Thursday, October 11, 2012

Storm Chasers

Thunder, lightening, dark clouds and downpours threaten us every day, but so far our incredible luck has meant only one occasion of rain gear and lots of extra viewing opportunities as game is more active in the lesser temperatures of cloudy days.  This morning we rose early to hunt for lions.  Although they eluded us, we did photograph several kobs (a type of antelope similar to impala), some water bucks, a few warthogs and a sprinkling of buffalo.  There is something quite exhilarating about dashing down a dirt road with our heads popped out the top of our jeep, scanning the horizon for the next "target"--trying to steady ourselves against the sides of the jeep while trying to survey the horizon through our binocs.  If we do this too long, we all become quite dizzy, lose our balance, and knock into each other.  We measure our degree of fun by the number of bruises we sport.

Edward, our excellent guide, makes sure we are always the first out and the last back.  Thus we had breakfast at 10:45 this morning and lunch a scant 2 hours later at 1:00 this afternoon so we could be first out on Kazinga river channel for our afternoon game viewing via covered boat.  We spent 3 hours puttering along the river bank, watching brilliantly colored birds darting from bush to shore to tree to reeds to twigs (darn near impossible to photograph!), hippos yawning wide to show us their two-foot long teeth that can cut a crocodile in half, elephants showering in the river, and buffalo sparring with each other for dominance or wallowing in the mud while ox peckers provided a little acupuncture as they picked the bugs from the buffaloes ears and backs.  One big male peed for a full two minutes--right on top of his neighbor who didn't bother to move.  Our turn around point at the fishing village located at the mouth of Lake George gave us the opportunity to watch villagers launch their slender handcrafted boats and paddle in unison toward the open water for an all-nighter fishing expedition.  The rhythmic dip of their homemade paddles resembled some delicately choreographed ballet--almost hypnotic as our own boat rose and fell to the same beat of the incoming waves.

As we turned around to head back to the lodge, we noticed ominous black clouds rapidly descending into the valley and within seconds, the river changed from glassy smooth to 2 foot whitecaps accompanied by a strong cold wind.  Fortunately, we arrived back at the dock just in time to great the next group heading out who definitely got dumped on since it started raining buckets as soon as we ascended the hill to our rooms.  So now I'm enjoying a cushy leather sofa beside a soothing indoor waterfall, admiring the river view out the 10 x 20 foot picture window--while sipping an exotic drink called a crocodile crush.  Go ahead--be jealous!

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