Northern Region

What a day! Private driver, a 3 hour "game drive" as they call it, a 2.5 hour boat ride and an hour hike up the side of a powerful waterfall.

We weren't thinking of doing a safari game drive in Uganda, but since the Murchison Falls NP entrance fees were 40$us, we decided to take advantage of a full day in the park. On this drive, we saw Jackson Heartbeats, waterbucks and a hippopotamus out of water - all in the first 10 minutes! The drive was absolutely beautiful, Savannah type landscapes, beautiful shining sun. By the end, we had seen waterbucks, African buffalo's, hippos, Jackson Heartbeats, elephants, Rothschild giraffes, Ugandan kobs (antilopes), warthogs (Gen! Pumba!) and a few gorgeous birds.

As if that wasn't enough, we had a quick packed lunch and off we went on a boat tour along the Nile! 2.5 hours of wind blowing, cooling us down, drinks being served, and again all along the shores incredible animal watching! More hippos, one girafe, tons of elephants, birds and crocodiles! Beautifully sunny day. Incredibly warm.

The boat stoped at a dock somewhat far from the falls themselves, but you could definitely appreciate their power and beauty! Jack and I were the only ones to get off as we planned to do the hike up to the falls, and the boat turned back around. Our hiking guide was waiting for us when we got there, arranged by our wonderful private driver Moses. The hike was super easy and it gave us a closer look at these falls. To be honest, they weren't very high, not the prettiest falls I've ever seen, but definitely powerful. I wouldn't want to fall in... Honestly the world's easiest walk, and I managed to fall. Yep, my first true reason to open my massive first aid kit! A bandaid and polysporin... Considering the size of my medical kit, it's kind of sad. I scraped my knee when my foot slid forward in a dry sandy downhill part. Honestly the lamest story ever. I'll be going with lion's bite from now on. This lion's bite was just deep enough to have people concerned about the bleeding, but just superficial enough to make me feel like an idiot. Meh.

This is probably the most luxurious day we've had to this day, yet with our skills we are paying the same amount as advertised on a poster for a group of 8 people. We found a driver willing to take us for a good price. And by calculating all the fees along the way we paid the exact same amount as groups do, but we had a private driver doing exactly what we wanted... We want to stop for a photo, we ask. We want to go, we go. Easy.

Fantastic day. Worth the pretty penny it cost. And now onto the capital! Kampala tomorrow should be quite the change of pace.Read more