My First Trip To Murchison Falls Park

Waking up in an exuberant mood just so to be able to get to the point of my pick up, I was late and oh God knew what was about to go down. My heart pounding and feeling relentless of my forthcoming activities and a lot more anticipated glories I was looking forward to accomplishing. My day was a lot more exactly on point as I had felt it should. Bags packed and emotions ready to roll, there was no turning back. Bye a bye to my boring daily assumptions of travel. Now it was my time to get my hands dirty.

DAY 1

At 7:00 am, I was out on my way to acquaint myself with fellow travel mates aboard our land cruiser TX, a monster made for luxury travel. Joana, alongside her best friend, were to be travel mates. These two great friends had traveled to over 3 countries and Uganda was to be their 4^th. Our guide, Mr. Ssekandi Ashaduh a well experienced guide having over 10yrs of travel experience was to be our shoulder to lay on through this highly anticipated adventure. All ready and checked for the necessary documents of travel, we were given a short briefing of what was expected from our day, our stops, activities. When ready. It was time to rev the engine and off we hit the road, all eager and chatty, sharing different experiences and what more we desired to see on this forth coming adventure. Guess I must say that at that moment I we was all possessed by the spirit of adventure and nothing else I could compared to the joys that I witnessed on the faces of these two happy people. There and then, I knew that this was the right decision I had made perhaps for the next coming months.

Hitting the road at 90 km/h Mr. Ashaduh I must say was a well-experienced driver and guide. At a turn of every corner we were briefed about the people belonging to that area, there ways of culture, and lifestyle and how they went about their daily lives.

On our way the spectacular falls, we were embraces with the chance of having a fruit filled breakfast which was had a market place in kawempe division just right the outskirts of the city centre. A bowl of fruits, in particular, water melons, mangoes, pineapples and an orange were ready to get us all savory and wanting an eye filled taste of nature since our stomachs were now stacked full with it.

Shortly after taking off from the market place, we headed off to our predestined destination. Along ride of about 170 km was awaiting us and there was no way we could have made it out if it hadn’t been the melodic voice of Joana. At First, she was singing to her home country music, to later on mimicking the sounds of an African elephant, and to finally sum it with tunes of our African cultural songs. The rather dull grey road was totally filled with her joyous sounds and our endless laughter. Barely did we notice the half distance traveled till we was interrupted by the guide that it was time to take a cool breath for a minute out the car. 5 minutes later and we were back to our sits backs stretched and all rejuvenated about the journey once more. We got to learn that the area we were about to visit, was located in the north eastern apt of the country and its main residents were the Banyoro people a tribe of Uganda. 1 more hour and a half and we was already at our targeted lunch spot kabalega diner.

This place for sure is filled with the class of welcome and please come back statement. Right from the entrance to the waiting staff, to the humbly prepared meals, this was the right spot to get our rumbling stomachs filled with the true taste of African food. As a Ugandan who has grown up eating our precious delicacies, I preserved my recommendations for my two friends and rather chose a simple but exotic meal accompany my travel feelings. A simple marinated meat stake dipped in lemon juice with a serving of mayo dip and potato chips played well for my liking. As for my travel pals, I recommended a chicken luwombo, sweet potatoes, matooke and rice.

Non of us finished the meals off our plates as we were all eager to get on the going of our already half spent day and we felt we had no time to wait no more. A couple of stretches were made, stomachs comfortable and all eagerness aboard our adventurous minds.

Well the next 2hrs seemed to rather dash so fast right in front of my very own eyes. I barely had turn to take in all the information and scenery i was supposed to perceive however much, it was not go un noticed that my dear friends had taken a heavy toll on their eyes and everything else on the road was for me and the guide to experience, talk about and fill my head with as much information as I required for my mental preparations.

Well 270km were torn down, that was about 4hrs of our precious adventure had been put to a deposit bank of memories.

Next stop was the southern gate of the park, which I must say is the most interesting part I would recommend for the entrance to the park.

Bugungu gate was our take given by the expertise of our guide. This definitely there was no arguing about for he knew better was to be done for us to have a nature entrance deserved or reserved for most nobles of them all. 30kms off the tarmac road we hit the true African terrain. By this I mean where one is ready to have a bumpy and shaky ride. In this, one is not given time to even take the simplest of a nap but rather should up and anticipating their entrance into the park for surely one would not want to miss out on these iconic views.

