Long Trip But Gorgeous Scenery

Wow, talk about a lot to see. We've done so much since I've last posted, but I"ll make sure to fill you in on each day individually. It just might take me a little bit, so please be patient.

Wednesday we spent driving north from Kampala to Murchison Falls National Park. I woke up around 7 am to make sure that I had everything packed up for the journey and to get it all out of our cabin. By 7:45, we were putting our suitcases in the professors cabin since it was the only cabin we were keeping. We left Red Chili around 9, which was only 30 minutes behind schedule. It's all because of Ugandan time. No one here ever seems to be on time.

The journey was going really smoothly. I was in a green van, which we nicknamed the Green Machine since the rest of the vans were white. It was me, a professor from MUBS, 4 other Drake students, and 2 MUBS students. We were all pretty tired, so most of the people fell asleep. I tried to stay awake and enjoy the scenery, but my body just wouldn't let me.

Around 10am, our bus driver received a call saying that one of the other vans had broken down. We went back, and we helped them out. Everyone that had been in the broken van was distributed among the remaining three vans along with their belongings. Then it was back on the road again.

We stopped for lunch in Misindi at the Misindi Hotel. I had chicken flakes with chips. However, the chicken flakes not only had mainly vegetables that I carefully picked out, but they were more Chinese tasting than any other kind of food that I could think of. Let's just say I was more than slightly disappointed in my lunch, and I didn't eat as much as I had planned. Oh well, I was still able to eat enough to satisfy my tummy.

(Lunch today)

After lunch, we continued our trip. Within an hour we had arrived at the edge of Murchison Falls. While traveling along the road once we entered the park we saw some baboons and wart hogs. It was really neat, and it kind of reminded me of the time I went to Alaska. However, instead of looking intensely in the trees to see if we could find bears, we were looking for baboons. Sometimes they were even hanging out in the middle of the road until we got close. Then they sprinted to the trees, and it was usually fast enough that I couldn't catch them with the camera. I tried though.

(My attempt at getting a picture of a baboon while going down the road)

Our driver was also nice enough to let us stop at a look out point and take in the beauty of the park. We couldn't believe how gorgeous the view was, so of course we took pictures to help us remember. I just wish the pictures were able to do the scenery the justice it deserves because it doesn't even come close!

(You can kind of see it behind me, however, it is so much prettier in person!)

Around 5pm, we arrived at Red Chili, where we were staying while we were visiting Murchison Falls. Yes, it was another Red Chili, and yes, it is affiliated with the one we were staying at before. This Red Chili is much less developed though. They have public restrooms and showers, much like at a campsite. They also had a majority of their 'housing' as tents that each contained two twin beds. There were a few cabins, but our professors stayed in those instead.

(The tent I stayed in)

Upon our arrival we received a briefing about our stay. We were told that we would have a lantern outside of our tent to keep animals away from it since animals are scared of light usually. We were also told that hippos and wart hogs were known to wander around the area, so if we saw or heard one we needed to stay in our tent or avoid the animal (if we weren't in our tent). We were also required to carry a flashlight with us at night to make sure we didn't accidentally bump into one of the animals. We weren't allowed to have any type of food in our tents either because the wart hogs have an amazing sense of smell. We were told they would try to get into our tents, and if they didn't succeed the baboons would. Apparently, they have mastered the art of unzipping the tents when they know food is within.

We then ordered supper and our packed breakfast for the next day. I had pasta with veggies, which were removed from my pasta. I also had the opportunity to try a slice of chocolate African cake. It is much drier, but it was still delicious. I've discovered just how much I miss chocolate, clarification REAL American chocolate.

Once we were finished eating we spilt into groups and played different card games. The MUBS students taught my group how to play matatu, which is very similar to UNO, and it was a lot of fun. When it was our turn to teach them a game, we chose Spoons. However, in order to make the game less dangerous and because spoons weren't easily accessible, we played Straws instead. They absolutely loved it! They thought it was the best game in the world, and they thought it was humorous watching everyone try to get the straws. We were fairly competitive (I know hard to imagine me competitive ;), and we tore our straws a few times. It was definitely a great time though.

(Playing cards with Pamela (Ugandan on the left), Naomi, and Maria (Ugandan on the right)).

We called it a night shortly after 9pm because we had to be up and ready to leave by 6:15 the next morning, and spending the whole day traveling had worn us out.

Tomorrow we go on our safari and our boat tour. I have made sure the camera is fully charged because I plain on taking more pictures than I can count.

So until then, I leave you with this...

(Yep, this was my chocolate, and it was delicious!)