Uganda 2015: Day 8

We woke up early again today and set out on a mini safari. We did not have guides so Martin just drove us around. The elephants were much closer this morning! We stopped to take pictures of one and its teen age baby. Mama started to get frustrated with us and flap her ears. So, Martin and the other driver pulled forward. She did take a few faster steps closer to the van I was not in, but thankfully it was just a warning. There was also about 15 together quite a bit further down the road.

In the park there is ruins of a lodge of a former political leader in Uganda. I forget who it was, but want to look it up, but there is a movie called “the King of Scotland” about him. I do remember being told that he was at his lodge every weekend. So, his enemy bombed it in an attempt to kill him, but were unsuccessful. Martin drove us up to the ruins and around the front and back. When we were driving passed the front again, Martin, Angela, and Camille saw a leopard! We waited to see if we could find it again, but because they are so shy, we never saw it again.

The whole time we were driving, we saw a ton of the different “deer” type animal. Mostly Cobb were seen. Cobb are the national animal of Uganda. We actually saw a couple of Cobb fighting! Not far past the exit gate, there was an elephant near the road.

On the drive home Julia asked Martin if we could try to find a sign for her friend’s mission. It is in a town we were to pass through. Julia’s friend was not there because she is in the states now. Usually 6 months in Uganda and 6 months in the states. We also picked up a lady from another church group that needed a ride to our mission house. Her name is Jackie. She is very sweet! One of our team members asked what the craziest thing is that she has seen. She said seeing a girl at about 12 years of age marry a man that could be her dad. Then she told us that we (well everyone) need to watch the movie “Girl Rising.” She said it would “wreck your life.” She will be doing missions in Africa until December.

When we got back to the house, we met up with the rest of our group that went to a native village. We all shared stories, then showers, and went to bed.