here, we are such a mixed group of personalities and we all mesh so well. We make our way out only stopping to refuel our wallets and purchase some souvenirs. However, because it is Uganda and nothing can ever go as planned or even as planned again, our van began to smoke and we had to stop. I do believe I had all the luck that day because where we stopped there happened to be a very attractive shirtless man holding the most adorable puppy that I have ever seen and I got to pet it! Sadly, we flagged down a matatu and were again on our way back to Gulu; but as luck would have it this particular matatu was filled with beer so the drinking of course continued. Oh Uganda! We made it back safe and exhausted but it was definitely a trip I don’t think any of us could ever forget =)