What a zoo!

Today, we began to wind down. We left for safari at 5am and arrived at the Paraa Safari Lodge a bit after noon. It was a rough ride across pot-hole ridden roads that resembled a roller coaster at times. Luckily, we took two large buses, so everyone had plenty of room along with their luggage. As we neared the lodge, we spotted several groups of baboons feasting along the road. To get to the lodge, we had to cross the Victoria Nile via ferry, which was nothing more than a large motorized metal platform capable of hauling two vehicles and their passengers. The river is wide and rapidly flows north and west from Lake Victoria into Lake Albert which then feeds the Albert Nile. We were greeted by four hippos at the ferry landing poking their heads just above the water.

Our rooms are luxurious and overlook the Victoria Nile and swimming pool. It is an incredibly gorgeous view; lush with jungle and high plateaus in the distance. I can hardly wait for the sunset! Our host advised us not to leave our deck doors ajar as baboons like to snatch whatever they can get their hands on and zoom – they’re gone! We ate lunch on a second story outdoor deck and watched multi-colored lizards bob their heads to frighten us (it didn’t work). Afterwards, we took a heavenly dip in the pool and relaxed for an hour or so before we prepared for our first game drive.

This afternoon, we took the two buses out for a 3 hour game drive. Each bus had a park ranger that spotted for animals and provided a lot of information. It was outstanding! We saw lots of baboons, warthogs, giraffe, cape buffalo, kob, elephants, oribi (smallest antelope), water buck, hatabeast (sp?), a monkey, and two lions (one male and one female). The lion encounter was particularly exciting. The male was lying in the shade by a clump of tall grass in the middle of open land. He awoke and moved into the grass. We were at the point where we needed to turn around and when we did, the park ranger suggested we drive closer to the grass in which he was laying. So, both buses essentially encircled the grassy area – we were within 15-20 feet of him! Then, they revved their engines to try to flush him out. Plus, everyone was hanging out the windows taking pictures and video! Frankly, I thought we were being a bit careless – I could just see that lion getting a bit irritated by it all and charging the bus. But, instead, he got up and ran the other direction and then settled down again. We took more pictures and video and then moved on. It was a spectacular sequence of events! Overall, the game drive was excellent.

We returned to the lodge and had a wonderful dinner on the outdoor deck of soup, salad, beef, and chocolate/almond balls for dessert. On a full tummy, I retreated to my room to compose this blog with hopes of getting to bed early.

Written by: Dave Glover