Safari

Going on an african safari was always one of those things I had on my bucket list just like everyone else does, and like everyone else it was always something that I thought would be cool but never really thought I would have a reason to go to Africa or the time to go there. But thanks to the internship I found myself living in Africa for 4 months so I had to take advantage of the opportunity. The summer was divided into 3 waves of 6 weeks. Each wave some people would leave and go home and new people were going to come. Since I was spending all 3 waves there I decided I wanted to save my "vacation days" and go on a safari at the end of the summer, after I had finished my eye and dental camp. I enjoyed my entire summer, visiting tons of remote places in Uganda and meeting tons of amazing people. I got to see a lot of amazing places and came to understand why Uganda was given the nickname "The Pearl of Africa."

August came quicker than I had wanted it to. It was sad to realize that I was heading home soon but I was also very excited to go on the Safari with my best friend Kevin, we both came to Africa for our internships. We checked into various Safari Agencies (there are tons of them in Uganda) and talked to people in our group that had already been on them to see what they liked and didn't like about their group. We found one that was a 3 day trip and offered a lot more than just a drive in a reserve. So we booked a weekend with them and set off for an adventure.

I will show you my safari through the pics I took. I figure that the best way to describe a safari and what we saw and did is through pictures. Plus there is no way I would be able to fully describe how awesome it was. Enjoy! (sorry the color in the videos is weird, my camera's video settings were messed up and it filmed everything in a weird color.)

Day 1- The Drive up to Murchison Falls National Park. We spent the night before in a hostel in Kampala because we had to leave early in the morning and drive a couple of hours north to the park. We drove to a Rhino Reserve first. Rhinos became extinct in the country and over the past couple of years Uganda has built a reserve for them to be re introduced. Right now there are only 10 Rhinos in Uganda and we got to see some of them!

Day 1- Rhino Reserve

Mother with baby

We hiked in and got pretty close to them.

Our tent for the first night.

 Day 2- Safari Drive in Queen Victoria National Park

Entering the park

There is a lion in this picture.  They have such great camouflage. We were probably 7 feet away from it in our car.

These elephants were just off the road cooling off with some mud.

You are correct, that is a 3 legged lion. 

The Crane. Uganda's national bird

There was a herd of Giraffes that surrounded our van. It was awesome!

That was my seat for the entire safari. Best view

Baboons were everywhere. 

Murchison Falls. We got off the boat tour and hiked to the top of the falls.

At the top of Murchison Falls. The entire Nile river is funneled through this little area. It was so loud.

Day 3- Chimpanzee Forest Walk-

Mom with baby holding on