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Uganda

February 2023
A 15-day adventure by Aneesa Read more
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  • TravelerUganda
    Day 6

    Evening Game Drive- Lions!!

    February 10, 2023 in Uganda ⋅ 🌩️ 29 °C

    As we drove across the bridge to pick up Savior (our ranger/guide), we saw elephants on the Nile with 2 adorable babies- Lisa’s favorite! Savior hopped in the car and it felt like we were reunited with an old friend. It’s been so refreshing to be surrounded entirely by people who are filled with passion and joy for what they do! You can’t help but love every minute of every day. We made our way to a different part of the expansive Savannah grasslands, which was filled with Giraffe, Oribi, Uganda Kob, Antelopes, Warthogs, Water Bucks, Buffalo, Birds and more. But this time since we had already seen the hard to find animals (lions, leopards) we were driving slowly, standing on the seats with our heads out of the sunroof soaking in the warm breeze and sunset. Suddenly, Savior got a call from Sarah (another ranger) that she had spotted. We were at least 20 minutes away she and her car of tourists kindly waited for us to point them out. There is no way we would have seen them in the tall grass! We pulled right up (uncomfortably close) and in front of us were 2 mothers who had brought back a fresh kill for their 3 lion cubs (only 1 year old). You wouldn’t have thought they were cubs by how large they were but our ranger was thrilled to see how healthy they were, thanks to their moms being incredible hunters. We got so close I was almost frozen in fear and asked Godfrey (our driver) to please close all the windows. But he and Savior laughed, assured me there was no way they would attack us and encouraged
    me to stand up, be confident and start taking photos!! This was a once in a lifetime opportunity! I (sweatily) did as I was told and with my heart pounding, snapped away! And boy am I glad I did :) We spent at least 30 minutes with them, what a treat. The Sun had set and it started getting dark so we began our journey home to the lodge. On the way out, we saw our third Hyena! Lisa is officially the ambassador of changing the reputation of hyenas because they are actually quite beautiful in person, especially the spotted fur! We enjoyed our final dinner at Murchison River Lodge with beautiful live music from some local musicians in the background. Just another way MRL is continually supporting the local community! We can’t recommend staying at MRL enough :)    Read more

  • TravelerUganda
    Day 7

    Final Breakfast at Murchison River Lodge

    February 11, 2023 in Uganda

    We attempted to sleep in but the excitement for another day couldn’t keep us in bed long! We enjoyed our first (since we always took it to go) and final delicious breakfast at the lodge. We were lucky to be joined by the hotel manager! We expressed our gratitude, learned more about her story (she has spent decades as an international tour guide) and connected in our shared belief about the oneness of mankind. Saying goodbye to the hotel staff felt like leaving lifelong friends, it’s hard to believe we only met each other just 3 days ago.

    We promised every person we met (guides, rangers, hotel staff, community members) we would encourage everyone we know to come and visit!!    Read more

  • TravelerUganda
    Day 7

    Rhinos!!

    February 11, 2023 in Uganda

    On the way back to Kampala from Murchison Falls (pronounced mock-shin the locals have taught us) we made a very special stop! Sadly, rhinos became extinct in Uganda in 1983. In 2005, concerned citizens and advocates came together to create the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. They were gifted 4 rhinos from Kenya in 2005 to begin the reintroduction process. In 2006, Disney gifted 2 rhinos from Animal Kingdom and “out of the love” (as our guide told us 😂) of 1 of the rhinos from Kenya and 1 from Animal Kingdom, the first baby rhino was born in 2009! It was named… Barack Obama ❤️ Through their efforts, the sanctuary is now home to 37 rhinos! In the next years once they reach 45-50, they will transport 15-20 of them back into Murchison Falls National Park! Rhinos will officially be back where they belong in Uganda 🎉

    While at the sanctuary, we got to walk around the grounds with our sweet guide James in the hopes of seeing a rhino on the large acreage. Not even 5 minutes in, we spotted our first 2. A few steps later, 2 more! Then a few steps later… the ultimate gift. A baby rhino who was just born 1 week ago!! She wasn’t even named yet so I put in a vote for “Aneesa”, which also happened to be the mother of James so we felt it was the perfect choice lol.

