There and Back Again: Peace Corps Uganda: My First (and Definitely Not Last) Safari!

After Camp GLOW, my friend Stephanie and I headed down to Murchison Falls to meet a few other volunteers in our group for a three-day safari that included two game drives, a boat cruise, and two waterfall hikes. Standing out the top of our safari vehicle next to the same man I had sat beside on the flight over here, with people who have become a part of my Ugandan family, we realized that there couldn't have been a better way to celebrate our six-month anniversary in the Peace Corps.

The three days we spent there comprised one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Sleeping in a safari tent with an oil lantern burning outside. Walking around camp at night and having the beam of my flashlight sweep over a grazing hippopotamus not ten feet from me. Watching an entire savannah of animals freeze, their muscles clenched tight, as a lion saunters onto the field and lays down in the shade of a tree. Seeing a freshly-killed corpse of a cob, its stomach hollowed out in an almost perfect circle, its insides cleaned out but the rest of its body immaculate, untouched. Tensing as a bull elephant bigger than our car lumbers towards us on the road, our driver backing up quickly to a safe distance. Laughing at the awkward loping gait of a giraffe running in seeming slow motion; marveling at how fast and graceful it really is. Leaning over to the other side of the open-topped jeep to catch the sight of a group of warthogs fleeing, their tails raised in alarm and beyond adorable. Waiting in awe as hundreds upon hundreds of water buffalo thunder across the road in front of us, their white-feathered bird friends circling above. Having my breath catch in my throat as we drive past their crossing site and spot a newly-born calf shivering and hiding along the embankment. Experiencing the thundering power of the falls, the spray on my face mixing with the sweat from our climb.

All of those moments, however, fade into the background when I think of how, on this trip, I was able to stand on the banks of the Nile for the first time in my life. I have always been a reader and a dreamer and when I was a child, many of my books and my dreams revolved around that mysterious river undulating through Africa. The Nile, to me, represented adventure, love, power, wisdom, exploration, magic – everything I wanted to experience and have in my life.

For only the second time in my life, happy tears wound their way down my face as I drank in the sight of the sun rising over the Nile. The river flowed slowly by through the rushes and reeds, reflecting the cloud-streaked sky overhead while birds skimmed the water, herons and ibises waded by the shore, and hippos lolled on the opposite bank. Crossing on a ferry to its western shore, about to embark on a safari, I let all of the majesty and mystery and history that the Nile is steeped in wash over me, and it was everything that my 12-year-old self could have ever wanted. Everything that my 28-year-old self wanted too. I was happy, so purely happy. Standing out the roof of our jeep as the wind and the savannah rushed by me, I felt like myself. It was momentous and powerful to be in a place where I had lived in my imagination, to follow in the footsteps of explorers long gone and fictional characters that never were, to have traveled across the world and been through so much to get there. It was the fulfillment of an incredible wish, a life-long yearning, and the realization of something more – that I can achieve my dreams; I can be the person I’ve always wanted to be and live the life I’ve always wanted to live. I can have the child and the adult inside me, and I can take joy in, and satisfy, them both.

Getting around the country can be frustrating, especially since we can't take bodas (motorcycle taxis), but that doesn't mean we can't send our things ahead on one!

The sign that greeted us upon our arrival at the camp.

Our awesome safari vehicle.

Standing on the bank of Nile together.

One of the many faces of the Nile.

Murchison Falls!

This actually wasn't even in the park; we saw these guys on our way home.

Fun Fact! That is how this bird dries its wings. Another Fun Fact! I can't remember the name of this bird.

Fun Fact! Crocodiles release heat through their mouths.

Peace Corps love.

We saw FIVE lions while we were there.

Fun Fact! Warthogs run with their tails straight up to signal danger. And to make humans laugh.

Fun fact! Hippos can hold their breath for five minutes or longer. They also have a clear membrane that covers their eyes when they submerge so they can still see underwater. It's like gross goggles!

We were incredibly lucky to be able to spot a hyena.

Early morning on the Nile.

It's a hydra-giraffe!

The fresh kill of two lionesses.

Relaxing in the shade with a full tummy.

Snack break on the shores of the Nile in the middle of the park, watching the hippos.

There was not a single animal moving on the savannah while the lioness rested, seemingly oblivious. The only slight movement was a giraffe, every now and then, taking a furtive nibble of the leaves on the tree in front of him.

Nile beers on the Nile!

The view from our campsite.

Sun rising over the Nile.

Fun Fact! This is a hartebeest, but it is known in Uganda as the "stupid antelope." When fleeing a hungry predator, the hartebeest will only make it about 4 km before it forgets why it is running and stops. Animal facts are the best.