The climax of a trip to Queen Elizabeth National Park is the boat ride on Lake Edward and Lake George. The ride offers an array of photo opportunities comprising birds, mammals and reptiles guzzling water in one frame, writes Titus Kakembo.

In the company of five colleagues, we were on a boat at 4:00pm and saw the sun tiptoeing away, splashing the horizon with gold.

As the engine chugged for two hours, we would stop to take photos of albino hippos. The migrant birds that fly all the way from Europe to Uganda left us in awe of their splendour.

A buffalo in Queen Elizabeth National Park with two Pien Kingfishers having a break on its horns

And by their side, were Nile crocodiles with their jaws agape, buffaloes and submerged hippos.

There were pied kingfishers taking a break on the horns of a buffalo and antelopes grazing, but on full alert with pointed ears.

Then, came this elephant in his teens visibly full of life as he guzzled so much water and ate the vegetation.

As it moved in the murky water, something like a fifth leg popped out of its belly. It searched through the reeds and thorny undergrowth without flinching in pain.

“Has that elephant got five legs?” Maureen Namayanja hazarded a question to our guide.

“Or is it another trunk on the belly?”  “The small leg is its sex organ,” explained Steven Nyadru of Uganda Wildlife Authority.

“The protrusion shows it is excited. You mistook its organ for a fifth leg that stretches up to three metres when mature. It is the longest among land mammals!”

Nyadru added that he has seen the bulls monitoring the females, sniffing their urine to detect the one on heat.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is back to business. Domestic and foreign tourists are flocking the park again

They then rub their trunks on the females’ erogenous zones, which sends messages to the cow’s brain that they are ready to mate.

Before and after the COVID-19 lockdown, the park remains one of the most visited attractions in Uganda.

Reviews about Africa’s iconic animal, the lion, occupy lots of space in the media.

Social media and print are almost always abuzz with news and features glorifying the destination.

Being a frequent traveller at the park, I will never hesitate to put on my travel boots, baseball cap and zoom to the park.

There is always something new to feast your eyes on, listen to or sniff.

“Once you see vultures and hyenas salivating, be sure that in the time it takes you to bat an eyelid you will see a pride of lions dining. Their table manners have it that the weaker sex (lionesses) does the hunting, but the lion has to have his fill before the cubs and his lionesses get their portions!” Nyadru says.

His revelation excited me and I could not wait to leave our grass thatched huts of Kasenyi Safari Camp to see the lions feasting.

By 4:00am, I was up packing my rucksack with water, sunshades, an extra cap and snacks, ass I braced myself for a day with the lions.

“There is a new normal, which involves disinfecting shoes, washing hands, wearing a mask and reading the temperature at the entrance,” cautioned Nyadru.

“There in the fig trees is a lion using the branch like a balcony. They camouflage with the bark as they sunbathe or brace to pounce on their prey,” he explained.

After seeing this prized signature of Africa, the lion, early in the morning, Namayanja suggested that we return to Kasenyi Safari Lodge and celebrate with a drink.

However, the driver, Eric Mauso, revealed that the climax of the boat ride happens at 4:00pm.

The safari drive on a dirt track through the park to Kasenyi trading centre treated us to warthogs sprinting with their pointed tails.

When grazing, they kneel just like Christians do when they are praying. The birds were seen and heard chirping in the trees and sky, filling the air with the sound of their music.

It was generally a good feel, seeing a handful of tourists visiting the park after the pandemic and subsequent lockdown in March 2020.

During the ride, I recalled the oral literature in Buganda that has lions featuring as the main character. It is often repackaged to contextually suit a given audience at a particular time.

Lunch on junk food

At lunchtime, we brought joy to the Kasenyi community that has suffered low volumes of tourists since the pandemic began last year.

They cheerfully served us lunch. See, the community depends on fishing in Lake George and tourism and that is why they were so glad to have us around.

By 1:00pm, the residents are in the pubs playing pool, drinking beer and dancing.

The girls and lads pump their torsos back and forth to the Soukous music blasting from ear assaulting speakers.

The woman who prepares food was overwhelmed by an order of 10 plates of deep fried fish, millet bread, and kachumbari.

Her plate in Kampala would cost sh30,000, but it cost us sh3,000 much to our surprise.

We dined under a tree shade and attracted crowds of children surprised to see black tourists as it is always bushy-bearded Europeans or Indians.

We bought them a cone of ice cream each and they were elated.

The residents have stories to tell about their culture, randy lifestyles and economic activities on the lakes.

One of the teachers in the local schools, who switched to hawking second-hand clothes, proposed marriage to Namayanja.

“I have bought a 50X100ft piece of land,” cooed the Kasenyi suitor, called Absalom Byaruhanga.

“Let us go and I introduce you to my mother, who is pestering me for grandchildren before she dies.”

He promised to do anything for Namayanja.