    The guides and rangers work so hard to keep the rhinos safe and healthy! There is an armed guard with every group of rhinos at all times to ensure to citizen harms them. They know their names, ages, relationships, and preferences. The ones we met were:

    1. Sonic back, 7.5 year oldboy (named after the electronic company who donated)
    2. Zawadi, 7 year old boy
    3. Laloyo, mom to Madam
    4. Rhoda, young rhino
    5. Madam, mom to baby rhino, also Laloya’s daughter.
    6. New baby! So the new baby is Madam’s daughter and Laloya’s first grandchild baby    Read more

  • TravelerUganda
    Day 8

    Time with Friends!

    February 12, 2023 in Uganda

    One of the many reasons we chose to visit Uganda was to visit my dear friends Sally, Vesall and their 3 precious boys. Sally and Vesall lived in my NC Baha’i community from a very young age and Sally especially was a huge part of my middle and high school years. She served as a mentor and tutor to myself and I group of friends as we progressed through a program for intellectual and spiritual development! She moved from the Triangle about a decade ago and I literally cried when she left. It was amazing to finally be reunited and get a week of quality time together.

    After a week of Lisa and I traveling on our own, the plan was to spend a week traveling with Sally and the boys. The first night we came to stay with them before heading out the next morning on our first leg of the trip to Jinga where they lived before they moved to Kampala. Unfortunately, they had come down with something and our week together was in question! Sadly, they stayed back the first night so missed Jinga but recovered in time to join us for the rest of the week!

    On Sunday morning, we woke up to their oldest son Faizi, (who is 9 years old) cooking us breakfast!! We also got time to catch up with Vesall since he was (funnily enough) going to be traveling to the US while we were on our adventures. Sally and the 2 youngest boys were still a bit under the weather so Vesall and Faizi took us to the Baha’i House of Worship for their Sunday morning devotional program!

    Beautiful prayers by children and adults were recited and sung in 5+ languages. They had a beautiful choir as well as a large group of youth progressing through the Institute who also sang in moving harmonies directed by a conductor. We were warmly welcomed community and institution members alike- by members of the National and Local Spiritual Assemblies, the Auxiliary Board Member and even one of their Counselors, Nancy Oloro Robarts. It was a special morning and wonderful start to our 2nd week!

    We returned home to a delicious Ugandan meal made by their friend Ruth of homemade beef stew, posho (corn grits) and greens fresh from their garden!    Read more

  • TravelerUganda
    2
    Day 8

    To Jinga with Sam!

    February 12, 2023 in Uganda

    When Sally and the boys were no longer able to join us for our 2 day/1 night trip to Jinga, we had to make an alternative plan. Thankfully our dear friend Paige had already connected us to Sam! Sam owns a travel agency and within just a few hour notice, graciously rearranged his schedule to be able to take us. When we met him it felt like we were meeting an old friend. He took so much care to ensure we were getting the full Ugandan experience from learning phrases to trying new foods to understanding our surroundings. Just a few of our favorite moments and memories:
    - Laughing continuously for morning till evening 😂
    - Learned the phrase TIA “This is Africa” that refers to funny, outrageous things that would only happen. From people using their hands out the windows as blinkers (even where their real one works) to bird watching by toilet!
    - Trying Stoney (a ginger soda), chicken on a stick and roasted plantains which all were delicious!
    - The gorgeous drive through the country side and Mabira Tropical Rainforest. We went through fields of tea, sugar cane and banana trees on either side of us the whole drive!
    - We arrived at our Air BnB that was so remote they had to drop a pin as their wasn’t an address. They even had a guide hop in the car with us to direct us. When he asked us where we from and we said American he responded “beautiful country… from what I see on google!” ❤️ We of course told him how much we loved HIS country!
    - We all agreed the air bnb was one of the most stunning places we had ever been to! It was on a hilltop, overlooking the rapids in the Nile.
    - We made our way to see the source of the Nile, where is begins! Our guide taught us all about how goes from Lake Victoria (where we were) the water then makes its way to the Mediterranean Sea through central and northern Uganda, Sudan and Egypt. It takes the water 3 months to complete this journey of 4,000 miles. The local name is Omugga Kiyiira.
    - A special moment was Lisa teaching Sam how to use binoculars for the first time!
    - One of the prettiest parts of the view was watching the fisherman wade in the water as the sun set.
    - We had dinner at one of Sally’s favorite restaurants, Igar Cafe in the town of Jinga. We shared tasty chicken stew, hot chipati (bread) and a mango smoothie.
    - We ended the night with my first visit to a grocery kiosk. We simply walked in, requested our breakfast supplies and they pulled them from high shelves behind the counter.    Read more

  • TravelerUganda
    Day 9

    Breakfast in Jinga!

