Wet and Wild

8 December, Wednesday; Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda. It was an early morning departure from our warm, blanket-covered bed at Lake Bunyonyi. I felt a bit down today, realizing that the remainder of the trip is just getting back to Nairobi. After seeing the gorillas, the rest of the trip feels a bit like filler. We had an eventful drive this morning. I was sitting sideways, leaning against the window and in my own world playing a word game on my Kindle. All of the sudden, there was a loud smash and I was showered with little pieces of glass. The window in front of me came unhooked, dropped open, and smashed against the lower pane. Little pieces of glass flew into a few others’ faces, but luckily the only damage overall was two very small cuts on my hand. To our surprise, our driver pulled out a spare pane of glass from the back of the truck and installed it later at our camp.


The photo Ben took instead of helping me with the first aid kit	My wound. Though I’m sticking with the story that it’s a snake bite.	The makeshift window. It stayed there for all of 25 seconds after we started driving.

We arrived at our camp in Lake Mburo National Park and started setting up our tents. Just as we were about to put our rain guard on, it started down pouring. Not what I was wanting for our last day at a primitive camp site (meaning drop toilets and very basic showers). Oh well…I hope this will just make our nice resort on Pemba Island after this seem that much more luxurious. After lunch huddled under the awning, we went for a 2-hour guided walk. IN. THE. RAIN. One of the things you immediately notice are the outcroppings of trees on these high mounds. The mounds started as termite colonies which were pooped on by the animals. The droppings contain seeds that germinate and flourish in the rich soil of the termite mound.

The wildlife is limited in this national park for various reasons, one of which is that the open spaces have now been filled with acacia trees. Apparently the animals prefer to have wider open spaces to feel safe. During our walk, we encountered impala, zebra, warthogs, guinea fowl, water bucks, buffalo and another antelope that starts with a T that I can’t recall. The view from a high hill overlooking the park was gorgeous even in the rain.

On our way back, we came across an antelope that had been dead for three days. As we approached from downwind, the rotting smell was overwhelming. Interestingly, the pictures are actually worse than the real view. I was surprised that he hadn’t been more eaten. You can see the small holes that the vultures have created to gain access to the intestines and other internal organs. Yummy!

Back at camp, we gawked at the Pumbas (aka warthogs) that were visiting our camp. Or should I say that we were visiting their home. They weren’t quite as friendly as the cartoon character from “The Lion King,” but they weren’t too scary (as long as they weren’t feigning to charge at us).

After a quick rest at the bar where we enjoyed some cold Cokes and the photographers spent ages capturing snapshots of hippos and birds, we ate dinner around the campfire in the spitting rain and were in bed by about 9:00!