African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus Vocifer), Murchison Falls National Park, North Uganda, Africa
The Nile Safari Lodge, overlooking the Victoria Nile, is probably the most service orientated place we have ever stayed at. To give a few examples: cool, wet towels are handed to the dusty travelers every time you drive into the parking lot. While you enjoy your superb dinner your bed is being “prepared”, which means the wide mosquito net is lowered, ready for you to crawl into your bed. These are in large wooden bungalows on stilts, with a bathroom and an adjacent outside shower. Warm water is delivered upon request and filled into a bucket high up.
After paying hundreds of dollars for gorilla and chimpanzee permits and long treks to find them, here the monkeys found us. One afternoon a large group of Vervet Monkeys created mayhem by jumping from branch to branch, landing on our tin roof and galloping across. The noise was deafening. Heidi was trying to establish order and climbed up a ladder only to be met with fierce resistance. Mercifully they ended their game before evening…
Rather disturbing news brought a chat with Giulio, the Italian owner of a small, but very exclusive tour company. One evening at the campfire he addressed an issue that had been rumored in some travel blogs. The Uganda government is going for the oil sitting under Murchison Falls National Park. The first activities are only visible from the air so far. Obviously, future hotels are already choosing their location carefully.
Giulio’s story of why he ended up in Uganda is weirdly identical to many others. A war journalist in his former life, he travelled a lot, fell in love with the very country and stayed.
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