A large flock of Crowned Cranes near Kabale.
Day 17, contiuned...
We pulled out of town at about 2:00 PM, and noticed in a field right on the outskirts a number of crowned cranes wandering around. It almost looked like they were domestic fowl, but Denis assured us they were not. The crowned crane is the National Bird of Uganda; it's picture is prominent on their paper currency. Here are some views of what we saw.
A large flock of Crowned Cranes near Kabale.
Parts of the picture above enlarged for detail. The cranes at right are "dancing."
We continued through a rain shower and into flatter more rolling pasture and farmland than we had seen in the mountains. The principal crop still seemed to be bananas, but there was no shortage of other produce g grown. We finally decided to take a picture of a roadside produce market, but didn't capture one with the really pretty piles of fruits and vegetables that we had seen four days before on our way to Bwindi.
Lady in colorful local garb checks out the produce. Bananas and lots more!
This is an enlarged section of the photo above, showing unique stools with star
pattern.
In the tall enlargement above we tried to capture some stools that we had seen at other stands before. The were made of three short legs that crossed, supporting a cone-shaped spiral rattan-style seat. They are light and reminded me of a three-legged milking stool. If they hadn't been impossible to pack and carry around, we would have brought some home as souvenirs.
After what seemed like another very long day of driving (but not nearly as bruising on our bodies) we came to a turnoff towards the entrance to Lake Mburo National Park. This was where the other Mantana camp was located, where we were supposed to have spent the night after flying to Entebbe from Nairobi, but for Kenyan Airways' "adjustments" to our plans. Almost immediately after turning off the main road we saw a large herd of Ankole cows, and just HAD to take one more picture of these incredible horns.
LOOK at those HORNS!
I noticed that one of the cows had horns that curved up and out, then back together and down until they almost touched, forming a shape that was reminiscent of a heart. I commented to everyone in the car that I wished we would see one that was close to heart-shaped and that I could get it's picture. I would sell the picture to Hallmark Cards to put on the front of a valentine. On the inside the caption could read, "I love you MOOOO-re than ever!" Well, I'd buy it, even if you wouldn't!
At 5:00 PM, after 8 1/2 hours on the road, we arrived at the actual National Park entrance.
The National Park entrance gate. Imagine this at Yellowstone?
After Denis paid our entrance fee, or checked in, or whatever he did, we drove through the gate and commenced our brief game drive on the way to the tent camp.
The terrain here was rolling with some open areas but a lot of low trees and brush, sometimes crowding the little two-track "road" so much that the thorny branches scraped along the sides of the Land Cruiser. There were some rocky hills, almost like the kopjies of the Serengeti, but much more brush. We soon saw several groups of impalas, and then warthogs. About 25 minutes into the park we saw a new animal for us, an oribi. This small, deer-like animal has short, spike horns and a contrasting white underparts.
Our first Oribi!
As we drove on towards the camp we also saw zebras in the distance, some eland, and waterbucks. Much of the drive was spent peering into thick brush on either side of the road hoping to glimpse something nearby, because you couldn't see very far into the shrubbery.
At 6:30 we pulled up in front of the tent camp where we were to spend just one night. As usual we were greeted with cool, wet cloths for wiping off our faces, and cold fruit juice. I could really get used to this "luxury" stuff!
Like some of the other tent camps, the shower was provided by a large container filled with warm water from the kitchen and raised up over head high. Like other showers on this trip, it was very welcome and felt wonderful!
Our sleeping quarters for the night. Note the shower canvas bucket behind the
tent.
The inside arrangement. Hey Linda, here's a shot of Carol's rear! (If you look
closely!)
Our notes for this day of driving are somewhat skimpy. I remember that the dining tent was located beside a very large, nearly flat but slightly rounded rock where a fire had been prepared. Dinner was very good, with the first course being an unbelievably tasty tomato soup. Tomato soup? Sounds kind of ordinary! Yes, I know, but it didn't taste like Campbell's. Must have been made from some of the GORGEOUS fresh tomatoes we had seen in produce stands.
After our evening meal the sun had already gone down, so we sat around the fire for a brief time before heading off to bed. Michelle, Jim and Carolyn had come in a different vehicle (Gabriel was their driver - I wanted badly to make a comment like "Gabriel, blow your horn," but refrained) and joined us at this camp. I asked them at dinner if they had seen the leopard in the tree about halfway in from the park entrance. They looked at each other and said, "No." I came back with, "Neither did we!" I don't think it was appreciated.
In any case, Carol and I pleaded fatigue and headed off for bed. Tomorrow would entail more driving to get back to Entebbe, then a late afternoon plane ride to Nairobi for our last stay at the Stanley Hotel. Our notes indicate that today, in addition to the animals listed above, we had seen the following birds: saddle billed stork, lesser blue starling, goshawk, wattled plover, gray hornbill, African fish eagle, crested francolin, spur-winged coucal, and crowned cranes. All in all, a pretty good day!
NEXT: Installment 18. A short morning game drive, then back to Entebbe and Nairobi.
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