Hello, all! I have decided to dedicate a blog post to our recent trip to Murchison Falls. Here are a few facts about Murchison Falls for your reading pleasure. Murchison Falls features a gigantic waterfall on a portion of the Nile River that flows across northern Uganda. It is also Uganda's largest national park and is known for its wildlife. It features four of the "big five": buffaloes, elephants, lions, and leopards.

The Hope North Gang: (left to right) Joe, Dani, Bolton, Jackie, Mary, and me

We were granted the immense pleasure of visiting this majestic national park. We were also surprised to hear that our little friend, Mary (AKA Akiki), was going to accompany us. Mary is the daughter of Mama Rose, the sweetest lady in the entire world that prepares our meals for us at Hope North. Mary hangs out with us almost every night, and we were more than delighted to have her join us on this adventure. Our trusty driver, Chris, picked us up from Hope North at 8 o'clock in the morning on Thursday, July 10th. We traveled 45 minutes to one of the gates into Murchison. That, apparently, was not the correct gate so we traveled another 2 hours to the proper gate. Once we entered the park we drove about 50 kilometers through the game reserve where we saw giraffes and a variety of antelope. We finally reached the ferry that runs across the Nile River. Once we finally made it across we made our way to Red Chili Hideaway, a campsite for visitors of Murchison Falls. There we had lunch which was quite a treat. I normally don't eat beef in the United States, but I have been craving a cheeseburger for some weeks now. Why? I have no clue. It was not what I was expecting. Cheese is not really a thing in Uganda which in my opinion is a darn shame because cheese is amazing. Anyway, the cheeseburger tasted more like a Philly cheese steak than a cheeseburger, but you take what you can get.

Jackie and I on the water cruise

After lunch we made our way back down to the shores of the Nile in order to catch our water cruise to the falls. We were the first ones to arrive on the boat that reminded me of a very large party barge. We were unpleasantly surprised to find out that we were joined by about 30 other tourists who were from a myriad of countries. The water cruise was a bit of a snooze fest, but we did manage to see some hippos, (a lot of hippos in fact) crocodiles, elephants, and a variety of birds. There were a number of avid bird watchers on the water cruise as well.

Crocodile regulating his body temp

After about two hours we finally reached the falls. We signed up to hike around the base of the falls so the boat captain dropped us off at the trail head. This was by far the best part of the trip. We got to see the falls from a number of different views. I was so enamored by the enormity and intensity of this water fall, and I have seen some pretty awesome water falls in my lifetime. Pictures definitely do not do it justice.

We made our way to the top of the falls, took some pictures, and took off for Red Chili in Chris' van. That night we dined on chicken pasta and banana cake. Red Chili was abound with tourists around a bonfire. Our accommodations were rather nice. Jackie, Mary, and I stayed in a tent that was potentially surrounded by wart hogs throughout the night. What's up, Pumba?!

We woke up at 6 the next morning in order to catch the ferry and take a game drive tour. The ferry was delayed for about thirty minutes because some hippos were too close to it. I think hippos are so adorable, even though I know that they can be very aggressive. To me they were a very welcome sight. Once we made it across the Nile we met our game drive tour guide, Simon. Simon informed us of the history of the game reserve in Murchison National Park and the different animals that reside there. We saw some elephants, giraffes, and a variety of antelope. We did not see any lions, however. Simon noticed that the antelope were acting as if a lion might be around, but we never saw it. This was rather disappointing, especially to Mary. She probably had never been farther than her school, never been on a boat, or never seen giraffes or elephants. It was very rewarding to share this experience with her.

After the game drive, we made our way back to Hope North. I have eleven days left here and thus, I am trying to get as much work done as possible before I leave. I am planting flowers around campus with some of the students this Saturday and am quite excited about it. I will post a reflection piece on my work and time here before I leave.

Thanks for reading, friends!

Mary Nell