UGANDA: KIDEPO VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, DAY 2 - A WALKING SAFARI AND VILLAGE PEOPLE

 July 24, 2025

After breakfast we picked up Zachary at the military base and then drove to an area with a large open savannah. Zachary, Bob, Ella, and I got out of the jeep and started a walking safari and nature walk, something I am sure we would not have dared to do on our own (or without Zachary's rifle).

It didn't help that they first thing we came across was this:

One of my favorite African trees is the Candelabra Tree, a succulent that Zachary warned us not to touch as its sap can be a poisonous irritant. It stood out, not just because it was the only tree around, but because it didn't look like a typical leafy tree. There is no softness about this tree. Its sharp spines testify that it can survive the dry season. It also seems ancient, and it has the aura of an archetypal sentinel standing in the open cathedral of the savannah. 

We came across a large herd of grazing Cape buffalo that took a special interest in our tiny group of four people.  One rifle is no match for a stampeding herd of Cape buffalo, I thought to myself. But Zachary didn't seem to be at all concerned.

             

WE were concerned, however, or at least a trifle nervous. They kept inching closer and closer to us, and the only tree within running distance was that candelabra tree with the poisonous sap and spiny leaves!

UGANDA: KIDEPO VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, DAY 1 - SAFARI DRIVE

 July 23, 2025

We woke up at 6:00 a.m. and ate breakfast at 6:30. Breakfast typically consisted of our choice of eggs, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit, cereals, toast, juice, and hot chocolate (for Ella, who was obsessed with it and had it almost every day of our trip no matter how hot the weather was). 

By 7:00 we were on our way to pick up a national park ranger named Zachary who had been assigned to accompany us anytime we were in the park. We passed by a large herd of Cape buffalo, one of Africa's "Big Five" game animals.

They reminded me a lot of a herd of American bison.

We had to go through this river to get to the military base where we were picking up Zachary and then again at the end of the day to drop him off:

Ella, as always, took it all in stride. She is a great traveler.

UGANDA: ON THE ROAD FROM MURCHISON FALLS TO KIDEPO VALLEY NATIONAL PARK VIA ACHOLIBUR PRIMARY SCHOOL

 July 22, 2025

After a good night's sleep, we climbed back into our trusty vehicle for the most difficult drive of the trip, which, as you can see, made Ella very happy . . . or maybe just a bit loopy.

And off we went into the sunrise.

Kidepo Valley National Park is in the far northeast corner of Uganda, just south of the South Sudan border. The distance from Murchison Falls to Kidepo Valley NP is only 250 miles, but it took us over ten hours to get there. We did stop for a little over an hour at an elementary school along the way, but even at eight or nine hours that is a pretty slow drive that can be attributed to the poor road conditions.

At first, the road was paved and we made good time for a while. 

UGANDA: MURCHISON FALLS AND PAKUBA SAFARI LODGE

 July 21, 2025

We drove from the women's Booma Co-op to pick up Bob from his boatride, which was a drive of about an hour and ten minutes.  The distances are actually not that long in the park, but the primitive dirt roads slow things down a lot. From the dock we drove to Murchison Falls, the site for which the park is named. 

We were told that Murchison Falls is the most powerful waterfall in the world if measuring pressure. It is located on what is known as the White Nile, which is one of the two tributaries of the Nile (along with the larger Blue Nile). In Uganda, it is known as the Victoria Nile from where it begins at the northern end of Lake Victoria and until it reaches Lake Albert, and then after than it is called the Albert Nile until it reaches the border with South Sudan. 

Just before it reaches Lake Albert, the river is compressed dramatically by a gorge that at one time was only seven meters wide, but that has significantly expanded over time due to erosion. At that point it plunges 140 feet to the river below, where it quickly flattens out. It makes for a very dramatic display of drenching spray and thunderous roaring.

The first Europeans to see the falls, Samuel and Florence Baker, named them after Roderick Murchison, the President of the Royal Geographical Society.

