Safari Day 2

Friday, June 28, 2013

If only we had any idea what today would hold, we would have hired a videographer to document each and every minute. This blog was written throughout the day with dear friend and travel buddy, Rebecca Stivender. Although I do not expect for you to understand each line or see the humor in it as we do, know this was quite possibly one of the most exciting days of my life. 

5:00 Hippo check. 

5:40 Chug coffee. Burn tongue. 

Load van - pick up Tegris. 

Speed through park in the dark. 

Raise the roof. 

Taylor exits the van in search of lion. 

Nose to nose with Bushaman (three legged lion) and family. 

Jackson relieves himself near lions. 

Warn rafiki drivers of Bushaman sighting near hippo pool. 

Ate buffet breakfast + Instagram Bushaman in 10 minutes. 

Trade vans. Left everything except one water bottle and camera per person. 

Board the skippers pontoon. 

Skipper beckons agitated hippo to 'come'. 

Bird nests - The more food he brings, the more love he gets. 

Engine dies in the middle of school of hippos.

No worries - two life vests and wooden paddles if needed. 

Crash landing for photo opp on rock. 

Almost left our limited water supply on boat.

 

Hike to top of falls sans guide. 

Susu on trails sans TP. 

Prayed at the top. 

Began our search for Jackson at 11 by heading down dirt road. 

Stopped and told to relax in hut. 

Allen's Uganda phone, dead.

Was photographed by Samuel, director of private school in Gulu with his two year old son. 

Used Samuel's phone to call Jackson. 

Allen hears 'um...static...we have a problem... Phone goes dead. 

Jackson calls back - van is in shop. Guys are almost finished. 

No water. No food. 

Sarah naps, guys have biblical chat, Lauren and Rebecca scroll through photos a couple times. 

Park ranger comes to ask if everything is okay. Takes Allen away to call Jackson. 

Could be an hour. 

Allen naps, Sarah weaves, we struggle through states and capitols, play "ghost" until almost all are out of letters. All remaining iPhones at less than 20%.

Allen asks if anyone happens to have money. Rebecca has a grand total of 70,000 shillings (roughly 4.68 USD per person)

Allen disappears. 

Consider bartering with field trip goers for bananas and TP for another Susu break. We don't have any goods to work with. 

We are approached and surrounded by said field trip goers. Literally surrounded. No escape route noted. Photo taken. 

Allen returns with a plan involving back of truck. Leaves again. 

Allen returns. New plan - join field trip goers on two packed buses. 

Lauren and Taylor go to bus 1 to join roughly 40-60 students in small van. Return. Overcrowded. New plan. All in other packed bus. Standing room only.

As taking first step into bus, Jackson rolls up in new van at 3

Take a few snapshots. 

Try to locate bags in new van. T minus two bags, including one passport, driver's license, credit card, and valuable pillow needed to sleep on 4" foam mattress. 

Near head on collision. 

Doling out all food and water in van. 

Jackson drops us at lunch and begins to peel out of parking lot. 

Waiters give weird looks. Rebecca spots sign above bar 'lunch 11:30-3'. 

'Are you still serving lunch?'

'No, you're 40 minutes late?'

'Can you make food?'

'No food'

Lauren and Rebecca sprint toward toilet sign. 

Lauren spots warthog. 

Extensive photo opp. 

Warning comes from inside restaurant. "That is very dangerous. It may break your legs."

Retreat to restaurant for sodas and crackers. 

10 minutes later staff eats lunch. 

Jackson sequestered us for pow-wow outside restaurant. 

We enter new van with new driver (with orange jumpsuit draped over seat - questionable) and Tegris. 

All items accounted for. 

Van part that looked eerily like a snake slithered into the window. 

Going about 90 kph. Allen checked the speedometer. 0 kph. 

Stopped by the security guard. Our permit has expired. We are late leaving the park. 'I can open, but they will open fire.' Tegris works his magic and saves the day. 

Too soon to say much, but picture American Scream Machine for 2 hours dodging a family of 34 baboons, 67 bodas, 28 trucks, and an assortment of men, women, and children... All without using the brakes. 

Pull up to restaurant. Spot tents outside. And cat under table. 

Dinner. Finally.

Table conversation included but not limited to civil rights and the Boda Boda that was almost...

Load up in overgrown station wagon. Had a little stand still traffic... Enough to stop the engine 3 times. 

Taylor finds Marriott in the woods. 

Speaker blows. Praise The Lord. And Rebecca saves the day by wiggling the wire... Every 92 seconds. 

After 4 hours in the hut, an hour at the restaurant that didn't have food, 2+ hours playing human/baboon/Boda dodge-van, a dinner that took so long they brought complimentary chips and soup, and 4 hours in the clown car... We laughed a solid 13 hours and composed this amazingly detailed account of our adventure in creation.