Early morning start, dew on grasses, waves from friends and neighbors and unrelenting green jungly bush as we tumble through the mountain amidst the imagined calls of monkeys. A smell of vomit from the back seat where friends sit who have joined us for the journey; our children calling up to us ” are we through the mountains yet?”; David and I foregoing conversation for the joy of watching in silence our mountains in never-before-seen hues of green. Passing across to the other side, we reach the “real world” inhabited civilization, Fort Portal; we sit at a restaurant (!) and eat meat samosas and drink warm Arabian Cokes – this is happiness.

Now we move northward, more northward than we’ve yet gone before. Ready to see a new side of Uganda, yet so much the same. Here the color of the people changes, subtly perhaps. These are among the “blacka ones” as so often referred to by their fellow Ugandans; a beautiful ebony hue, different facial shapes and shadows but the same lines of patient endurance. I remember my early days in Bundibugyo when my eyes, unused to so many dark faces, and shaved heads had trouble distinguishing one person from another. My sheltered existence thus far allowing me to use hair cut, eye color and skin shade as a crutch.

We ride marim roads through and past Hoima, a decent town with hotels and restaurants and at least three bookshops. We are tempted to stop. But we are heading on, still north and west to Masindi, a good overnight resting place as we aim for our eventual destination, Murchison Falls.

Red clay dust, blown up by our wheels, furls in the air around us and my hair has become nappy from the wind and dirt. Naomi rests in the back seat flushed and sweaty as I implore her to DRINK MORE WATER. We listen to Narnia on our ipod converter at very top volume to be heard over the jolts and bumps and rattles and bangs as our 4wd hits potholes, ridges, washboard stretches and large rocks. We hurtle along, small and lonely on a burnt sienna road amidst miles of trees, grass, bush. And the Ugandans of this northern, western land scare up like rabbits from the roadway edges as we pass them, bearing their burdens; wood, washing, bananas, overloaded bicycles and enterprising hearts. Soon we’ll be there.

For our first game drive in Murchison we opt to take a guide since we have neither a map nor an experienced friend to guide us. The rutted dirt and grass trail leading into the great beyond gives us no idea of the length of the trail or the directions it might lead – but we have heard its’ big. We make arrangements with the UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority) through a cell phone number David had enterprisingly obtained and by late afternoon we are picking up the uniformed and armed Ugandan who will show us the way around; a far cheaper alternative than the hotel game drives.
The kids big request is to see giraffes – Murchison is the only park in Uganda which hosts them, so we have not yet seen giraffes in the wild. In fact Quinn’s latest “free sentence art” for school reads, “girafes see to iksited am I” (most helpfully read right to left) so we head off with hopeful hearts.
Almost three hours later, with dark upon us we are nearly home feeling sated with the joy of many animals. Most amazingly of all we have spotted a leopard, his fat hanging tail a revelation, resting in the treetops before his evening hunt. As we watch he descends into the camouflage of tall grasses and disappears from view – our first leopard ever. Later on we skid to a stop as we almost fly past a large group of lionesses and their cubs beside the road. In utter awe we watch the adolescent lions wake to yawn and observe us impassively before resettling to sleep – we are within ten feet of 12 of them. I am reassured by the presence of our guard and his gun but most especially his calm attitude. Clearly he is not afraid. Later as we pass elephants, one just feet off the roads spins to confront us as we pass, ears waving in the classic gesture of elephant aggression. This is the only time I see our UWA friend concerned – most deaths in the parks, even tourist deaths, are via elephant charging. We always keep our engine running and foot on the gas while beside elephants and scan other sides of roadway for the unexpected herd member who may find us threatening to his friends.
Murchison is large, very diverse in landscape and impressively well populated with animals. I loved passing from jungles through savanna woodlands then true savannah and back into jungled forests in a single drive. We never saw another vehicle or person on the road; the only sign of civilization was the airstrip we attributed to the military, a few small barracks houses and a single large tank pointed towards nearby Congo (yes, here too we are very near the border).
Giraffes (we ultimately see hundreds in our single evening drive) are enchantingly beautiful. Turning with statuesque grace to assess the danger we may pase, they observe us gracefully through thick fringed lashes. We step out of the car to walk almost beside them, though they frighten easily and abandon us. We are framed in sunset light and become creatures of myth and mysticism like them.

Early morning, swathed in mosquito nets and awakened by a more beautiful than usual droning Muslim call to prayer and by the heavy traffic from bikes, scooters and lorries on the road in front. Leaving Masindi after passing the prison with its’ inmates in bright yellow digging in the gardens; we briefly discuss the possibility of a similar watch tower to keep students in our boarding school but decide that is it not compatible with the principles of loving grace and cooperation that we seek to move toward.
Not many kilometers later we reach Murchison National Park where we pay the large fee to enter and start down the isolated road. Baboons proliferate on the roadway but these are frightened and wild baboons who, with babies clinging beneath, run into the jungles beside the roads, not towards our open windows. Large and beautiful birds with colorful beaks perch in the trees above, as large as Quinn – we must find their names. Sadly, each time we stop the vehicle to enjoy an animal, we are swarmed by large biting flies, later discovered to indeed be tetses.

Many kilometers later we reach the falls and the kids create a haiku to describe it’s beauty. The micah-encrusted rocks surrounding the gorge remind us to bring Larissa W. back here.
Rock jewels glinting With the water pouring down Thundering steam cloud
Murchison is incredible – a national wonder and treasure yet completely quiet and still and natural. No railings, just two pit latrines away from the falls. We are in awe. We discover too that here in N. Uganda the blue headed lizards so common to us in Bundibugyo have changed color! Black and orange and strikingly beautiful, yet the same lizards in size and behavior, doing push-ups as they watch us beadily from safe perches on the shimmering rocks.

Then on to Paraa Lodge – a real splurge, the nicest place we have stayed in Uganda. The bathrooms and showers are heaven – nothing broken or missing, just luxury of warm, gushing water, thick towels and cleanliness. The kids rave. Most stunning of all, we discover, is that the wild life actually lives surrounding the lodge. As we swim in the pool we are amazed to see an elephant walk by maybe 100 yards away and a few minutes later a troop of wart hogs also passes the pool. We spend an hour or more just watching the evening animals as they forage by the lodge; they are wild and free not tame or fed yet they coexist with us in peaceful beauty. As we head back to our rooms a two foot long baby monitor lizard plods along with tongue working at double speed to provide its’ insect evening meal. I am enchanted.