Hello Uganda!!
- Alberto Rizzotti
- 15 hours ago
- 3 min read
An exciting day awaited us today, our first African border crossing, which is quite different than arriving by air. The drive from our Volcanoes N. P. lodge to Uganda only took 45 minutes.
The border was only slightly chaotic, the worst part was the lack of signage and clarity about where to park and where to go, so we hired a facilitator, which made the whole thing smoother and much faster. The whole process took about an hour.
The environment, of course, was much similar, but it soon became quite clear that we were in a different country. Uganda is not as clean as Rwanda, and it is much less densely populated; there are more motor vehicles on the road and considerably less people walking about. The small towns have a somewhat different feel to them, they seem darker. Roadside markets appeared again; sorghum was set to dry in front of homes, and onions too.
Then, the scenery also changed. The inability to pull off road to snap a few pictures on account of the lack of space was somewhat disappointing, but what surrounded us was possibly the lushest environment we’ve ever been in. Banana plantations are everywhere, and very steep hillsides are landscaped as a sculpture. The black soil appears so rich. In the distance you could see the hazy outline of Mt. Ruwenzori, Uganda’s highest, and third highest peak in Africa at well over 15,000 feet.
This time our lodge was just off the main road, so directions to reach it were much clearer; after about a 7-hour drive, we reached Queen Elizabeth National Park and our new home for the next two nights. The lodge sits right in the middle of the park; walking between the restaurant and our room in the dark requires an armed escort because wild animals frequent the premises daily.
After getting a good night rest, we were up at dawn to do a morning game drive. We opted to hire a driver and a jeep for this one so we could relax a bit more and learn more about the place.
Queen Elizabeth N. P. is quite extensive. There are approximately 5,000 elephants, 4,000 hippopotami, and a large number of Ugandan Kob (gazelle-like), Waterbucks, Cape Bufalos, Warthogs, Hyenas, Lions and Leopards. The elephants stay pretty removed from the other species and are seldom seen during drives, but they are abundant near the lodges.
Hippos stay pretty much in the water while the sun is out; we are told that they come out at sunset, walk approximately eight kilometers to their feeding ground, and return around 4 am, before re-entering their water space.
The other animals are scattered pretty much all around. And the birds!
We were lucky to have spotted a family of lions, but they were hiding in the tall grass and were difficult to photograph. This lion group is unique because they are tree-climbers and like to spend late mornings and afternoons in the peacefulness of Euphorbia trees. We even spotted a leopard on a tree, but only its paw was hanging, the rest of the body hidden by branches.
When we returned to the lodge, we took time to unwind and do some reading. The internet was quite spotty and poor so that I could do nothing with the blog or anything else for that matter.
Diane was thrilled when, sitting on the porch of the room, an elephant walked about 30 feet it, across the electric fence. Oh, life can be so good!
Now, I would like to do something that I have not done before in these pages. Francis, the manager at our lodge, has established an organization, together with an American woman from Florida to help the children of Uganda. He asked me if I could post the web address of the organization in my blog, to make more people aware of its existence. Of course, such charitable organizations can always use our help, so I attached its website. www.youngstersofuganda.org
It would be great if you could visit it and even greater if you could spare a small donation. The people of Uganda are truly lovely, and especially its bright-eyed children. Thank you so much!