Wednesday 29 October 2014

Wednesday 29th October

Today the group assembled at 5.30 for a 6am start to our game drive. We picked up George on the way and headed into the park. It was still dark as we drove off but at 6.38 we stopped to watch the sun rise over the park, the colours were amazing and added something really special to todays experience.

The first animal we encountered was a Hyena crossing the road. Hyenas are usually a pack animal but this one was by itself, it may have been lost of have been separated from the group. As we made our way through the park we saw more Giraffe; Elephants; Buffalo; Oribi, who are a small antelope who live for just 5 years and mate for life; Warthogs; Fish Eagles; Horn Bill Birds; Cranes, Ugandas National Bird; Kob; Jackson Hartebeasts and a troop of Baboons.
The group really wanted to see a Lion, as many who come on Safari do, however as the drive went on it looked more and more unlikely. There are just 300 in the park and George hadn't seen one for over a week. 
We made our way down to the shores of Lake Albert to observe some Hippo’s and were able to see a Shoe Bill bird of which there are just 8 pairs in the park, and only 6 countries in the Horn of Africa have any. We were able to get out the bus at this point and get close to the shore and these magnificent and large animals.

Earlier in the drive we had spotted some Lion foot prints that appeared to be quite fresh and as we were about to leave the shore and drive back to the lodge George spotted some Kob behaving strangely, as if danger was close by. He made the call to go and have a look and we drove down the track. As we got closer there was one Kob that was staring in the same direction without moving and others who were leaping- a sign of danger near by. We made the call to follow in the bus the direction they were looking. On the edge of the bush we spotted first one, and then a second Lion. The group was so excited and we made our way across the scrubland to get a better sight- they were truly majestic creatures and we were able to sit and watch them for 2-3 minutes before they disappeared into the thicker scrub. George told us they were young Lions- one male, one female who were siblings, there had been a third one but it had been killed by a Buffalo.

With this sighting under our belt we made our way back to the Lodge for Breakfast and then some time to chill out around the pool before our afternoon excursion. We were told later today that we were the only group to have seen the Lions which made our 5.30am start truly worth it!

At 2pm we set off for our boat ride along the Nile to the Murchison Falls. They are one of the worlds most powerful flows of natural water and are just 7m wide and 45m high meaning a huge amount of water cascades over the top in a very small space.

On our way down the river we also saw a huge variety of wildlife including Buffalo; Hippos; Elephants; Giraffes; Crocodiles- one of which we saw very close up from the boat as it was sunbathing on the bank; Kingfishers; Bee Eaters- a really colourful bird that nests in cliff faces; Warthogs; Fish Eagles; and a bird whose neck looked like a snake as it moved through the water.
The Sun was very hot this afternoon and we enjoyed sitting on the boat with the breeze coming of the water.


This Safari is a once in a lifetime experience and has been the icing on the cake of our time in Uganda.

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