There is no substitute for time when it comes to game viewing. Quite simply, the more time you spend in Uganda’s protected areas, the more game you are going to see. I can recount dozens of times when vehicles filled with anxious visitors to Uganda, have raced past us in clouds of dust, driver/guides doing the utmost to deliver the game against the checklist their passengers carry in the heads. When they do stop, the camera’s seldom leave passengers eyes and the sounds of gear changes are replaced briefly with that from the camera’s shutter. It is so unnecessary.
It is the more leisurely encounters that often produce the best results. In Uganda, there are still many parts of our national parks where you can find, and observe game knowing that you are unlikely to be joined by any other vehicles (this contrasts abruptly with the experience we have had in the Masai Mara where within minutes we were joined by over 2 dozen vehicles)! One of my personal favourites is an elephant encounter.
Imagine a first-light game drive in the delta of the Victoria Nile in Murchison Falls Conservation Area. We emerged from thick cover to see a large bull elephant drinking from the Nile about 50 metres away. We parked the vehicle, turned off the ignition and watched. To our left a couple of adult hippos grazed peacefully mowing the grass to lawn quality close to the rivers edge. The hippos are most comfortable close to the water during daylight hours, so they can interrupt their meal at any time and make a hurried dash for the water if frightened. A large palm-nut vulture sat in a tree nearby with his feet glistening from a recent encounter with the Nile.
As we watched the elephant dipping his huge trunk into the water, a giant crocodile displaced the waterside hyacinth and slipped to safety in the dark water. The elephant lifted his trunk high above his head and blasted the Nile across his back. He then turned, as if in slow motion, and walked toward us clearly finishing his bath for the morning. His trunk swung loosely between his front legs and manhood did the same between his back. There were no signs of musth (when bulls are known to behave irrationally) and he silently marched within metres of the vehicle. I think we all wished we were somewhere else for those few nervous seconds as almost brushed by, giving us complete appreciation for his size. I took comfort in the fact that he was moving into our space (and not us into his) and displaced any doubts that he didn’t know we were there.
The kids were still finishing their bowls of cereal and all of them stopped in silence, mouths open to watch the big bull pass and in search of shade for the hottest part of the day.