When we first arrived, were competing for a good view with a group of students from what first appeared to be an all-girl high school on a field trip. We did see some boys, however. I think they were just letting the girls go to the viewing platform first. I loved their dresses and found it interesting that they all had shaved heads.

UGANDA 2025: MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK, WOMEN'S CO-OP

 July 21, 2025

After our safari drive, we took Bob to a dock area where he would catch a boat to take him to the bottom of Murchison Falls.  We left him at 9:15 and it left at 10:55, so he had to sit and wait for a long time!

William took Ella and me back through the entrance to the park and about a block further to a women's cooperative for single moms called "The Boomu Women's Group." The word boomu means "together." This co-op was formed in 1999 with the goal of reducing malnutrition and poverty levels and to enable children to go to school through income made at the co-op by their mothers. 

There were four women waiting for us who were ready to do some demonstrations. The leader was a woman who started to co-op in the 1990s (I think). She had a lypoma the size of a small orange growing on her jaw, but in didn't seem to bother her and in a picture next to an award dated 2007 that was hanging in the gift shop, it looked exactly the same as it did when we visited. I think she is beautiful, and her confidence made her even more beautiful.

UCOTA is the acronym for Uganda Community Tourism Association, a group that empowers local communities in sustainable development through small-scale tourism and handcraft enterprises. There are 42 member-groups in Uganda, representing 2,121 people of whom 64% are women. This group uses the money they make to help single mothers raise their children and keep them in school (which is not free in Uganda).

Here we are, waiting for our first demonstration on basket weaving. Note the looms behind us that they use to weave their own cloth. They use reeds, fiber from banana plants, and purchased raffia for the baskets. They dye the material themselves and then cut it into thin strands. 

UGANDA 2025: MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK, SAFARI DRIVE

July 20-21, 2025

We got to the entrance of Murchison Falls National Park at 6:45 p.m., just 15 minutes before the gates closed for the night. However, they did a ridiculous amount of paperwork that included making copies of our passports (which we later learned was standard for all national parks in Uganda). It took 25 minutes, and we didn't actually go through the gates until 7:10.

Not too far in we saw our first baboons walking down the road, kind of like an escort or welcoming committee.

A little later on, we saw an eagle owl at the side of the road that flew off when we drove by and then a mongoose that scampered across the road, both too fast for us to get a picture.

The highlight of the 45-minute-long drive through the park to our lodge was a huge wet hippo standing in the middle of the road facing oncoming traffic. The car in front of us wouldn't pass by it on the side, even though there appeared to be room. Apparently, hippos are known to charge cars. As cute as they are, they are mean dudes.

After a while, a boda-boda (motorcycle) came by and cautiously passed the hippo on the side. Shortly after that, a ranger drove up and directed us to turn off our car lights. He turned his flashlight beam to the far side of the road, and the hippo turned towards it like a moth to a flame. Though he still stood in the road, we could at least drive past his backside where he might not notice us.

UGANDA 2025: A LONG DRIVE AND THE ZIWA RHINO SANCTUARY

 July 20, 2025

We had told the camp folks that we would be leaving at 9:00 a.m., but for some reason they saw fit to wake us up at 7:00 a.m. when we were all still asleep. We grumpily got out of bed, packed, and mad our way to breakfast where we met William, our guide for the next six days.

After our rude awakening, breakfast was maddingly slow, but there were a bunch of vervet monkeys on the grounds outside that entertained us. These are Ella's photos:

We finally got on the road at 9:30, which was what we had planned, so why get up at 7:00? The roads were ridiculously bad--mostly ungraded dirt roads full of potholes and gullies. It was very hot, and our 4-wheel-drive vehicle did not have AC.  My nemesis, motion sickness, hit me hard around 11:30 a.m. when I lost my breakfast. The irony is that just two blocks later we finally merged with a paved highway that took us the rest of the way.

After we had been on the road for four or five hours, we stopped for box lunches that William had called ahead to order. Bob and Ella had goat and rice; I had mashed potatoes and could only eat about half. An hour-and-a-half later, we arrived at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary where we were welcomed by this statue.

Based on the order of my photos, this school must have been in the sanctuary: