This morning did not get off to a good start, to say the least. We were to depart for safari today and we were told ahead of time that we must be on time, because we had a seven hour bus ride ahead of us and we could not be late, or we would miss the ferry that would take the bus across the Nile River to our lodge. Our schedules read that we would depart at 5:00am and breakfast would be at 4:30am. I had set my alarm for 3:45am, giving me 45 minutes to get ready and pack up, before breakfast. No sooner had I gotten up, we received a knock on our door. It was Chelci telling us that Andrew had said we must leave at 4:30am and that we must be ready. We were all confused, as our schedules said differently. We started hurrying to get showers, get dressed and pack up. I was just about to put my makeup on when, you guessed it, the power went out. I could not believe it. So frustrating! Where is my flashlight? Oh yeah, I left it in Arizona. Joey held up the laptop so I could see and I slapped on my makeup and then had to leave with my hair wet, not having been dried or styled in any way. Once again, my high maintenance bit me in the rear. We got on the bus with Andrew yelling at us to hurry up. We were all stressed and irritated. Not a good start at all!
It was dark as we left and there was a heavy fog. I was terrified as we drove along. It felt like we were driving really fast and when a car or truck would pass us, it was within inches. All I could think of was the story of a group of tourists who had died in a bus crash a few weeks earlier. Joey saw that I was upset and so he slid over and put his arm around me. He talked to me to keep my mind off of it. Once daylight came, I felt much better. The fog lifted and the roads weren't as congested. The ride to the lodge went by very quickly, as there was so much to look at as we drove by. There were tons of children on the roads, walking to school, small mud huts with thatched roofs, people were hoeing in the fields, men were cutting the grass on the side of the road with machetes. I never tire of watching life go on here.
After 7 hours in a bus, on a very bumpy dirt road, we made it to the ferry. It was scheduled to cross at 12:00pm. We were a little early, so we got off the bus and wandered around for a while. Joey spotted a hippo in the distance and everyone grabbed their cameras and went off in search of a few good shots. Andrew reminded everyone just how aggressive and dangerous hippos are and that we should all be very careful and keep our distance. Joey, of course, pushed it to the very limit and got closer than anyone. By this time I had made my way back to where Andrew was and he told me that I should tell my "honey" that he needed to come back this way. I laughed and told him that it wouldn't do any good, for my "honey" has a mind of his own!
We boarded the ferry and crossed the Nile River. We arrived at the Paraa Safari Lodge and were greeted by the attendants, who offered us cool washcloths, and a cup of ice cold passion fruit juice. We all checked in and then headed upstairs for lunch. What a wonderful surprise! There was a buffet lunch and the food was amazing. Lots and lots of things were familiar to me. I was so happy. As I've mentioned before, I have struggled with the food while on this trip. Before arriving at the lodge, I could tell I had lost a little weight, and I don't have any to lose. My shorts and jeans were fitting loosely on me. I'm sure I put it all back on while at the lodge. Three meals a day and they were all buffet, with dessert. Oh, heaven!
After lunch we retired to our rooms for a short rest before our first game drive.
We left the lodge for our game drive at 4:00pm. Each drive is 3 hours in length. There were all kinds of animals from the very beginning. I've never seen so many animals and we were so close to them. I took a notebook and wrote down the names of everything, as George, our safari guide, called them out to us. Hopefully I'll be able to match the names with the pictures, so I can share them with the kids. We got stuck in the sand on one of the roads. Karyne and I were starting to get a little worried. Up until now, I had always brought granola bars and nuts along, whenever we went out, but I had forgot to pack them in our backpack this time. All I could think of, was that if we got stranded, I didn't have any food. LOL! Andrew, Godfrey, Joey, Woody, and Jonathan all climbed out and dug the sand out from under the wheels. Godfrey got behind the wheel and the boys pushed as he backed out. We were free!
We retired that evening after a short devotion and a few songs.
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