Safari day 2

4-3-25 Today was day two of the safari. We woke up at 5:00am and were on the road at 6:00am. In order to attempt to see the cats (lions and leopards) it's best to catch them before sunrise when they are finding their spot for the day. Our tour guide/driver's name was Frank. He was very knowledgeable and had a very keen eye for spotting the animals. We had 3 vans for our team to have enough room to enjoy the drive. The other 2 driver's names were Tony and Sam. We were very blessed with being able to see so many of God's creation in their natural environment! We saw many types of "antelopes", they have many different names and were very interesting to see the differences in all of them. The little deer looking animals were called Oribis. They were so cute. We also saw so many different types of birds. There was a beautiful sunrise that we were able to capture. God surely is a Master Painter and Creator. The baboons were alongside the road playing away. We learned that the male baby baboons ride under mama's belly while the females ride on top. We saw some monkeys in the trees too. As we traveled along we saw quite a few giraffes walking along and eating from the trees. After a bit we came upon 4 female lions and then the male trailed behind them. They slowly but proudly walked out to the road that we were on and crossed right in front of us. We got some really great pictures. This was a rare sighting, especially to see so many at once. The day before we saw a mama elephant and her teenage elephant and a baby cross the road in front of us. Today we only saw a few elephants but we were able to see a big elephant by the Nile and we witnessed the elephant spraying mud on herself to cool her off and then she grazed on some grass. Going through the safari, we did see a leopard but were unable to get any pictures as it scurried away too quickly. We had several spotted hyenas come to the side of the road also. I have never seen a hyena up close. I know I have not mentioned all that we saw riding through the safari but we were very blessed with all that we did see. We stopped to have lunch and then we went on a boat ride up the Nile. Along the way we stopped to see the hippos in the water. There were a few spots where they were hanging out. We saw a HUGE crocidile on the side of the water. Then a little further up the Nile, we came across what we called "crocidile island" There were at least 19 crocidiles on a piece of land in the water. That was the number that we were able to count. Then there were some in the water coming and going. That was where we saw the big elephant also. And some more hippos. We continued on until we reached the bottom of Murchinson Falls. We stopped long enough to take some pictures and then turned around and headed back down the Nile. It took us 2 hours to reach the Falls but only about 50 minutes to get back. We drove to the lodge that we were staying at, had a candlelight dinner outside and then the van drivers/guides, gave us a debriefing on the ecosystem of the animals/safari. It was interesting to hear that the lion kills the prey, eats what he/they need and they are good for a few days. Then the hyenas and vultures take care of the rest of the animal. Vultures depend on the predators to do the kill and they take care of the clean up. The drivers mentioned that we were their favorite group as we were very thankful for everything we saw and didnt have a problem with what we did not see (which was not much that we didnt see anyway). God blesses those who are grateful and thankful and trust in Him. The drivers stated that they can definitely tell the difference between true christians and non believers. We are so blessed and I am honored to have been able to be part of this Missionary trip. I look forward returning to Uganda again in the future. God bless! Jean Long