I Bless The Rains Down In Africa
The prospect of viewing an African sunrise lured us obediently out of our comfy beds to meet downstairs at the ungodly hour of 5:45am this morning. We were going on a dawn safari and it was our turn to climb aboard the pop-up safari van. Leaving in the dark, we stood on our chairs to peep out at the savanna through the gap in the roof, hoping the impending sunrise would illuminate the creatures that were hiding under the veil of darkness. Excitement mounted as the warm orange glow that began to line the horizon stretched out over and above us like a fiery canopy, blooming into a vivid, full-blown feast for our tired eyes. I couldn’t help but sing “Nants ingonyama! Bagithi Baba” under my breath, imagining baby Simba being held aloft with his African sunrise backdrop.
Speaking of Simba, there was a rumbling amongst the guides that there may have been a lion sighting this morning. We followed the scent in excited anticipation. A couple of vans had stopped before us and there was a noticeable hush that hung over the clearing, everyone’s eyes trained on a group of majestic lionesses gathered for their gruesome breakfast. They were so close! Well-camouflaged by the golden grass that surrounded them and at some points completely concealed their presence, it’s no wonder they are such adept hunters. The poor unsuspecting, unidentified beast they were feasting on was testament to that. As they picked up the hulking carcass and moved it around between them, some of us had to look away, especially from the grisly pile of leftovers in the grass. Ahh, the circle of life.
So satisfied we had spied the king of the jungle (well the queen anyway) we moved on to see a smorgasbord of wildlife, including giraffes, elephants, Jackson hartebeests, cobbs and fluffy water bucks. There was a baboon family; mother piggybacking her baby beside the road and great herds of buffalo lounging in the grass and yawning into the new day. It was very special to see the savanna waking up. Down by the river we were again able to leave the buses and roam freely, the multiple wild animal tracks in the sand leaving us feeling slightly vulnerable. It was peak hour in the park and we shared our adventure with a multitude of other 4-wheel drives and pop-ups, binoculars and cameras sticking out at all angles. Maisy sat on the roof up front with Lexi, while Sam and Molly joined Becca on the roof up the back. They enticed me up there to sit with them and as my knuckles turned white from clinging on so tightly over all the bumps, the view was spectacular. With red dust in our eyes and cameras full of animals, we returned to the lodge for some well-earned sustenance in the form of a slap-up buffet brekky. I just can’t seem to go past the spuds – practically chowing down on their starchy golden goodness for breakfast, lunch and dinner – I swear I’m going to look like a potato soon. The team enjoyed some relaxation and swimming after breakfast, enjoying one another’s company and having some down time.
To continue our day of adventure, we headed down to the banks of the Nile, doing our best Tonya Harding impression as we slipped and skated our thong-clad tootsies across the slipperiest mud ever encountered. Our afternoon cruise was taking us up river to Murchison Falls. As we sailed along, aboard the African Queen, I stood chatting with Fred. We cast our eyes heavenward, thankful for the sunshine despite the ominous clouds that hovered overhead. We both put our meteorologist hats on and agreed without a doubt, the wind was pushing those nasty cumulonimbus clusters in the opposite direction and we’d been under clear skies in no time. In less than half an hour we were huddled together in the centre of the boat, standard issue raincoats donned as we buffeted TORRENTIAL rain. Fred and I won’t give up our day jobs. We’ve learnt by now that when the skies open in Africa, they don’t muck around. It was a deluge not to be sneezed at; vast quantities of water pouring down upon us, drenching the boat and her passengers. Our skilful Captain, James, managed to manoeuvre the African Queen through swirling eddies and foaming white caps to give us a brilliant vantage point from which to view the magnificent falls. Throwing off an inordinate amount of water and spray (around 300 cubic metres per second), squeezed into a gorge less than ten metres wide, this beautiful natural wonder was well worth a look, even in these less than perfect conditions.
Another of the selling points of this cruise had been the prospect of hippo sightings and… sight them we did! This stretch of the famous river – the very same river baby Moses’ little basket had floated on- flowing through Uganda, Sudan, The Congo, Ethiopia and Egypt, was home to loads of hippos. Clumped together, bodies touching to signify family, the semi submerged hippopotamuses continued to look down, not cooperating at all for our photos. I was determined to get a shot of a hippo yawning but these camera shy water horses wouldn’t come to the party. At one stage, a huge hippo yawned right in front of me but my camera was turned off. By the time I turned it on, ready for action, he’d slunk back down face-first into the shallows. The very informative Captain James shared many fun facts about hippos, in his slightly hard to understand African accent. Did you know, that hippos come ashore to sleep and can actually travel 17km in one night? Their top speed on land is 30km an hour! (Usain Bolt can reach 38km an hour. How good would that showdown be to watch?) Who’d have thought? I must remember to Google a running hippo. They are also pretty poor swimmers and stay in shallow water where their chubby little legs can touch the bottom. Fascinating.
Tonight after dinner (yes, more potatoes), we partook in the traditional trip trivia night. Kirsty, Josh and Michael had prepared the tricky questions for us as teams such as “The Safari Superstars”, “Uganda Be Kidding” and “Malaria” took aim at one another for the title. The competition was fierce and some contestants showed their true competitive colours as they argued and split hairs over answers. One team tried to argue vehemently that the deepest part of the ocean was actually named the “Marinara Trench”, perhaps confusing it for the trench in the back alley behind their local Italian restaurant. So miffed were they that their near-enough-is-good-enough answer was rejected, they changed their team name to the Marinaras in protest. We were happy with our third place – at least we were on the podium – but we all had to watch on as the triumphant team of Toby, Rachel, Julianne, Stuart and Liz shared their chocolate spoils.
A great day by all accounts.
