Safari, Water and Dust

Safari, Water, and Dust

Thursday, January 24, 2013

We started the day waking at the Paraa Lodge, Murchison Falls, Uganda. We had traveled here on Wednesday and had a safari in the evening. The park occupies more than 5000 square miles and is beautiful. Views range from grasslands to palm tree forests, and from shrubs with 2-inch long thorns to the River Nile. The park is on the western border of Uganda and the Nile separates it from the Republic of Congo.

The safari was awesome. We loaded into four vehicles and over a 4 hour, 80 kilometer trip saw hundreds of antelopes, many giraffes, hippos, numerous species of birds, mongoose, monkeys, baboons, Cape buffalo, and wart hogs (on the way into the park we also saw wild elephants). As we were about to conclude the safari we were fortunate that one of the vehicles got stuck in sand. I say fortunate because it took some time to free it and that was when our guide, Amon, received a call saying a lion had been spotted. We moved at safari light-speed and caught some air on the bumps to get to the spot…and there she was, a beautiful young lioness. It must have been a special moment because our guide was taking photos too! I thought I saw Pastor Milroy wipe a tear away as this moment must have conjured up feelings for his very special cat, Carlotta Mayfair. J

Today (Thursday) started with sun, a nice breakfast, checking out of the Lodge and a short trip to the boat dock to board the African Queen for our Nile River boat tour. Robert was our guide and he did a nice job of teaching us about the river and positioning us for photos of the many, many, hippos, birds, crocodiles, and few lizards that we saw. The Nile (Victoria Branch) is beautiful and supports abundant life. The ride was cool and soothing and proved to be quite a contrast to the rest of the day. When we reached Murchison Falls we docked and started our hike to the top of the falls. It was much like a good workout on a summer day but only with better scenery. We navigated the jungle terrain and climbed what seemed to be an endless set of stairs to reach the top of the falls. It was very impressive in its power and beautiful in its color and sound. Maybe due to the mist from the falls, but more likely due to the hour-long hike and 90 degree temperature, we were all soaked to the bone…and then it was time to load the van, sit in very close proximity, and travel 7 hours back to Kampala!

Everyone made the best of the trip: some slept, some read, but all laughed. We knew we were getting close to Kampala when the traffic became more congested and the dust kicked up. Kampala has a very different look and smell than Murchison Falls, but in all we can see God’s wonderful creation and beauty. Uganda is a special place for both its scenery and its people.

As this is the last blog we all want to thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and comments back to us. Almost every morning we started the day reading the comments that came in while we were sleeping. Everyone was hoping there was news for them and we all enjoyed hearing comments from home. There were many laughs, and a few tears, and we all know much more about the daily goings-on at the Ralston household! We have loved our time in Uganda and we feel that we have made a difference. Also, Uganda and its people have made a difference in our lives that I don’t think will ever go away.

A special thank you to the staff of Sports Outreach and to the wonderful people from Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Colorado that have made this an awesome trip. We look forward to getting home and seeing our families soon!

 

Andy Gurd, New Albany Presbyterian Church