Oh my …… it was so wonderful to be able to sleep in a bit. Kluges Guest Farm, a long way on an ugly road from main paved road. , was a beautiful very nice place to stay. The roomy tents had real beds with bedding and not too far to bathrrooms and showers.

We leave here at 9:35.

Cavalcade of trucks preceded by 2-3 armed vehicles that looked like military….numerous trucks with money, followed by 2 more armed vehicles.

Uganda is a beautiful country with green mountainsides. Actually it was pointed out that 2 mountain peaks had snow on them this morning . The soil is rich….. seems to grow lots of green beans

*165# painted on some shops. Is it advertisement for mobile banking on your phone much like we have at least on IPhones, “Wallet”.

Motorcycles are loaded with everything imaginable including a huge sheet of steel.

We crossed over a bridge that separates one kingdom and another. The one we just moved into, the king had been put under house arrest for organizing a militia group. The participants of the group were arrested and put in jail.

Lafarge cement factory …. Biggest in country…. employs 1000 directly, 2000 indirectly.

Kasese… closest town to Congo were got Ugandan Shillings and water etc.

Queen Elizabeth NP is 1978 sq kms, 13 villages. Because their farms have been encroached into the park, the lions have been eating livestock. Consequently the farmers have been poisoning the lions. The park has lost of 15 of its lions. Lake George across the way is totally within Uganda border.

We have been upgraded to Simba Safari Lodge ….. very close to the park. It is really very lovely…. Even better than the last place which was tents. This is like a motel with rooms next to each other.

We stopped at the equator again but this time in Uganda near the entrance to the QE park. Did you know that when bullets or rockets are fired, they veer to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern and that hurricanes do the same. They don’t cross the equator.

This area is so different than what we saw earlier in the day. It is flat like the Savannah in Kenya but green.

Waterbucks but no pix

Uganda Kob

An elephant way off in the distance

Lioness and cubs in the grass but still too far away

Crested eagle

300 feet away we actually got to the elusive leopard but of course my camera is not working. Oh my God, he is gorgeous!!! His back legs are straddling the branch of the euphorbia tree… swishes his tail, etc. the spots are quite a bit different than the cheetah. I’m so disappointed to not be able to get pictures. Maybe someone else has some that I can use.

There are no giraffes or zebras in this park.

Big buffalo

Red head spur-fowl

African waddled lapwing

Saw another bird with long tail.

Turned around in search of lions on the road apparently but when passing the place where we saw the leopard before, it had jumped down from its perch and was down laying on a mound of dirt.

Buffalos…. Don’t have good eyesight. They use their nose. Then we see a huge herd.

Bushbuck…. are solitary.

Dusk…. Herd a elephants

Another early morning. Breaky at 6 and on the road for 6:30 but just a wee bit late.

Last evening was sooooo hot. I am not able to find out temps. Wifi is somewhat sketchy.

15 elephants on left, 10 on the right…. ….ripping out the trees….. crossing the highway.

Black & white African pied wagtail

Egyptian goose & lapwings

A male Kob will fight to death if any his herd of females are attacked. If female wants to mate it will come to the male.

Striped or banded mongoose running all over the place.

Hippos laying in mud

Waterbucks

19200 sq kms….I think…. But no lions seen today except by researcher…. Off road

Bridge connects Edward and George Lakes. Kazinga channel

Gonoleck… black headed. Bright red underbelly

Kazinga Channel towardslake George 17 kms + 24 km long.

900 metres above sea level

Was named Kazinga Channel to QE to Idi Amin Dada and back to Kazinga Channel

300 elephants lost during idi Amin reign

Elephants are very good swimmers Can travel 50 kms in 6 hours.

With African elephants the tusks turn upward. They have 40,000 muscles in trunk.

Yellow backed weaver

5000 hippos in park. They are aquatic animals because, during day (16hours/) they are in the water and travel by land during night. Male weighs 1500-1800 kilos. Can travel 30 kmps on land. Elephants have 50 kilos poop per day. Lions are endangered in the park

Nile monitor lizard is biggest lizard in Africa.

15-20 hippos in a school with one dominant male.

