We woke up bright and early for our 6:30 a.m. game drive. We desperately needed coffee! We left just at dawn, as the animals were waking up or setting in after searching for prey. After a very short trip away from the safari lodge, we saw animals. Lots of animals. Baboons, giraffes, elephant, antelope. beautiful birds, buffalo, and well, more antelope. And after a short drive, we saw several safari vehicles lined up. We knew something had to be there, and yep, lionesses! Apparently lions are difficult to find, as the lady lions are the prey-hunters. We watched for several minutes before Michael took off in one direction to go off-road. And there, in the middle of the roadway, was a lion. She literally was playing like a playful kitty, rolling around and generally frolicking. We captured several great shots of her there. The boys were in awe.
We drove around some more before settling back at the lodge, where we napped. Then we left for our launch cruise to the bottom of Murchison Falls, along the Nile. We saw even more birds, plus plenty of hippos, and even a few crocodile. Steve even napped for a while, because it was a bit more of a mellow trip. After the cruise, we went for another game drive. We were all pretty damn tired at this point, so we didn't go out for long.
After one more evening at Paraa, we left for chimp tracking. This was cool--we bundled up in layers and put on our hiking/rain boots. A guide took us for about a 15 minute hike before getting the message on his walkie talkies that chimps could be found. So we literally went off-trail, with vines and leaves and creeks and jungle in our way. We found other chimp trackers, gazed up, and then we saw a chimp, at least 50 foot up, perched in a tree and hungrily downing jackfruit. Apparently chimps are vegetarians. Our guide circled around to find us the best view, and we saw several other chimps all eating. This was about 8 or 9 in the morning? We stayed out for an hour, which is as long as you are allowed to be out in the jungle. As we hiked back, we heard the chimps hooting and hollering. Apparently they were quite excited that we were leaving.
After eating a quick lunch, our next destination was to the Speke Resort Munyono in Kampala. The drive back seemed to take forever, at least 5-6 hours, seemingly, with a stop for the ATM and to retrieve N's forgotten suit. We were SO ready to get to our hotel room. After the bungled credit transaction and a room switch (due to nasty rotten fruit), we finally could shower. We were still in our safari gear. And then dinner, marked by a brief appearance by the groom. And finally, we could sleep. The next day was wedding day!
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