Sunday April 17, 2011

Just in case someone else has the same problem: We did not have an internet connection when I attempted to write my blogs in the evening (sometimes it was the power that was missing- oh well) so I wrote my blog in Word, only to find that it would NOT copy and paste into this blog. I found a way. I copied and pasted into DreamWeaver, copied the html code from DreamWeaver and pasted into this blog using the Edit Html tab. Wahoo!


Sunday: We slept under the nets, showered and were up at 6  on Sunday to catch the Murchinson Falls tour, guided by Larry through the Savannah. The motel had prepared us hardboiled egg and bread, but we forgot to take the coffee----big mistake. In all, the Murchinson Falls safari traversed about 100 miles of the savannah on a very bumpy, did I say VERY bumpy road. At one point we left the seat flying. Larry speeds. We stopped to take pictures of many types of antelopes (kolb, and others), elephants, giraffes –so beautiful, buffalos, birds, warthogs but no lions were visible. We did see one oil rig- Murchinson Falls is the site of newly discovered oil and fighter jets were purchased to protect this oil, much to the upset of the poor people who protested the high taxes, etc., as evidenced by demonstrations during the week.  By the time we got to the beautiful  5 star hotel for lunch, I was suffering from heat prostration, dehydration and a mad-dog headache. The last 15 -20 minutes were so agonizing that I almost told him to stop the jeep, but I saw the hotel in the distance and held on. I was soaking wet.  At lunch I guzzled some coffee, took benedryl and the one Advil that Mara had along with the tissue that was stuck to it, ate what I could (beautiful buffet lunch actually) and lots of sugary desserts. Miraculously, my headache lifted. Very thankful for that! After lunch, we went on a double-decker boat tour to Murchinson Falls. Along the way, (we had the best seats along the left side of the boat, thanks to a tip from Larry) and saw tons of hippos, elephants, egrets, birds, a crocodile too. It took two hours, some rain, to track upstream to the Falls and 1 hour to return. The falls were a narrow cavern with powerful water flow so we could not get too close. We intended to drive to the top at the end of the boat ride. A really nice boat ride, very relaxing. Jim insisted on photographing the beautiful young wife of a couple, Stella and Patrick. (Jim is too funny with his fascination with beautiful young women- where di d he come from?) Patrick was OK with it. I asked if I could sell her picture for a fund-raiser. They both agreed, Stella very shyly. We disembarked and were met by Larry, who informed us that the gas truck we had passed on the way in had overturned blocking our exit over a narrow but necessary egress bridge. That fact cost us another 3 hours of driving because the alternate exit was further east and our trip home was in the westerly direction. VERY dark, populated roads described our return to Kampala. Larry sped along against oncoming truck traffic using their brights. People, children, bicycles lined the roads. I closed my eyes at times and Mara sat vigilant in the suicide seat. The long, exhausting day ended at 11. Luckily I was packed so that I could get up at 5 to get ready to catch my 9 a.m. flight.