Murchison Falls

Although it's been less than a month since our last safari, the opportunity came up to join our Irish friends up at Murchison Falls this past weekend. We decided to take advantage of a weekend away before things get busy around here in February.

The Drive

We left TC around 6am on Friday morning, hoping to reach the park by 2pm for an afternoon boat ride up the Nile to see the falls. We were making great time and feeling like we were beating the morning traffic, when we came across a truck pulled over to the side of the road. The car in front of us slowed down to get around the truck, and then we slowed down, but the car behind us didn't slow down and plowed straight into the back of our vehicle. To make matters worse, a boda boda behind the car that hit us went straight through that car's back window. Thankfully we were driving a Land Cruiser and there was literally not a single scratch (and all we felt from inside was a light bump). But the car that hit us was badly damaged, and the boda driver was badly injured. It took about an hour for the police to arrive and sort things out, but after that we were back on the road, thankful we hadn't been hurt and there had been no damage to our car! (To add to the chaos, just after we pulled off to the side of the road, two trucks collided in the exact same spot we'd been hit. Obviously not the safest spot on the road!)

The Boat

Despite our hour delay, we made it to the park just in time for the boat ride with Elaine and Una. The weather was gorgeous and hot, we saw tons of animals, the falls were beautiful, and we were riding on the Nile - pretty cool!

Apparently crocodiles lie with their mouths open to regulate their body temperature

Murchison Falls

The Morning

The next morning we got up at the cheerful hour of 5:30am for a morning game drive. The part I was looking forward to most was seeing giraffes, as Murchison is the only park in Uganda that has any. The search was a success! I think they're my new favourite safari animal. (Elephants continue to freak me out - see the photo at the top of our blog and the photo below. Get me out of here was a recurring thought of mine).

Our ranger told us this guy was so dark because he's old

Just after we drove past this guy, our ranger told us of two incidences in the park where elephants flipped vehicles over when they got too close - yikes!

The Lodges

Our first night in the park we stayed at a very basic lodge, complete with a large lizard in our room, a mosquito net that didn't fit the bed, and a warning not to come out of our banda past 10pm. We realized this was good advice when, at 4am, we heard stomping, chewing, and heavy breathing outside our window. Apparently we were sleeping on cape buffalo feeding grounds!

The second night we stayed at Paraa Lodge, which was a (big) step up and a real treat! We spent the day by the pool, enjoyed delicious food at the restaurant, and relaxed on the patio as we overlooked the Nile and enjoyed the sounds of hippos down in the water.

The view from our room - beautiful!

Nothing better than experiencing it together!