On the Road with Rob

A couple explorers like the days of old

This last month we had our first long term visitor from the states.  Rob, a friend since jr. high youth group, and best man in my wedding came and spent a whole month with my family.  We were taking bets on whether he would actually come.  I lost.

Most of our time was spent in Kampala, where I showed him my exhilarating day-to-day life of grocery shopping at the market, taking my kids swimming, discussing the attributes of different super heros, teaching my son to read, cooking meals, etc.  Having a guest in town I upped my evening outings exploring local watering holes, like checking out reggae night, and making our presence known at the newly opened Mojo Lounge, a house converted into a bar down the street from me.

The biggest difference from my average month was the increase of weekend trips including a game safari in Murchinson Falls National Park, a trek to an island on Lake Bunyonyi, and relaxing weekend lazy camping overlooking the rapids of the Nile.  Writing up this Safari recap has taken me a month to get to.  Hopefully I’ll get to the others quicker.    

Early one glorious Kampala morning Rob and I jumped in my Rav 4, armed with a tent, couple sleeping bags, some coconut biscuits, and set of for Murchinson Falls to get better acquainted with some Ugandan wildlife.  After a 5 hour drive, including the obligatory stop for goat muchomo and roasted bananas delivered by vendors standing on the side of the road, we entered the park, but still had another 1.5 hours to the where the boat tour was we were hoping to catch.

Following a couple fishtailing incidents on the roads I slowed down, deciding it was better to miss the boat than die.   We made it to the boat on time and were treated to views of hippos, crocodiles, elephants, and a bunch of crazy birds which I don’t know the names of.

Multitasking: seeing the falls and reading the news.  

The people watching is interesting as well.  A lot of folks are dressed in their “safari gear” of north face pants and shirts, large brimmed hats with huge expensive hiking boots as if they were planning taking a trek across the continent on foot.  When you’re on safari the majority of your time is looking at animals out the window of a truck or boat.  The longest walk most travelers experience is back at their lodge where they have to walk from their cabin to the dinning area to enjoy their four-course meal.

During the boat ride we were feeling a little camera inadequacy.  A number of our fellow passengers pulled out these cameras with lenses that looked more like bazookas.  Meanwhile Rob, who traveled half way around the world for this African adventure, was using the camera function of an old borrowed i-phone.  

After the boat we went back to set up our tent at our budget lodge, chatted with other travelers over dinner and beers.  I was worried how well I would do sleeping on the ground.  Fortunately I slept soundly, not even waking up to the sound of the wart hogs and hippos that were seen traipsing through the camp that night.

The next morning we got up at the butt crack of dawn (technical term) to catch the ferry across the Nile to the area were most of the animals reside.  Before moving to Uganda I never had much desire to go on safari. The idea of traveling half way around the world to see a bunch of animals you can see at the zoo seemed a little ridiculous to me.  That being said, Safari is pretty amazing.  During the morning we were treated to elephants, giraffes, and herds of kobs and antelopes.

I was surprised how often I saw a bunch of different animals hanging together as if they’re auditioning for a Disney movie.  Our guide told us lots of animals hang with the giraffes since they are really good at spotting far off predators.  If they’re chilling with the giraffes and they bolt they know it time to get the hell out of Dodge.  

These are elephants... duh

Half way through our drive our guide told me to stop, and pointed up in a tree.  There sat a leopard, which is a pretty rare sighting.  He slowly came down the tree and walked in front of the car and sat on the other side of the road.  Meanwhile our guide was calling and texting all the other guides to let them know there was a leopard sighting.

Lovely Leopard

Following our drive we got lunch at one of the luxury lodges soaking up the amenities that our budget lodge didn’t have, like a poolside view of the Nile.  Refreshed we returned for a late afternoon drive and again got a view of a big cat.  This time I was driving along when we came upon a lion strolling down the road stalking prey.  After following him a couple minutes it dawned on me I should probably roll up my window.

Stalking the Stalker

This is when our guide said.  "Back up! They're going to charge us!"

That evening we got to trade travel stories with a few fellow travelers and gloat about our big cat sightings.  As we shared stories one guy said, “you were the two guys driving around on your own in the little Rav 4!” Apparently we stood out amongst the Land Rovers, and Overland trucks.  I’m thinking the mighty Rav needs a nickname.  Any suggestions?