Murchison Falls National Park

I got up at 7am wednesday morning to pack up my tent and eat breakfast. I bought a bag of oatmeal for $1.50 and some powdered milk and this will last me for breakfast for 4 mornings. Last night was the end of my longest stretch of consecutive nights in my tent. Usually I will use my tent for 4 or 5 days and then stay in a hotel/guesthouse for a night or two and then back to my tent but this trip I have been going from place to place staying in my tent. I slept in it for 12 nights straight, beating my last record from Borneo of 9 nights. I stayed in a tent for 25 nights so far, 21 of those in my own tent. It's been great to use my tent a lot, since last year I hardly used it at all, there just wasn't any opportunities in India.
There are a few groups going on the 3 day tour to Murchison. In my group is Stefan - Swiss, Konrad and Mirjke - Belgian, and Catherine and Rebecca from England. I sit beside Stefan for the 4 hour drive to Masindi, where we will have lunch. Stefan is well travelled and is doing the same circuit as me, around Lake Victoria. The road to Masindi is in pretty good condition but the scenery is nothing special, just a lot of scrub bush. It's a sunny and hot day. We arrive in Masindi about 1.30. We eat lunch at the Traveller's Rest restaurant. Shortly after leaving the restaurant we turn onto a dirt road for the remaining 2 hours to the Red Chili Restcamp, deep inside the park. There are a few baboons, buffalo and some Kob (Uganda antelope) along the way. At the restcamp, Stefan and I share a tent. The tent is similar to the one I stayed in while in Masai Mara but its a little nicer and roomier. It's about 34 C in the tent, much to hot to stay in there long so I walk down to the Nile river, about 10 minutes away. The Nile is an important feature of the park. Most of the wildlife is on the north side, the restcamp is on the south, so we will have to catch a ferry across the river, which dictated the length of our safari. The river is also the starting point for the passenger ferry to Murchison Falls.
Murchison Falls national park is the largest park in Uganda, covering an area of 5050 sq.km. Most of the park is savanna bush with the southern section containing Budongo forest, an area of dense mohaganey forest harboring chimanzees and other primates. The park is close to the border with Democratic Republic of Congo and in an area of Uganda still harbouring occasionally rebel activity but is considered safe right now.
We all ate dinner together at 7pm. I had delicious spaghetti with Italian meatballs. We talked for a few hours about Africa, travelling and each other. Konrad has been living in Kinshasha, DR Congo for the last 8 years working for the U.N. and Catharine was there for a few years but is now beginning a new job for the U.N. in Kampala. They are both on a short holiday. Rebecca and Mirjke are travelling around East Africa for 1 month. Stefan is on an epic 8.5 month trip which he began in central Asia, then Japan, Africa and some of Europe before he goes home. He his visiting some of the same sites I plan to visit and we might meet up again. I often don't see the same people too many times when I'm travelling. I'm usually on a longer trip than most people I meet and I travel very slowly. Even if people are heading to the same places as me, I'm usually travelling behind them. Stefan is one of the only people I've met who is just strictly backpacking and not doing any type of work. We crash as 10 as we have a long day ahead. Murchison falls is very warm but the temperature drops to a slightly cooler 24C during the night and is good for sleeping. The staff have warned us about wandering at night to use the toilet. Hippos frequent the area and we don't want to run into one of them unexpectedly. Warthogs are also around the camp all the time but these aggressive looking animals with curved tusks are harmless.