Sunday, January 15, 2006
Final Fun Time with Cousin Kati
During my first three months in Mbarara, Cousin Kati (Jay Baker’s first cousin, once removed, or something like that) was a fixture here. It is really strange that she is not here any more…but I guess I’m getting used to it. While she was here, Kati and I spent a lot of time together. She helped with school and at the Bakers a lot. Before she left, we went to Queen Elizabeth National Park for safari, where we stayed at Jacana Lodge. We had a great time. We stopped at the Tea Plantation on the way and enjoyed a nice cup of tea and even had the chance to see lots of beautiful birds. Thanks to Lori, we were able to identify several of them.
We stopped for a quick photo opportunity on the way. It was a real “Lion King” moment, complete with the song, courtesy of my singing! Kati, Lori and Andrea swear up and down that my version was not right . They think my Swahili (if that’s even the language at the beginning) is a little off…hmm…what do they know?
Anyhow, on our way to the lodge, we saw lots of baboons (which, because they had red bottoms, were in heat) and monkeys. The lodge itself was really nice--very rustic. But I liked it. We stayed in our own little “log cabin” and there was no electricity (although there was running water). They ran a generator from 7 - 10 pm and provided us with candles. Andrea found a huge scorpion on her bed and we had quite a laugh trying to kill it!
We hired a guide from the National Park to go with us in search of lions and elephants and all sorts of other wild animals. Caleb was our guide and he was quite beautiful, but I guess that wasn’t enough…because we still didn’t see any lions and the elephants we saw were pretty far away. After a lovely dinner and a LONG night playing with my I-pod, Kati and I finally crashed around 3 am.
We decided to get up for an early morning attempt to see the lions, but our breakfast tea and coffee was delivered late. So we figured we wouldn’t make it before the sun came up and would probably not see any cats anyhow. Andrea and I took a walk through the woods to a bat cave. It was really interesting to learn about the woods we were walking through and the Queen Elizabeth National Park. I would love to tell you all about it, but quite honestly, I really don’t remember much of it. I do remember that the bats were kind of creepy and they smelled bad. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the python, but that may have freaked me out a little too much. While we were on our hike through the woods, Kati and Lori were out looking for lions. . .unfortunately, I don’t think they had much luck.
We spent the afternoon swimming at Jacana, where there were lots of pretty blue and green jumping lizards that apparently bite. Then we headed on home. It was a great time and I’m glad I had the chance to see some of the beautiful scenery here in Uganda. The company wasn’t too bad either. . .hahaha…ninzani--meaning “just kidding.” The company was the best part--just the girls!
We stopped for a quick photo opportunity on the way. It was a real “Lion King” moment, complete with the song, courtesy of my singing! Kati, Lori and Andrea swear up and down that my version was not right . They think my Swahili (if that’s even the language at the beginning) is a little off…hmm…what do they know?
Anyhow, on our way to the lodge, we saw lots of baboons (which, because they had red bottoms, were in heat) and monkeys. The lodge itself was really nice--very rustic. But I liked it. We stayed in our own little “log cabin” and there was no electricity (although there was running water). They ran a generator from 7 - 10 pm and provided us with candles. Andrea found a huge scorpion on her bed and we had quite a laugh trying to kill it!
We hired a guide from the National Park to go with us in search of lions and elephants and all sorts of other wild animals. Caleb was our guide and he was quite beautiful, but I guess that wasn’t enough…because we still didn’t see any lions and the elephants we saw were pretty far away. After a lovely dinner and a LONG night playing with my I-pod, Kati and I finally crashed around 3 am.
We decided to get up for an early morning attempt to see the lions, but our breakfast tea and coffee was delivered late. So we figured we wouldn’t make it before the sun came up and would probably not see any cats anyhow. Andrea and I took a walk through the woods to a bat cave. It was really interesting to learn about the woods we were walking through and the Queen Elizabeth National Park. I would love to tell you all about it, but quite honestly, I really don’t remember much of it. I do remember that the bats were kind of creepy and they smelled bad. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the python, but that may have freaked me out a little too much. While we were on our hike through the woods, Kati and Lori were out looking for lions. . .unfortunately, I don’t think they had much luck.
We spent the afternoon swimming at Jacana, where there were lots of pretty blue and green jumping lizards that apparently bite. Then we headed on home. It was a great time and I’m glad I had the chance to see some of the beautiful scenery here in Uganda. The company wasn’t too bad either. . .hahaha…ninzani--meaning “just kidding.” The company was the best part--just the girls!
# posted by beth @ 11:32 PM 
