Arriving in Murchison

After over 4 hours of driving, we finally reached the National Park! We checked in and began looking out for animals despite being in the part of the park with too thick of vegetation to see through 😂 #eagerbeavers

Not too long in, we spotted our first animal- a family of baboons!! We were ecstatic!

Not shortly after, our driver’s car began to have issues and eventually the engine stopped working. We pulled over on the side of the road, he assessed the situation, and we remained calm and used it as an opportunity to practice using our binoculars for birds lol. Unfortunately due to our location, he was struggling to get good reception and find a mechanic close by. Godfrey was so committed to our safety and experience that he began flagging cars down trying to find us a safe ride (we were just 20 min from our lodge) and immediately found us the perfect pair! It was two gentlemen who worked for the Uganda Wildlife Organization (the National Park) who happened to be in between meetings in the park. When we got in their response to our gratitude was “oh we wouldn’t dream of not helping you, we can’t allow that!” 😭 We became quick friends, got some great tips about the park, saw a Kob (like a prettier deer) and arrived at our lodge safely. We were greeted by a monkey (my favorite animal) in the tree right next to our car and a cold cup of delicious passion fruit juice from our new friend, Immaculate. The kind gentlemen carried our suitcases (on their heads) up the road to our home for the next 3 nights. We instantly fell in love with Murchison River Lodge, as we knew we would!! We headed to a *delicious* lunch overlooking the Nile, surrounded by all sorts lizards, birds, and could hear the hippos in the water.

!!Update to the Story!!: We later learned that he person who gave us a ride was the warden of the park, a very high up position. He texted us every day to ensure we were ok and we sent rave reviews about our safari ranger, Issac. The next day when he got in the car he was grinning from ear to ear and said “I can’t tell you how much it meant you sent a glowing review to my boss!”. At the time, we still didn’t know it was his boss but were thrilled to know what an impact it made on him.Read more