Despite last night’s antics at Pineapple Club it was another early morning to set off for the much anticipated safari weekend. Cursing in the name of waragi we rolled out of bed and quickly packed our weekend bags full of safari goods ready to camp out in the wilderness. After a few hours of bus banter and a short stop in *** to pick up much missed treats like crisps and chocolates (and a few panga’s for good measure) we were on the dusty dirt track leading us to queen Elizabeth safari park. Now that we were officially off road we popped up the roof of the VU vans and scrambled on top, three at the front and back and others hanging out the windows. The dry season had finally arrived and with the sun in the sky and the wind in our faces we cruised casually towards the entrance to the national park VU style (music blasting), it was an epic start to our safari weekend.
As soon as we entered the perimeters to the park (which covered about 2,000 square kilometres) it was eyes peeled with beers awarded for the best animal spots. Animals aside we were simply in awe of the remote African land, with every tree looking like the home of Rafiki however almost immediately we spotted groups of cobs, waterbucks, antelopes and buffalo’s. Tension arose when a group of antelopes were spotted ears pricked and alert, signs that only meant one thing, a predator was lurking. Feeling exposed we were looking left to right eagerly searching for whatever was lurking in the grass. Our vulnerability added to the excitement as we gripped our cameras whilst hanging out the van ready to get the best shot of whatever predator was around. The antelopes began to relax we knew it was time to move on but we were soon to learn that disappointment was not going to frequent as we embarked on what is said to have been one of the most successful safaris yet.
A sudden stand still from the van in front about an hour or so later spread silence amongst our van, Nicolas the driver in front had spotted something and this time there was no waiting about. In a tree about 20 meters away two lionesses were settled up a tree a sight which can only be spotted in Uganda. Tree climbing is a skill that these lions learned from years of evolution, a development that appears only to have flourished in lions in Uganda. We were over whelmed, not only had we managed to see the lions (something that we were warned was a rarity) but we also were seeing them up close and climbing in tree’s. The situation was just too tempting and Nicolas caught in the moment made the somewhat dangerous but equally genius decision to ditch the track and take a cheeky de-tour into the forbidden grass to get a closer look. Both vans managed to get close enough to take some great pictures of the exiting cats before swiftly returning to the track with smug smiles we casually continued our journey.
We arrived at a river it must have only ben ten meters wide, on one side the VU camping spot, on the other side; the Democratic Republic of Congo. We ran to the river bank filled with a feeling of awe of the beauty of the sun set over the river and the group of hippos that were basking up stream. However the picturesque image was slightly tainted by the revelation that hippos are the most dangerous threat to mammals and we were about to set up camp next to a whole group of them. Some volunteers walked down the bank to get a closer look but came running back almost immediately as one of the hippos had decided to reveal its full body size whilst standing up in the river, these were not creatures we wanted to annoy. We set up our tents and then it was back to the vans for an evening drive. The sun was setting and we were once again treated by fortune to a sighting of some African elephants, this time there was no need to go off road because the elephants were right in front of us just feet away, posing for our pictures with trunks in the air. Warthogs were another favourite of mine breaking into a chorus of ‘Hakuna Matata’ on sighting one that reminded me of Pumba. Everyone was impressed. I didn’t know it at the time but warthogs would have a starring role in our safari weekend, providing both comedy entertainment and terrifying night trauma but more of that later. For now it was back to the camp for dinner and then bed. I still stand by my statement that the snoring heard from my tent was in fact the hippos.
It was the second day of safari and there is something terribly unnatural about waking up before sun rise. With minimal resistance we got up grabbed breakfast and climbed back onto the vans ready to cruise through the wilderness once more. Watching the sunrise over the Ugandan plain was a highlight complimented by the array of beautiful coloured birds flying past the sun. Once again we were not disappointed we had just caught of a lion stalking a group of cobs. Woking as a tag team the lioness and her male companion were creeping up on a bunch of grazing cobs. Once again it was a calling for an off road adventure and at the risk of a big fine the vans ditched the track and moved in for a closer look at the two lions skilfully stalking the ignorant cobs. We managed to get particularly close to the male lion, which conveniently sat down and allowed us to picture him before we had to move on swiftly. Being so close to these giant cats whilst hanging exposed from the vu vans sent something of a chill down our spines but the sheer novelty of seeing these animals in the wild was enough to encourage us to push on closer. After yet another successful trip we headed back to camp to drop off Tilly and Harriet for their added excursion of chimp trekking. The rest of the gang packed up our tents ready to move on to the next campsite on the other side of the national park. We piled on the sun cream and lounged on the vans catching the best of the sun whilst chilling to summer playlists hoping the animals were fans of Rihanna). We arrived at the base camp for night number two, a night we now look back on as the ‘animal attack’ on Tariq. Ignorant to the trauma to come we set up our tents and took in the fantastic view of the channel between Lake Edward and Lake George.
The afternoon had many treats in store, not only did we have the boat trip down the channel but we were also going to be dining at the famous Mweya Lodge a restaurant which returning volunteers had been raving about for weeks. The boat trip was fantastic and despite nearly missing it due to a late return from the chimp trekkers we all made it on board with minutes to spare. At a pleasant pace we managed to catch close up sighting of hippo’s, crocodiles and buffalos basking in the evening sun, not to mention the 623 different breeds of birds situated in the area. We were informed that there are more species of bird in the queen Elizabeth national part than in the whole of Great Britain. By now there was only one thing on our minds and that was the buffet, stomachs growling we headed back to camp for a quick change and then on to the restaurant for some fine dining. The moment we walked into Mweya Lodge we understood the raving reviews. The hotel was beautifully decorated with a warm African feel. The food was amazing as expected and the cocktails went bad either and unlike the previous trips no one was sick from either of the previous.
It was about 3a.m that we heard it, the familiar voice of Tariq (a friend of Paul the director), who was joining us for the safari weekend. He was shouting in a manner that caused the entire group bar boy Alex to wake up. ‘Eliab’ he called in panic ‘there is something in my tent man’. Separated by our individual group tents we could only listen to the continuing shouts of poor Tariq who was becoming increasingly vocal about an animal that was supposedly trying to get into his tent. His cries were met by a hesitant Eliab who moved to the rescue (at an African pace) by which point Tariq was shouting ‘Eliab man where are you’ over and over met by a mixed response of concern and laughter from the other volunteers. Eliab drove the van in front of his tent to get some light on the situation and then encouraged Tariq by telling him that whatever was by his tent was very close and very big.
Whatever had been lurking had now gone and everyone was trying to tone down the giggling and get back to sleep. However I had a disturbance of my own when I became aware that there was something resting against the back of my tent. My first thought was to call for Eliab also but intuition told me he might not prove that useful. Instead sally and I tried to stop our fellow camper Emma from snoring because we were convinced that the sounds she was making were surely attracting the creature, which we had established was a warthog. We got to sleep somehow with our new addition to the tent chilling gracefully next to our heads. We woke up at six once again ready to hit the road for our last safari session (after some necessary banter aimed at Tariq and his famous ‘Night Attack’). A chilled out drive around the park brought about some successful sighting including a leopard, which was lying leisurely in a tree. Another safari truck was pulled over by the track immediately alerting us that something had been spotted and spotted it was. The cat commanded silence and we sat there and watched her climb the tree and reflected on how fortunate we had been to see such exotic creatures so close in the wild. We headed home completely satisfied with everything we had seen. Exhausted we collapsed in the van and headed back to Kazuru by the time we arrived our stomachs were empty and our memory cards full and we were ready to sit down for dinner and brag about our luck. This post is dedicated to Tariq who is currently in care for the wart hog trauma he experienced.
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