Saturday, May 3, 2025
We arrived in Entebbe on Thursday, May 1 and were met by our friend and long time Ugandan guide, Jonathan Wright. After some hassle getting through immigration with our new visas, we sat at the airport another hour waiting for our rented Cessna 210 to be readied for our 1 1/2 hour flight to Bungugu airstrip in North Central Uganda. The pilot flew us over miles and miles of forested landscape, finally depositing us in the middle of the Murchison Falls National Park. A car was waiting for us and took us the last hour and a half to Pappa’s Camp on the White Nile River at an elevation of 2025 feet. Finally, after 3 days of delays, we are at our first destination on this adventure, a real tented safari camp, complete with a bucket shower.
The river is only a few steps from our tent and rages as it makes a bend just in front of our tent flap. Mark and I are in heaven with the rushing river drowning our tinnitus. A lovely hand made ravioli dinner was a satisfying meal after a long day even if we did not finish until 10pm.
Friday, May 2, Mark and I slept in, missing our first game drive opportunity. For once neither of us minded. It felt good to slow down. After breakfast, we watched about 16 hippo’s cavorting in the eddy next to the community tent. Late in the afternoon, Jonathon took us on a game drive in the park.
The park is populated with Ungulates called Uganda Kob, water buffalo, and several lions, which must be in heaven, their prey is so readily available. In addition to the large herds, we saw Rothschild giraffe, wart hog, hyena, side-striped jackal, and a variety of birds, including a favorite of mine, the night jar.
These are 2 of 4, month old cubs. Below are a boy and girl about 3 years old, who have been named Phil and Mimi.
The cats were most notable because we saw them in several small family groups—a mother with 2 one year olds, a mother with 4 babies, a brother and sister pair about 4 years old, and several single females.
But the dominant male was not to be found. During the drive we stopped for a sundowner drink and managed to get back to camp well after dark. The hope for a cat hunt did not materialized. The Kob here isn’t concerned about the sleepy lion.
A nice curry dinner was again served late, but we managed to get to bed by 10pm.
Good thing, because we were up at 5:15 for the morning game drive on Saturday, May 3. We saw all the same animals we had seen the day before, and we heard the male rumble, but could not find it. By 9am we arrived at a preset outdoor breakfast and were treated to wrapped omelettes full of goodies and called a Rolex. We learned that the Rolex is a very popular breakfast dish in Uganda.
As breakfast was served beside the Nile, it seemed like a good opportunity to do some fishing. I watched while Mark cast his line into the river many times before giving up. Finally we were back in our tent and had delightful bucket showers. Mark’s was cold, so I waited for hot water to be delivered and luxuriated under the warm spray while listening to birds singing in the tree above. We relaxed until a late lunch was served—tilapia for me and Jonathon and pasta for Mark. At 5pm we gathered for another game drive. The same lions and more were scattered about the countryside. They all looked very healthy and content in a world of thousands of easy to capture Kob.
Shortly before dark we encountered a group of giraffe, called a “tower”. We counted 15 animals of different sizes. They too looked very healthy. After dark, we passed a large porcupine lumbering along the road. Lightening and thunder threatened us most of the way back to camp, but we managed to get almost through an outdoor BBQ dinner before the storm drenched everyone. We grabbed our plates and drinks and finished eating indoors. Shortly after dinner, we grabbed a large umbrella and headed for our room and bed. I’m not sure which I like better, the sound of the river or the rain.
While at Pappa’s Camp, Mark and I met Marcia McIntosh and Nick Okeyo, seasoned safari builders who usually work their magic across Kenya. They’ve been in Uganda for a short stint working for Jonathon on a new game lodge next to Papa’s Camp and have joined us on game drives and kept us company at meal times.
Sunday, May 4, 2025.
Breakfast was served outdoors beside a fire pit on the bank of the Nile. We shared our last meal with Marcia and Nick, climbed into the land cruiser with Jonathon and headed for the Bungugu airstrip.
Adventures with Julia 