Today we set off at 9am for Paraa Safari Lodge in the Murchison Falls National Park. The road wasn't as bad as we thought it might be, after last nights rain, and we made good time up to the trading point of Pak Wach. Here we stopped for petrol and discovered we had a flat tyre on the back, we found a small repair house to fix it but unlike last time we all had to get off the bus. We found shade under the small awning of a shop and were soon surrounded by locals trying to sell us all manor of crafts that they had made and also some selling us cold drinks- much of the group made use of this service and noted that you wouldn't get that on the hard shoulder of the M20!
They were also in the process of erecting power masts down the central street and we watched as a man used leg irons to make his way up the telegraph pole in front of us, I’m not sure whether the round of applause he was given was completely appreciated!
The tyre was fixed and we made our way off the tarmac onto dirt roads again as we sought the start of the Safari Park. By this point it was a race against time to get to the lodge before they finished serving lunch! As we entered the safari park and made our way the 10km to the lodge we saw a huge variety of animals including Warthog, several species of Antelope, and Giraffe; this excited the group as to what we may see on the evening game drive.
We did make it in time for lunch and tucked into 3 courses of Soup and Salad; Fish, Chicken or Pasta; followed by a selection of Deserts. With our first Game Drive at 4pm some of the group headed to the pool whilst other went to their rooms to freshen up.
We were led on our drive by George who has been working at the park for 19 years. He explained what we would be doing and we set off. The park has an area of 3,934Km2 and is protected by Rangers from the Ugandan Wildlife Agency. Unfortunately the park is still plagued by poachers and just last week 3 rangers were shot dead by poachers trying to get at the animals.
On our drive this afternoon we saw: many Giraffes, even having the opportunity to get out the bus to get a better sight; Kob, the national animal of Uganda; lots of Warthogs and Guinea Fowl; 1 herd and several loan male elephants, who were kind enough to cross the road just in front of us and then pose for photos; a herd of 500 Water Buffalo that seemed to stretch across the whole landscape; Jackson Antelope, which are known as the most stupid animals in the park as they will run from a Lion, then forget why they are running, stop and get killed!
Our drive lasted for nearly 4hrs and during the last hour it was dark across the park though George said we may still see some animals. Just as we were approaching the lodge we saw a loan hippopotamus grazing, it was the most amazing sight ever! The Hippopotami can roam up to 6km from water to graze during the night, eating between 180-250kg of food before heading back to the water as the sun is rising.
As we got back to the lodge Paul explained to us that the animals in the evening sometimes come very close to the lodge and as such we were advised not to leave the safety of our surroundings, this was something the leaders enforced too!!
Dinner was a buffet and the group made good use of all the food on offer before heading off to relax in the lounge, play pool and catch up with people back home online. Tomorrow begins with a game drive at 5.45am before some time to relax and a boat trip in the afternoon.
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