African fish eagle mate for life. They gave a 20-24 year lifespan

Male baby hippo can be killed by the dominant male … not so for the female so the mother will take her male baby away from the school til it is grown. This one has a scar on her back from fighting for her baby.

Malakite… orange breasted small bird.

Vervet monkey and baby, the smallest monkey….. in candelabra euphorbia

…….Crane

Sometimes a lion will sleep up off ground in a euphorbia like the leopard was yesterday.

Up at 5:15, breaky at 5:45, leave at 6:30. Very misty.

You should have heard the jungle noises last during the night…cool!

We are going to Kibale NP…. An 1.5+ hour journey to see the chimpanzees. Before we get there there were so many baboons. Then…… my camera decided not to work….. grrrr! What am I to do!!! I have come all this way to not to be able to use my camera is making me sick. I will have to check with the others to see if I can get some of their photos.

I will say that at the early part of our walk there were chimpanzees but they were high in the trees. I’m thinking “is this all we will be seeing” but ……. Wow….. right at our feet, some laying splayed out on the ground and some checking their fellow mates for bugs and then eating the bugs. It’s called grooming. They are really fastidious. Our guide tells us that it is, beside doing a service to each other, that it is a sign of love. Because our DNAs are close to each other, we were all required to wear masks so as to not pass anything along to the other.

It was so stinking hot, the perspiration was running into my eyes & off the end of my nose …. It made me so nauseous. I think I need to drink more water.

There are 8 different species of primates on swamp walk.

200 birds …. None were pointed out.

Super sodia is the red tulip tree

Red tailed colobus… 2 were grooming

Simpson green mamba

Black vervet monkey

We didn’t see all of the walk cuz it was just too hot and humid…… again feeling sick.

Some of the gals stay in camp for the day. I am envious that they have had their “batteries” recharged.

Where we will be staying at our next stop, is 37 kms from Congo border

Leave 7:45

Kingdoms until ‘62 when they got independence

47 languages, 52 different tribes

English and Swahili( official 2nd language). Our guides are Arthur and Paul. They speak 2 different languages but when together speak “Ugandan”

Muzumba is what we all are …white person

Guide says Uganda is best food basket in Africa

Most shopping is done in markets

Coffee, tea, pineapple (export), maize, sugarcane are main crops. The people seem to be quite industrious with many, many shops along the road.

Matooke…. Green bananas. It is a main staple for Ugandans. It’s like potatoes in that it can be boiled, mashed and. fried.

Cassava…,,peel and cook is used as a thickener

Greenhouses for growing flowers for export.

Farmed Eucalyptus trees.

You see hanging beef that is slaughtered daily and then sold to smaller shops. It is then moved to other locations.

You see a groups of men with motorcycles under shelters. They local taxis.

Black-head weaver birds

These guide/drivers are driving very fast compared to the ones we had in Kenya. The roads are much better here though. It seems the motorcycles drive on the shoulders like it is a “bike lane”. When we are doing safari I will probably be different. It will probably be “African massage” much like most of Kenya. Today we have a long way to go.

Drove through an area of road construction. It is a swampy area so they are building platforms to building a bridge over it.

Coffee plantation

In Queen Elizabeth NP there are 13 different kinds of monkeys including chimpanzees. Besides buffalo and ? there are 300 species of birds.

I noticed a big mound of dirt on the ground with smoke coming out. When asked, Arthur said they put green eucalyptus logs on ground along with something else and cover it with dirt. A fire is lit under it which is allowed to burn for 3-4 days. What you get is bbq charcoal.

We see brilliant orange/red trees that dot the hills. I believe they are “Flame trees (small flowers) and African Tulip trees”

Apparently the falls in Murchison Falls NP can be compared to Niagara Falls in Canada. It feeds into Nile River. It is a huge park with all the “Big 5” but we are not going there.

Tea plantations. ….. for export.

