Queen Elizabeth National Park - Encounters with Relatives

Continuing north, following the Great Rift Valley, my next stop came at Queen Elizabeth National Park.  Uganda doesn't necessarily compare wildlife -wise with other countries in the region, but Q.E. is up and coming.  During Uganda's tumultuous years, Ugandan and Tanzanian soldiers took a toll on the park's wildlife.  But, numbers are on the rise and with the park's lakes backed by the nearby Rwenzori  mountains (highest mountain range in Africa), Q.E. is one of the prettiest parks I have visited.  Since I have already done the wildlife thing I probably would have passed up the park if it weren't for its primates, particularly chimpanzees.  With the cost of seeing the mountain gorillas out of the question, I figured I could splurge on chimp tracking which works out to be about a tenth of the price.

In Kabale I picked up a travel companion for this leg of the journey.  Johannes, an older German hippie-guy, couldn't have come at a better time.  The morning of our departure I was stumbling through the dorm room at the hostel in the dark in an attempt to be courteous to those still sleeping.  Misjudging my position in the room, I bent down to pick up my headlamp only to slam my head into the sharp edge of the bunk edge.  After a few inarticulate but appropriate words I felt my head and finding no blood concluded I would be left with only a bump.  Not ten seconds later I felt wetness around my eye.  I felt again finding my fingers covered in blood.  I rushed to the bathroom to examine and found my eye brow opened up wide.  Probably needing stitches, but not wanting to take the time or the likely sketchy visit to the hospital, Johannes helped to patch it up the best we could and off we went.  Johannes is not a doctor, but he ended up being very helpful in treating the wound and ultimately getting it closed up well, all things considered.  What the heck, I needed a scar to remember Africa by anyways.

Once to the park I was really glad to have someone to travel with.  Q.E., although less expensive than other parks, is still expensive for those traveling independently.  Johannes and I were able to share costs which allowed me to see more than I otherwise would have.  Our campsite was at a swanky lodge atop an escarpment overlooking the entire park.  The savanna of the park laid below with the two big lakes, the mountains of the DR Congo on the horizon and the Rwenzoris looming nearby.  It was a spectacular view.

 The  savanna and Rwenzori view from our campsite.

To make the most of our day in the park (and hired taxi), we first headed to Kyambara Gorge to see if we could find chimps.  The gorge is a thin sliver of jungle about 300 feet deep that slices through the open savanna.  The walk alone from the open grasslands into and through the thick jungle of the gorge was worth  the money.  With the incessant chirping of insects and birds coming from all around, broken occasionally by the awkward grunting of hippos, I felt like I was hundreds of miles away from civilization on a great rainforest expedition. This however couldn't have been further from the truth; but it was fun to imagine.  Within a couple of hours, our two trackers were able to track some chimps by reading tracks in the mud. For fifteen minutes we crashed through the brush watching the chimps swing through the branches overhead, until finally they had enough of us and dropped to the forest floor and disappeared in the deep grass.

Kyambara Gorge slicing through the savanna. It was an interesting contrast between the open grassland and the thick jungle with a lazy river flowing through.

 Grumpy?  I guess I would be too if a bunch of humans came crashing through the brush just to stand around and stare at me.  I had fun though...

After tracking the chimps we headed deeper into the park to jump on a boat and cruise a channel that connects the park's two big lakes.  After a couple hours in the channel I wasn't able to mark any new wildlife off my list (not that I have a list) but was able to get closer to the beasts than ever before.  The channel held an impressive number of hippos and buffalo, along with some elephants, crocs, and a lot of bird life.  For the most part, the animals seemed unfazed by the boat's presence, even as it nudged its way with in trunk-slapping distance of wading elephants.  At one point the boat passed right over a hippo who gave the boat a good thump, presumably letting us know that we had overstepped our boundary.

At the end of the day, I was happy to had splurged a bit on one more day of wildlife viewing.  I keep telling myself that I have had enough, but enough is apparently never enough.  Africa's wildlife is one of the things that make Africa what it is.  With my days south of the Sahara numbered, I want to fill myself with as much "Africa" as I can.  I am going to miss it and as much a I think I am over seeing elephants, I know it won't take long before I am again yearning to be in their territory again.

Getting up close and personal with elephants...again.  This time was much more relaxing though and I didn't find myself running to the toilet in fear.

There was a lot happening on the water's edge.  Crocs, buffalo, and hippos can be found living amongst each other.

Evening rush hour traffic as fishermen paddle the channel out to the main lake.