A safari to Murchison Falls

As I sit here writing this post during my afternoon break, there is a torrential down pour like I've never seen before (and that's saying a lot considering the rain we had last summer in Southern Alberta). It makes me want to make a cup of tea and read a book while in some cozy sweats. Unfortunately I didn't bring any pants or hoodies along because I thought it was just going to be hot the whole time. I guess a cup of tea and a book will have to do while I sit shivering and waiting for the rain to stop. And now the power has just shut off too! Oh well, I may be cold but I'm also sitting in a nice house while there are people down the street sitting in a small shack with a tin roof full of holes. I really shouldn't complain.

Anyway, this past weekend I went on a Safari to Murchison Falls which is in the northern part of Uganda. IT WAS AMAZING!!! As my dad put it when telling my grandma what a safari was, it's like going to the zoo but instead of the animals being behind bars, the spectators are. I loved almost every minute of it and was left speechless when I saw my first herd of elephants and giraffes. You got to see the animals in their natural habitats and see how majestic they are. We saw so many animals including elephants, giraffes, baboons, warthogs, buffalo, a hyena, antelope, heart beasts, so many birds, hippos, crocodiles, and even a lion cub!

I went with Samantha and one of our housemates, Summer. It was a lot of fun going with Summer and we really got to know each other better. She also has a type A personality so we understand each other's desire to plan and organize or as some people say, micro-manage every detail. :) On our safari were also two girls from France and Belgium so it was a great mix of cultures. We did our safari with a company called Red Chilli and I'd highly recommend them to anyone looking to do a safari in Uganda. They were affordable and had decent accommodations and were very organized. We stayed in a stand-up tent for two nights and our campsite was also home to warthogs, baboons, and hippos which was interesting. I never actually saw a hippo because they come out of the water at night and we were usually in bed by 9 because we were exhausted from the day and had to wake up super early to do it all over again but they were apparently there.

I could talk more about the safari but I think pictures can do a better job portraying how cool it was so I'll just show you a few.

On a bittersweet note, I only have a few more days here at Amani before I start my trek home. While I'm looking forward to seeing friends and family that I've missed over these past two months, I think I'm equally sad, if not more, to be leaving the kids I've met and friends I've made behind. I may not see them ever again and I will miss them so much. I hope it's in God's plan for me to come back again but we will have to see.