Holiday Hootnany Part 3

So I realize that yet again, the ending of my last Holiday Hootnany post was less than stellar.  In fact, it doesn't even seem to make much sense.  But instead of going back and fixing what you've already read... I'll just continue and pretend that I didn't proofread what I wrote :)

I ended just as we were walking through the forest, though, in search of this:

Seriously, the photos don't do it justice, but it was an entire cave full of bats!  It was so fascinatingly disgusting.  Really, I hate bats.  There are so many around my compound and even living in my house, and I see them all the time here in Jb, but I just hate them.  Flying rats.  Gross.  So to see an entire cave full of them... yech.  Some were flying in and out of their cave, but most were just hanging around and squeaking.  I sure didn't want to get too close, especially when the guide told us about the python that lives among the rocks at the bottom of the cave, just waiting for one of those little flying rats to lose his grip on his rock.

Anyway the rest of our holiday basically consisted of driving around the park, searching for animals! 

I also got to take my turn at the wheel, which was kind of fun.  It also allowed Grace and Liz to ride with their heads out the window, searching for creatures in the forest.

 We also found a real visitor's centre!  I'm such a sucker for visitor centres, even if it's full of mangy old stuffed animals that are half eaten by moths!  They did have a neat topographic display of the area, though, which was nice to see.

After a few more animal sightings, it was time to go back to our little lodge.  Of course, what road trip through a national park would be complete without stopping by the side of the road to reassemble a warthog skull?

That particular night we got home quite late.  In fact, we almost didn't make it home at all!  There are a couple of gates to the park, but of course, very little information given at any of them.  As we were driving at dusk towards the gate that we needed to exit through in order to get back to our lodge (outside the park), the thought crossed my mind... hmmm... I wonder if they lock the gates at night.... Sure enough, we made it to the gate just before dark, and it was closed.  And no one was around.  But generally, in Africa, there is always SOMEONE around.  So we hooted our horn.  Sure enough, in a few minutes, the gate guard game sauntering out... with his baby in his arms.
First, he got a little upset with us for hooting the horn - that is not allowed in the park (even though Grace had hooted at a sleeping hippo earlier in the day and the guy didn't even bat an eyelash - thankfully!).  And he also informed us that the gate was closed at locked at 6:30 pm (it was now about 7).  Ugandans being the friendly sort that they are, though, heeded our pleas of ignorance, and just opened the gate for us.  No problem, and out we went!  Again, I was experiencing a little bit of culture shock, since that would NOT be what would happen in this country!

Anyway, driving down the "highway" (which was actually a paved road!), Grace's good eyes were able to slam on the brakes in time to avoid hitting a huge bush pig that wandered across the road!  That was the only one of those that we saw the whole trip, though we had seen too many warthogs to count already.

Back at the lodge, we were rather a tired bunch of tourists, but we managed to stay awake long enough to have some food, and for me to fall asleep (yet again!) during an episode of "House" on my computer.

The next day we woke up with the sun (again - what's this I hear about people actually being able to sleep in on their holidays?!), in order to get an early start on the long drive back to Entebbe.  Once again, it was a beautiful drive - I still can't get over the amazing state of the roads in Uganda.  The kids were great in the car and we all just enjoyed the scenery and the singing and chatting and snacks.

Don't we look like we were having fun?  I think the highlights of the trip home were the "wild peeing" and searching for bushes and termite mounds big enough to squat behind, as well as the section of road where we went over 164 speed bumps (and missed about 40 more!).  Of course, we had to stop at the roadside stalls to do some more shopping, which I am proud to say I did in record time (and was wonderfully successful, I found out, when I brought the gifts back to their intended recipients here in Jb!).

Back in EBB, we all went out to the Golf Nest for a bite to eat (no food in the house and no desire to forage in the kitchen after 8 hours in the car!). We also decided that Liz needed to sample some of the local brew before she left the country.

The following day (Saturday), we all just had a bit of a relaxing morning and went off to do some shopping - both for food for the weekend, as well as for a bunch of stuff that I wanted to get to bring back to Jb.  I absolutely love the little Saturday market in Entebbe.  They have so many wonderful fruits and vegetables... and they cost next to nothing!

I just kept shaking my head at the prices... and buying more and more things to bring back to Jb with me!  I mean, you can't go wrong with a whole bag of oranges (14 of them!) for less than $1.  I also got 4 huge avocados for about $1, and splurged on 6 apples for $2. I figured that even if they didn't let me on the plane with all that fruit, I'd only be out $4.  The same fruit here in Jb would have cost me about $20, and it's not even all available all the time.

I think Liz was getting a bit bored of all my shopping, so we went for a little afternoon stroll in the Botanical Gardens.  So lovely.  The weather was just about perfect - not too hot, not too cold. There were lots of beautiful flowers to take photos of, of course.

We tried at one point to take a little break on one of the benches.  Of course, we had brought some bananas with us for a little snack.  Not too smart to bring bananas into a botanical gardens full of monkeys!

Notice the banana peel in this guy's little paw.  We sorta got chased off the bench by this monkey.  So much for a relaxing snack!

The gardens were really beautiful, though, and we had a lovely time wandering around.  It's so nice to have a park to be in, and a place to really just enjoy nature!  I've been missing walking and strolling and seeing nature since being in Jb.  It just brings me so much refreshment, it's like soothing balm to the soul to see beauty in the creation!

The following day, we spent the morning sleeping and relaxing and packing, and it was back to Jb, my cousin Liz in tow!