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.
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