Black & white hornbill

Banana leaves for covering food, bark for fibre… weaving, feed the cows with the chopped wood. It takes 1.5 years to produce fruit but 6 months to ripen. Then it never produces again. Only one crop per tree. P

Ross’s Turaco

Prunus africana…. Medicine tree, furniture making and charcoal

Black & white colobus -troupe of 9-15. Hold baby between tree and mom at night. During day … on back. 8 months to gestation… born white but start to change at 3 months

Papyrus for roofing, woven for mats in house. Also ancient Egyptians used it for making paper

We finally got a chance to sleep in. It was a good sleep last night….. in a real bed.

We are to be picked up at 10 (was a half hour late) to go to the airport for a flight to Entebbe at 2:15pm.

If you think security is tight all over the world….. this place takes the cake. You get out the vehicle a few kms before the airport and walk with your carry-on through a building with security then get back in the vehicle on the other side and then drive another couple of kilometres. Once at the airport you have to show ticket and passport just to get through the door. Once through the door it’s bags and luggage through the X-ray machines, then to check-in counter with your bags. There you have to show passport, visa & tell them what flights you are on to leave and when we are to leave Kigali (Rwanda). Then through another checkpoint and then another X-ray machine, taking off shoes, jackets, watches and iPads (which recently I have not had to do) but… I had a small sealed bottle of water that got through. Surprise, surprise.

Only about one’s hour flight to get to Entebbe. Believe it or not they offered drinks and food ….for free.

We have noticed that the majority of women have their hair braided in corn rows ….with what I think are hair extensions of different colours. Beautiful!!

No gas when driver went into a gas station to get some so off to find one that does.

Huge market on the street with second hand clothes

Finished ditches, even frontage road along main are paved

Idi Amin-1971-79…. Very good plan development. No corruption in his time cuz he killed anyone not abiding by his rules.

Lots of military personnel on the streets today. At one point we witnessed a motorcade of the president….. travelling between his home and parliament. By the way he has been in power for something like 40 years.

1962 independence from Britain

65% are catholic, 15% Muslim, plus Hindus, Bahai.

Murchison Fall biggest and best NP according to taxi driver.

40 M population in the country.

On the road by 630 oh my God the storm last night was absolutely incredible the thunder and lightning and torrential rain was just terrific

The roads amazingly horrible. It’s not surprising that they are in such condition they are in caused by torrential rain.

Bathroom break place is as is the case, a shop of African curios and the like. Humongous amount of stuff. They should export.

Next was a road stop by rangers checking who has been in the Maasai Mara. Interesting …..with spiked boards and rocks, diverting vehicles off the road where the driver shows where we’ve been.

We make the climb over the mountain on a highway built in 1942 by the Italians. (I can’t imagine building anything in this heat). It is a main route to Uganda and Burundi, from Nairobi and Mombasa. Consequently the number of trucks is extreme…, and very slow. As we ascend, we get a great view of the Rift Valley.

Up before 4 am to be picked up at 4:20. We travel along on horrendous roads for over 1 hour to arrive for a balloon ride over the Maasai Mara. Along the way in the dark we saw zebras, a huge herd of cattle that slowed us almost to a stop & a hyena with something in its mouth. That was exciting but they are so fleeting we didn’t get a picture.

We left the ground at 6:45

The balloon climbed to 350 m. It dropped down as low as 21 m.

Mara means “spotted” in Swahili. The bushes (and probably the termite hill) seen from the balloons… the landscape is spotted. Termite hills in winter become wet and so malleable. The pumbas (warthogs) dig into them and make a nest/burrows out of them. Termite nests when dry are like rock and cannot be dug into.

The grasslands have been controlled burnt allowing the grass to grow back quickly and very green. That attracts the animals with fresh grass. Otherwise they may leave for the Serengeti.

Hyenas are most effective hunters. Females are bigger than males. The males will eat the babies. If mother see that, it will sever the male head off and leave the carcass without eating it.

Thomson gazelles have harems with maybe 30 females and one lonely male. The other males congregate together into a smaller group. The natives refer to them as losers.

Zebras are useless for humans. Their backs are too weak to ride and too wild to be domesticated.

Topis antelopes have very dark defined legs

Red Hartebeest

Rainy season is October/November. Every year the roads and bridges have to rebuilt. Funny…, this is little early but roads are wet and mucky now with lots of vehicles getting stuck today.

