Back from safari

Today we returned from safari at Paraa Lodge in Murchison Falls Park in northern Uganda. It is about a 6 hour ride in safari vans over pretty good roads for the first 4 hours and the last two hours over washboard roads. We started our safari on Saturday morning leaving Mildmay at 7:00. The roads were much improved from our last visit to Paraa except for a 5 mile stretch where they had recently laid new blacktop with rock topping. To slow down the traffic, they put speed bumps of crushed limestone about 20 feet apart. As you can imagine, this slowed down the traffic considerably. We ate lunch on Saturday at Masindi Hotel in west central Uganda. Continuing on, we drove the remainder of the trip to Murchison Falls Park and stopped at the top of Murchison Falls. Murchison Falls is a waterfalls where the Nile River is compressed into a gorge that is only about 15 feet wide. The water thunders through and is a site to behold. After the falls we continued on to Paraa Lodge which is a short car ferry journey across the Nile. As usual, the lodge provided us with cool wet towels and fresh juice to refresh us after our journey. After a wonderful buffet dinner and swimming in the outdoor pool that overlooks the Nile, we were ready for a good nights sleep. The next day we went on a morning game drive and an afternoon boat cruise on the Nile. We saw many elephants, giraffe, cape buffalo, hartebeast, Cob, and crocodiles. It was a great safari and everyone is recovered from their illnesses. Tomorrow we start back at clinic. Forgot to mention, the weather here has been 90+ degrees! Looking forward to a little cooler weather. In a side note, we were saddened by the departure on Friday by two of our mission friends. Terry found out last week that his father had passed away and he and Pam thought it best to return home. We all wish them the best.