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.
By the time we finally got to our room in Pakuba Safari Lodge, it was 8:30 p.m., long past our usual dinner time, but we were hungry. We had to walk from our room across the property to the main lodge where dinner was being served. On our way we passed a large herd of waterbucks--30 or 40 of them--bedded down for the night in the grass not far from the sidewalk. Apparently they come every night as a way to stay away from the lions, which won't come onto this part of the property. It was a very unique experience, and gave us more appreciation for the lodge's internet password:
It was 11:30 by the time we finally got to bed.
We got up early, put together some laundry to leave for the attendants, then headed to breakfast. The waterbucks were still there, but were gone by the time we finished eating.
There were always marabou storks hanging around the lodge as well. They are huge and look like a cross between the traditional storks we've seen all over Europe and a vulture.
After breakfast, we headed out on a safari drive. It was a beautiful, uniquely African morning. There is just something special about the broad vistas, clear skies, quiet roads, and sense of anticipation. We scanned the road ahead and grasses on both sides, looking for wildlife.
Right away we saw a bull elephant coming out of the brush.
Ella got a much better photo of it than I did:
We spent the next three or four hours bouncing along the dirt roads looking for animals, and they weren't hard to find.
A Jackson's hartebeest with its disproportionately long face and horns that look like garden trowels:
We saw them several times in the park. Here is my shot and then Ella's from later in the day.
Ella took these three photos of a sweet oribi, a small antelope that stands about two feet tall. William called them "Lion appetizers." 😟
We noted a rather large puddle with what looked like a very large rock partially submerged in it . . .
But Ella's photo reveals that it is a lazy hippo taking a cool morning bath.
A bit further along Ella got this photo of two grazing hippos. I think that's pretty much what hippos do--bathe and eat.
It seems to be standard practice that I get the faraway shot, as of this cape buffalo . . .
. . . and Ella gets the close-up glamor shot:
She got several of the freeloading piapiac getting a ride on the animal's back:
This one of the baby peeking out from behind its mom is a winner too:
Here's a video of these same elephants grazing near Lake Victoria. Look carefully at the elephant on the left at the very beginning and you'll see eight legs. The baby is still hiding behind her.
I wonder what this area was like when British explorer John Speke reached the lake's shores in 1858 (and believed he had found the source of the Nile) when as many as 20 million elephants roamed Africa, compared to today's population of 415,000.
This mud-encrusted Cape buffalo, which looks like woman seriously overdoing a facial at the spa, is possibly my favorite of all of Ella's photos.
It is always fun to see a giraffe in the wild. They are such a crazy animal with their ridiculously long necks, flattened snouts, fuzzy stubby horns, and polka-dotted coats.
As it laboriously crossed the road in front of us, we noticed a significant limp and a swelling of the front left ankle. Poor giraffe!
We hope she survives.
I'm pretty sure Ella's photo of a giraffe is a different one we saw later in the morning.
This male Abyssinian ground hornbill does not realize that is really is not that attractive.
There was a buzz on the road that a lion had been sighted at a place called Victoria Pass. Our guide and driver knew right where that was and sped along the bumpy road to get there ASAP. By the time we arrived, we joined about ten other safari vehicles. We were lucky to catch a glimpse of a lioness in the tall grass. Ella stood on the roof and saw three or four lionesses and possibly a male. Then one actually walked across the road, turned around, and went back, as if to say, "Okay, now you've seen me, so can you just go away?"
Bob was able to snap a couple of pictures before she disappeared:
Ella's photo of the majestic Ugandan kob, which looks a lot like an impala.
There are a lot of baboons in the park, and they tend to live in large groups.
Ella got this rear shot of an olive baboon.
There are lots of beautiful birds in Murchison Falls NP, but my cell phone does not do a good job capturing them in photos. The three photos below are all Ella's shots. On the left is a red-throated bee-eater and on the right is a northern bishop.
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