A game drive and a boat cruise

Continuing on through Uganda, next on the agenda was Queen Elizabeth National Park. It's an enormous game park set between the Great Rift Valley lakes of Edward and George. We did a game drive through the park, then continued on to do a boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel. 

I can't get over how quickly the terrain changes here! While we were up near Kibale Forest, we were in lush hills where tea plantations are abundant. It was incredibly green, with dense vegitation everywhere. Not a half-bad place to camp!! 

There was even a buidling with couches and a thatched roof to take in the amazing views. 

However, by the time we were down to Queen Elizabeth, we were back into somewhat drier and more savanah-like areas. We'd gone from tropical to seeing cactus! The variation here is breathtaking. We entered the park and almost immediately were rewarded with the sight of animals. 

After a short drive around, we then got to head out on a small boat cruise through the channel. This one lone elepahnt was one of the first things we saw, but the area is plentiful in hippos, buffalo, all manner of birds, and crocodiles. 

A big hippo pod. 

Just sunning himself.... 

These were the only hippos that we saw out of the water. Contrary to popular belief, apparently hippos really aren't that dangerous at all. Both our main guide, as well as the boat guide, said that it's a complete myth that hippos kill a lot of people each year. However, if a hippo was going to be dangerous, it would be while they're on land and trying to get to the water. 

We got amazingly lucky this day. About 10 minutes after we got off the boat, the rains came. And people.... the rains here are like nothing you've ever seen!