Uganda Chapter 11: The Road to Bwindi
To see a complete collection of pictures from this day, click here.
Remember how in Peru there was that day where we just "couldn't take any more of that trip" and then there was a magical dune buggy ride that turned everything around?
Remember how in China there was a moment near the end where I just wanted to go home and then there was a magical boat ride that turned everything around?
This was "that day" on this trip.
Mwea had been uninspiring and there had been all kinds of problems with door locks and the worst bathrooms we'd dealt with and Lisa wasn't feeling well and on and on and on. And then we got in the car and I KNEW that the entire day was devoted to driving with one little diversion through a national park where there were often sightings of tree lions. But the roads had reached their maximum friction point with me. I really couldn't take them any more. My cell phone, which by the end of the day would be entirely dead, was on the fritz and barely working. We'd driven so much that I'd listened to every one of the 500 songs on my iPod so many times that I didn't even want to bother. And if I had to eat another pineapple, banana or passion fruit I really might just cry. The prospect of a long day bouncing up and down in the car with no working cell phone, an iPod full of songs I was tired of, a lunch that SURELY included mostly fruit and an eventual arrival in the rain forest (and as many of you know, I may love things you can do in a rain forest, but I HATE the rain forest), well, suffice it to say I was ready to be done with Africa.
And the first half of the day held true to form. I literally had to grit my teeth in the truck when I was bouncing, with regularity, three and four inches off the seat. It was hot. The drive was long. At one point, we actually encounter a stretch of road that has become such a mud pit that trucks have just given up and are camped there to spend the night until it dries out the next day. The Land Cruiser pretty much goes horizontal while we cross this. I am done with the adventure of Africa's roads, though James seems delighted by the fun of it all. I slouch down in my seat and put my headphones on. I am in that space.
And then, no joke, this becomes my single favorite day of the trip (except for gorilla day which cannot be compared to in any way). We pull into this park where there are often sightings of tree sleeping lions. And James puts the top up on the truck. And within minutes, we have found a tree full of sleeping lions AND they have fed only a day ago, so they are lazy and peaceful and want only to sleep in the tree. And we do nothing for the next forty-five minutes but sit on the top of the truck in the warm afternoon sun with smiles on our faces watching the lions pretty much do the same thing that we are but in the tree.
We even get to see a male lion! Male lions are much more rare and it's the only one we see all trip.
And one of the lions actually climbs the tree while we're sitting there.
And they yawn, and stretch, and adjust and enjoy the calm and warmth of the afternoon sun just as much as we do.
And then we actually spend the next half hour sitting IN the truck, eating our lunch and still just watching them.
It's the most peaceful feeling in the world. You're there. The lions are there. Everybody wants to just relax and enjoy the sun. It's my favorite individual moment (not including gorillas). I feel as warm and full of sun inside as it is outside. Everybody is happy, and even the banana and passion fruit in my lunch taste delicious and exotic.
I think that, in truth, it's the moment in the trip that reminds me the most what it means to feel thankful.
I don't even mind the (even worse) roads from Ishasha (where we saw the lions) to Bwindi. And though it is wet in Bwindi, I become enamored with my tent and the crazy little seventies bar in the tent lodge area. And I am almost grateful that the rough driving all day made me tired because I will need a full night of sleep, since the next day...
To see a complete collection of pictures from this day, click here.
Remember how in Peru there was that day where we just "couldn't take any more of that trip" and then there was a magical dune buggy ride that turned everything around?
Remember how in China there was a moment near the end where I just wanted to go home and then there was a magical boat ride that turned everything around?
This was "that day" on this trip.
Mwea had been uninspiring and there had been all kinds of problems with door locks and the worst bathrooms we'd dealt with and Lisa wasn't feeling well and on and on and on. And then we got in the car and I KNEW that the entire day was devoted to driving with one little diversion through a national park where there were often sightings of tree lions. But the roads had reached their maximum friction point with me. I really couldn't take them any more. My cell phone, which by the end of the day would be entirely dead, was on the fritz and barely working. We'd driven so much that I'd listened to every one of the 500 songs on my iPod so many times that I didn't even want to bother. And if I had to eat another pineapple, banana or passion fruit I really might just cry. The prospect of a long day bouncing up and down in the car with no working cell phone, an iPod full of songs I was tired of, a lunch that SURELY included mostly fruit and an eventual arrival in the rain forest (and as many of you know, I may love things you can do in a rain forest, but I HATE the rain forest), well, suffice it to say I was ready to be done with Africa.
And the first half of the day held true to form. I literally had to grit my teeth in the truck when I was bouncing, with regularity, three and four inches off the seat. It was hot. The drive was long. At one point, we actually encounter a stretch of road that has become such a mud pit that trucks have just given up and are camped there to spend the night until it dries out the next day. The Land Cruiser pretty much goes horizontal while we cross this. I am done with the adventure of Africa's roads, though James seems delighted by the fun of it all. I slouch down in my seat and put my headphones on. I am in that space.
And then, no joke, this becomes my single favorite day of the trip (except for gorilla day which cannot be compared to in any way). We pull into this park where there are often sightings of tree sleeping lions. And James puts the top up on the truck. And within minutes, we have found a tree full of sleeping lions AND they have fed only a day ago, so they are lazy and peaceful and want only to sleep in the tree. And we do nothing for the next forty-five minutes but sit on the top of the truck in the warm afternoon sun with smiles on our faces watching the lions pretty much do the same thing that we are but in the tree.
We even get to see a male lion! Male lions are much more rare and it's the only one we see all trip.
And one of the lions actually climbs the tree while we're sitting there.
And they yawn, and stretch, and adjust and enjoy the calm and warmth of the afternoon sun just as much as we do.
And then we actually spend the next half hour sitting IN the truck, eating our lunch and still just watching them.
It's the most peaceful feeling in the world. You're there. The lions are there. Everybody wants to just relax and enjoy the sun. It's my favorite individual moment (not including gorillas). I feel as warm and full of sun inside as it is outside. Everybody is happy, and even the banana and passion fruit in my lunch taste delicious and exotic.
I think that, in truth, it's the moment in the trip that reminds me the most what it means to feel thankful.
I don't even mind the (even worse) roads from Ishasha (where we saw the lions) to Bwindi. And though it is wet in Bwindi, I become enamored with my tent and the crazy little seventies bar in the tent lodge area. And I am almost grateful that the rough driving all day made me tired because I will need a full night of sleep, since the next day...
To see a complete collection of pictures from this day, click here.
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