Our Trip to Uganda: Part 1

Pam and Melanie here.  We just got back from the most amazing adventure half way around the world to visit our parents in Uganda.  Our trip was full of new sights and sounds, crazy traffic, exotic animals, and getting to meet so many of the people our parents have come to know and love while they have been over there.  Here is a recap of some of our adventures.

After two days travel, we arrived in Entebbe where mom and dad and President James were there to meet us.  We eventually made our way to Kampala.  Once there we went to the mission office and got to meet President Jackson and his wife and a few others.  Then we had lunch, went grocery shopping, took a nap, and had dinner with the Jackson's and the Scott's.

The next day, after car troubles and much delay, we ended up hiring a driver (Bob) and headed to Jinja with President James, his wife Barbara, and their baby Joseph Jackson.  Jinja is home of the Source of the Nile River.  We enjoyed some Nile Tilapia on balcony overlooking Lake Victoria, just before where the Nile begins it's long journey north to the Mediterranean Sea.

Friday we began our Journey north.

A couple of kids at a roadside stand where we bought some produce. They loved having their pictures taken!

We stopped at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to see the only Rhino's in Uganda. They were extinct due to poaching and have since been reintroduced beginning with a couple from the US and some from Kenya.  We got to see a mama and her baby.

It was a muddy walk to the Rhino's.  Luckily they gave us rubber boots to trek through the jungle. Our guide Edward was great.

 Then we continued on to the Chobe Safari Lodge which is in the Murchison Falls National Park.

Some kids along the way, drawing in the dirt.

The lodge - an incredible view of the Nile, and a great pool that we swam in (we felt like we were swimming along side the hippos!)

 There were oodles of hippos in the water right at the lodge.  In the evening when we were eating dinner they came up on the lawn and began their nightly wander through the jungle mowing down the grass.  There were also some cape buffalo wandering around the yard.

The next morning we took a guide, George, with us to see some more wildlife.

A huge Termite Mound

 We were right there with the giraffe's!  It was amazing.  They are such majestic creatures.  We just stood there and watched them for the longest time.

We didn't have much luck with elephants (just a few in the distance) until after we dropped George off and headed through the entrance to the lodge.  Then we saw a whole herd of them.  They were mostly hidden in the brush right next to us.  It was so fascinating to sit there and listen to them knock down the forest.  We could see their trunks reaching up into the trees ripping off vines.  Some would come through the brush so we could get a good look at them.  It was very cool.

This was a place we will miss.  Just wanted to take it all in.