Uganda Adventure: Day 11; To Fort Portal

Today I felt sick. And I didn’t like it.

I don’t what it is, but my stomach felt really heavy. It made me nauseated and quite uncomfortable. I also felt very weak and even walking required a lot of effort. I don’t know the symptoms of many African illnesses, but at least I wasn’t running a fever which is one of the symptoms of malaria. I think it’s just some bacteria.
I made myself get some toast for breakfast, after dreadful packing. No coffee. Since I skipped dinner, I had to put something in because I took Imodium and I am still taking the malaria pills. I think this may be because I’ve been eating a lot in the last few days at this resort, three full, cooked meals each day, to which I am not used.

The good, and the bed, thing was that we were traveling today, so I wasn’t going to miss too much. As a gift, as we were driving (7 km) out of the part, we got to see a large herd of elephants crossing the road in front of us AND we saw baboons! They came right to the van, as if begging for handouts, but still somewhat sheepish. We started throwing them granola bars and bananas from the lunch packets(which we were probably not allowed to do), and they had quite an appetite. Soon, several more came out of the bushes. We left when we run out of food, and they starting running behind us. :) Nice send of.

Also as a gift, we avoided an almost sure head on collision, when an SUV came speeding toward us in that low visible bush park area!

The drive to Fort Portal was about 3.5 hours, half of which I spent lying down. To my embarrassment, we stopped as the pharmacy in the town, run by the sisters. I know I don’t have much control over it, but I didn’t like being the weak on in the group. They gave me some Pepto-Bismol and omega 3 health supplements.

We’ll stay at the same Mountains of the Moon hotel for three nights. Today we started closing back the loop of or journey though Uganda, and are stopping at some of the same places. I am getting a bit tired of living out of the suitcases and re-packing. It’s kinda nice coming to somewhere familiar and not going through excitement curve at every place we stop. And this place I definitely didn’t mind visiting one more time.

I really hope this stomach bug goes away by…. tomorrow morning!

Uganda Adventure: Day 10; Safari

5.45 am wake up call is early! But it's not that big of a deal if you are already awake since 4!

We gathered at the lobby for a 6.30 am departure. Several groups were there, enjoying their tea/coffee and muffins. We each took the same vehicle we came in, but a wild park tour guide came with us. Our driver overslept, so we left 30 min late. It is best to leave still at dark, when the animals are returning from their night hunting.

The park is over 2000 square km, with different vegetation to accommodate different animals. We saw elephants crossing the trail in front of us, hogs, bucks, cobs, buffalos, guinea fowls, and several other birds. It took us about an hour to get to the area where lions were seen the day before. Everyone wants to see the lions.

We stopped one other group to ask them if they've seen the lions, and that is how we knew where to go. We wouldn't have seen them from our trail. They were far away and looked just like rocks. 4-5 other vans were parked there, which gave it away that they are looking at something. Even with the binoculars, it was hard to distinguish the lions. Then, some of them got up, and that's when we could kind of recognize them. An outcast buffalo, and old male, was heading straight toward them. He walked right into the pack of 7-8 lions. We called him a suicidal buffalo. We though they would tear him apart. But, they were not hungry and didn't budge when he walked around them. Then a male lion carried away what they caught previously, a buck or a hog. We spent quite a while watching them, from the top of the van at a safe distance, until they all moved behind the bushes. It was nice to see it, but I wasn't too impressed. I guess I thought we'd see the lions much closer, like at the wild park in Florida I've been to, where they'd be just few feet away. The other animals were much closer to us.

We came back just in time for breakfast, and then it was leisure time. I relaxed to the sounds of birds singing in the shade by the pool, and then went for a swim. The water was just right. The pool edge has a drop, and you can see the Kazinga channel down bellow, so from the right angle it appears as if the pool is continuing onto the lake. After the swim, I went for a Swedish massage (which was almost a spiritual experience!), followed by lunch. I know, it's a hard life, but someone's gotta do it. :)

At 4.30 we went for another game drive, because animals are again active in the evening. This time it was without a guide. What were we thinking? The best viewing was of the elephants just 10 min outside the lodge (this lodge reminds me of a Jurassic park a bit, with just a fence dividing people and the wild life). After that, we just drove for what seemed aimlessly looking for lions in a no-lion territory.