    February 13, 2023 in Uganda

    - Lisa and Sam woke up early to bird and spotted 20+ varieties of birds!
    - Sam graciously cooked us a traditional Ugandan breakfast including Milk Tea, Fried Eggs, Toast, Ground Nuts and Jackfruit straight from the tree outside our door. Issac the property manager cut it down for us and we invited him to join us for breakfast!
    - I enjoyed the pool, Sam and I played some volleyball and we got back on the road!
    - We stopped back by Igar Cafe on the way out because we wanted to get Lisa’s treat for the road, fresh Mandazie (a sweet baked good).
    - On our drive we stopped for some excursions including a local fruit stand where we had fresh pineapple! It was my first time having pineapple in over 15 years because I have an allergic reaction to the ones in the states. But for some reason, not this one! We also made a stop to learn about how tea is grown and harvested from the local farmers.    Read more

  • TravelerUganda
    Day 9

    Zip-lining & Forest Walk

    February 13, 2023 in Uganda

    - We arrived at Griffin Falls Camp in the heart of the Mabira Forest! Our planned adventure was a nature walk together and then for Sam and I to go zip lining while Lisa watched from the ground. Upon arrival we found out that the plan wouldn’t really work because the distance zip lined is so far! After heartfelt encouragement of my faith in her, Lisa bravely agreed to join in the fun. She asked “can a 67 year old women like me with no experience do it?” And our guide responded “Yes! You don’t know experience, we are the ones with experience. You can trust us!” And that she did :) We began the walk with our guides Hakeem and Hussain. We came to the spot to begin and it was literally a massive tree with small metal foot rests/hand holes that looked like heavy duty staples 😂 I happily went first and about halfway up started thinking I made the wrong choice to convince Lisa and Sam who were both deeply afraid of heights to join in. I made my way to top and Lisa went next. Thinking that if Sam could see HER do it, it would give him the reassurance that he could do it too, it was both of their first time. She loudly prayed the whole way up and I was soooo proud of her! Sam was next and although he was shaken and was laughing so hard he was crying, he made it to the top as well.
    - Then began the actual zip-lining! It was 7 different zip lines, all through the rainforest tree tops! I loved every single minute of it and about halfway through, Lisa and Sam’s fear started to lessen and their confidence built. Lisa said what got her through was our guide Hakeem’s continual reassurance that he had her, even telling her to look into his eyes instead of down when she felt most nervous. It happened to be Lisa’s moms birthday, she had just past away about 2 years ago and this trip in part was a (generous) thank you to me for the support in planning the Celebration of Life. It was also to honor both parents who had dreamed of visiting Africa but never got the opportunity to. They had cultivated in Lisa a love of travel, appreciation for experiencing the beauty of people and nature. We sang “Happy Birthday” from the treetops and know Grandma Phyllis was smiling down on us. ❤️
    - We made it safely back to the ground and with shakey legs, completed the rest of our forest walk. We saw the Falls and just as the walk came to an end, my dream came true and we were surrounded by Red Tailed Monkeys and Grey Cheeked Mangabay. They were swinging all above us and I was so excited to see them I literally just laid on the ground to get the best view 😂
    - On our drive home we got the call that Sally and the kids were feeling better!! The kids had their backpacks packed and their binoculars from Lisa ready to go! We were sooo relived to know they could join us for the 2 safaris we had planned together!    Read more

  • TravelerUganda
    1
    Day 10

    Headed to Queen Elizabeth National Park!

    February 14, 2023 in Uganda

    We woke up early to hit the road! We decided to take 2 cars in order to have a Safari jeep with a pop top and large sliding windows. We made our way and stopped at the Equator for a quick photo and rest stop :) We drove a few more hours and stopped for a delicious Ugandan buffet at a Cultural Center/Country Club. We switched cars which allowed the 2 older boys to ride on the Jeep and play car games with Lisa, Sam and the driver of the jeep, Narcis while I got to ride with Sally, the littlest one and their driver Karim and have time to catch up!

    We arrived to our breathtaking lodge right at sunset. We unloaded the cars, had a yummy dinner, and headed to bed for our first Safari together in Queen Elizabeth National Park! Don’t miss the elephant towel fold in the photos!! By the time we checked in to our room, the Sun had set so the 3 videos show the view from our porch at night and in the morning! 😍    Read more

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