Uganda 2023 Day 13

Uganda 2023 Day 13

Today we woke up at 4a, to get ready to go to safari. Breakfast was at 4:30a and we were to be in the car at 5a ready to leave. We quickly said goodbye to all the guys. I also gave Joyce one more hug goodbye. In my vehicle were Lany, Mark, Algena, Destanie, and Nick with Ema driving. Surprisingly, we only made two bathroom stops. The trip seemed to take forever. Ema helped pass the time by teaching us a banana song. He wound say something like “peel peel”, “mash mash”, “eat eat”, etc. Then we would say bananas after each saying. He also taught us a song “Jesus is the winner man.” Although it did not sound like that with his accent. Everyone was dying laughing and Ema thought something was wrong with his singing. Another safari van was following with us for awhile. They even stopped with us at the second gas station we stopped at. We learned they are from Washington too! Not Seattle, but the big towns up there. Once at the safari lodge, I noticed their van had Martin’s logo on it. So, they are kinda part of our group. It was so nice to be at the hotel. We all had lunch after we got checked in. Then Ashley and I went to our room and took showers. It was so nice after not having one for four days. While getting ready to leave for safari, we saw baboons outside our sliding door.  Ashley and I watched them for awhile and then I walked to the pool and put my legs in for about 15 minutes. Then I had to go to the room really quick before safari. I was lucky enough to be in Martin’s car for the drive. Jen, Dr David, Bethany, Ashley, Mark, and the guide Sarah were also with us. I was asked to pray for our drive before we left and I prayed we would see elephants and lions because that is what the two in my car wanted to see. The drive was amazing! We pretty much saw everything. All the different kinds of antelope, giraffe, elephants, and then a pride of three lions under a bush. While watching them they came out and moved somewhere else. So, Martian said we would go to look for another pride. When we were looking for another pride, someone told me to pray again to see the leopard. Not long after I prayed, Bethany was the one to spot a leopard on a tree next to the road. Martian slammed on his breaks and backed up. Joanne later said it was the closest she has ever seen one and they are very rare to see. Leopards are shy and they have only 15-20 in the entire park. While watching her, Martian got out and was taking pictures. After a couple minutes I noticed she was staring him down and her tail started to twitch. Then she started to climb down the tree. Our vehicle kept telling him to get in. Right as he jumped in, she decided to turn the other way and walk away from us. Mark said, “now can you pray for a male lion with a mane.” I did as we were driving. Next thing we know there were a bunch of safari cars and they were watching a pride of 6 lions. One was a male! There were 3 females and two cubs. Mark then said, “wow! Now can you pray that I get a wife soon?” Later I told him I prayed, but not sure how serious the prayer was. So, he will have to let me know later if that prayer worked. By the time we were done watching the lions it was time to go back because it was dark. Once on the main road, Martian found some elephants on the side of the road while using his spot light. This was such a great drive! I could not have asked for anything better. 9 lions and a leopard! So fun!