Onward to Kibale Forest

We were on the road for an early game drive before sunrise and were rewarded with a sighting of a hyena. We saw two groups of lions and enjoyed the scenery. After breakfast, we were on the road heading north out of Queen Elizabeth National Park. We crossed the equator again and then had to change our second flat tire of the trip. We stopped in a town for gas and a replacement for the spare tires since we had used both of them. Then, we continued on our way to Kibale, through lots of little villages, past fields of cotton, coffee, and lots of bananas.

We arrived around 2 pm at Ndali Lodge, which is high on a hill overlooking Nyinambuga lake with the Ruwenzori mountains, some topped with snow, in the distance. The surrounding hills are lush and green, some with natural growth and some used for crops. The lodge has a central area with a dining room and an outside patio, with an amazing view of the lake, where we ate lunch. There is a pretty pool, complete with inflatable floating rafts, and five resident dogs, who are quite friendly. The rooms are thatched roofed cottages that have a nice patio, where I am sitting and typing while I enjoy the view and listening to the birds. There is only some solar electricity here but everything else is candle powered.

After lunch, we went for a two hour walk around the lake with the dogs for guides. The walk took us through tall elephant grass that is about ten feet high, past gorgeous vistas of the lake, through a banana field, and through a small village before circling around back to the lodge. Now, we are just going to relax until dinner and tomorrow’s adventure.

-Karen