Monday, July 2nd

We spent Monday, July 2nd exploring Queen Elizabeth National Park and the surrounding communities a little more. We started at Karinzu Ecotouring Center first. Here, we were supposed to go trekking to see chimpanzees. We were briefed by the tour guide first. She said that there are 414 species of trees, 262 species of butterflies, 372 species of birds and thirty species of animals including eight species of primates. As far as my knowledge, we saw three different primates while on our tour. We saw baboons again as soon as we got out of the van. There were baby baboons rolling around with each other playing on the ground and in the trees. When we entered the forest, we were told it takes sometimes four hours of walking before spotting a primate but we saw some within ten minutes of entering the forest! We saw a blue monkey that I forget the formal term for. Then shortly after we saw the chimpanzees! There were about five of them spotted on our tour including one little baby who was only a couple months old and then a toddler chimp that was only about two years old. The toddler chimp was climbing all over and swinging in the trees while the baby chimp was clinging to its mother’s stomach the entire time. The area that we spotted them in was a territory of about six kilometers that was home to forty chimpanzees. We saw one monkey swing to the ground and she got annoyed so she was banging her fists in the ground as she ran away. I think that’s my spirit animal (haha)! The guide told us that when the chimpanzees want to attack a smaller monkey that’s in the trees, multiple chimps circle the base of the tree while one runs up to chase the smaller monkey down. Once it’s on the ground, the chimps pounce. Similarly, if the chimps wanted to get us, we would be circled-in in the same manner. Our tour guide was funny. Some of the chimps were in the trees and would begin to urinate. She said that why it’s called a rain forest (haha)! Some other monkeys were eating fruits and throwing peels and seeds to the ground below. One of which fell onto the top of my head. That didn’t feel too pretty and it made my hair sticky! I’d say this chimpanzee trek was successful, so I was pleased! We hiked back out of the forest and ended up randomly along the roadside. Our drivers were called to pick us up and away we went. We went back towards the lodge and stopped at a local shop to get souvenirs. This shop was owned by an organization called the Kataara Women whose mission was to save/conserve the elephants for future generations and alleviating poverty. Apparently when the elephants go onto farmer’s land and destroy the profitable crops, the farmer’s act against the elephants. To put an end to this, the organization buys the elephant dung left on that farmer’s land to make up for what they destroyed. This dung is then made into paper products or jewelry and sold at this little gift shop. I bought my grandma a poopy necklace. They also sold more generic gifts like handmade elephant trinkets and handmade banana leaf products like bags and bowls. I was so excited about these finds! After lunch back at the lodge, we left again for another game drive through the park. We were supposed to see lions on this specific drive/tour! Along the way, our guide pointed at a lake and said that this lake was in the shape of Africa. I must research more to find out the name of this lake, but I thought that was pretty interesting besides just seeing the animals. We went to “Crater Drive” to first look at the craters that were created from volcanic explosions many years ago. I honestly don’t think I have ever seen anything more beautiful in my entire life! Ever. Never. The crater lakes were rimmed with salt and there were buffalos taking water here. Apparently when the buffalos get injured, they know to go into the lake for a salt bath to help the wounds heal. How cool is that?! We went to another part of the park and drive through the savannas to look for the lions. We didn’t see any unfortunately, but we did see warthogs, Ugandan Kobs, water bucks and more buffalos. The buffalos here were taking a mud bath. We saw two male water bucks fighting and then chasing each other in a zig-zag pattern across the road. Their horns/antlers were so loud when they collided. So cool! Since we didn’t see the lions this evening, we are supposed to go back to that same park in the morning to try again. It was a lovely evening that ended in seeing more elephants walking across the savanna in the distance.