Let us rewind back to the first trip I made up country…
Nicole came up to Lira to meet me on Friday, and Saturday morning we left for Murchison Falls National Park. We were able to take a vehicle from my organization because some participants left the 4-day workshop early and everyone else could ride in the other remaining vehicles which were heading back to Kampala. That is how we were lucky enough to have James as our driver for the weekend and have a chance to learn a lot from him. (In the interest of transparency and accountability, we did pay for the extra vehicle miles and James’s fees. Despite traveling in a company car.)
Nicole, would you like to take the helm on this one?
I sure would….So, off we went. The road started out great—paved tarmac most of the way. During the trip we learned a bit about James. Not only is a fantastic driver, careful, alert, and informative when it comes to pointing things out along our travels, but he is a real Ranger. He retired from the Uganda Wildlife Association, or UWA, after working there for over 40 years. He’s 69 years old, jovial, missing many teeth and speaks broken English. He is literate but his education did not stray far from the first few years of school. At UWA he was mainly stationed in Murchison National Park, so lucky for us he knew the area real well. Upon retirement they gave him an award for being such a dedicated and faithful employee. As a parting gift, he was given a lifetime membership to the national parks—something he is very proud of. In the many hours of travel, James told us about his family and children. His salary over the years was meager but he prioritized education for his five children and now has two daughters pursuing degrees in Brisbane, Australia. He and his family (he had multiple wives like many men here but eventually decided that having one “was better on [his] wallet”) grow on their farm most of what they need to live. As a driver, James earns 20,000 shillings a day (8 USD) and gets 40,000 extra for food and accommodation when traveling up country. Work is intermittent. In a society where no real pension scheme exists and salaries are small, it’s no easy feat to put kids through secondary school, and nearly unheard of to send all 5 kids to higher education. I can just imagine the sacrifices he and his wives (yes, plural) must have made to do so.
We quickly fell in love with James. And, it turns out, we weren’t the only ones. When we got to the park, we easily saw how everyone’s faces lit up when they spotted him. Once into the park, we realized that James is also an expert on the wildlife. Not only was he able to tell us the names of all the animals and birds, he was able to tell us about their lifespan, their hunting habits, and all sorts of other fun facts.
Driving through the park on Saturday, we reached a split in the road and started down the newer dirt road. James very quickly realized this new road would not take us in the right direction. He, rightly so, was annoyed there was no sign at this intersection. The next day, as we were exiting through the park gate, James pulled over to let the guard in the booth know that a sign is needed at that juncture. What a stand-up guy, still dedicated to his work even after his job was done.
James was able to arrange our riverboat ride on Saturday. We took the boat past crocodiles, hippos, monkeys and birds to the Murchison Falls, discovered by none other than some famed British exporter who named the falls after Lord Murchison, who, by the way, never saw the falls in his namesake. Murchison Falls is the part of the River Nile (not to be confused with the Nile River) that squeezes through a 7 meter gap and comes rushing out. It started to rain very hard just as we reached the falls and were ready to turn around and head back.
Sunday we woke up early in order to see some lions attempting to grab some breakfast. They were unsuccessful, but we did get a little show. Here are some pictures from our day.
Sunrise over the River Nile
It's a hungry, hungry one
These guys walk like they own the place
On a very sad, but real note, the jaded past of LRA’s destruction for 20 years in Northern Uganda is inescapable in this area. The originator of the quaint lodging we stayed at was shot and killed by LRA rebels when he went out one afternoon in 2006 to save a distressed hiker. This victim of the LRA left behind a wife, a kid, and another on the way.
