The whole experience far exceeded our expectations. I did a small Safari several years ago when I visited Malawi. This was a totally different experience. Being able to take in the wonders of an animal's natural habitat, without gates and borders, was incredible. As well as experiencing it through the ooh's and ahh's of a 5 year old made the trip even more spectacular.
We left for Murchison Falls Wednesday morning, with a little stop in Lira for a delicious breakfast at Sankofa Cafe. This place is an absolute treat as we don't have anything comparable in Soroti. After a filling breakfast we made the 3.5 hour trek north-west to Murchison. Our original plan was to check into our lodge, then hit the game park. However we arrived later than hoped and decided to head straight for the park...and we are so glad we did.
Within 2 minutes of being in the park we saw our 1st elephant. I was so shocked that my exclamation startled Marc and he slammed the brakes on. We quickly decided we needed to agree on a way to point out the animals that wasn't going to startle our driver every time!
We had about 2 hours to drive around in the park before it got dark. At one point, Spencer pointed out an elephant and as we turned a corner we quickly realized it wasn't 1 elephant but a whole herd. We were not prepared for that! It was beyond incredible to see 30 elephants all together. In that same moment we also realized how small our car was and decided not to take any chances with these wild (and ginormous) beasts who were only feet away.
We left the park around 6pm and went to find our lodge. We booked 2 nights at Fort Murchison Lodge. This place is incredible. We were the only guests and were treated like royalty. The food was amazing. Flavors we haven't tasted for months. Though the beds were rock hard (and I mean rock hard...think sleeping on a table and you get the experience), the room and water pressure for showers was excellent.
The next morning we left the lodge early to get in a few hours of touring the park before taking a Nile River tour. We were shocked to be driving just minutes from the lodge when we stumbled upon 3 elephants. It was a very quick reminder that we were in their domain. No gates or fences to keep the animals in at night.
While driving through the park to head to our boat tour we came across 3 giraffes just eating along the side of the road. They were stunning. Tall. Graceful. Majestic. And 10 feet away.
The boat ride down the Nile was hot! We put on our life jackets and settled into a 3 hour tour of the Nile, that would take us to Murchison Falls and back again. Hippos are my absolute favorite animal and we saw countless schools of hippos. They were everywhere. Hearing them communicate and snort and then dip under water was beyond words. Hippos don't swim. They walk along the bottom of the lake/river. They can also hold their breath for up to 6 minutes. They tend to only be aggressive if they feel threatened. Our tour guide gave a wide berth to the momma hippos and their babies.
After 3 hot and exhausting hours in the sun, we finished our tour and took a short break at Paraa Lodge. This place is located within the park and is a sight to behold. The kids kept saying, "this place is fancy!" Chips (french fries) and ice cream in our bellies we loaded back into the car to enjoy a few final hours in the park.
On our way out of the park, we came across the same herd of elephants. Still breath-taking, but this time we were a little worried. They were on the road and this was our only route out. We didn't want to be too close so we stayed back and waited until about half the herd crossed the road. At that point we saw our opportunity and took it. Camera down, a quick prayer and Marc gunned it through the herd. One big bull got a little spooked but thankfully ran away from us, rather than charge at us. We breathed a little easier as we put some distance between us and the herd.
We enjoyed our final evening at Fort Murchison. It rained all night and into the morning, so the temperatures were much cooler. However this also created a bit of a problem when we left as the road out was muddy and filled with small lakes of water. At one point we actually were run off the road by a large work truck. Thankfully the guys inside hopped out and pushed us out of the mega mud pit we found ourselves in.
The trip home was a success, once we got off the side road that the Lodge was located on. We stopped in a small town called Packwach and picked up some hand carved wooden treasures to bring home. We completed our trip with a stop in Lira to take in Sankofa Cafe. The pizza was perfect. Tasted just like home.
Speaking of home...as I sit and write this blog post I am mindful of the fact that we have approximately 2 weeks left in Soroti and only 3 weeks left in Uganda. I am feeling so blessed and thankful that my family had the opportunity to do a Safari while we served here.
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