Paraa - Day 2

Day 2 was designed to start with an early morning wake up at 6am so that we could hit the game park as early as possible. Instead, Amelia and I woke up late, ate breakfast late and then we struggled to check out (because they have a dial-up modem for credit cards). So we didn't get on the road until 7:25am.
Didn't matter. Safaris are awesome.
As you can see, the highlight of the drive was probably the female lion. We basically gave it a pat on the head. Our driver drove towards the animal and didn't stop until we were about 15 ft away. The side windows were wide open and we were standing up through the open top. I had visions of that terrible horror movie staring Bridget Moynahan called Prey where several people are mauled by lions.
Our guide was strangely casual about the entire event. That seems to be the norm for people who work around animals all the time. You develop a false sense of comfort and then...BAM...something eats you. Hopefully that doesn't happen to our guide.
The rest of the drive included several dozen springbok, Uganda Kob, Jackson Hartebeest and other horned ungulates; a couple families of giraffes; an elephant; lots of hippos; hornbills; and a lion. But for me the safari wasn't about seeing specific animals, it was about seeing wild animals. So I was completely satisfied with our experience. Murchison Falls Nat'l Park is the largest national park in the country, so I was excited just to be driving around standing through the top of a land rover.
One interesting thing to note: oil has been found underneath the park. In the US, this would be a huge deal. In Alaska, for example, people get stirred up when there's talk of drilling in ANWR. Here, where they need as much money as possible, drilling in a national park isn't an issue. We saw newly created roads that were wider than normal so the drilling and hauling equipment could be moved with ease. I've heard stories about the wildlife being affected already...but they aren't given much weight here. Priorities are a little different in a third world country.
I asked Frank (host dad) about people's views of national parks and vacations within Uganda. He basically said that the national parks are almost exclusively tourist attractions. Unless they're in the transportation or tourism business, most Ugandans have never visited a national park. He also said that those with money often prefer to go to Europe or America instead of traveling to Queen Elizabeth or Murchison Falls Nat'l Park. But because most residents of Uganda live near or below the poverty line, they certainly don't have much money to travel. The economy is growing at a very steady rate here (despite the worldwide recession), which bodes well for the future of Ugandans. Maybe someday more will have a chance to explore their natural attractions.