Carlos our pilot told us that lines on plains not as defined as vehicle ruts, are hippos trails. They travel at night and into the water in the daytime.

After 1 hour and 20 we landed with a bit of bump….. very close to Tanzania. Driven to have champagne breakfast. Short time later reconnected with rest of group.

Cheetah in the grass. It was having breakfast. You could see some kind of kill in the grass but we not able to identify what it was. Blood on the mouth of cheetah.

4 female lions stalking a water buffalo for lunch but changed their mind.

Hippos

Crocodiles

Egyptian geese

Yellow billed stork

Everywhere on the hills are wildebeests everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE.

Southern ground hornbill

Young cheetah snoozing in a dip in grass.

After saying goodbye and jointly leaving tips to the local staff, we head off just after 7am.

Horrendous roads but beautifully laid out farms on the mountain side. Lots of corn ( a main staple) grown. Lots of trucks waiting for the potato crops to be brought in from the farms…. To be taken to Nakuru and Nairobi

True it is cooler this morning but you see so many local people wearing hoodies and woollen toques . So many up and at it, waiting to be taken to work at the farms. Some farms are privately owned and some are owned by wealthy people in the government. Some pay a little more(/day) &/ or give added perks like lunches and so are always certain to get workers quickly.

Narok (meaning black or dirty in Maasai language) is the name of the city after the river. It is a more modern, very busy, thriving city. Shopping centre ringed with bottle brush and hibiscus bushes.

Lots of livestock (cattle and goats) being herded along the highway right of way, some crossing and preventing us from passing.

We headed out through a Maasai village. It was disgustingly filthy with garbage and plastic strewn everywhere.

Maribu stork

Zebras

Herd of elephants

Wildebeest

A male impala and its harem. He was hot on the trail of one female

Hyenas on the run

Then the group impala “losers”…. The males waiting in the wings to get the harem.

Topi antelopes

Giraffes

Water buffalos

Jackals

OMG….our driver is amazing what he made this vehicle go through to get to the other side to get a better view of…..a convention of 21 safari vehicles all watching a lion couple

Then we start to leave only to see another female with 2 cubs

John told us that all kids wear the same uniforms, all get heads shaved…. Girls or boys so rich or poor , girl or boys all same treatment.

Even when we are hooked to wifi it’s almost impossible to add pictures. What I think I will do is post without pictures but post them once I am home but….. who know!

Overall impressions of Africa safari

Horse riding training centre as we leave the camp around 7:15 this morning.

Nakuru zebra… the common zebra has wider stripes that go through from one side to other side under the belly.

We see quite a number of yellow fever trees. The trunks are “yellow” and people in the past believed that they were the cause of fever. The actual scoop is that they grow in swampy areas where mosquitos breed.

Grants Gazelle

Warthogs

Thomson gazelle

Impala

A lion pride of 2 brothers, one female, 2 cubs plus 2 females coming down from higher up… pretty exciting

Defassa waterbucks

Two adult and 1 baby wide mouth rhinos

African water buffalos

Nakuru Giraffe

Blacksmith plover

Yellow-billed stork(has red at top of yellow beak)

Spoonbills

Maribu stork

Lesser (more pink)and greater(less pigment) flamingos -the pelicans used to be more pink a few years ago but because of the amount of rainfall has been so great, making it more alkaline. It has diluted the water. It not only has affected the colour of flamingos, it has also caused the trees to die.

Egyptian goose

Sacred ibis

Stork swimming by

Baboons

Grebe crane

Cormorants

Hamerkop … likes big home/nest

Fish eagle

Common eland…. Biggest of antelopes

Warthogs (pumbas)

Black and white colobus monkeys in tree

Colobus monkeys

Bushell starling

Lilac-crested roller…. Beautiful

Male lion killed a pumba feeding in the grass

I must say that the temperature here was much more comfortable. There is at least 5 C difference between here and Samburu. After arriving back from the safari drive the skies opened up. Got a really good downpour.

Earlier in the day with the help from one of the other people on the tour, we had wifi so we were able to get out messages that we were all safe. We were not able to post anything since Nairobi.