20th January - Murchison Falls NP and C’s 60th Birthday

C’s alarm woke us up at 5.30am and we hurriedly got dressed to be ready for 6pm.  I was told that the balloon ride would be cold and we’d need layers so had squirrelled away a long-sleeved shirt of C’s and his waterproof in my rucksack.  Of course, he decided he wanted to wear this particular shirt today and spent ages rooting around in his luggage looking for said shirt.

We set off just after 6pm as if we were going on an ordinary game drive.  After about 40 minutes, right beside the huge new Chinese road, we came across the hot air balloon virtually inflated and Chris suddenly twigged that this might be part of his birthday present!  It was just the 3 of us and a lovely Dutch couple also celebrating a birthday.  The basket was in 3 partitions - a larger central area with 3 propane bottles and 2 guys then two smaller sections either side.  There were 2 steps in the basket to help you climb in and even Mum managed it with a little help - she’s one tough old bird!!

Proudly holding our certificates!

We were given a landing briefing and then quite suddenly we were off.  It was very surreal floating across the landscape looking down on the vast savannah which seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see in all directions.  The animals hated the sound of the burner and would shoot off as soon as we got near.  We saw the usual suspects plus an elephant with her youngster and a couple of hyenas.  Much to my surprise, we actually did quite a lot of the “flight” at a very low level and were literally skimming the tops of the grass and shrubs no more than 1-2 metres off the ground.  We thought the pilot a bit cavalier as our side of the basket hit an acacia bush and unfortunately Mum got snagged on it and it wrote off her fleece jacket and she got quite a nasty scratch on her arm.  However, we all agreed that it was a great experience and a fun way to kick of C’s 60th birthday.

After we had landed, we were then driven to a viewpoint over the Albert Nile for a bush breakfast, which was delicious.  We put the world to rights with the Dutch couple who we will see later on our boat ride.  By this time, it was nearly 10am and our game drive was supposed to go on until midday but we were about a 30 minute drive away from the savannah.  So, we pulled the plug on it as were almost beside the hotel and decided to actually have some down time as have had precious little so far!!

C opened his presents and cards and we then retired to some loungers by the pool and decided to have a drink to continue celebrating the big day.

African skimmers

In the afternoon, we had a boat trip down the Nile 17km to visit Murchison Falls.  It was a double tiered pontoon boat which came from the other side of the river so we were the last stop to pick up passengers.  We managed to find a bench seat down stairs for the 3 of us.  We had a guide on each level who pointed out various different sorts of wildlife.  We saw hippos, crocodiles, elephants, baboons, water bucks and various birds including the African skimmer and the red throated bee-eater. 

Murchison Falls

We got glimpses of some black and white monkeys too but didn’t get a good look at them.  You knew you were approaching the falls as lumps of foam start to swirl past the boat.  We hugged the right-hand side of the river and then went round a corner and boom, the falls were in front of us.  We couldn’t go too close for some reason so they were quite far away.  The air was quite hazy due to the locals burning farmland so my photos just don’t do it justice.  Take my word for it, they were impressive!  We then dropped off all of upstairs and half of downstairs who had signed up for walking up the cliff and then round to the top of the falls - totally mad in the hottest part of the day in my opinion!  Once the last passengers had disembarked, we moved upstairs and enjoyed the ride back down river.

Once we got back, we decided to have some G&T’s and then went upstairs for dinner.  The travel company had organised a cake for Chris so I had to try and sort that out surreptitiously which was very difficult.  When we’d finished the main course, the kitchen doors burst open and about 5 or 6 of the staff came out bearing the cake singing and dancing.  Chris was mortified!  However, what really made it funny was that they hadn’t a clue where the birthday boy was sitting so went around the dining room trying to offload the cake at various tables before being turned away.  Eventually, a huge Black Forest gateau appeared complete with “Happy Birthday Chris” on the top of it.  The candles were lit and then blown out and various tables clapped their congratulations.  Of course, taking 3 slices hardly made an impression on the cake, so Chris took it around trying to persuade other tables to help us out.  Eventually, a quarter was left which was taken away and we were told we could have it tomorrow night.  Yippee - as it was delicious!