Zebra. We have seen Warthogs, most antelope types: Kob, Water Buck, Topi, Wildebeest, Impala, Eland and more...We have seen African wild dogs, Hyena and Mongoose. The list keeps going and we have been blessed to see so much of the beauty and wonder of Africa. This past week was our Mission Couples' Conference and we traveled back to Western Uganda to the Rwenzori Mountains and Queen Elizabeth Game Reserve. One hotel chain has lodges in all four of the national parks and they are all high end hotels so it is a treat to have visited them all. The food is generally up to American standards and we feel relatively safe eating. Of course, the water is not safe so we are very careful to make sure we drink only bottled water. This reserve had some beautiful scenery as it is surrounded by Lake Edward and Lake George with a canal between the two. We saw some wonderful animals and birds. Sue and I both have pictures in this blog so we hope you enjoy them.
Susan and I at the entrance to Queen Elizabeth National Park
President and Sister Chatfield have become very good friends of ours. We love them and appreciate the great leadership they provide for this mission.
Mweya Safari Lodge 
Looking down from the safari lodge...
Swamp fly catcher
We have many varieties of very colorful birds. This is a village weaver
The National Bird -the Crested Crane
The Crested Crane in flight
The canopy of Acacia trees in the valley below is the home of the tree climbing lions in this end of the park.
These tree climbing lions have easy access to the lower branches of the fig tree so they climb up the limbs to get away from the tsetse fly and it is cooler in the tree. All lions can climb trees, it is getting down that is the problem. The tree makes all the difference.
The Topi is an antelope we have not seen before. They are bigger than most other antelope but not quite as large as an elk. They are always running and can cover 80 km in an hour. Their hide is a darker brown than most of the deer-like-animals.
We stopped for a potty break and to take pictures by this stream. The white tree in the background is actually in the DR Congo as this river divides Uganda and the DR Congo.
We chartered a double decker open sight-seeing boat that took us down the canal between Lake Edward and Lake George. It is on this canal that the Hippos, Elephants and Cape Buffalo gather. As you will see, the Crocodiles and birds are plentiful as well.
These are African Long Boats used for fishing. The fishermen go out at night and return at dawn. Inside each one you can see the nets they use.
A couple of baby Elephants
We interrupted a town meeting
This Crock was looking for lunch but was laying right in the middle of several Hippos and Cape Buffalo
This Hippo seemed comfortable socializing with the Cape Buffalo
The boat interrupted this pod of Hippos, but they moved out of the way.
This Fish Eagle was over looking the water looking for lunch
This Crock was sunning on the bank but headed for the water as we neared the bank. I got him just before he entered the water
This was a large beetle...about 3 inches long with pinchers at his mouth.
This Bull Elephant was eating by the road as we exited the park
Near the park entrance
This trucker lost his brakes and took out 3 other vehicles. The bodies were lined up on the road after we passed. This is a common site. There is poor maintenance on all vehicles here so lots of accidents. We also passed a dead body on the side of the road as we got closer to Kampala...not related to this accident but probably a pedestrian. Pedestrians here do not have the right-of-way. It is very difficult to see them when driving at night. There are no sidewalks so they walk on the edge of the road.
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