Our Uganda Tour November 2nd 2011

We were welcomed by a gentleman named Alpha, who introduced himself as our safari guide and driver. Alpha, a cheerful and sort of shy but a very knowledgeable Ugandan. Alpha greeted each of us with a soft hello and handshake and welcomes us to Uganda, then loaded up our backpacks onto the truck. Being a big group we had a very good safari land cruisers as this made us feel more relaxed since for the start we had very good safari vans ready for our gorilla safari adventure which we had been anxiously waiting for.

The drive from the airport was rather grumpy due to too much pothole on the way to the hotel, but it was a positive experience because if gave us a true feeling of Africa. In our safari itinerary overnight was to be at Serena Lake Victoria a beautiful and relaxing hotel with a very rich view of Lake Victoria. It’s a nice place.

First Destination Queen Elizabeth National Park

Its was very early in the morning when our safari guides picked us from the hotel. We were so anxious about the safari.

By around 11:30 we had a stop over in Fort Portal for a snack for me i rather needed a journey break. This town is a medium sized town with not so many people and rather cool as compare to Kampala, Alpha knows of a good restaurant. We order sandwiches to go, pleased to note that the menu promises them in "only 10 minutes". Thirty minutes later we are all getting antsy. Our sandwiches arrive about seven minutes later and we take off heading south. Actually, our vegetable sandwich is quite good: who knew that sautéed onions and spinach could taste so good. 
 

The road to Queen Elizabeth Park started out in good shape but within a few kilometers we hit road construction, and weren't able to drive on the road. Instead there was a rutted path next to the road that we had to use. What a ride! It also disappeared periodically, so the driver had to figure out which way to go. I'm sure glad we weren't driving our selves.

It was slow going but Alpha tried his best to speed up whenever possible so that we could make the 3:00 PM boat cruise on Kazinga Channel, Mweya and into Lake Edward.

We arrived at the Mweya, Kazinga Channel by 3:30 pm but still had to drive a few km to the boat jetty. We got there when the boat had ready pulled out, but they waited for us. It was great they did because the ride was the very best way to see wildlife at that time of day.  It is recommended not to miss a launch cruise or a boat ride on any Uganda safari that takes you through Queen Elizabeth National Park or Murchison Falls National Park. During the ride, we passed through a high number of concentration of hippos, herds of water buffalo all lounging in the water near the banks. There were also elephants all along the way, taking baths, eating the marsh grass, and some taking dust baths. We also saw waterbucks, gazelles, two monitor lizards and a baby crocodile.

It was amazing. After the boat tour we made our way to Ihamba safari Lodge and got our rooms ... nicely built cottages with clean rooms, comfortable beds and good mosquito nets, large glass windows with a magnificent view of lake George. After showers, the whole group sat on the patio overlooking the lake, threw down a few Bombay Gin and tonics, and got to know each other better. Dinner at the lodge was great and just the thing to cap off our great day.

The night was cool with the lake breeze inside the mosquito nets, but with plenty of lake flies on the lights. I guess the ride and long day did us in. We arose at 5:30 am for a morning safari at 6:00. When we left it was still quite dim, the sun wasn’t yet above the horizon. But as the sun came out………I realized that Ihamba safari lodge has a very beautiful sunset……… I wish I had carried my art book……because even when I close my eyes I still remember that sun rise……uganda safaris