While in Uganda, we got to check a major item off our bucket list: AFRICAN SAFARI!
The ministry we served with this month, Lightforce International, also runs a Safari Lodge. Therefore, we were given the chance to go to Murchison Falls, one of the largest game parks in Uganda. While there, we saw elephants, giraffes, antelopes, heartbeats, warthogs, baboons, Ugandan kob, African buffalo, hippos, crocodiles, many types of birds, and most exciting of all: A LION AND HER CUB!
RJ and I on top of our 4×4 that took us around the game park.
RJ, Alyssa, Bry, me, Cassie, Miranda, James (our guide), Vivi, and Sarah
These animals are called heartbeats. They have the longest, narrowest faces.
African buffalo are so curious. They just stare as you drive by.
Giraffes were EVERYWHERE!
Me, Alyssa, Bry, and RJ on top of the 4×4.
On the left bank is a crocodile, and this beautiful elephant was getting a drink from the Nile.
The most exciting moment of the day – when we saw this beautiful lion! We tracked her off-road. You can’t see her cub in this picture, but he was hiding in the grass.
We also got to take a boat ride down the Nile River to Murchison Falls. At the top of Murchison Falls, the Nile forces its way through a gap in the rocks, only 7 meters (23 ft) wide, and tumbles 43 meters (141 ft), before flowing westward into Lake Albert.
This is as close as you can get to the Falls, because the current is so strong.
I can’t believe Uganda is our last country on the World Race! We have seen so many different places and experienced so many different cultures this year.
Here are 10 unique things I noticed about Uganda:
1. Traffic laws are basically non-existent in Uganda; however, they take their speed bumps seriously. On the bus ride to Kampala, it felt like we couldn’t go 10 yards without going over a speed bump.
2. Bananas are a large food crop. Driving around the country, you will see miles of banana trees and trucks loaded down with green bananas going to market.
3. My favorite Ugandan food is chipati. It is a mix between a tortilla and a crepe. SO GOOD!
4. Instead of nodding to say yes, Ugandans (and really most Africans I’ve met) raise their eyebrows. It was hard to get used to, but I may bring it back to America!
5. I have always seen the stereotype of African women carrying things on their head, but driving through the Ugandan villages, they really do! They carry everything from baskets of fruit to jugs of water balanced on their heads!
6. All of the children we interacted with at the school had their heads shaved. I assume this is to protect against lice; however, it does make it very difficult to distinguish between boys and girls, especially with the younger children.
A group of both boys and girls in P2.
7. Since Uganda is full of national game parks, most of the children have seen wild animals like elephants and giraffes. They think it is no big deal!
8. In the villages, people still live in traditional huts with grass roofs.
9. Ugandans will say “You look smart”, which means you look very nice.
10. Many of the traditional Ugandan dresses have pointy shoulders. We attended a Ugandan wedding, and many of the older women had these dresses.
Great post Kayla. You and my wife appear to share a love for chipati. Can’t wait to meet you and RJ face-to-face next year on our way thru Michigan.
Ah, my heart is so full reading this! I’m so excited that you got to experience Uganda and share in all the wonderful things that I love so much about it! Aren’t the people just amazing? And Murchison Falls is exactly where I’ve safari’d on both of my trips- I know exactly where you took that group shot on the river bank! 🙂 I’m glad you’ve loved it and be sure to leave a little love there from me!
Safe travels home!
I love this post, maybe because you are back and safe. It seems like a wonderful experience and I am so glad that you and RJ go to experience it.