Meywa Wednesday

Lions, hippos, and crocs...oh yes.  Today we started the day very early (6:15am) with a morning game drive in the savanna portion of Queen Elizabeth Park.  The savanna is home to a variety of animals, not on the same scale as the savanna in Kenya, but enough to make for an entertaining drive.  The first mammal we encountered (we had already seen several winged creatures) was a hyena.  True to its species, it was out on its own.  After a few more bird sightings, we came across a group of mongoose; there were at least one and one-half dozen of them.  A bunch of them were in the road drinking out of a puddle.  Some of them would dash into grass along the roadside only to have some others appear to take their place on the road.

Shortly after we came by a herd of Uganda kob (think impala). These guys are the main course for the four-legged predators living in the savanna.  What we got to see was a group of lions watching the kobs and the kobs watching the lions.  This scene had the potential for some exciting action, for us, not the kob.  However, the lion just kept watching; — no savanna breakfast today.  

During the rest of the game drive, we saw large herds of Cape buffalo, more Uganda kob, a monitor lizard, a couple of hippos each in his own mud hole, waterbuck, vervet monkeys, wart hogs, elephants, and lots of birds, including several kinds of birds of prey. Near the end of the drive, we spotted a large number of vultures.  As we drew closer to their position, we came across an elephant that had died of old age.  Several vultures were feasting on the elephant while a large number of vultures awaited on nearby trees for their turn.  It was fascinating to see this part of the circle of life.

After our lunch, we went on a boat ride in the channel that separates Lake George from Lake Edward.  We saw a massive number of pied kingfishers.  They make nests in the bank of the channel and dive into the channel to fish.  We also saw lots of hippos.  Large males, females, and some young.  In a single group there is only one male.  Any male born into the group are either killed or exiled (the hippos we saw in the mud holes were probably exiled hippos.  Elephants came down to the water for drinks and baths. Nile crocodiles were visible along the bank as well as in the shallows.  A great variety of water birds also occupied the shore line. After the boat ride it was a short rest, then off to dinner.  When we left for dinner we needed to call to get picked up in a golf cart.  Walking from the rooms to the lobby was considered unsafe because hippos come up from the lake at night (hippos are considered the most dangerous animal in Africa).