Bungle in the jungle

Joel is one of the trusty Banana Village employees who seems to always be ready with a smile, service or suggestions.  I don't know how many hours he works, but at 4:45 am he is clearing his throat on our porch to announce our driver's arrival.  Susan and I have been up since almost 3:30 (too excited to sleep, I guess) and we requested a 5 am pickup, fearing the driver would be late.

We introduce ourselves to Davis, whom we come to know and love over the course of our adventure.  Carly is prompt for her 5:30 pickup, and we manage to scoot through central Kampala before the morning traffic build-up.  It is strange to see the streets relatively empty (but still lots of folks walking to work) and vehicles actually stopping for traffic lights.

Within a couple of hours' drive west of the city we come across the first mud-walled dwelling that characterizes much of rural Uganda.  We arrive at Masindi in good time and head north to Murchison Falls National Park.  The road soon becomes narrow and rough, devoid of asphalt.  We are relieved to reach the park gate where we pay the entrance fee.  Our arrival time is noted on our receipt, and we are warned that we must depart the Park before that same time Sunday or be subject to a hefty fine.  It's quite a long distance from there to the ferry across the Nile, but our journey is punctuated by sightings of baboons and pursuit by nasty biting insects that remind me of deer flies but pursue the vehicle for impressive distances.

we see several single baboons and a couple of families

Nobody warned us of the limited ferry crossing times, and we miss the noon ferry by about 20 minutes, so retreat to the Red Chili Lodge restaurant for burgers and musings about the bag on the counter labelled "baboon meat for Brenda".

boarding the ferry

The next crossing at 2:00 leaves us just enough time to dart into the lobby of Paraa Lodge, drop our bags to the very friendly staff, and rush back to the river to make our 2:30 reservation for the Nile boat cruise.

Sue & Carly prepare to board the "African Queen"

Fortunately, beer and coolers are available on board to soothe the frazzled nerves, and we quickly succumb to the wonder of the multitude of creatures and beautiful scenery which we pass.  I will apologize up front for my glaring ignorance of the proper names of many of the animal and bird species that my lens captured.

enjoying a "Nile Special" on the Nile

mooned by hippos

We reach the limit of safe travel at the base of Murchison Falls and tie up at a small rocky island for photos.  The voyage back is peaceful and we almost get bored of watching so many hippos.

Paraa Lodge is an island of 5-star paradise in this country.  The staff is extremely attentive, the rooms are clean, spacious, and comfortable, and the food is very good.  We cool off at the swim-up bar and meet two couples from Vancouver area who are involved in clean water and nutrition projects serving remote villages in Uganda.  Carly introduces us to Sicilian Kisses - shooters consisting of Southern Comfort and Amaretto, and we know we may be hurting units for tomorrow's early start.