Africa: Day 8

Tuesday May 18

Another early morning for a game drive at Murchison. We had breakfast at 615am at the restaurant in the resort and then met up with our guide, Tigris. He knew so much about every animal we saw; their lifespan, weight, gestation period, prey, predators, etc. He's been a guide for 6 years at the Park with the UWA (Uganda Wildlife Assoc.).

From the beginning of the drive, it was so exhilarating. We started out by seeing some warthogs, kob, and the funniest looking animal I have ever seen... the Jackson's Hartebeest. These guys were all over the place and loved to hang out in the road, so we saw them all the time. The same thing went for the oribi. Another antelope type animal, but TINY. I said "Oh, a little baby" and Tigris piped in and told me it was full-grown. Oops. And then we saw a baby oribi and it looked like it was born minutes before we got there it was so tiny.

After maybe a half an hour on the drive, Tigris spotted an entire pack of hyena (which he'd never seen before, so he says). They were devouring an animal carcass. He told us they are a cowardly animal and don't hunt, and that they just eat what is already dead. Little Scavengers. The hyenas were down in a valley and it was hard to get a good picture. Just then we saw one alone right by the road. I thought he was pretty with his spotted fur, but apparently they are a super ugly animal.

After the hyena passed, we saw a valley with a bunch of workers. Sadly, they are digging for oil right in the middle of this national park. Tigris said they were promised it wouldn't be harmful for the animals but that is doubtful. It's crazy that they can just drill for oil right there in the middle of a NATIONAL PARK! REALLY? It doesn't make sense, but then again laws are very regulated, if they have any.

The rest of the morning was phenomenal. Even after the sun came up there was the perfect amount of cloud cover. Jeri and I even had our long sleeve jackets on most of the drive. To see the animals better, Collin, Jeri and I went in the back of the truck and stood in the bed and hung onto the roll bar while Loud drove and Tigris popped in and out through the door. Not too long after seeing the crappy oil people, we came to a HUGE herd of giraffe. They were EVERYWHERE!!! And super close to the road. It was amazing. We loved the giraffe. Tigris told us that the darker (blacker) spotted ones are male, while the females have more white and lighter spots. And then the darker the spots, the older they are. Another way to distinguish between the male and female is that the males have a 3rd distinct horn in the middle of the other 2.

We're a bit obsessed with giraffes! :)

We were really happy to be standing outside in the back because we had such a great view. After getting our fill of the awesome giraffe, we continued on our way down the tracks. We saw some elephants but down in a distant valley. There were TONS of crazy looking birds too. Vivid colors. SO different from ones I've seen here. There were different kinds of cranes, storks, weavers, eagles, and lots more I cant remember the names. We were getting attacked by mosquitoes and bugs so we put on some spray repellent which helped a bit.

A few minutes later, Tigris told us to get into the truck, because he saw lion tracks and it wasn't safe to be out in the open back of the truck. Probably 50 feet later, he pointed out a lioness and 2 of her cubs. They were maybe 40 yards away from the road, and Tigris told Lou to drive off the road to get closer. We rolled down the window and took pictures of them from just 10 feet away. What an incredible experience. The mama was so calm and just laid there while her babies pounced around. She didn't care about us and didn't make any sudden moves. We could tell she knew who was in charge.

Back on the road, we went a few kilometers and then went off-roading again, as per Tigris' request. we came to a lion and 2 lionesses. So sweet! Sadly, the lion had been rescued on the park where poachers had tried to catch an animal with a wire trap. He was just resting and sat there with the ladies. They still own the jungle though, they weren't intimidated at all. It was unbelievable to get so close to them.

We saw more of the animals; mostly more of the same. There were hippos we could see from afar as we drove alongside the Nile. That river is truly incredible. We talked about all the historical/biblical events that took place on the Nile. So Amazing.

On the way back to the lodge it was getting way too hot for me in the back of the truck. Collin and Jeri stayed back there. I would later find out that thanks to the side-effect from the Malaria Pills we're taking that we'd get awesome goggle tans from our sunglasses. I was fried.

After the drive, we said our g'byes to Tigris and went straight to the pool. It was so refreshing and i made sure to stay in the shade after getting my fair share of sunlight for the day.

We ate lunch and then went on another tour, but this time in a boat on the Nile up to the Falls again so we could get another view of them. The bottom.

The boat got super close to a ton of hippos. We even ran one over. The boat driver snuck up on schools of hippos twice where he'd cut the engine and get close to them. The hippos would freak out and scram. We got within a few feet of the huge beasts. They'd try to disappear but let's get serious. They're HUGE. They're not fooling anyone when they try to hide, even if their heads ARE under water.

Besides hippos, we saw water buck, cape buffalo, and tons more birds. We also got close to and saw a bunch of crocodiles. It was interesting to find out that they lay super still with their mouths wide open to get cool. I thought it was to be tough and hard core WRONG! :)

The boat ride took us about 4 hours but was so awesome to just hang out on the Nile. We got back to the Lodge in time to shower and get ready for dinner. Afterwards we played a bit of scrabble in the main lobby and then went to bed. After another long day and lots of sun, we were exhausted.