Real Life Lion Queen

Hello fellow blog followers. I had planned to write this post three weeks ago upon my return from the safari, but I was hit with a big wave of blog laziness. I’m glad to announce that the wave has passed and I have finally mustered up some energy to write a post. Actually, I decided to take it easy on the writing for this post because I know everyone would rather see pictures than read words. I swear it has nothing to do with my laziness.

Anyways, on Thursday August 24^th I took off to Murchison Falls for my first ever safari. And it was quite the experience.  I honestly felt like I was in the lion king. I saw elephants, giraffes, hippos (actually swam in a crater lake that had a lone hippo, but thankfully we didn’t meet), real life lion king and queen, cubs, herd of buffalos, Ugandan kobs, hartebeests, a leopard, crocs, baboons, and since the Nile River is within the park and hosts a variety of waterbirds, I saw a lot of birds too. And by saw these animals I mean I was literally 10 yards away from them. It truly was an unbelievable experience. I have never been a fan of zoos, so it just made the trip that much better to see such animals in their natural habitat.

After the early morning game drive, we headed to a town in the Western part of Uganda called Fort Portal. Words really cannot describe how beautiful the town is. Uganda was voted number #1 place to travel to in 2012 by Lonely Planet, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Fort Portal was the only factor in that decision (it’s obviously not, but just saying). We camped right above one of the several crater lakes that lie within the town and went on a hike to a beautiful waterfall the next morning before we headed back to Kampala. 

6AM Murchison Falls Wake Up Call 

Baboons

Ugandan Kobs

Literally 10-yards away from these cubs

Run, giraffe, run

Can you spot the leopard?

The lion queen eating a warthog

Hippo Love

Fort Portal

Fort Portal

Monkeys the next morning next to our tents

Swimming in the crater lake at our campsite

Another crater lake

The waterfall at the end of our hike

Power shower in the waterfall

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Better late than never, no? I have a pretty exciting (but very busy) few weeks ahead of me – we are throwing a community wide festival this Saturday for International Peace Day and then I’m heading to Rwanda in the beginning of October for a conference held by Street Football World on anti-violence and soccer – so stay tuned!