Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

Yesterday, Katy, Evan and I went to visit the Ishasha plains in search of a tree-climbing lion, and while we didn't find a lion, the day was anything but a disappointment. The surprises that unraveled themselves throughout the day, one after another, were absolutely incredible.

We left early in the morning, around 7:00, with a friend and professional Tour Guide, Ouma, to accompany us. I met Ouma a few weekends ago, on the bus on the way to the Bigodi wetlands. He is from Katwe, Uganda, but his father was from Kenya and is a member of the same tribe as (hold your breath) Barack Obama! Ouma is a Tour Guide for Queen Elizabeth National Park near Kasese, and while he knows so much about the animals and the environment, he is an absolute expert when it comes to birds. I don't know how many times we would see a bird fly by our window and go, "Ouma, what was that?" only to have him quickly say the name and find it in his Field Guide.

The early morning sun was astounding, and the first thing we saw driving out of Kasese were herds of African Kob grazing on the tall grass, radiating in the dawn of the day. The road to Ishasha was long, dusty, and bumpy, and once we reached Ishasha the region was flat, dry and desolate. We drove with Ouma through the Ishasha National Park, and while the plains and savannah were fascinating, the animal life was slim to none. After being in the car for almost three hours, we had hardly seen anything we couldn't already see on our drive to and from school every morning…a few Kob, buffalo, birds, and Topi…and absolutely no signs of a lion. It's hard to be disappointed when you're in Africa, but we were feeling a little disheartened driving home on the hot, dusty road.

That's when Ouma suggested we take a quick visit to his home village of Katwe, one of the eleven villages situated inside Queen Elizabeth National Park. With nothing to lose, we said sure, and off we went to meet Ouma's family and pay a visit to the place where he grew up.

It was the best decision we made all day.

Ouma took us to Lake Katwe (above), a fascinating salt-water lake where the people of Katwe collect the salt to use and sell in markets. The crater lake was formed by a volcano over 20,000 years ago and it was gorgeous. The lake is dotted with hundreds of tiny squares where people actually buy plots of water and collect the salt from their plots for their profit. We were at the lake in the early evening, but I could just imagine it on a busy weekday morning.

Then we went to meet Ouma's mother and his childhood home, and continued onward to visit his Primary School down the street (pictured with Ouma and a few of the schoolchildren below).

Next we walked with Ouma behind a few village houses on the edge of Lake Edward where he showed us hippos gently bobbing and swimming in the water. We were fascinated, and even more fascinated by the fact that this was his home. How incredible, to grow up in a place where hippopotamuses swim in the lake behind your compound.

 Ouma telling us about the hippos swimming in Lake Edward, with houses of his village pictured below

Finally, we began to drive back towards Kasese, exhausted from the day and enjoying the light evening breeze, when all of a sudden Evan slammed on the brakes and pointed out the window. There, on the shores of Lake Edward, were six or seven elephants, drinking water from the lake and peacefully moving up and down the shoreline. We quietly drove up a little closer, careful not to make noise to disturb them, and parked the car to just stare and watch in amazement. I don't know how many times I've said this about the summer so far, but this was honestly the most beautiful thing I've seen in all of Uganda. We were stunned…trying to make our brains comprehend what we were seeing right before our eyes. Evan and I had seen elephants before, when we went on a Safari drive through Queen Elizabeth National Park, but when we did that Safari drive it almost didn't even seem real. It seemed like park rangers had stationed elephants along the trails for the tour groups that come through on the game drives. But this sight last evening, on the shores of Lake Edward in Katwe, this was real. And not only that, but it was Ouma's home. We stayed and watched until one of the elephants gave a loud trumpet (giving me goosebumps!) and then we quietly drove away.

 View of the elephants (without zooming in on my camera lens!) from the car window

…only to be stopped a few kilometers later by an African Rock Python! A python!! We were still trying to get over the shock of seeing the elephants when Evan slammed on the brakes again and pointed to the huge snake slithering across the road in front of our car. Ouma told us to quickly roll our windows up (I've never reacted faster to anything in my life), and we sat, astounded, as this python wriggled its way across the dusty track. Ouma told us we were very lucky to see a python because very rarely do they every come out from the grasslands. We couldn't believe it. A few hours ago, we hadn't seen wildlife all day, and now we had seen hippos, elephants, and a python all within an hour, not to mention Ouma's amazing family and village. Just goes to show that good things come to those who wait :)

 Taking pictures of the python crossing the road in front of us.

To top everything off, we drove home to an incredible sunset over the African plains. I rolled my window all the way, rested my head in my shoulders on the windowsill, and let the wind blow my hair in front of my face as we sped along home.

Three more weeks…