Uganda Part 2: Queen Elizabeth National Park and Christmas Day

 Day 3: Queen Elizabeth National Park

Rocking the ace bandage

We spent most of the third day on the rough Ugandan roads. The vehicle we were in was well-equipped to handle the terrain, but any day spent entirely in a car in Africa is exhausting. There are no real breaks, pit stops are literally bushes on the side of the road, and the meals kind of leave something to be desired. But the most tortuous part of driving in Uganda was the "African Massage:" Ugandans are incredibly passionate about speed bumps, and they install them on the highway, in every small town, and even on dirt roads. But these are no ordinary speed bumps - they are clusters of 3-5 massive, sharp humps that made our huge SUV feel like a toy car on a washboard. I would equate it less to a massage then a whole body earthquake, but our guide thought it was hilarious.

Crater lake - some of the scenery on our drive

My tent :)

At the equator with the crew

Amazing outdoor shower

Thankfully the scenery was beautiful, and we made it through some foot hills, over the Equator (and had to stop for the obligatory quick photo shoot), and into Queen Elizabeth National Park. Again, our lodge was amazing, and I had another beautiful safari tent to myself. This one came complete with a spectacular outdoor shower, which was so refreshing and back-to-nature at the end of a long drive and in the middle of a stiflingly hot afternoon. Our tents were perched on a high overlook which gazed onto the Kazinga Channel, a large tributary running between two huge lakes in the middle of the park. From the porch of my little room I could see the hippos in the river, see the buffalo razing in the park, and we could hear far off elephants stomping through the trees.

Kob in the sunset

After showers and some quiet time reading with an amazing view of the river, we headed out for a sunset game drive through the park. None of us were particularly excited to get back into the car, but 5 out of 6 of us toughened up and went on safari. The park entrance was a short drive from the lodge, and we had a beautiful drive. We saw a lot of Ugandan kob (looks a lot like the impala), buffalo, elephants in the distance, and a lot of birds.

The savannah was really gorgeous, and in the golden light of sunset, everything looked extra luminous and peaceful. Our guide knew exactly where to take us, and after about 20 minutes we came upon a large group of lions in the tall grass. It was a group of about 6 adolescents and 3-4 adult lionesses. They were lazily lounging on their backs and bellies, rolling in the grass and occasionally getting up to stretch or nuzzle each other.

They were beautiful and fun to watch, but the longer we stayed the more cars arrived, and I was shocked at how close the guides would drive to them. A few times the lions would get up, annoyed, and slink stealthily in retreat away from the road and farther into the thick grass for peace. Eventually we agreed to leave them in peace, since a few of us were having a hard time witnessing how bothered they were by some of the more aggressive tour drivers.

Hippo and sunset!

On our way back to the lodge we saw hippos, elephants and tons of kob and buffalo. We were amazed that we would all be sleeping in the middle of this park which seemed to be absolutely teeming with large animals (and with no fences). We returned to the lodge, showered again (it was really hot), and were pleasantly surprised that we would be dining al fresco. Instead of a restaurant or meal tent, the staff had set all the dinner tables around a central bonfire and lit lanterns all around.

Dinner under the stars

We had a delicious meal under the stars and could hear the animals all around us. When we had finally finished the last course and nightcaps we were informed we must be escorted to out tents because nobody was allowed to walk in the dark without a staff member present. Apparently the hippos frequently wander right into the compound to graze and they are extremely mean and territorial animals.

On safari

I snuggled into bed and fell asleep quickly, but was woken in the middle of the night by all the crazy animal noises. You could hear a LOT of large animals moving, grunting, eating, and communicating all around the tents. Luckily, I always travel with earplugs, and feeling rather secure in my elevated, semi-permanent tent, went right back to sleep. But it sure was an interesting chorus to fall asleep to!

Day 4: Christmas Day in the Park

Waiting for breakfast in the mess tent

We woke up early again, had a cup of coffee and set out on an early morning game drive. Only 4 of us decided the wake up call was worth it, but we went back into the park and drove around exploring. Unfortunately, the animals seemed to be sleeping in on Christmas day, and we didn't see anything even remotely as exciting as the lions we saw the day before. After about an hour of just staring at buffalo butts, we decided to call it quits and head home and have breakfast.

Watching elephants

Drink up!

Everyone met back up at the lodge and had a long, leisurely breakfast. We had no other scheduled activities until mid-afternoon, so we all spent the day wandering the lodge grounds, reading, and gazing at the stunning scenery. After lunch time, a group of elephants came crashing through the trees on the other side of the river and made their way to the waters edge to drink. All 6 of us stood on the hill side watching the family of 5 elephants wade into the river, shoot sprays of water at each other, and then proceed to fling clay onto their backs to keep the sun at bay.

It was a very relaxing afternoon, and I think it may be one of the coolest places I have ever stayed. We were surrounded by so much wildlife, had great beds and beautiful showers, and were fed tasty meals under the stars. I was shocked that this was somehow on my "budget" tour accommodation list.

The last activity in Queen Elizabeth Park was a 2 hour river cruise. We drove to the other side of the park and got into a double decker boat. The cruise along the channel between these two massive lakes was so great! We saw SO many animals along the water. There were water animals like hippos and massive crocodiles, lots of regulars like water buffalos, water buck and elephants, and a million different types of bird. We even saw the rare African Forest Hog.

It was a very peaceful and close up way to see so many cool animals, and floating along the river was a nice change from the bumpy roads of the rest of the safari. When we got back to the lodge, the staff were busy preparing an extensive Christmas Buffet. We got cleaned up and found our table under the clear sky again. There was so much food it was ridiculous. There were stews, grilled meats and fish, salads, breads, and 4 different types of cake for dessert.

Water buck

I was a little apprehensive when I booked the trip because I thought it would be really weird to spend Christmas with a bunch of strangers on a far off continent. But the group I was with was so interesting and so easy to talk to that we had a great time. Everyone at the table had such interesting stories and was very well-travelled. And they even had cool jobs! The Austrian couple was so neat: he used to work for a huge record label and routinely had dinner with people like Bon Jovi, Elton John and Metallica, and she was the veterinarian for the Austrian Olympic horse team.

Christmas Dinner

 I was really fortunate to have such a great group to travel with, share meals with and spend Christmas with. After our huge and tasty meal, we all got escorted to our rooms....I even actually SAW a hippo wandering around outside my room. It was a great way to spend a very non-traditional holiday :)

 You can see more pictures here: https://kristynspictures.shutterfly.com/10245