Tuesday May 31st: Just a few more words about the experience of driving through Queen Elizabeth Park. The excitement was tangible as we drove. We saw elephants, baboons, warthogs, antelopes, water bucks, and even a tree lion. I have been dreaming my whole life of going on “safari” in Africa. Today I got to experience wild animals in their natural habitat. At one point, we saw a massive male elephant. As you can see from the picture, we were very close (no camera tricks – we really were that close).
About 1 mile before we arrived at our final destination of the hotel, we stopped at Bwindi Hospital to meet with an administrator and contact named Okello. Okello was wearing what looked to be a down jacket as it was evening and he was recovering from an illness. I am always amazed at how people who live in warm climates bundle up when the temperature reaches the high 70’s. We picked up Okello, drove the final mile up the mountain, and arrived at the Silver Back Lodge at about 9:00 pm. Everyone was utterly exhausted and weary of bumps, of being jostled, of the dust we inhaled, and the continuous loud rumble of banging along the rutted road. We were greeted warmly and had a wonderful dinner sitting outside on a porch under the night sky. I remember now why I love nights in Africa so much – with so little light clutter and being at the equator, the sky is painted with thousands and thousands of stars. There is nothing like a little universal perspective to reset our human perspective.
