After what seemed like an eternity of waiting we finally left for Queen Elizabeth National Park last Wednesday. It was a long drive as QENP is on the western border beside the DRC, but an incredibly beautiful one. It finally gave my parents the chance to see the Uganda I fell in love with as we spend the majority of our time in the hellish city of Kampala. We stayed at the Simba Safari Lodge where we got excellent food and service. My parents had their own room while Mary and I shared one next door. The next morning we were up and out early…6:30am early. Our day started with a safari drive through Kasenyi where we saw hundreds of Ugandan Kobs, some lions, warthogs, African Buffalo, and a ton of birds.
We returned to the lodge for breakfast and spent the late morning relaxing while a storm rolled in. By the time we ready to go however, the storm was over and the sun was finally coming out. We headed out towards the Kazinga Channel where, much to Mary’s delight, we took a boat ride. The Kazinga Channel runs between Lake Edward and Lake George and was said to be the highlight of the trip. Along the banks of the Channel were numerous species of birds, tons of buffalo and hippos, a few crocodiles, and a single elephant. There were also many fisherman headed up to Lake Edward, as it is illegal to fish in the Kazinga Channel. The boat ride proved to be a lot of fun and provided an opportunity to see many animals.
The next morning we left bright and early to head back to Kampala, much to my dismay. I was somewhat disappointed in the end as I was only able to see an elephant from a great distance. Elephants are my favorite animals and the one I was most looking forward to seeing. However, as we were driving out of QENP, there was a single, massive elephant coming toward us to cross the road. I was very excited about how close he was to all of us. After this I was much happier. But, it did not stop there. Further down the road we spotted seven elephants not far from the road!!! They had knocked down a tree and were quite content to stay around for us and feast while we snapped photos. We took a different road back giving is an opportunity to cross over the Equator and see the officially marked spot dividing North and South. Once we got back we spent the evening relaxing and recovering from the long drive. All in all we had an amazing time. The scenery was amazing and we got some great shots of the animals. Now we are back in reality waiting for the passport and Visa and medical clearance. More to come on that in the next blog!
