Sleeping in a Zoo

So this weekend I had the opportunity to visit Uganda's Wildlife Education Center for the second time. The first time was about a month ago when we came to Entebbe to pick Chris up from the airport. This time I got to make a road trip with a fun group of girls I've had the privilege of meeting at church a couple weeks back. We ventured out Saturday evening and made our way to Entebbe. We took a transportation called the Pineapple Express. We didn't arrive to the zoo until about 10pm. By that time it is pitch black outside. We were dropped off at the gate, we grabbed our bags and started walking. The Bandas that we stayed in are located at the back of the zoo. Here we are, walking through the zoo in the dark. I'm not going to lie, it was slightly terrifying. But then I thought to myself, how many people can say they've walked through a zoo after hours, in the dark, and in Africa?! It was a pretty sweet thought. When we arrived to our Bandas we and set our bags down. Shortly after we were settled, the power went out. At that point there wasn't much we could do, so we called it a night and headed to bed.

One of the Bandas we stayed in.

From the other side of the zoo, you can see how close the giraffes are to our Bandas. They are right beyond those trees.

The next morning we woke up and slowly got ready. Then we started the trek to the front of the zoo where we ate breakfast at the restaurant there. It over looks Lake Victoria and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore made me feel like I was back at home, sitting by Lake Michigan.

Beautiful Lake Victoria

As we were eating our omelets and chips (what Ugandans call fries) there was a dark cloud approaching. Luckily we were just finishing when it started to rain. We paid our bill and ran to the front desks. We were all set to start our tour with our friend Sam, but the rain was stopping us. Instead of heading out in the park, Sam started us in a building. In this building was skeletons of different African animals. Sam told us all about the African elephant, lions, and hyenas. He even had us role play a couple different techniques lions and hyenas use hunt their prey. 

Sam telling us about the African elephant

Skull of a lion

Sam teaching us about the hot springs in southwest Uganda

It continued to rain, so after we were done we headed back to the front desk to deliberate what we were going to do. We decided to head back to the Bandas until the rain stopped. On our way to the Bandas the rain had stopped, so we decided to start our adventure there. We saw so much of God's creation, and like He said in the beginning, 'It was good'. We even road a camel! 

The Rhino

How creative was God when He made the zebra?! So beautiful.

My pal Charles, the 3 year old elephant. What a wonderful creature.

Now this is Africa.

Feeding the giraffe.

Aren't these guys gorgeous??

Laura and I riding the camel. Whoo-hoo!

After we finished our tour, we headed back to the zoo restaurant and had some lunch, and as soon as we were finished, (king) Solomon was there waiting to take us back to Jinja in the Pineapple Express. Solomon became our friend very quickly. Before we even hopped in the van with him, he decided it was okay to stop for frozen yogurt on the way home. Frozen yogurt can only be found in Kampala/Entebbe, so when you live in Jinja it is quite a treat! After a few bumps in the road, like stalling in the middle of Kampala, and our spare tire coming loose, we finally made it to Jinja. God was on our side. Although we were only away for about 24hrs it was a nice get away and spend some time with a great group of woman!