Safari - Queen Elizabeth National Park - Uganda

After a month with Rural Health Care Foundation, it was time to discover Africa by ourselves. We were used to have Willy and Irene with us all the time and leaving that confort made us feel a little nervous but it was time to go. Our plan was to visit the Queen Elizabeth National Park on the western side of Uganda. We said our goodbyes to Willy, Jimmy, Irene, Rose and the kids with some tears and we hit the road.

Queen Elizabeth National Park was once Africa's most famous park and full of wildlife. Nowadays it is a relaxed park with some wildlife and more budget friendly than the famous Serengeti and Masai Mara so it becomes a nice way to iniciate ourselves in a Safari.

The bus to Kasese, the biggest city close to QENP, arrived almost an hour late but in Africa the clock runs slowly and we were already used to that so there were no problems there. As the bus arrived, we tried to put our bags close to us but it was impossible, we were lucky that there were two western girls that quickly told us to put under the bus in the luggage area, they have been doing that and never had problems so we took the risk. The trip to Kasese was smooth and with beautiful views of the Rwenzori mountains, the 3rd biggest mountain in Africa. We decided to stay a night in Kasese and get a taxi in the morning to Katunguru, the village right by the park entrance, from there we could arrange a guide by ourselves avoiding the more expensive group tour safaris.

Kasese ended up being a nice surprise, we stayed in the "White House Hotel" that was affordable, very clean with a nice restaurant and the TV in our room had a movie chanel, perfect to relax. After a good night of sleep and nice breakfast, included in the room rate, we went to the taxi stand to get a taxi to Katunguru. Obviously that the guy tried to charge us the double of the price but we knew the correct price and he didn't win... Thank you lonely planet!

Katunguru was smaller and less developed than we thought, as we arrived a guy approached us and offered to take us to the hotels that we wanted. We checked Tembo Guesthouse that was perfect, on top of the Kazinga Channel and with high chances of seeing hippos and other animals in the river but the price wasn't within our budget. We ended up staying at Rwenzori Salaam Guesthouse that was really cheap but not the cleanest, at the level of the worst rooms that we stayed along the trip. But we were there to see animals not to stay in the room so we didn't care much.

Even without staying at Tembo, we couldn't stop thinking about the view so we went there for lunch. We had fish, rice and a beer, really perfect. Luckyly the lady that owns Tembo was really nice and helped us negotiate the Safari price with the guy that we met in the morning. It started at $90 but we were able to agree at $60 for a morning ride, drop in at the boat deck for the Kazinga cruise and pick up from the cruise back home. It seemed a fair price and something we could afford. Everything was going according to the plan and our excitement started to increase.

At 6:30 am, on the next day, we met Mosses, our guide, he was there at the exact time that we scheduled and that actually surprised us. We got into the van and as soon as we left the village, Mosses told us to pay attention and prepare the cameras, we could see animals at any point. It didn't take long to have our first encounter with a wild animal, even before the park gates we saw three hienas, one of them was actually 2 meters away from our open windows with a buffalo leg in her mouth, our heart rate immediately increased. Hienas eat the leftovers of the Lions, so  that meant Lions were around!!! As we entered the gate we spotted several animals, Ugandan cobs, wild hogs, buffalos and even some hippos but there was no sign of the lions. When people see a lot of ugandan cobs and buffalos it means that the Lions are far away.
After a quick stop to go to the toilet, Mosses got a phone call from another guy saying they were seeing lions in a specific area of the park, Moses stepped into the speed and rushed trying to find the lions. In the middle of the rush we ended up getting stuck in the mud... the car didn't move...

We were very disappointed and thought it would be the end of our first safari, it would take hours to take the car out of the mud... and we were in the middle of a park full of wildlife... now we definitely didn't want to see lions!!!
Luckyly, our thoughts were wrong and after 15 minutes we were out of the mud, a 4WD with two spanish girls inside helped us and towed our van, it ended up being one more African adventure.
Back on the road, finding lions was our priority. We drove... drove... drove... and no signs of them! We even went around a bush, very very close... according to Mosses, the lions were inside the bush. One meter away from a bush full of lions with the windows down made our hearts beat reaaally fast. But nothing... we didn't see them! After a few minutes driving we saw other cars stopped pointing to the bush that we were before, we looked and there they were... four lioness on top of the tree. We were seeing the famous tree climbing lions that only exist in this park. We were happy to have finally found them but they were far away and we could only see their legs when they moved. Mosses kindly waited for the other cars to leave and drove off the road for us to see them closer. Driving off the road is illegal and he could get a ticket of $150 but we think he was feeling guilty for getting us stuck in the mud and he really wanted us to see the lions.

With lunch time getting closer we started to drive to the Mweya peninsula, where some lodges and restaurants are. On the way we saw a few more animals but we were not in the "hunting" mode anymore, we were more thinking about the amazing morning experience than paying attention to our surrondings. At one point one car was stopped on the side of the road, the guy inside was taking pictures... we slowed down trying not to make noise and as we approached, we saw a HUGE male LION!!!!! "It's a LION!!!!" "Wait... three male lions!!!" One was walking right by the right edge of the road, so close to us, and the other two were resting under a tree. It was perfect and totally unexpected!! We couldn't be happier!

After a nice meal, Mosses drove us to the Mweya Safari Lodge so that we could board the Kazinga cruise. It is a 2h boat ride along the Kazinga Channel where we can spot animals, mainly hippos, buffalos, crocodiles, birds and elephants (if we are lucky). The boat ride was incredibly relaxing, we could feel the clean air getting into our lungs, we could see tons of hippos, buffalos and a few crocodiles... the sounds of the wildlife was amazing and extremely peaceful. When we were almost finishing the boat ride we were able to see what we really wanted... a huge elephant!! The boat stopped right next to him and we were able to appreciate him and take a lot of pictures. It was the cherry on top of the cake. Happy and tired we went back to car and Mosses started to drive us back home and when we thought the Safari was over... we saw... 10 more elephants hanging out in the savannah. The great finalle!!

The Safari ended up being an amazing day, full of excitement and with a lot of new animal friends! Now we only need to find giraffes and zebras.. well... and a few more lions and elephants! :) Maybe in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania!