1. Lion!! There are believed to be about 150-200 lions within Murchison Falls National Park, distributed amongst 10-20 prides. Our guide told us that the females do most of the hunting (as they are fastest and most cunning), while the males wait for the kill and then feast. Typical. The animals tend to hunt and eat for about 4 hours a day and then sleep for the remaining 20 hours, which makes them more difficult to see. Our guide was determined to find us some lions, and he pulled through! We were able to find a pride of three lions (although there were probably more hidden close by) while they were sleeping: two males and one female. We literally pulled up right next to them, which made me a bit nervous. But the lions didn't seem to mind at all. Apparently they had just eaten and were sated. Thank goodness. I didn't want to be their next meal...
2. Elephant. Despite significant loss of elephant population during the 1980s, there are now believed to be about 1800 elephants in Murchison Falls National Park. We saw quite a few elephants during our game drive, a few in groups of up to four. We were able to get very close to two of them, allowing for some great pictures. Our guide told us that elephants can eat up to 2-3 tons of food in a day, so it's no surprise that we saw almost all of them snacking away on either mango, leaves, bushes, or entire trees.
3. Giraffe. Giraffes are the tallest animals in the world, measuring about 5.5 meters in height. I know we don't usually use the metric system, but in case you hadn't figured it out, that is very tall! There were many giraffes visible on our game drive, though most of them were very far away and difficult to make out. We were lucky to stumble across a couple of them right along the road. When you get a close look at them, you realize that giraffes really are quite absurd-looking. What was Mother Nature thinking when she created this enormous, yet very thin, animal with funny geographical patterns all over their bodies and two small horns on top of their heads to top it all off? At least they are relatively graceful (though I have heard that they are a sight to see when they try to drink water from a river...).
4. Grey crowned crane. These birds are the national bird of Uganda and quite distinct in appearance. I had been hoping to see one more up-close, but they tend to spend most of their time hidden on the water's edge. They are beautiful birds, grey and white, with a golden crown-looking structure on the tops of their heads.
5. African buffalo. Probably the most common animal within Murchison Falls National Park, but still interesting. They love to stare at passing cars, which makes them appear to be idiots. They are almost always accompanied by white egrets, who eat the parasites off of their skin. How nice of them...
6. Warthog. More commonly known as Pumbas in Uganda, warthogs are very visible, as well. And quite ugly. Covered with dirt. But funny looking and interesting, nonetheless. And, as we found out at our campsite later, they are attracted to any sweet smell, including toothpaste...
7. Hippos. Many more were seen later in the day, but these were found resting in Lake Albert. Despite their peaceful nature, hippos can be quite aggressive if provoked. They are responsible for killing more people than ay other African mammal. So be cautious next time you are near a hippo...
8. Antelopes. So abundant that it is difficult to tell them apart. We saw many different types in Murchison Falls National Park, including Jackson's hartebeest, Defassa waterbuck, Uganda kob, bushbuck, and duiker. We did see one fight amongst Ugadan kobs where, at times, the males will fight to the death to protect their territory.
9. Various birds. We saw many, many more during our trip up the river in the afternoon, but there are a few highlights from the game drive: white-backed eagle, helmeted guineafowl, and Abyssinian ground hornbill.
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