ITCHY FEET TRAVELS

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Katunguru, Uganda

July 18, 2024

I’d met Bart in Kisoro and saw him again in Katunguru. He’d found Mac, one of the tour guides and we’d arranged to go with him to the Queen Elizabeth National Park. The misty light of dawn was just bathing the sky when we started on the dirt tracks of the park. In the half gloom we saw a herd of impala as a buck gave us a long stare.

We had gone no more than a few minutes when Mac pointed. “Lion” he said and sure enough there it was, barely visible, with its ears poking up over the tall grass. The lioness was sitting, yawning and quite at ease. It looked at us impassively as we clicked away. Wow, I thought. This, within the first few minutes? What on earth will we see for the next couple of hours?

This is the savannah I remember from my visit to Kenya more than two decades ago. The yellow of the grass dotted with the islands of green. But instead of acacia, here there are giant cacti.

I don’t see any springbok but there are plenty of impala. The numbers of waterbucks are even larger. They stare intently at us as we stare back. But they soon lose interest and go back to the serious business of grazing. As in most game parks, the animals are used to safari vehicles.

Mac is in search of a leopard. He tells us they like to climb up the cacti and he drives to the usual haunts but we see none. Instead, we see a couple of elephants, warthogs, monkeys and a pair of buffalos. I might have expected to see this amid the plethora of animals in Chobe NP but had truly not expected to see it here.

We go past Lake George and I see a couple of men fishing. There are communities who live in and around the park and there are no fences or boundaries here. It amazes me how people live with their cattle and goats in such proximity to carnivores. It must not be easy; there are tales aplenty of saving their cattle from the jaws of lions and leopards.

Mac is still searching for a leopard but we detour to a small lake where salt is harvested in the dry season. Giant malibu storks are perched on the topmost branches of a tree and I see a line of pink along the far shore. Flamingos! There must be a lot of shrimp in the lake. I am reminded of Walvis Bay in Namibia  that I saw just recently.

This is a common stop for all safari vehicles. There is the usual row of souvenir stalls selling identical stuff. As is a small shop offering bad coffee at inflated prices. Mac goes off to chat with the other drivers. It has already been more than three hours and I expected this to be the end of the tour. But Mac comes back to say he has some hints of where to find a leopard and we are off again! Sure enough, we see it through the tall grass at the foot of a cactus. And we get a better look, albeit briefly.  Deep in the thickets under the tree are the unblinking yellow eyes of a leopard. I am speechless! Bart’s eyes are like saucers.

Who would have thought we’d see four of the big five in this relatively sparsely populated park? Happy, we trundle out of the park to the village. While Bart gets his backpack and waits for the bus and I am wandering in search of avocados to buy, Mac hustles back and tells us to get back into the car. “Lion” he says and drives faster than I have seen him so far. We race back to the park entrance and there they are! Right at the entrance, next to the huts used by the park workers.

“I don’t believe it! This is not real! I don’t believe it! This is not real! I don’t believe it! This is not real!” is the constant refrain in my head as I watch a mother lioness and her five cubs within eight meters of the car.

They are a couple of meters from the huts and the park officials are watching them. Emboldened, we get out of the car and do the same. Around a hut we see the oldest cub sitting still with her unswerving gaze on us. And there! Just behind her in the bushes is the mother. Lying in ambush, jokes one of the guards. They tell us that this family comes often; they come here for water. Habituated gorillas have become the norm but habituated lions? My mind boggles at thought. This is unbelievable! It is unreal! And this is a mother with her young – the most dangerous of them all! How is this possible? My mind cannot wrap itself around the idea.

We stare and goggle and scrape our jaws off the ground to take photos. The three youngest cubs are absorbed in their play in the garbage pit behind the huts.

Occasionally they peer at these weird animals standing around watching them. The two older cubs still silently watching every move we make. The mother stays under some bushes, keeping a vigilant eye as well.