Into budongo forest we went. Our first specie of wonder to meet was the magnificent shoe bill. All spreading its wings

of about 1.7m long and pondering on what to feast on next if it was not already satisfied as it did not seem to be on rush but rather took its time displaying its humongous beak for us to take all kinds of pictures one could ever imagine. Well what an entrance it was to the park because boy was my mood already super exaggerated at the moment. A series of bird watching was all we had on the track and getting convince us to head to the gate must have given our guide a hard time since non of us as willing to take let go of the already fond memory. This took almost an hour and a half for us all to be filled with the with utmost pleasure as far as we were concerned.

Next stop was the gate, down to earth welcoming security guards, welcoming receptionists, quick services through the checking system all took nothing but 15 minutes. When comfortably in the car and everything confirmed, the gate was wide open and welcoming us to the future of happiness. Right from the gate, a lot more was expected to be viewed, but to our dismay, we were asked by the guide to humbly roll the windows up, and apply insect repellants. And at that moment it struck us that we were vulnerable to tsetse fly bites, and sice non of us was willing to have sleeping sickness knowing our main motive was to stay as active as our bodies would let us, up went the windows and sun screen applied, phones and cameras out as we all stated comparing who took the best pictures of what bird and would probably get the most like off any social media pages.

Thirty minutes were enough and we parked right in front of Parra safari lodge our first stop for refreshments by slow moving waters on the southern bank of the river Nile. A cool glass of juice, to savor the super taste of nature that we had already felt, and a warm towel to get the dirt off our faces and prepare us for a new adventure.

Our ferry tickets were booked, scenery pictures taken, were ready to board our ferry and cross over to our next desstination on the side. On to the ferry, and the engine sounding as healthy as it can be for the evening, we were ready to face another adventure awaiting us with no remorse. 20km and by the time it clocked a half past seven, we were being welcomed by the staff of our home for the next two nights.

All tired and having a lot to talk despite the fact that we was lucking the energy, we sat down for our dinner which was served according to hotel menu. First course which was a soup and bread serving, followed by a buffet main course meal, and finally a scoop of ice cream to sum it up. The days debriefing was done with and come nine pm, everybody was sent to go to their beds and meet up the following day, which I must say was super fully parked with adventurous action.

DAY 2

With over eight hours of sleep recorded on my rest tab, my body, spirit mind and soul were all rejuvenated and asking for more like as if I had not yet experienced a thing like beautiful nature. And oh must I say I had not even the slighted idea of what I awaited me that day.

A cold shower was my choice for I knew that the day was to be unfavorably hot to whomever it encountered, a long white light shirt, a pair of boots and jeans were a first choice dress code accompanied with a sun cap for the blazing sunrays, and I was ready to meet the day heads on. Heading fir breakfast at as early as thirty minutes past the hour six o’clock, I assumed I would have been the first on our spaciously reserved table but was wrong, Joana, and the best friend not leaving the guide out were already waiting on me to join them. What time did they make it there? I don’t know. But I was so glad to join them. We had a briefing about the day from the guide, took turns asking questions of interest and later on breakfast was served, any type of eggs one preferred were prepared, toasted or not toasted bread, cheese milk coffee, steak, porridge were all ready for the serving. One just had to have a really needy stomach for them to accommodate them. Without any need to upset our stomachs, we each ate what we needed could handle and we were left with hitting the road for the morning drive.

Twenty minutes past seven found us looking at the first squirrels, who  were out to hunts for the first grains and dig for roots before the day got hot any hotter for them, topping it up with making the ground solid hard for them  to dig into.

The northern side of the park is the most suitable for game viewing, the savanna nature and the scarce shrubs give it the perfect spot for animals. Starting from the kobs to the impalas, we were graced with the opportunity of seeing how fast they could run and how far they would truly jump in times our danger or play time which was a true taste of the body muscles and agility.. Next on our view list was the cheetahs which I must say are very slim giving them the perfect body type for the kind of sprinter they are. More kobs and members of family were the most that we could get filled with for the moment. A hunting leopard was later on spotted but was only left panting for the deer were too fast for it since the heat wave had started taking a toll on the hunter.

