Last Thursday, we went to Kampala to meet up with other Sewanee interns Olivia, Kate, and Livia at their hostel for a weekend at Murchison Falls State Park. We were joined at dinner by Ronnie, our fastidious Ugandan guide who explained our program for the weekend including two game drives, rhino trekking, views of the falls, and what he hoped would be good lodging in the park.

At 5am Friday our alarms sounded for a quick breakfast and rush northwest for our appointment at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. It is the only place where you can find Rhinos in Uganda since they were hunted to extinction so large fences and countless rangers keep them safe. The first two rhinos were a father from Kenya and a mother from the USA, so they found it appropriate to name Uganda’s first baby rhino Obama. His birth certificate was nowhere to be found.

We met our guide Raymond and drove up the sanctuary to the edge of a forest said to have a rhino, anxious to see the presidential namesake. We walked quietly through the high grass savannah for only twenty minutes before Raymond stopped us for a much procrastinated warning. “Here they are. If it gets up and looks at you it may charge, so you must climb a tree or get behind a big bush.” Now cautiously and not straying far from any cover, we stepped toward a clearing just one hundred feet from a mother and calf Rhinoceros! Sadly not Obama. We circled the sleeping two, getting much closer than we thought we could. It was incredible to see these rare creatures with no fence between us. We saw the two get up and everyone spotted their safety bushes, but luckily they ignored us.

A long drive following the Ziwa Sanctuary brought us to Murchison Falls National Park, named after the world’s most powerful waterfall sat above the Nile. Dozens of Baboons lined the road driving in to form quite the welcoming committee to the park. It took a while to find our safari lodge and finally after passing the 24th small village, we arrived at Yebo Safari Camp. We would highly recommend it for anyone who wants a rugged authentic experience because this outpost ran its six bare concrete huts on one small solar panel. Somehow with the spartan facilities they were able to make us great traditional meals of rice, vegetables, matooke, groundnut sauce, fruit, and we hope it was beef. The staff were very nice and any trash was kindly taken out by baboons that we advised not to tip.

Another 5am wake up on Saturday and we packed in the van for our first game drive. We took the ferry across to the game side of the park to be there first ones inside. Our guide, Reagan, confirmed that you cannot be a Ugandan safari dude unless your name begins with R.

The park was teeming with exotic antelope and hundreds of Giraffes. We saw packs of Elephants and even more baboons in the savannah. A hot air balloon in the distance added to the breathtaking morning horizon of acacia trees, high grasses and wildlife. At one point, Ronnie and Reagan zoomed us back on the road to see a Lion near the trail. The male Lion was joined by another and they crossed the road heading right towards the hot air balloon that had now descended. Hoping not to be food delivery for the animals, a truck rushed over to pick up the balloonists, blocking them from the Lions.

Following the game drive, we boarded a tour boat on the Nile to drive up to the falls. We could not resist the opportunity to enjoy the three hour cruise with a few local Nile Special beers. In our usual fashion we made quick friends with the little kids on the boat who were fascinated by Peter’s monocular and suggested we “first throw it in the lake.” Cue calling over their parents. The Nile had tons of hippos and with a careful survey we were able to see a few sunbathing crocodiles on the banks.

Still not used to waking up at 5am, we nevertheless did so again on Sunday leaving our country bivouac for another game drive and journey to the top of the waterfall. This time our van took a seldom used route through the park in search of more big cats. Minutes in, we pulled up next to a family of elephants eating just yards from the road. They were calm as we took pictures but suddenly one of the bulls raised his trunk up to the group. Out from a bush a Hyena had run out growling at the herd that had grazed a little too close to their den. The Elephants bellowed in response, slowly backing away from the Hyena to avoid a confrontation. Later on, we tracked Leopard footprints on the trail, dodging vines deep down the heavily forested path. None appeared, but the ride was beautiful.

The last stop in the park was to the top of Murchison Falls. The powerful falls blast water up hundreds of feet to people at the top. We held the railings pretty tight. We took a few pictures and then packed in the van for the long hike back through the country into Kampala traffic and home. Check out a few more of our pictures below!