Murchison Falls Day 3

Today is our last day of the tour and after walking up to the a viewpoint above the falls, we would be driving back to Kampala. I would have liked a longer tour because 2 of the days were mostly spent on the road. We left the restcamp at 8am for an hour drive to the falls. Tsetse flies were a problem as we drove through certain sections of the park. These nasty flies, a bit bigger than a housefly, deliver a painful bite and some carry sleeping sickness. They can fly up to 40km an hour and actually chased our van. We could see many flying behind us and if we slowed down for a difficult section of road they were all beside us. We had to close the windows accordingly but it was very hot and some of the flies made it inside. It then became a challenge to kill these buggers. They are very tough and don't die on the first slap, or sometimes even the second! There were many around the van when we got to the parking lot where we would begin our hike to the top of the falls. None of us wanted to get out but when we didn't they weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be. I got a small bite in the van but that was it.
Rebecca wasn't feeling good and we suspected the culprit to be the pumpkin and carrot soup starter of our Christmas dinner last night as others were sick too. I actually finished the rest of Rebecca's soup after she announced she wouldn't be eating it all, but I felt fine. So Rebecca stayed behind and the rest of us began and uphill hike to get a panoramic view of the falls. It was nice to get a different view of the falls from this high vantage point but what I really wanted to see ( and the others in our group) was the blind spot of the falls not visible from a head on view. The falls wind through the gorge and the place of the most intense action wasn't visible until we descended the path on a different direction than we had come. We got to see the part of the falls that had been hidden and it was intense. The water is so powerful, it's almost frightening being this close. It had its own feeling. Rainbows were plentiful and I got some great photos. This is the dry season and the falls are spectacular, I can only imagine what they look like in the wet season. We were the last group to stay at the falls and reluctantly walked back to our van. We had an hour and a half drive back to Masindi and the occasional battle with an univited tsetse fly into our van. The road to the park had very little traffic and drivers often speed. We saw an overturned white pickup on the side of the road we didn't see 2 days ago on our drive in. It looked pretty nasty.
We arrived in Masindi to the Travellers Rest for lunch. Surprisingly and unfortunately they were out of most of the food that we ordered. No rice or tilapia. Most of us settled for samosas or chips and chicken. The van would be taking the group back to Kampala but I would be staying in Masindi. There are parks with chimpanzees in the area and I want to stay to explore them and then take the back route to Fort Portal, my next destination. I said my goodbyes to everyone and exchanged emails. I took a very cheap room at the Softie Guesthouse and went to the Ugandan Wildlife Office (U.W.A) for information.