By Melanie Nicol
The rest of the group is probably annoyed by the number of Lion King references I made this weekend but I can't seem to help it. The "Circle of Life" was on constant repeat in my head during the game drive..even our ranger guide said "there's a pumbaa" when we saw our first warthog.
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| Boat cruise down the Nile River |
The weekend started at 6:15 am on Saturday morning. Our guide Arthur from
Econest Tim Tours picked us up from the Inn and we began the drive to Murchison Falls.
Murchison Falls National Park is the biggest national park in Uganda at 3840 square kilometers (that's about 1480 square miles; bigger than Rhode Island but ~half the size of Yellowstone National Park). It took about 4 hours to get to the edge of the park, and then we drove another hour until we reached the Nile River where we had lunch. At 2pm we started a boat ride down the Nile. During our 2 hour boat ride we saw elephants, giraffes, lots of hippos, crocodiles, and some interesting birds. When we reached Murchison Falls, about half of those on the boat turned around to go back but our group was brave enough to make the 1.5 hour hike to the top of the falls. The hike was not especially difficult although it was steep and a good part of it directly in the sun. It was well worth it though as we were treated to many special and unique views of Murchison Falls as well as the "upper falls" otherwise known as "Freedom Falls" that can only be seen from the hiking trail. Standing at the top of the falls and looking down the River Nile was a highlight of the trip, a favorite of both mine and the students.
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| Freedom Falls on the left and Murchison Falls on the right. The upper falls were created by massive flooding in 1962, the same year Uganda became an independent country, hence the name "Freedom Falls" |
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| At the top of Murchison Falls |
Because our boat ride went longer than expected, we missed the 6pm ferry and had to wait a bit for the last (7pm) ferry to take us across the Nile to our lodge. During the drive from the ferry crossing to our lodge, we met what Arthur called a "lonely" elephant who seemed determined to not let us pass. I learned just how quickly a safari van can do a K-turn on a narrow road. We finally arrived at
Pakuba Safari Lodge at around 8pm. Some quick showers, dinner at the buffet...most of us were in a dead sleep by 9:30 pm.
Sunday morning started with breakfast at 6am. By 6:30, we were back in the safari van, now with our ranger guide Sam, to begin the game drive. We quickly saw many elephants (these were all more friendly than the one we had seen the night before- they mostly ignored our presence), giraffes, hartebeest, Ugandan cob, water-backs, pumbaas...ahem...I mean warthogs. Despite our early morning drive, we were unfortunately unable to find the lions. The lions can be the most difficult to find- they do much of their hunting under the moonlight and are quite content to sleep (sometimes in the trees) during the day. We drove throughout the park for over 4 hours, to all their favorite spots (according to Ranger Sam) but were unsuccessful. Guess next time we need to verify our appointment with the lions!
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| Water Buffalo- The only time Lion King music was not in my head was when it was replaced by the Veggie Tales "Everybody has a Water Buffalo" |
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| Jackson's hartebeest- According to our guide these animals are "quite dumb". When being chased by a lion, they sometimes "forget" what they are running from and simply stop. Despite this apparent evolutionary disadvantage, this species seemed very plentiful within the park. |
We then began the long journey home. By now we had driven far into the park so the drive home felt even longer. We drove ~ 2.5 hours, stopped for lunch, then drove ~3 hours back. We returned ~ 6:30 pm...so other than the stop for lunch we had been sitting in that safari van for 12 hours! We packed a lot in a 36 hour trip. To save time and money, we did in 2 days what most people will do in 3. There really is far too much to take in here. More to see than can ever be seen.
The weekend started at 6:15 am on Saturday morning. Our guide Arthur from Econest Tim Tours picked us up from the Inn and we began the drive to Murchison Falls. Murchison Falls National Park is the biggest national park in Uganda at 3840 square kilometers (that's about 1480 square miles; bigger than Rhode Island but ~half the size of Yellowstone National Park). It took about 4 hours to get to the edge of the park, and then we drove another hour until we reached the Nile River where we had lunch. At 2pm we started a boat ride down the Nile. During our 2 hour boat ride we saw elephants, giraffes, lots of hippos, crocodiles, and some interesting birds. When we reached Murchison Falls, about half of those on the boat turned around to go back but our group was brave enough to make the 1.5 hour hike to the top of the falls. The hike was not especially difficult although it was steep and a good part of it directly in the sun. It was well worth it though as we were treated to many special and unique views of Murchison Falls as well as the "upper falls" otherwise known as "Freedom Falls" that can only be seen from the hiking trail. Standing at the top of the falls and looking down the River Nile was a highlight of the trip, a favorite of both mine and the students.
Sunday morning started with breakfast at 6am. By 6:30, we were back in the safari van, now with our ranger guide Sam, to begin the game drive. We quickly saw many elephants (these were all more friendly than the one we had seen the night before- they mostly ignored our presence), giraffes, hartebeest, Ugandan cob, water-backs, pumbaas...ahem...I mean warthogs. Despite our early morning drive, we were unfortunately unable to find the lions. The lions can be the most difficult to find- they do much of their hunting under the moonlight and are quite content to sleep (sometimes in the trees) during the day. We drove throughout the park for over 4 hours, to all their favorite spots (according to Ranger Sam) but were unsuccessful. Guess next time we need to verify our appointment with the lions! 
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