Well lions had started getting on our brains, frustrated we ca not find them yet as we had anticipated. I actually remember our guide going ahead and telling us that he had made no contact with the lions to know of their exact spot and so we should wait for nature to provide them to us. Asking fellow tour guides, it seemed like the kings of the jungle had decided to hide their mane from the eyes of its subjects and visitors. Close to mid day, we had the first glimpse of a hyna and this was a true sign that maybe the king and his family were not far away from our reach. A few zooms from our camera lenses were able to revile a royal family of the jungle. Fast forward the guide went ahead to approach them for a clear view, and they brave enough to stay put and roam around the vehicle like it was property entrusted to them to keep. Snap shots were taken to almost fill a Gigabyte memory card.

Little did we know that we were cycling around the park to head to the waterfalls. The water fall of over 130 feet (40 meters) could be had splash down the solid rocks from over 4kms away given the present silence but surely the sound was distinctive to my ears since it was my first time at the falls. the cars were packed and a 20 minutes nature walk was encouraged by our guide so that we could get a first hand experience of the inhibitors’ of the falls. bird watching and looking at the small forest animals was a way of welcoming us to the fall terrain looked spectacular, the dew rising off from the splash would create a a rainbow moment that was picturesque and left us all awe, the white water honestly got me fantasizing of what would happen if one took a dive straight off the head of the falls but I dared not try it out for the fear of cutting my adventures short.

Done having this marvelous sight we were led back to our hotel for a lunch break and all prepared to go or a warm afternoon aboard a special designed boat. Lunch took us about an hour where we shared different stories about what they had seen another missed inclusive of pictures, whoever need a rest had a chance to take it. And once it clocked four o’clock, we were ready for the boat cruise. We took the journey back to the river bed and found the boat all revved up and ready to take its last fleet of passengers that day. Booked tickets in no minute were all putting on our life jackets and getting a briefing from our captain and guide. The waters were so calm and welcoming. Hippopotamus and crocodiles were the highlights of the boat cruise, birds fishing, like the king fisher have still got me amused at how they are capable of what I would consider an impossibility but they rather pull it off remarkably so well with the most professional expertise one would ever wonder about. The two hour boat cruise happened so fast that some of us felt like it should have taken longer. Very tired and exhausted from the day’s activities, we all got to the car so silent like the limbo, each left with the marvelous thoughts of the day for them to reminisce about savor all the possible juicy ingredients that the human brain could possibly squeeze out of them. Dinner was served, little was said as each of us looked like we were beaten up. Nut yes we had been given a stroke of amusement and memories were to be fond of for the rest of our lives. We all retired to bed with no worry and no query for all our days expectations had been satisfied beyond mention.

DAY 3

Well knowing that it as our final day of experiencing maximum pleasure within the time frame left, I woke up at thirty minutes past four am. Made a few exercises and stretches for we were bound to have a long day to Entebbe.

I later on joined my colleagues for breakfast, all bags packed and waiting for the order to much. Finally when the guide was with us at the table, we were once again briefed of our days activities which include a short game drive, and finally heading back to the city. The game drive was done pretty much faster than the word short sounded and heading to the exit was all that was left. On reaching, we were signed out, given we all were given stickers indicating that we had visited Murchison falls national park. En route, we had our lunch once again at kabalega hotel, and had one stop for further refreshments and needs. Four pm found us in Kampala city heading to Entebbe, with less traffic available, it took us approximately fifteen extra minutes were we was at the airport ready to part ways. Joana let her best friend board her flight to new York as she was feeling extra fatigued to take her flight that given night. Arrangements were made for her stay an extra night.

Just as we thought that the day was done, our precious guide Mr. Ssekandi Ashaduh surprised us with a final blow. A second final boat cruise, only this time not on the longest river on earth but rather on east Africa’s most treasured lake, the Lake Victoria. A forty five minute boat cruise with a glass of champagne played the magic of setting my moods and those of Joana right, just the perfect fitting final piece of the puzzle. And once delivered to us even though we clearly knew it was off the books, I was more gladly satisfied with the safari than I had originally anticipated, goodbyes and tips were exchanged and promises of forever keeping in touch were made amongst us

From the start of the journey, the road songs, the stories of different character amongst us, our love for adventure and to explore what nature bestowed upon us, the humble guidance of driver and the same time friend and guide, his expertise that made us even get interested in animals whose physiology or nature we had never cared to know about, the smiley faces of my fellow travel buddies, all gave me a reason to indulge more into travel and make new acquaintances outside the normal box of society.

By Henry Tumukunde – Cycads Safaris Writer