August 19
We just returned from our first Ugandan safari and it was awesome! We left at 6am Saturday morning. It is quite a journey – nothing easy here. It took over five hours to get to the entrance of the park. Some of the roads were awful! Some of the roads were really nice. But all was going well until our van started acting up. The power was gone and it kept like back firing. I was so scared. We were about to go into the game park and I was not about to be stranded among wild animals! I prayed SO hard. We went through two VERY small towns before we had to turn to enter the park and the second one had a mechanic. I was really nervous. What if he had no clue what he was doing and made it worse. All I saw was broken tractors around. And of course we gathered a crowd. I was in such a bad mood. It was hot, a drunk man kept trying to talk to us, and I was trying to keep sane for the girls sake. We prayed over this trip for weeks so I just kept praying. We were out in no where and if we couldn’t get our van fixed we would be there a LONG time and would not be able to do our safari. Whenever my attitude gets bad I feel like I am being tested. I fail almost all the time. Why can’t I joyful in all circumstances? I am always impressed with my girls. They just go with the flow, are happy, don’t complain or worry. I can really learn from them. Anyways, the mechanic DID fix the van! It was, as we thought, dirt in the fuel filter. I praised God for answered prayer!!! He is always with us.
So we were on our way and entered Murchinson Falls. We had so much fun seeing animals on our ride in. We saw giraffes, all kinds of different antelope, hardebeasts, bush and water buck, wort hogs, water buffalo… I was so glad that Lydia loved it instead of being scared (she has a fear of animals). We prepared them for a couple weeks telling them we were going to a zoo where the animals were not in cages and we drive in our van to see them. It is so exciting seeing animals in the wild. I love the giraffes. They are amazing – taller than the trees! It took about two hours and it was SO hot driving in but we had fun.
We then had to cross the Nile River on a ferry to get to Red Chili Rest Camp where we stayed. The first thing I saw at the Red Chili was wart hogs wondering around the camp. There were signs reminding guests that we are in the national park and not to keep any food in tents because of animals. The thing that scared me most was the notice about hippos that sometimes come to camp at night. Do you know how big and mean hippos can be?! With all that said, we loved our stay at the Red Chili. We had a banda (one room cabin) with two twin beds and a fan. Stacey stayed in a safari tent with two twin beds. Lots of people bring their own tents so there were tents and people everywhere. The bathrooms were fine too – like a state park. The food was good, the lounge area really nice, and the view beautiful. The best part is the price – only $25 a night for our room. The first night we just relaxed and cooled off after a long, hot day of driving.
The next morning people were up by 5am getting ready for their game rides. It was a bit loud but I didn’t mind because we were all excited to go and see the animals. Lydia woke up cheering saying, “Good morning everyone!” We decided to have breakfast before we headed out at 7:45. Then we crossed the river, picked up our park guide who rode with us, and began our 3 hour safari. Josh asked the guide why he took a gun with him. He said it was incase he needed it with the elephants. He said it was just to shoot in the air if he needed to scare them off but he has never had to. I just had to laugh. We didn’t have a guide with a gun in Nigeria but we sure needed one! It ended up we only saw elephants from a distance so that is good. They are huge. I still like the giraffes the most. We got so close to them. They are quiet, so tall, and fascinating. We turned off the van and just sat with them all around us. I got great pictures. There were even twins with their mama. The guide spotted a leopard in a tree way off in the distance (amazing). Josh saw it in his binoculars but the girls and I didn’t really see much. But we did see two lionesses. They just happened to be up on an ant hill when we drove by. Then they sat back down in the long grass and you could only see them if you were up on top of the van. It is always exciting to see lions. The park so diverse and big one road you are in savanna, then bushes, then wet land. I was so thankful I felt completely safe and we all really enjoyed it.
After lunch and a rest we were off again this time for our boat ride on the Nile up to Muchinson Falls. I was really nervous about this one. There are hippos and crocodiles in the river and the boat isn’t all that big (but very nice). We saw hundreds of hippos! They are huge. I was a bit nervous when we were close to them and they would disappear under water – where would they come up? But the diver/guide never stayed by them too long. We saw elephants in the distance down by the water and water buffalo. Near the end we saw quite a few crocs but they seemed to be really scared and would go into the water when we came by. Muchinson Falls was beautiful but we couldn’t get too close. The girls loved the boat ride because they made friends with a couple from California that were in Uganda for a two week mission project.
And that was our safari. By the time we got to Kampala we were very tired of driving and being in the van. Most of the roads were good thankfully but there is no where to stop and have a break. We had one kinda scary thing happen, a man was flagging us down for a ride (like they do for taxis) but when he saw we were not going to stop he throw his bag at us and it smashed into our side window. Thankfully there wasn’t anything hard inside to break the window. I think he was crazy or drunk. It is times like that that I know God is with us and answers our prayers for safety in all our travels.
