I have oh so much to say about the current government shutdown, but a) I can't bear to think about it more than I have to, and b) there are some great blogs out there that have addressed it better than I would.
So, on to more fanciful (and fun) topics.
We woke up on a cloudy and gray Easter morning and headed out to the Kidepo Valley side of the park. This is the section less traveled, probably because it has a much lower concentration of game. The Kidepo valley is a much different landscape - less savannah and more forest/semi-desert. Most of the park's ostrich live here.
We wound our way from the Narus Valley to the north of the park, along the South Sudan border. After an hour or so we began to see the scenery change dramatically, and the incidence of seeing animals dropped considerably.
Wet season had just arrived to the park, and soon some of these areas would be unnavigable by vehicle. We drove across the Kidepo River bed, which was mainly hard packed sand at this point. A few little trickles of water would soon give way to a major water source. We got out and walked around, completely alone in this beautiful setting.
We drove on and saw - at a distance - one male and two female ostriches. They were too far away for photos, but it was exciting nonetheless.
We kept driving north in pursuit of two things - the Kanangarok hot springs and the border with South Sudan. As we drove, a trickle of rain started, and we could see impressive storms nearby.
Just as we reached the hot springs (which were not quite that impressive but still neat to see), the rains came. We opened umbrellas, donned rain gear, and let down the canvas sides of the vehicle. It was quite hot inside with no air flow, but we were amazingly dry. We ate our packed breakfast to the sounds of rain on canvas, feeling cozy.
After that we drove a few more kilometers to the South Sudan border. Our guides kept talking about this amazing road that the SSDN government had built; they were raving about it! And then we saw it - an impressive wide dirt road, hard packed and well maintained. Certainly nicer than the roads in Kidepo and nicer than many of Uganda's paved roads, really.
The rain had stopped, so we got out and walked a few hundred meters into South Sudan. There was no fence or border to speak of, and definitely no border crossing. I don't quite count this as an actual trip to the world's newest country, but it was still pretty neat.
We loaded back up and headed back to the lodge in time for lunch. The ride back was fairly uneventful, but it was absolutely lovely to just be out and seeing this amazing scenery. The early afternoon was spent watching waterbuck, giraffes, and warthogs near the lodge. It doesn't get better than that, really.
PM drive and night drive to come...
So, on to more fanciful (and fun) topics.
We woke up on a cloudy and gray Easter morning and headed out to the Kidepo Valley side of the park. This is the section less traveled, probably because it has a much lower concentration of game. The Kidepo valley is a much different landscape - less savannah and more forest/semi-desert. Most of the park's ostrich live here.
We wound our way from the Narus Valley to the north of the park, along the South Sudan border. After an hour or so we began to see the scenery change dramatically, and the incidence of seeing animals dropped considerably.
Wet season had just arrived to the park, and soon some of these areas would be unnavigable by vehicle. We drove across the Kidepo River bed, which was mainly hard packed sand at this point. A few little trickles of water would soon give way to a major water source. We got out and walked around, completely alone in this beautiful setting.
We drove on and saw - at a distance - one male and two female ostriches. They were too far away for photos, but it was exciting nonetheless.
We kept driving north in pursuit of two things - the Kanangarok hot springs and the border with South Sudan. As we drove, a trickle of rain started, and we could see impressive storms nearby.
Just as we reached the hot springs (which were not quite that impressive but still neat to see), the rains came. We opened umbrellas, donned rain gear, and let down the canvas sides of the vehicle. It was quite hot inside with no air flow, but we were amazingly dry. We ate our packed breakfast to the sounds of rain on canvas, feeling cozy.
After that we drove a few more kilometers to the South Sudan border. Our guides kept talking about this amazing road that the SSDN government had built; they were raving about it! And then we saw it - an impressive wide dirt road, hard packed and well maintained. Certainly nicer than the roads in Kidepo and nicer than many of Uganda's paved roads, really.
The rain had stopped, so we got out and walked a few hundred meters into South Sudan. There was no fence or border to speak of, and definitely no border crossing. I don't quite count this as an actual trip to the world's newest country, but it was still pretty neat.
We loaded back up and headed back to the lodge in time for lunch. The ride back was fairly uneventful, but it was absolutely lovely to just be out and seeing this amazing scenery. The early afternoon was spent watching waterbuck, giraffes, and warthogs near the lodge. It doesn't get better than that, really.
PM drive and night drive to come...
 |
| Morning dose of grazers |
 |
| I can't get enough of acacia trees and sunrise/sunsets... |
 |
| Bushbuck (I think) |
 |
| Kidepo River bed - just a few trickles of water |
 |
| driving across the river bed |
 |
| Amazing how this little wet patch will soon be a mighty river |
 |
| the darker line is the water path thus far |
 |
| An example of how deep the river gets |
 |
| A rain storm not too far away |
 |
| Covering the vehicle |
 |
| Kanangarok hot springs |
 |
| Our newly-covered vehicle |
 |
| Our ranger, on the South Sudan road |
 |
| South Sudan! |
 |
| There were no border crossing signs, so we made our own. Sort of. |
 |
| Eagle |
 |
| This family of giraffes kept us entertaining as we relaxed after lunch. |
 |
| Little baby kept wandering off on his own; cheeky little guy. |
 |
| These two waterbuck were at a standoff for quite a while, but they never did get to fighting. It was quite exciting to watch, though! |
No comments:
Post a Comment