Uganda - February 6, 2013

Today we were scheduled to drive to Kaniyo Pabidi Forest, at the southern edge of the Park, to do chimpanzee tracking.  I really wanted to do this, but concluded, along with the other travelers, that a 2 to 3 hour bus ride each way with 2 to 3 hours of trekking while at the chimpanzee refuge would be too much.  The bus trip here on Feb. 4th and yesterday's 4+ hour game drive had done us in -- particularly for any activity requiring extensive bus riding.  And we knew we faced an 8-hour day on the bus tomorrow in order to get to Entebbe for our return home.  So good sense prevailed, and we decided to spend a relaxing morning and then drive to the top of Murchison Falls for a picnic lunch.

Left the Lodge at 11:45 for the bus ride to the river where we, and the bus, got on a ferry to go to the south side of the Nile/Park.  Here we are driving onto the ferry and then halfway across.  Passengers must get off their vehicles for the journey and stand on a side platform from which I took the picture.

On the other side we found the road just as dreadful as on the north side -- bumpy and dusty.  I was sitting next to Ham (pronounced Hahm), our driver so got a clear view of the road, and how bad it was.  Ham is an expert in reading the road reducing the bumps as much as possible, but it's so bad, there isn't a lot one can do.  The misery of the 1+ hour drive each way confirmed that we'd made the right decision in electing to skip the chimpanzee reserve and and possible 3 hour drive.

 












 















Although this was not officially a game drive, we did see a warthog as we waited for the ferry.  He was happily exploring the garbage can -- empty, but apparently he had hope.

 














We also saw some cape buffalo thoroughly enjoying a wallow in the mud.

Murchison Falls is quite lovely.  Explorers Samuel and Florence Baker saw the falls in 1863 and named them after the geologist Sir Roderick Murchison, then President of the Royal Geographical Society.  The Falls provided the backdrop for the 1950 movie, The African Queen.  A second waterfall broke through from the side, supposedly on the day of Ugandan independence in 1963 so is called Uhuru Falls.  We walked around for 30 to 40 minutes taking pictures from all angles.  At a certain point (3rd picture) a rainbow was visible.

Ham then took our box lunches to a nearby pavilion where we enjoyed the lodge-prepared food.

We left the Falls area a little after 2:30, determined to make the 4 p.m. ferry (otherwise would have had to wait until 5 to get across the river).  Back to the Lodge at 4:15, grateful to be "home."  It is VERY hot, the worst it's been.  The temperature inside the bus was 100 degrees F.  Not comfortable. . . .

So off to the pool.  No elephant visitors this time, but I availed myself of another banana boat drink in the pool bar.  (I could get used to this!)  Clean-up, dinner at 7:30, packing up to leave, and to bed at 9:15.  A good night's sleep will be necessary to survive tomorrow's bus trip.