Uganda 2024 Day 12

Today we got up early to go on a boat safari. The boat takes us down the Nile river to Murchison falls. We pulled out of the dock and were moving to a spot for the captain to do a briefing and saw a crocodile right away. Connor is the one who spotted it. After the briefing, we crossed the river and to look at a Goliath heron. While looking at it, I pointed out a hippo. Then more hippos stuck their heads out of the water to look at us. One actually jumped up in the water to try and scare us away. We watched them for a long time before moving on. We saw so many beautiful birds and many more hippos. Our captain was incredible. He saw a baby monitor lizard in the grass from a few yards away. We did not see it until we were right next to it and it started running away. We also saw warthogs and water bucks along the river. The boat ride to the fall was so beautiful! They have had a lot of rain and everything was so green. Due to all the rain we could not stop at the little island we normally do for photos. I actually heard the engine working very hard to even get us as close as we did. The water was so powerful and swift. The captain also showed us the post that shows where Hemingway crashed his plane. On our way back the captain drove us into an area that was full of crocodiles. There were many in the water, but we saw 4 on the land that we went to. One of them was a monster. They just laid there for a couple minutes with us watching. Then one medium sized one went in the water fairly fast and the big daddy strutted into the water. It was incredible! From there we went back to the dock pretty fast. We had a break between the boat safari and the drive safari, so we had pool time. The water felt so good! Tony and Connor played cribbage for a bit on the poolside and then came in to throw the frisbee with us. It was a good time to enjoy everyone’s company. 

Next we did our night drive. Sarah (the guide in Martin’s car) and Martin were determined to find us lions. I was in Sam’s car with JoAnne and Ruthie. Our guide was Tigris (sp?). The night before and this day he kept his eyes on the trees a lot too trying to find us a leopard. Sadly we never found one. After awhile we did find lions! It was a mom and three cubs. One of the cubs was in a tree. The other two were in the bushes below with mom. Our cars had separated to try to find the lions and Tigris was the one who found them. JoAnne kept asking how he knew they were there. She was in shock. He said it is an area they check sometimes. From there we drove down to the waterfront. We were able to see the county bird, the crested crane. Not far from there were so many elephants many in the water eating and many eating in the bushes. I am sure there were more than 50. We were surrounded by them. I was in awe. There were little babies and even two males that were wanting to fight and not wanting to at the same time. I really wanted to see them fight. Sadly, they never did. Just threatened each other and chased each other. We spent a lot of time here and then moved on. While driving we saw a mama hippo and her baby out of the water. I asked how old it might be and Tigris said maybe a few days. Just passed them, there was a big herd of giraffe. They are so beautiful and majestic. This was an amazing safari! I enjoyed every moment of the team seeing everything for the first time. I also loved watching Ruthie raise her hands to praise God for his creation and that we were able to experience it. She is such an amazing person and has such a tender heart. I am so thankful for everything we were able to experience on this safari!