Home Sweet Home!

We're finally back at GSF after a "vacation" to explore more of Africa. Boy, the adventure we had! We were able to actually do two different safaris...Lake MBuro (which for any of you who are 'Prison Break' fans, I kept calling Lincoln Burrow because it sounds exactly the same to the ear) and Queen Elizabeth National Parks. They contain different animals and we were so blessed to be able to see almost everyone that we had gone there to see...Elephants, Zebras, Warthogs, Impalas, monkeys of all sorts, hyenas, waterbucks, kobs,hippos, crocodiles, buffaloes, birds of a million sorts, and yes,we did get to see lions..8 of them in a group about 20 feet away. We went on a boat ride to see hippos, crocks, buffalo, and birds in their natural environment and toured with a guide to see the other animals. As we were leaving the park, we were gifted with seeing probably 35-50 elephant crossing in front of our suv to get to a watering hole. We stopped the car to watch all sizes (babies too) cool off in the water in mud, using their trunks to spray themselves before going on their way. The biggest elephant pulled up the rear...like the grand poobaa (sp?)of the group and took his time in the water. We were in awe! We all have our favorite animals and memories! Boe asked me what my favorite memory was and my reply had nothing to do with the safari at all, but something that made me laugh harder than I have in my hole life...I was gasping for breath. Before I share it (be prepared it won't be as funny to you, but anyway) I have to explain the accomidations we experienced.
The first night we stayed on the front side of the park because they didn't have a vacancy within the park. It was a wonderful place called King Fisher and it had family suites, little bungalos that were very charming. We ate well, and were very rested when we left. The next day we went to the hostel that we had reserved for the next two nights. We were told that it was a great, cheap place that we (Claudia and her 4 girls went with us)could all fit into. When we were able to see the place we knew we had made a huge mistake. The place was awful! It was very dirty, the window screens were torn, which you want to be in good shape with the constant threat of Malaria,the "kitchen" was a room you didn't even want to enter much less cook in it...well that would have been hard anyway with no stove or refrigerator--is it too much to ask for a light bulb--just a sink. We tried desperately to get our money back but we had paid in Kampala and they didn't have our money so couldn't give it back. We ate crackers and peanut butter in the driveway before we made plans to stay away all day to spend as little time as possible there. As we were eating, an African lizard, which we could call an iguana walked by into the bushes...it was about 4 feet long and 6 inches thick!!!!!!!We learned later it is called a Nile Monitor lizard or something like that. We also got to experience a beetle on the porch that was the size of a lacrosse ball and inside, a cockroach about 4 inches long about to go into our food that we had placed in the "kitchen". Needless to say, we only stayed one night there and graciously let the Hostel keep our money. Since we've been gone, we now refer to it as the Hostile (notice spelling). The funny memory came when we went to bed for the night. I was tucking Mac into his mosquito net when I heard Boe behind me say "Is this how I have to use this?" The sight I saw will always make me laugh. The mosquito net was attached to the wall so that it draped over the bed from the wall, not from the ceiling above him. So, without tucking it in it looked like he had just been webbed by a 10 foot spider and he was dinner! His innocent question and how much netting he had draped over him made me laugh so hard I couldn't breath!
We know that the hostel night will always be a memory lke the 'rainy camping trip', that we will laugh later over!
The next night we went back to King Fisher and relaxed and try to detox from all the stress of the previous days accomodations. I will write another post with all the personal stuff from the last couple of days, I just thought I'd give the safari a whole blog. Gayla