Going on Safari

Today I booked one of the pieces of this trip that I've been looking forward to the most-- my safari adventure in Murchison Falls National Park. Murchison Falls is supposed to be amazing-- it is a waterfall on the Nile and essentially the water shoots out horizontally through a narrow part of the river. We will also be doing the traditional safari animal stuff that you are supposed to do in Africa. I'm so excited! I've never been on safari. I leave on Thursday the 1st out of Kampala, the capital, so I'll head to the capital from Jinja after I finish my classes on Wednesday. I feel guilty about not being with my students every day of this trip, but I promised myself this safari while I'm here, so I've got to do it. I'll be back in class again on Monday with new stories for them.

Of course, for a while there, Murchison Falls wasn't the safest place in the world, because it's in the northern part of Uganda, which borders Sudan. And there was this rebel army up there called the Lord's Resistance Army, that has been coming into Uganda and ultimately became involved in a conflict that has been playing out in the International Criminal Court. So anyway. I hear all that fighting has died down now, and it's supposed to be quite safe. And this is one of two things in Uganda that were listed in my new favorite book, "1000 Places to See Before You Die." It is my personal mission to see at least half before I die. So far I've seen only about 80. So I need to tick this one off, because if I average about 8 things a year from now until I'm 80, I'll have done it! The other thing in Uganda listed in that book is to go gorilla tracking, but you have to get a permit in advance for that, and it's quite expensive, plus I hear the fact that gorillas are encountering so many human beings in their natural habitat is making them aggressive, and I'd feel bad contributing to that. Plus, I only really like stories and movies about gorillas, not live gorillas. So I figured I'd pass on that one.

Anyway, I'm off now to buy some "sweeties" (candy) for the kids in my African family and to visit the gardens at the source of the Nile. Cheerio...