Queen Elizabeth National Park

From Lake Bunyoni we headed north, roughly parallel with the border with DCR, to Queen Elizabeth National Park. This park, which covers nearly 2000 sq km, has been decimated by the many armed conflicts that have plagued the area, but is now starting to recover, making it one of the most popular parks in Uganda. One of the highlights is a boat trip on the Kazinga Channel, which is home to thousands of hippos.














After another long and bumpy drive we arrived at aptly named Hippo Camp, set up our tents and headed out on our boat cruise in the stifling heat. Fair to its advertising, we were treated to plenty of hippos, as well as pelicans, storks, fish eagles, buffalo and elephants. Of particular interest was watching the locals go about their business on the river, only metres from the buffalo, one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.














We spent a slightly restless night at camp, fearful of needing to visit the loo, given the proximity to the edge of the lake and the abundance of aforementioned hippos, which are reportedly responsible for the most deaths by animal in Africa, save for the lowly mosquito.














The next two days were spent making the long drive back into Kenya, stopping at Chilli's campsite in Kampala, and at Naiberi River Camp near Eldoret in Kenya. The latter is a particularly pleasant campsite, not least because Rich and I upgraded ourselves to a lovely comfortable room, and thanks to the large number of very friendly camp dogs.














Our final night with the Kumuka trip was spent at Lake Nakuru, in the same campsite as our previous visit. The next morning, we went for a game drive whilst Celia stayed behind to prepare breakfast. Unfortunately, only minutes after we left she was attacked by the resident baboons, who had decided they also fancied our breakfast. They continued to hassle her for the next couple of hours until we returned – a very unpleasant experience. For anyone who still thinks they are cute, you are sadly mistaken.














We said goodbye to Doris, Jacques, our travelling companions and Homer (our trusty tent) at Naivasha and headed back to Nairobi in a taxi with Celia, who was off to pick up new passengers.