No Time to West

Caitlin and I took advantage of our surroundings this past weekend and ventured to Queen Elizabeth National Park to camp and go on safari. We stayed with a fellow Volunteer, Jim, who lives in a village right on the edge of the park. The drive out there from Mbarara is stunning—passing so many rolling hills covered in tea that it feels out of The Wizard of Oz when they’re heading to the Emerald City. The rolling hills in the far west are spotted with crater lakes, perfect little moon-sized lakes that were formed from volcanic craters. You can only imagine how fertile and black the soil is in these areas. Then out of the mountains, you can look out into the Great Rift Valley, so flat that it looks like an ocean (I actually thought it was for a hot second and had to readjust my internal map). On the far side of the valley, where Queen Elizabeth Park is found, the Rwenzori mountain range rises above like a steam vents from an ocean floor. The Rwenzori range is the highest in Uganda and next on my list.

Hiking with chimps in the jungle

On Friday, we hiked around the area, first to explore the Twin Lakes, two perfectly round lakes side by side, with Queen as a backdrop. There are some cliffs around the lake that we attempted to climb, but it was too chossy to find anything good. In the afternoon, we hiked around the jungle, far away from any civilization. Above us, high in the treetops, chimps called out to each other, probably to warn of our presence. This is extremely rare to hear, or better yet, to see, unhabituated chimpanzees since they are such reclusive animals. We had a few hairy encounters with safari ants, otherwise known as marcher ants. [If you’ve ever read The Poisonwood Bible, these are the ants that march through their house and eat alive the chickens.] These ants are vicious, organized, and quite frankly, terrifying. They have lines going across the jungle floor and if you don’t watch where you’re stepping, you could be covered in ants with pincers and a purpose in no time.

Stuck in the mud! 

We had to run across one stretch where the floor was covered with them, doing high-knees like it was a track workout. We hiked through a serene pine forest to a remote lake in the jungle, where the local name translates as “Lake that cures Gonorrhea.” Good place to start? Absolutely. The water was extremely clear and blue, and apparently up to only 3 years ago, there was a medicine man living out in the cave that you would pay royalties to for use of the lake. Beyond going on safari, Jim also showed us around his site, House of Love, an orphanage run by a Christian mission. If you’re ever on the road to Queen Elizabeth Park, check out their craft market! They have some beautiful handmade items.

On Saturday, Jim’s friend Nick, a burly South African with a thick Afrikaans accent, picked us up with all the camping gear and we hit the road for our safari. We were 6 in all, including Marie from Germany and living in Kasese, and my friend Joseph from Fort Portal, who hails from MA and is here on a public health fellowship. Driving into the national park, we glimpsed elephants reaching up and tearing down branches. We also spotted warthogs, baboons, kob and topi (types of antelope). Our destination for the day was Ishasha, famous for the tree-climbing lions. I’d like to think they climb trees because taking a catnap in a fig tree sounds heavenly, but it’s actually to escape the vicious tsetse fly. 

We drove around the park for the whole day driving 4x4 through the mud. The mud is this country means serious business—we got stuck in the mud, despite the 4-wheel drive. We had to hike up our pants (or in some cases, take them off entirely) and just get into the knee-high, thick black mud and push the car. To say it was fun would be a massive understatement. It was a blast, and happened twice in the day. Slipping and sliding through the mud was priceless, with all of us sick with laughter. 

Sadly, we spotted no lions (even my “Here kitty, kitty” was useless, but our jokes about carrying Meow Mix was amusing) and headed back to the campsite for grilling. It didn’t seem like the best idea to be grilling a T-bone steak and whole chicken in a lion-infested park, but luckily we had two armed guards with us the whole night. Even to run out and use the latrine, we had to bring a guard to protect against lions, hungry hippos, other large creatures eager to munch on a tourist. The other worry is that we were right on the Congolese border (one step across the river and you’re in Congo!) and rebels could be hiding out in the facilities.

We pitched our tents right next to the river, and saw tons of hippos. We even saw a few mating, which looked…uncomfortable. They are extremely large creatures, and are actually one of the most dangerous animals in the world to mankind (more than sharks!). Do not get in the way of those tusks. Hippos also make an obscene amount of noise; camping next to them doesn’t make for the soundest sleep. They make a noise that might sound like your Uncle Larry snoring.

Sunday morning we stepped foot in the Congo and spelled out C-O-N-G-O with our bodies for an epic photo. We attempted to spot more lions, but with the rain the night before, the road were pure mud. And the mud here doesn’t muck around.

PS- Matatus (taxis) in this country usually have big letters across the windshield, like “Jesus Cares” or “God Loves You.” The title of this blog post is my new favourite new matatu name.