In the crater, there seems to be a place for everyone and everything. Someone said it is called “The Garden of Eden” and I can see why. Our morning drive down in to the crater was spectacular. The colours were stunning and there were animals to see.
Herman, our driver, was awesome. We made up our song for him and would sing it to him when he wasn’t on the horn to Mariki. We were on the hunt for a rhinoceros, the only one of the Big Five the group didn’t manage to see. There are 17 in the crater. 17!! I am so in awe that we saw the rhinos we did in Botswana as they are in quite the state here. They have been overpoached and there numbers are so few. Unfortunately, they were all hiding when we were in the crater so we didn’t manage to see any.
We did however come across another set of lion cubs and their mother. The male was in the bushes but the mother and cubs put on a nice show for us. We also saw a lone bull elephant and got to see him pushing the trees and then came across a nice road block of trees he had taken down in the night. Another serval cat rounded off the day. Apparently they are hard to see so the fact that we saw two is pretty outstanding. We also came across a nice array of birds, including Uganda’s national bird and some flamingoes. I have realized on this trip how much I enjoy birds. Africa has many beautiful ones!
I feel I should write more about the crater but I am having a hard time finding words. It was an experience I am having trouble putting into words. Hopefully my pictures will remind me and recreate that feeling and that experience for me. And hopefully they will also allow you to understand a bit of what I mean when I say that the crater was simply humbling.
We were talking today about transformative experiences. There are a few times in my life that I feel have been transformative, and this is definitely one. I came to Africa with a head full of pictures and stories of the people and places and what they would all be like. It didn’t take long to realize that many of my preconceived notions and visions were wrong and my experiences here have opened my eyes and my heart.
We have had sickness, and romance, and heartache on this trip. I can happily say I have only been witness to it all, and not one of the (un)lucky ones to experience any of these things! A few have fallen ill, or experienced ailments, but unfortunately, Anke, our returning German, got quite sick in the last couple of days. Perhaps exhaustion, perhaps a little food poisoning, and perhaps a lot of dehydration, but she was weak and upset and in a very poorly state. Her knight in shining armour came to her rescue though; Vernon carried her to the truck when her legs would no longer support her. There was a grin on her face, and she had the last remains of energy to comment how romantic it would be if she weren’t so sick, so I think she was secretly enjoying it, even in her weakened state. Oh, to be young again!
I said goodbye to the Cape Town 9, the remaining members of the group that started at the beginning of July in Cape Town, as well as to those who joined us along the way. Most of them are done and heading home, but I am meeting my new group tomorrow and starting again. We went to Carnivores in Nairobi and had a lovely last dinner. It’s hard to say goodbye to people you like, so I returned to the hotel a little sad. I am excited about the next adventure but 40 days is a long time and we have experienced some pretty fantastic things together. I will never forget our travels and my experiences with them.
This trip has been a bit of a hard one. I am grateful I did it this way, and I have loved it so far, but it hasn’t been easy. It’s been exhausting, with the long days and the “work” of camping. It is “participation camping”, so it’s not a holiday where you sit back and let people do things for you. Putting up tents and taking them down almost every day, long bus rides, food prep and clean up and being dirty most of the time really is work! Like I said though, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything!
Tomorrow is a new group, (23 in the group! That’s almost a full truck!) and there will be new things to see. I can’t wait to see the gorillas. I can’t wait!
WWT: Uganda, here I come!