We just returned from our first Ugandan safari and it was awesome! We left at 6am Saturday morning. It is quite a journey – nothing easy here. It took over five hours to get to the entrance of the park. Some of the roads were awful! Some of the roads were really nice. But all was going well until our van started acting up. The power was gone and it kept like back firing. I was so scared. We were about to go into the game park and I was not about to be stranded among wild animals! I prayed SO hard. We went through two VERY small towns before we had to turn to enter the park and the second one had a mechanic. I was really nervous. What if he had no clue what he was doing and made it worse. All I saw was broken tractors around. And of course we gathered a crowd. I was in such a bad mood. It was hot, a drunk man kept trying to talk to us, and I was trying to keep sane for the girls sake. We prayed over this trip for weeks so I just kept praying. We were out in no where and if we couldn’t get our van fixed we would be there a LONG time and would not be able to do our safari. Whenever my attitude gets bad I feel like I am being tested. I fail almost all the time. Why can’t I joyful in all circumstances? I am always impressed with my girls. They just go with the flow, are happy, don’t complain or worry. I can really learn from them. Anyways, the mechanic DID fix the van! It was, as we thought, dirt in the fuel filter. I praised God for answered prayer!!! He is always with us.
So we were on our way and entered Murchinson Falls. We had so much fun seeing animals on our ride in. We saw giraffes, all kinds of different antelope, hardebeasts, bush and water buck, wort hogs, water buffalo… I was so glad that Lydia loved it instead of being scared (she has a fear of animals). We prepared them for a couple weeks telling them we were going to a zoo where the animals were not in cages and we drive in our van to see them. It is so exciting seeing animals in the wild. I love the giraffes. They are amazing – taller than the trees! It took about two hours and it was SO hot driving in but we had fun.
We then had to cross the Nile River on a ferry to get to Red Chili Rest Camp where we stayed. The first thing I saw at the Red Chili was wart hogs wondering around the camp. There were signs reminding guests that we are in the national park and not to keep any food in tents because of animals. The thing that scared me most was the notice about hippos that sometimes come to camp at night. Do you know how big and mean hippos can be?! With all that said, we loved our stay at the Red Chili. We had a banda (one room cabin) with two twin beds and a fan. Stacey stayed in a safari tent with two twin beds. Lots of people bring their own tents so there were tents and people everywhere. The bathrooms were fine too – like a state park. The food was good, the lounge area really nice, and the view beautiful. The best part is the price – only $25 a night for our room. The first night we just relaxed and cooled off after a long, hot day of driving.
The next morning people were up by 5am getting ready for their game rides. It was a bit loud but I didn’t mind because we were all excited to go and see the animals. Lydia woke up cheering saying, “Good morning everyone!” We decided to have breakfast before we headed out at 7:45. Then we crossed the river, picked up our park guide who rode with us, and began our 3 hour safari. Josh asked the guide why he took a gun with him. He said it was incase he needed it with the elephants. He said it was just to shoot in the air if he needed to scare them off but he has never had to. I just had to laugh. We didn’t have a guide with a gun in Nigeria but we sure needed one! It ended up we only saw elephants from a distance so that is good. They are huge. I still like the giraffes the most. We got so close to them. They are quiet, so tall, and fascinating. We turned off the van and just sat with them all around us. I got great pictures. There were even twins with their mama. The guide spotted a leopard in a tree way off in the distance (amazing). Josh saw it in his binoculars but the girls and I didn’t really see much. But we did see two lionesses. They just happened to be up on an ant hill when we drove by. Then they sat back down in the long grass and you could only see them if you were up on top of the van. It is always exciting to see lions. The park so diverse and big one road you are in savanna, then bushes, then wet land. I was so thankful I felt completely safe and we all really enjoyed it.
After lunch and a rest we were off again this time for our boat ride on the Nile up to Muchinson Falls. I was really nervous about this one. There are hippos and crocodiles in the river and the boat isn’t all that big (but very nice). We saw hundreds of hippos! They are huge. I was a bit nervous when we were close to them and they would disappear under water – where would they come up? But the diver/guide never stayed by them too long. We saw elephants in the distance down by the water and water buffalo. Near the end we saw quite a few crocs but they seemed to be really scared and would go into the water when we came by. Muchinson Falls was beautiful but we couldn’t get too close. The girls loved the boat ride because they made friends with a couple from California that were in Uganda for a two week mission project.
And that was our safari. By the time we got to Kampala we were very tired of driving and being in the van. Most of the roads were good thankfully but there is no where to stop and have a break. We had one kinda scary thing happen, a man was flagging us down for a ride (like they do for taxis) but when he saw we were not going to stop he throw his bag at us and it smashed into our side window. Thankfully there wasn’t anything hard inside to break the window. I think he was crazy or drunk. It is times like that that I know God is with us and answers our prayers for safety in all our travels.
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