Queen Elizabeth National Park and more!

Elephants are probably my second favorite animal to watch.

Our three nights at Ndali Lodge went by quickly and we left on Thursday, 9/21. During the drive to our next destination, we crossed the equator and stopped at a roadside demonstration of the Coriolis Effect showing how water swirls counterclockwise in the Northern hemisphere, clockwise in the southern hemisphere, and drains straight down at the equator. Unfortunately, according to Snopes the Coriolis Effect really would not change how water swirls in a small basin, but instead impacts weather systems and objects moving at speed over long distances. So, the demonstration we observed was more sleight of hand than physics, but it was still fun and entertaining. Maybe we are just too easily amused. Lol.  

Demonstrating the Coriolis Effect.... maybe... Lol.

 

Edingtons on the Equator. Lol. 

Speaking of amused, we had a blast watching this standoff between a Martial Eagle and a Vervet Monkey. Neither one was willing to give an inch! (Note: I'm still having trouble uploading to the blog any videos I took using my phone, which was pretty much all of them. Sigh. Apparently Blogspot doesn't support the compression algorithm used by the newer phones. Sorry. In the meantime try the YouTube link. It's pretty cool!)

Video Clip: Martial Eagle vs Vervet Monkey

We checked in for just one night at Twin Lakes Safari Lodge, located on the border of the Queen Elizabeth National Park. We could stand on our veranda and spot elephants in the distance!  We did two game drives in Queen Elizabeth, which is famous for its tree-climbing lions. Unfortunately, it was raining heavily during our game drive through the Ishasha sector where the lions hang out in the large acacia trees and we missed seeing them. You all know what cats think about getting wet. 😊

What an amazing view into Queen Elizabeth National Park.

 

Twin Lakes Safari Lodge - another gorgeous lodge.
Just wish we had more time to hang out and relax!

Entering Queen Elizabeth National Park

Topi Antelope in the rain.
(Rog called them the antelopes in knee-socks. Lol.)

Even the baby Cape Buffalo look like they have attitude. 

Elephant having an afternoon snack.

Ele-family.

The highlight of our visit to Queen Elizabeth National Park was the 25-mile boat cruise through the Kazinga Channel which joins Lake George and Lake Edward. The cruise lasted about 3-4 hours and being safely on the water allowed us to get closer to herds of elephants and cape buffalo, as well as the ever-present hippos and crocodiles.

Amazing birds!!

Best hippo butt ever.
And check out the cute babies!

Elephants and hippos and Cape buffalo all enjoying the water.

 

Such majestic creatures,
although the legs crossed on the bottom pic cracked me up. 

Monitor lizard.

This was as close as we needed to be. 

Yes, he was watching us.

Kazinga Channel -  a gorgeous safari cruise.

Elephants silhouetted against the clouds. Can you see them?

On Friday, 9/22, we drove to the very southern part of Uganda to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park where we checked in at Buhoma Lodge for three nights. This turned out to be one of our favorite lodges. Since it was a Wild Frontiers property (the company Eddie works for), he got to have dinner with us and hang out. Eddie introduced us to Richard who pretty much ran the bar/restaurant area and made an absolutely delectable gin and tonic. For the record, I am not at all a G&T fan and when Eddie suggested it, I was not enthusiastic. When he said the local gin was distilled from bananas, I definitely made “that” face. But he talked Rian into trying it and after just one sip of hers, I was a convert. I was happy to be proved wrong and you would be correct if you guessed that a bottle followed me home. We’ll be featuring a taste of Africa at a happy hour soon. 😊  

We finally made it to Bwindi!

Buhoma Lodge was a favorite!

Eddie introduces us to the local spirits in an excellent G&T. 

Entertainment was on the house. Literally. 

I’m going to go a little out of order so I can consolidate our gorilla encounters in Uganda into one post. (Coming soon!!)  Since I am probably the only person who finds perusing several hundred gorilla pictures pure joy, you’ll get the Reader’s Digest version if I have to limit myself to one post. Lol.

So skipping over the Saturday morning gorilla trek for now, Eddie took Rian and I out to run errands in the afternoon. We wanted to find a couple bottles of the local gin to bring home and visit a local non-profit that benefits disadvantaged women. The group, Ride4Women, had given a presentation before our gorilla trekking briefing. They started off with a bicycle rental/repair business (hence the name) and have branched into sewing, basketmaking, and other marketable craft items. We enjoyed learning more about the organization, purchasing items made on site, and meeting the women who had made them. 

Out and about on our errands.

The ladies at Ride4Women pose with the items they've made.

So many talented women!

We had also purchased some soccer balls and school supplies to give to a local elementary school. We told Eddie we would be happy if he could just drop them off as we didn’t want anyone to make a fuss. But that is not the way it’s done! The teacher had a group of the kids ready to perform, and the kids seemed to enjoy a chance to sing and dance instead of studying. 😊

 Video Clip: Buhoma schoolchildren welcoming us.

Eddie also arranged for us to tag along with staff and volunteers from the Pangolin Rescue Camp, a local non-profit organization. They were releasing their 157th pangolin, which are adorable but very odd-looking creatures. Sometimes called spiny anteaters, pangolins are the only mammals that have scales all over their bodies. The scales are made of keratin, the same material as human fingernails and hair. Weighing about 5-7 pounds, they are shy, nocturnal animals who feed mainly on ants and termites, using their long tongues and strong claws. They roll into a ball when threatened, exposing their sharp scales as a defense mechanism. The non-profit is working with local farmers to relocate rather than exterminate pangolins that are caught in their fields. 

The goal was to release the pangolin across the river so he would be less likely to return to the same fields. However, the bridge was washed out. The staff created a very sketchy crossing using a log and some rocks. Rian and Eddie wisely opted not to cross. I made the outbound crossing just fine, but managed to miss a stepping stone and plunge into the water on the very last step of the return trip. I squished for the remainder of the afternoon. Lol.

This little cutie is about to be released back into the wild.

A sketchy bridge is hastily constructed with a log and some rocks.

Video Clip: Pangolin Rescue Release

Pangolin happily disappears into the forest.

Let me know what you think of the video clips... love 'em or hate 'em?

Next post – Gorillas!! Finally! I promise.