There is a question that has been asked in the previous two trips that was finally answered to the affirmative on this trip. Ugandans consider a trip to the Queen Elizabeth Park a “must-do” for any foreign visitor. In the two previous trips time was never set aside for this adventure. The 2023 trip was different had it on the itinerary for site seeing on Saturday Morning. Aloysius and his trusty cell phone was able to make the arrangements for the long-awaited Queen Elizabeth Park mini-safari. He, his daughter Gloria, and Francis joined Bill and Roberto on this trip.
How exciting! It did require an early start for the team to get to the Safari Trail during “prime time” mornings for the animals. How early you ask? A 4am wake up call and on the road well before sunrise. Driving on the Ugandan roads is hard enough, but in the dark, it is truly challenging. We did not take any pictures of the early morning drive but there were a surprising number of pinpricks of light along the road. It seems that even some Ugandans have porch lights.
As the team passed through the Rwenzori Mountains onto the plains near the Queen Elizabeth Park they noticed a small sign that said “equator – 1km.” Sure enough a small pull off with a larger equator sign noted that magical “line.” A photo opportunity awaited the on their return north later in the day. A hippo greeted the team along side the road. We didn’t see any “hippo crossing” signs but thankfully the hippo seemed content to stay on its side of the road. At the entrance to one of many Safari Drives they saw some horns from local animals. Unlike a zoo, this nature area is left alone, allowing the animals to live and die as they would without an audience of jeeps and vans filled with curious on-lookers. The Safari Jeep awaited the excited team.
As the team bumped along the trail we first saw a herd of gazelles. As soon as the jeep got close they were on the run with their telltale bounding that most see only on TV. A short time later we saw a pride of lions sunning themselves along the trail. I guess it was not their meal time as there was another herd of gazelles a short distance away. They seemed as curious about the team as the team was about them. Other than a turn of the head and a yawn, they didn’t move.
Other bush animals soon came into view fast and furious. It seemed like most took their turn posing for the camera. I guess a steady parade of jeeps and vans was no longer a big deal.
Huge herds of gazelles and uncounted water buffalo continued to come into view as the jeep continued down the trail. A last minute suggestion by the guide to go to the “canal” for a boat ride speeded up the landside of the Safari. As the team got back on the main road and drove a few miles further South, it found a boat with two crew members awaiting them. Despite the appearances from the picture, Aloysius was not steering the boat. The canal joined the two major lakes in Uganda. What the team found on the wet side of the Safari was awesome.
It was clear that the two man crew knew exactly where to go. As the commercial crews were removing their morning fish haul from their boats we took a leisurely journey down the canal moving from one side of the canal to the other. As the boat approached a clearing along the shore, the team found a herd of elephants moving among the trees. Just as the team tried to count the elephants, they were greeted by snorts and small geysers of water from a large number of hippos that until that moment were underwater.
As the boat moved slowly in the area, the sound of the motor seemed to draw the attention of more elephants and hippos. It became very difficult to even count all of them. There were huge elephants and baby elephants (calves) and every size in between. When one got thirsty, they seemed to all get thirsty. The hippos seemed happy to give them the space they needed.
The boat crossed to the other side of the canal once again where more animals were found. Hippos, beautiful birds, an alligator, and other elephants were in the area, but it seemed like a minor show compared to what the team previously experienced.
All good things must come to an end. As the boat docked the visitors glanced one more time across the canal. If you squinted just right you could see the elephants continue to move along the shore. It was time to head back to Fort Portal. The plan was to meet the two graduates from the Secondary School that were in the Medical School. Although not as exotic as the animals of the Queen Elizabeth Park, this Medical School visit was still critical to the team’s understanding of the value of a secondary school education.
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