On our last Monday in Uganda, Sarah, Scott, Drew, and I spent the day at Queen Elizabeth National Park on a safari. The day unfortunately didn't play out quite as expected. We had thought we were paying for a jeep and a guide when we arrived in the park. What we discovered was that the vehicle we were riding in (a "matatu," or public transportation minivan) was our "safari" vehicle.
At the gate, we picked up an armed guide who was to point us in the direction of the animals… elephants, lions, water buffalo, and other creatures. We had driven no more than 10 minutes from the gate when our van became stuck in deep mud. The driver decided to take an alternative route, which then left us up to our thighs in mud, weeds, and grass, which also twisted itself around the tires of our van. We found ourselves in an impassable place and spent the next forty five minutes trying to figure out how to get unstuck. We finally realized that that road wasn't going to work without an all-wheel drive vehicle. We tried another route, in hopes of seeing lions resting in one of the fig trees. Alas, they must have not heard we were coming because they had left their tree unattended.
Sadly, we returned to the gate only to discover that there was nothing more we could see without the right kind of vehicle. We left the park, $40 less in our pockets, and headed to Lake Edward, where we hoped to catch a glimpse of hippos.
Ironically, as soon as we left Queen Elizabeth National Park, Sarah spotted a huge herd of elephants off to the side of the road, and we stopped to watch them travel along. It was pretty incredible to see them not too far off in the distance, but all the meanwhile, I kept praying they wouldn't try to charge.
Lake Edward did not disappoint… there were about five different hippos just slightly off of the shore line, and we were all able to get some good pictures while catching whiffs of fish along the beach.
Sarah posted the following video to tell the tale of the day, so I'll let it speak for itself. Enjoy!
