Doug Van Pelt

A real-live African Safari [Uganda.36]

The folks at Compassion scheduled some really cool downtime for us on this trip. It's really intense emotionally and even physically to visit the "projects" (I get hung up on that word. Probably not because of the connotation here in the US of government run-down housing; but mostly because each project that Compassion works with is really a local church. But labels are labels. So what...) in the morning and afternoon and then blog about it on computers at night and then retire only to repeat it all early the next morning -- that gets to be exhausting and taxing. Our group was made up of so many cool, wise, and loving people that the natural bonding we did at each project, the bus rides to and fro, at meals, etc, was really rich. The safari trips were even better. We didn't have the pressure of trying to fit a ton into each day, we were still processing what we'd seen, and the week was winding down.

We checked our bags into a hotel near the Entebbe Airport (yes, that's the same airport where the famous Israeli rescue took place -- see "Raid At Entebbe"), where we dropped off most of our bags in storage for the return flight to the USA. We took our smaller, consolidated bags with us to the airport, where we boarded a small plane. Our flight would take us about one hour away to a safari lodge by the Nile River.

We had to bend over to traverse down the aisles of this 20-seater plane. During each of our outings and meals, usually, our leader would ask someone different to pray. I had a feeling that I would be asked to pray for this trip. I resisted the temptation to "prepare" a prayer in my head in advance. I shot from the hip and also prayed pretty much the same thing I do before all trips, asking God to protect us with His "mighty angels" as we travel. Most of us were pretty nervous about this flight. I didn't want to go all the way to Africa to die in a small plane crash. We landed on a dirt runway. Nice and smooth landing. The airport was non-existant. There were a few people there, but the buildings were tiny, a couple of huts that you could see inside through the roofs, and a coke machine. It would more aptly be described as an "air strip," not an airport. None of us went inside, but instead loaded into three safari vans, which had a roof that opened up to give us the headroom to stand up and look outside the vehicle as we travelled.

Our driver pointed out some animals. We all look and exclaimed when we saw an Oribe (I think that's spelled right. pronounced "or-a-bee"). It was funny to compare our drive from the air strip to the lodge with the return trip two days later. We were jaded, and sat down on the return trip. "Oh, there's another orabe." Coming in, however, everything was a new discovery. This initial trip from strip to lodge was like a mini-safari for us. As we got less than a block from the lodge, we passed a couple of small buildings that looked like summer camp dorms. There were baboons all around and a giant hippo eating grass between these buildings. We drove right up to it and we all took photos. We couldn't believe that we were this close to the giant beast. After arriving and settling in we went on a ferry boat ride across the Nile, followed by a drive up to the waterfalls. Murchison Falls were giant, mad, rushing falls. It was a beautiful sight to behold. It was fun to be out and walking.

One thing about this trip for me, though, was that I turned into a germaphobe. I'd heard so many health warnings that I wasn't about to pet a baboon or pick up a rock or even hold onto branches when walking through a wooded area. I had a bottle of Germ-X hanging from my backpack, which I used a lot.

We enjoyed a great dinner together at the lodge. We found the business center of the lodge and utilized it for some blogging. The beds here had giant nets attached to rollers on the ceiling, so it was easier to get in and out of the netted beds. They serve Coca-Cola Light there, which tastes wonderful (like Coke Zero). Not having had too much other than bottled water the entire trip, it was nice to savor the flavor.

The next day we set out at 7am for our safari. We saw some giraffes early on, along with several orabe, warthogs, water buffalo, water bucks, a fish eagle, a couple other types of deer (like an antelope), and some rather large elephants. We all wanted the same thing, though -- to see lions. We hit the jackpot! We found a large female with six cubs! Prior to our arrival, about four other safari vans were parked. They had seen mama stalk the frightened but still deer creature. The cubs soon followed suit. The people in that vehicle (which included Compassion photographer Keely Scott) thought they were about to see the hunt go down. Someone slammed a van door shut and I think the deer split. I heard that mama's hesitation might've just been a hunting tutorial. She probably would've pounced on the thing if they were hungry. Maybe they'd eaten the day before or something.

A few people in the group knew I'd be thrilled. Three different people back home had warned me "not to touch the big cats." It was a real thrill to be that close. Our vehicle moved to the front of the pack quietly, and then the cats decided to move and cross the road in front of us. Pausing to plop down in the road for a few minutes. What a visual treasure!

I am so looking forward to the new kingdom in heaven or on the new earth someday. I'm convinced that we'll be able to play with the big cats.

It's funny, but on our way back, the enthusiasm for each animal spotting wasn't as high. We'd seen the big game and were ready to get back to the lodge. I loved the stand up and look out capabilities of the vehicle. I stood most of the time, taking in the sights and the fresh air. Heck, I didn't know when I'd be able to stand in a safari van again, so I took full advantage of it.

Did I mention that baboons and monkeys were everywhere -- like neighborhood dogs -- roaming around? They were. Later that afternoon I was on the patio of our fine room, which overlooked the pool and the Nile behind it. A baboon walked right by our patio, up to a woman in a lounger. "Go away! Go away!" she told him. He must not know English, or maybe her German accent threw him off. He marched around her and went over to the pool and drank some water with a cupped paw. Then he sauntered between two other loungers, who were smiling and laughing at the random and chance encounter. He suddenly hopped up on a trashcan, pulled the lid off, and rummaged around until he found something to eat, and then he took off, looking as if he knew he just got away with something forbidden. That was funny.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at February 22, 2008 10:38 AM