Purongo

There is no way to write a short summary of this so I just have to give you the play by play 😂 I was taking all the best photos on my camera but these are just my phone photos. Will share the real ones when I get back!

- 6:00am We left the hotel to begin! The morning is the best time since it’s still cool and the animals are waking up and on the move :)
- 6:30 First spotting a rabbit who served as our good luck charm because seconds later we spotted a giraffe walking right next to us!
- 6:45 As we approached the park we picked up our ranger guide Savior (pronounced Sevia) who despite the time was already filled with joy and his passion for the animals was immediately apparent. The reasons for having a ranger in your car are: the knowledge of the park (driving directions and popular animal locations), your safety (they carry a gun that they would fire into the sky to scare the animal if ever you were unsafe) and their communications with all the other rangers (when someone spots something good, they alert the others).
- 7:00 We reached the start of the game drive and as the sun began to rise, saw our first field of kobs, oribi and buffalo
- 7:20 Our guide told the driver to stop because he spotted one of the kobs “producing”. We didn’t understand what we meant until we looked over and saw she was in labor! We could see the head was already out and stayed and watched the entire delivery with dad nearby protecting them from predators. It was a surreal way to begin the day and we came back later to check on them and saw the baby taking it’s first steps and nursing. One thing that made it even more significant was after Savior working there for 8 years it was his first time seeing a kob give birth.
- 7:36 Savior got a text and we started driving quickly, not knowing where we were headed. We arrived at the spot and saw the 2 hardest animals to find- a lion and a leopard. They were far so we couldn’t get a good photo but we were so excited and completely content thinking that was as close as we get. Only to drive a few more feet forward and find 4 lionesses lying 10 feet from our car.
- 8:00 We began driving again and pulled out our breakfast to enjoy along the way. Our favorite was the Spanish omelet rolled in a chapati. The lodge so thoughtfully packs you breakfast and coffee to go since people leave so early to catch the animals before it’s too hot! We witnessed our first graiffe in full day light cross the road right in front of us.
- 8:40 Savior knew where a lion cub may be based on their location the night before and he was right!! All on our own (no other cars around) we got to witness a baby cub and his older cousin. We learned that during the night the lions separate for hunting and his older cousin was keeping him safe until he reunited with his mom.
- 9:30 We enjoyed a peaceful drive spitting some smaller animals and birds and arrived at the spot on the delta of the Nile where you can get out to stretch your legs and use the restroom. We poured some coffee and got to enjoy it with the warthogs, something we never dreamed of 😂 Lisa (who loves birds) and Savior spotted a stunning Madagascar Bee-eater bird in the tree! I purchased the “Wildlife of East Africa” book and we enjoyed checking the animals off as we saw them!
- 10:15 Back on the road, we began seeing tens of giraffe at a time. It was magnificent. Pretty much at all times you can see the Uganda Kob’s and oribi. So even though rangers describe that as “nothing”, it’s really something!
- 11:15 Lisa and I both adore elephants and coming across our first elephant we were in awe. The first few were far away at the edge of the Nile but within minutes, we had one right outside our window! We began counting out of excitement she quickly went from seeing our first to seeing 36!!
- 12:00 Game drives are supposed to be 3-4 hours, we were lucky to stay out for 5! We rushed back to the hotel for a quick lunch, changed and got ready for our next activity :)Read more