Murchinson Falls and more…

A quick update from last night… After posting yesterday’s blog, I took my first real shower in over 10 days. While shaving, I heard a rumble (like baboons running across the roof). But, then the floor started to shift back and forth and I knew it was either King Kong or an earthquake, and the latter was much more likely. I would classify it as a moderate earthquake, making it feel like the lodge was built on stilts. Wow - what will we experience next???

After a hefty buffet breakfast, we boarded a double-decker boat and traveled two hours upstream on the Victoria Nile to view Murchinson Falls from the bottom. There, the water of the Victoria Nile is compressed into a gorge only 6 meters wide before cascading 40 meters into the rocks below (see picture). It was spectacular! Along the way, we saw many hippos, cape buffalo and crocodiles. There was one small beach where there must have been 20+ crocs soaking up the sun with their mouths open (to cool themselves). It’s named “The Crocodile Bar”.

Upon returning, we ate lunch and cooled off in the swimming pool. At 4pm, we went on our second game drive. We had seen so many animals the day before we didn’t think it could get any better; but it did. We got within 20’ of a lioness sleeping in the shade of a tree (see picture). What a beautiful animal! We also saw a very large herd of giraffes crossing the road in front us; there must be 30 or more in all. On a smaller scale, many monitor lizards of various sizes were seen scurrying about. It was another outstanding venture into the Africa veldt.

Rachelle Depew did not go on today’s game drive due to a sore back. When we returned for dinner, she had quite a story to tell. Our host, Andrew, had warned us about not leaving our deck sliding doors open when we leave the room because baboons had been known to come in and take things. Well, I guess she had her deck door open and proceeded to the bathroom. She left the bathroom door ajar and noticed a hand (but not a human hand) grab the first aid kit she had left on the dresser. To say the least, that got her attention. I guess she let out a sound of some kind (use your imagination) and closed the bathroom door. When she got the courage to come out, the baboon had dropped the first aid kit and had fled to the deck where it promptly disappeared upon seeing Rachelle. It was a close call because next to the first aid kit was her purse with her passport, etc. Yikes! Anyway, all ended well.

I’ll be back in a few minutes… Okay, I’m back. While I was writing this, I heard music and singing outdoors. It turns out that the safari lodge had an authentic African musical group come and perform around a campfire for us. There were three men playing various string instruments and five ladies who danced and sang. We all got into the action and ended up hot, sweaty, and out of breath – but it was a lot of fun! My knees will tell a different story in the morning.

Well, we leave early tomorrow morning to return to Kampala. The safari excursion was outstanding!

Written by: Dave Glover