For Janis and Christie it was their first full day in Africa and a very full day it was for all of us. Janis and Christie started the day by going for a walk outside the Boma compound in Entebbe. This being Monday morning they found themselves walking to school along with the local school children (in uniform of course) in the neighborhood. The children were much more comfortable with them when they explained that they were school teachers from America and were coming to Uganda to teach here. The children here are very endearing. They are quite obedient and very conscientious students.
After breakfasting on the veranda at the Boma we were on the road early to get our errands done. Don’t worry Barbara, the books are safe and sound at the Jane Goodall Institute in Entebbe, but the most fascinating experience was buying Christie a new pair of hiking boots. Joseph our guide and driver finally was able to locate a place that sold boots in amongst a set of stalls that sold absolutely everything imaginable. Of course the road is dirt, but then there is an open ditch running with something foul smelling in it along the length of the shops. We had to either jump the ditch or walk over a rickety pallet to get to the shop that sold shoes. Christie found the shoes she wanted and with great good luck they actually fit her. She paid the Muzungu (white person’s) price, but at $17 it was still a good deal. Shopping accomplished.
On the road to Lake Mburo we crossed the equator and took the requisite pictures, and ate really bad cheeseburgers for lunch. But the most important thing was that Janis bought her husband Rob a set of salt and pepper mini-baskets in exchange for the very expensive camera Rob had bought her for the trip. Seems like a fair exchange, doesn’t it? A high-end electronic device for a 50 cent pair of baskets. However, we are very thankful as Janis’ high-powered lenses have gotten some great shots for us, and she has become our official trip photographer.
Back on the road to Mburo, I had brought along a two pound bag of Red Twizzlers for emergency purposes, and the bad cheeseburgers seemed like enough of an emergency to me. So we passed them around and Joseph called them red sticks. Then Joseph stopped by the side of the road to answer a mobile phone call. It is the custom here in Uganda to pull over to the side of the road when speaking on a mobile phone. Some children in school uniform were walking home for lunch and approached our vehicle. So we decided to give each of them a “red stick.” They didn’t know what they were, but knew they were good and it made our day to “interact” with them and take their picture.
Arriving at Lake Mburo we started to see animals even before we entered the park. Today we saw Zebra, Baboons, Waterbuck, Bush Bucks, Antelope, Impala, Cape Buffalo Topi, Ugandan Cobb and Elan. Christie, Janis and Steve went on a short walk to a game blind to watch animals arrive at the watering hole. We came back to Chris and Steve’s cabin we found Chris entertaining a group of Vervet Monkeys in the trees outside the cabin porch. It was hard to know who was more entertained, Chris or the Monkeys.
We took a short rest before going to the Mahingo Lodge dining room. On the lower deck there the staff was feeding fruit to some local bush babies and we were able to see and animal that most people have heard or heard of, but few have seen in the wild. A superb dinner in the dining room and then an early to bed evening for us as we have to be on the road to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.
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