Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Days 20 & 21: "Hakuna Matata"

Day 20:
Game drive number two! But not until we had breakfast overlooking the Nile (no big deal). Besides even more wildlife during this drive, we almost got stampeded by an elephant, visited Lake Albert, and saw baby warthogs frolicking in a mud hole. All in all, it was definitely a successful safari. In the afternoon, we traveled 17 kilometers by boat along the Nile River to Murchison Falls, an area of the Nile where the water merges into a 18ft. wide, 40ft. long drop waterfall. The boat dropped us off at the foot of the falls and we hiked up to the top of the falls and marveled at the views through the mist. What happened that evening took us all for a loop. On our way back to Budongo Lodge in the rainforest, we were blocked by water over the bridge 2 kilometers away from the lodge. That was the quickest way there and the only other way around was a 7 hour trip...too bad we had no other choice. We didn't get to the lodge until 1am. The angels at the lodge whipped up a feast for us though! Even through the rough drive, we were in high spirits because we were ready to head to Jinja!
Lake Albert
Before our boat ride on the Nile
On our hike to the top of the falls


Day 21:
We set off towards southern Uganda and stopped by a Rhino preserve on our way to Jinja. White Rhinos are extinct and this preserve had 11 of them to try and increase the population in Africa. Our hearts raced only being a few feet from them. Might I add, baby rhinos are actually quite possibly the cutest babies on the planet. After the preserve, we headed to Jinja. Jinja is the second largest city in Uganda located on the shores of Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile. Some of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes were scattered into the source of the Nile and there is a small memorial garden at the spot. There's a large brewery, Nile Special Brewery, right next to the river. Jinja is also known for it's adventure activities such as rafting, horseback riding, boat cruises, camping, and bungee jumping. And bungee jumping is exactly what we did, well...some of us. Mikie, Stephanie, Marc, and Leilah suited up to jump 44m into the Nile. What an adrenaline rush! After some fun, we hit the hay for our last night in Uganda.
Monkeys everywhere
Mikie did it!
Bungee jumpers and a nice sunset over The Nile

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