Days 1 and 2 in Murchison Falls

The last blog entry was written by Kenzie Brown who forgot to sign her name :-)

On Thursday the 3rd we woke up at Cassia Lodge, on a hill overlooking Kampala. Sunrise included an orange sun rising over Lake Victoria and fog mixed with heavy smog. After breakfast we were on our way to Murchison Falls National Park, six or seven hours northwest of Kampala.

After five hours on paved roads we drove about two more on the now familiar bumpy dirt roads through less familiar dense forests teeming with concealed wildlife. After crossing our old friend the Nile while listening to the hooting of hippos, we ate lunch at our home while at Murchison, the beautiful Paraa Safari Lodge, every room of which boasts a view of the river, this section of which is called the Vicotoria Nile.

Hippo sounds are like boat engines starting up!

The croc sits still with its mouth open for long periods of time

After lunch we took a boat up the Nile to Murchison Falls to see the many animals that dwell near this fertile river. Hippos nearly lost their exotic appeal as we passed by school after school, but occasionally reminded us of their power through their sheer size and by baring their tusk-like front teeth. We saw kingfishers hovering in preparation for a dive, and crocodiles cooling themselves by leaving open their huge jaws. We saw black kites (large birds) overhead, and warthogs and waterbucks (deer-like antelopes) on the shore. We saw colorful red-breasted bee eaters darting in and out of their cliff-side nests, and great herons perched on top of trees. 

The red-breasted bee eater

Best of all, we got within a few feet of massive African elephants as they munched on grass on an island in the middle of the Nile. Eventually we got to the falls itself, and watched as its waters churned, producing a foam from pummeled plant and animal remains which flow into the Nile from tributaries.

Friday the 4th we woke up early for Chimp Trekking. Heading back across the Nile we came to Budongo Forest, home to about a thousand chimpanzees. There we met our guide, Nicolas, who took us on a journey through lush forests to find a chimp troupe known to him. As Nicolas communicated with other guides following the chimps, we walked past ironwood trees, mahogany, and the fascinating strangler figs. This odd vine-tree hybrid starts as a seed on the side of another tree (often from the feces of chimps who eat the figs), and, after germinating, send roots to the forest floor, and a trunk up to shoot above the top of the host tree. When successful, the figs kill their host trees, leaving a tangled web of fig roots and a decomposing trunk from the host.

Strangling fig tree

After about an hour of hiking we met some guides relaxing by a tree who told us chimps were just ahead. First we saw one chimp on the ground, who stared back at us from hooded eyes. This chimp got bored of us and moved away after a few minutes, but luckily another was eating leaves in a tree close by. This mature male tolerated our presence for about ten minutes, as it chewed a leafy breakfast, a fibrous change to its diet of mostly fruit. After we watched our cousin for awhile, another chimp ran by, hooting and banging a stick on the ground. The dining chimp seemed unfazed at first, but soon swung down to meet the rest of its troupe, giving us a show of its grace. After he met his troupe, the chimps erupted in loud hooting and hollering, which alarmed me somewhat since chimps can be vicious, but Nicolas was unconcerned. Nic told us that it was a hunting call—an activity they engage in about once a week—and we tried to follow them. We tromped through the woods off trail (some more gracefully than others) providing some of us a view of chimp rear ends as they ran away from us, but we were unable to find any more who were willing to stay still.

Did you know that chimps make a new leaf bed every night?

Murchison Falls, one of the world's most powerful falls

We made our way back to our starting point, but were running behind schedule to catch the two o’clock ferry, which threw off our plans of an afternoon game drive. We switched our plans and made for the top of Murchison Falls, accessible from that side of the Nile. We saw rushing water pound mica covered rocks and send up spray which soaked us, causing the dust to stick to our clothes and skin all the better. After a swim in the pool and a nice dinner it was off to bed to be ready for our game drive on Saturday.

-John Wandschneider