The bumpy ride, after that relaxing massage, did me no good. I wished I've just stayed and relaxed by the pool. When we came back, I went for a quick swim at the pool hoping to regain that peace from the afternoon. But when I went to my room, I just felt weak and my stomach was upset (which it was for the last few days) that I didn't even go to dinner. I tossed and turned the whole night, trying to find a position where I was lees nauseated.

Ugh, I still need to pack in the morning, since we are leaving at noon.

Uganda Adventure: Day 9; Queen Elizabeth park

What a gorgeous place this is! It is so quiet and peaceful and remote. And so beautiful.

We didn't have any plans for the morning. It was good to sleep in. While I was getting ready, I heard hippos down at the water on the opposite side of the channel. A bit later, a forest hog walked right outside my porch! The nature close at hand.

As I made my way to the restaurant, I would stop every few feet to snap a picture of something. :) Multiple colorful birds were playing in a puddle, running across manicured lawn, and feasting on the abundant flowery bushes. The lizards in bright colors would pose for a picture. A family of mongoose were playing. More hogs were roaming around, looking so cuddly even with those mean husks. It might have taken me an hour to walk over to the restaurant. :) The colorful nature makes me happy!

The breakfast was abundant and with many options to choose from; some local, some western food. I was just taking in all the scenic views from the terrace: several bodies of water that the Kazinga channel forms, rolling hills, ... it is just so restful to look at. The birds continued to amuse me as the cute yellow finches (as opposed to big black grackles in Austin) landed on the tables when people leave to clean up any leftovers.

It was almost 11 when we finished breakfast, and our lunch was to be at 1, because we had a boat tour scheduled for 2. I used their computer room for a bit, but the time for lunch came in no time. We asked them to pack our food and we'd eat it on the boat. We drove down the hill and met five other people for the two hour tour. We drove along the eastern side of the channel, where most of the animals were. Our guide was very good in explaining and also maneuvering the boat to come close to where the animals were.

We saw buffalos, hippos, antelopes, elephants, crocodiles,... We would see a herd of buffalos, for example, near the water edge, then pull near the shore and just snap pictures at them as they glance at us. We saw a few of them away from the herds and learned that those are older males past their breeding age, who sort of retired and now live alone, as the outcast. The hippos, as usual, were funny with their small ears and huge behinds and tinny tails. The mothers would keep the male babies until they are adults away from the father, who see them as a threat and want to kill them. Interesting. There were 2-3 elephants as well, each by themselves. One we tracked for a long time as he majestically made his way down a very steep hill, throwing the dirt with his trunk and carefully choosing his path.

There are over 600 species of birds in the park; we saw maybe 20: the weavers who weave their nests, some kind that that nest in the dirt holes, and eagles nesting at the top of the trees. But no parrots. :( At the end of the shore, there was a rather large village of fisherman, who are only allowed to fish further away from the park, on the lake. They live right there with all those wild animals around.

Those two hours went by in no time, and with all the picture taking I barely had time to eat my lunch. The other five people on the boat I thought were all from Holland, as one of them told us she was, but I noticed an eastern European accent from one lady. It turned out that she is from Croatia! What a small world. She moved away in '82 and now lives in London. Her name was Slavica, and her grandfather was from Bosnia. We chatted in our own language. :)

The day went by real fast. After the boat, I spent about an hour on the computer. Then I thought I'd jump into the pool, but it was too cold for me. I enjoyed the seating area outside while waiting for others for dinner, which again was plentiful, and after a glass of wine I really got sleepy. Maybe the lack of sleep is just now getting to me.

The room was all set up for bed time. The service is really good here, and they fix the room at least three times a day. This evening, they took the top bed cover off, opened the blanket a bit, closed the net-wall, and touched-up the bathroom. Nice.

We go to a safari at 6.30 in the morning, so I better go to sleep.