Off Again...

Well, it's time again to get out in the world and see what there is to see. This time, we are heading back to Africa - to Uganda and Tanzania in eastern Africa. Last time we were in Botswana and South Africa in southern Africa.

Why Uganda? The wildlife again - mostly the chance to see mountain gorillas and chimpanzees. There are only about 700 mountain gorillas left in the wild and about 300 live in Uganda. The others are split between Rwanda and Congo. This is one of the only places to see one of our closest ancestors in their natural habitat. We then added on an extension into Tanzania to the Serengeti plains. It is the perfect time of year to be there as the "great migration" passes through this region from February to March. The migration is the huge circle that the African plain animals follow yearly - basically following the rains and then subsequently the grass. Hundreds of thousands of wildebeest, zebra, giraffe and antelope follow the route. And, as the food goes, so do the lions, hyena, wild dogs, and other array of predators and scavengers that follow them. The circle of life, right?

Unlike India where we had fairly reliable internet access at most points along the trip, we are expecting scarce, intermittent access, if at all along the way. There are places we expect to have some access, although it may be unreliable and slow, so there may not be pictures posted until we get back. We will do our best to keep the blog updated as we can.

Here's our itinerary for those who want to follow along:
Saturday, February 7- Leave US to Amsterdam.

Sunday, February 8 - Arrive Amsterdam, connect to flight to Entebbe, Uganda.

Monday, February 9 - Travel from Entebbe to Lake Mburo National Park (about 5 hours by car), an area with a vast array of animals, but supposed to have many leopards.

Tuesday, February 10 - Depart Lake Mburo and drive (6 hours) to Bwindi National Park - the so called Impenetrable Forest

Wednesday & Thursday, February 11-12 - Daily treks into Bwindi to see the gorillas. The park is extremely protective of it's gorilla populations. The issue only 27 gorilla permits per day (we've had ours booked since before we went to India). There are 3 family groups of gorillas that have been sensitized to having human contact. These are the only groups we are allowed to view. The guides split into 3 groups and trek to find the families based on their previously known areas they were in. As they move around to feed, they send guides out early to get an idea of where they may be. The hikes into the forest can be anywhere from 1-6 hours depending on where the gorillas happen to be that day. Of course, there are no guarantees that you will find them at all. Our experience with bush guides in the past, though, has been impressive, so we are pretty optimistic. Once we locate the families, we are able to quietly watch them for about an hour before moving on.

Friday, February 13 - Leave Bwindi and drive (4 hours) to Queen Elizabeth National Park. More traditional safari here - this area is home to (supposedly) famous tree-climbing lions - a fairly unusual behavior for lions. We may have chance to visit a bat cave, but we were told that it's been closed to the public recently - something about someone contracting some disease that you don't want. So, we'll see about that one...don't want to worry any parents any more than we need to at this point!

Saturday, February 14 - Another day in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Sunday, February 15 - Drive 3 hours to Kibale Forest National Park; here is the home of many primate species including the chimpanzees, colobus monkeys, and red tail monkeys among others. There are thought to be about 500 chimpanzees in the park.

Monday, February 16 - Kibale Forest; the place we are staying in Kibale has no electricity - so definitely no internet! Should be a unique experience without electric lights. I remember how dark it was at night in Africa the last time we were there. We'd never seen it that dark - the sky was amazing and clear. You can see thousands of stars.

Tuesday, February 17 - Drive back to Entebbe (6 hours) to fly to Tanzania.

Wednesday, February 18 - Drive from Arusha, Tanzania to Lake Manyara National Park. This area is known for a large population of flamingos, along with your other "traditional" safari game.

Thursday, February 19 - Drive 4 hours to Serengeti National Park. We will pass the Ngorongoro Crater, but not go into the crater itself.

Friday, February 20 - Saturday February 21 - Safari in Serengeti.

Sunday, February 22 - Fly back to Arusha, connect to flight home - via Amsterdam again. Arrive home on Monday, February 23.

On these long drives, we will have opportunities to stop along the way in villages and towns and see the local people.

Hope you enjoy following along.
Enjoy.
Karen & Jonathan