Diary Entry
Uwe and I are on a safari in Uganda and are exploring the Queen Elisabeth National Park, which is famous for its tree-climbing lions. To the west and east are two large lakes, Lake Edward and Lake George. The whole area used to be called “Kazynga” until Queen Elizabeth II of England decided that this beautiful national park should be named after her.
The Kazynga Canal connects the lakes and offers an incredible variety of animals. Therefore, we continue our safari on the canal, rent a boat and observe the animals in and above the water.
The whole area was originally called Kazynga in the local language
In the crocodile-infested canal, fishermen risk their lives every day
Just like Stephen’s excursion vehicle, we have the boat and its guide to ourselves, making it an exclusive safari. In addition to the many ibises, kingfishers and sea eagles, we are particularly impressed by the many hippos in the water.
These huge animals live together in families and doze in the water during the heat of the day. We also get to see individual monitor lizards and crocodiles.
We see many birds…
… and Hippos!
Fishermen are only allowed to use the canal at night to prevent overfishing, but also to protect people from hippos that graze on land at night.
Nevertheless, it is very dangerous because the channel is full of hungry crocodiles, which can easily overturn a wobbly dugout canoe.
Want to see more of my trip through East Africa? Check out my full route!
Every now and then we see monitor lizards dozing on the bank. The animals are up to one and a half meters long and are very interested in the birds.
However, the lizards have to be careful not to become a crocodile snack themselves.
But then we are lucky enough to see a group of elephants running happily down a slope to the water. They are all males with huge ears and dazzling white tusks. They trumpet, dance and shower themselves with their trunks.
And more and more elephants keep coming. And even more. Almost thirty elephants suddenly crowd the bank and have to make room for more pachyderms to arrive.
From above, more and more elephants stream towards the water, full of joy and trumpeting!
The sight of the many happy elephants is magical and takes my breath away
It’s a magical sight. I wish Sara and Leon were here to see it. Even little baby elephants are now scurrying around among the big ones.
It’s unbelievable! And we’re not even thirty meters away from the spectacle. That wouldn’t be so easy in the countryside.
At some point we have to tear ourselves away from the view and move on. Back on land we eat a typical African meal called “Katogo“. It consists of sweet potatoes and savory bananas (matooke) with a sauce made of béchamel and beans. It tastes very good.
We continue our journey through Queen Elizabeth National Park and finally find the lions in the trees for which the park is famous, before heading into the mountains and the home of the gorillas in the rain and darkness.
