When You Can’t Find AAA: Trip #9

Thursday, May 19th

We arrived at the Pakuba Lodge in Murchison Falls National Park on Tuesday. Every time a newbie comes on a trip, we investigate the possibility of going on a safari. Joel seemed quite interested and so the plan was for us to drive the 4.5 hours there, catch the 4 pm safari and see some animals!

The people at the Lodge are incredibly hospitable and our driver was ready to go at the appointed time. We hopped in and were off. We immediately started to see animals. In the 3.5 hours (supposed to be 3) we saw thousands of antelope of several varieties. We also saw a few wart hogs and elephants. More plentiful were giraffes and water buffalo. On this, my third safari, I saw my first lion about 70 yards away. Hard to get a good picture as (the animal is no idiot!) it sat in the shade. I did manage to get it to smile (see the picture!). 

You do pass other vehicles on occasion; but you can get pretty isolated in this national park of 1500 square miles. We moved down by the water where we passed two homes. We drove in between them and came across a ravine we were not able to navigate. As we backed out we could see our driver stuggling…turns out he was pulling the clutch up with his foot-NOT a good sign. He was able to back out only get stuck trying to move forward on a relatively flat piece of land. What do you do when you can’t find AAA? You get out and push. We moved it a bit, only to get stuck again. We were amusing the people (including three men who seemed to possess ample pushing strength) in the two houses as we became their late afternoon entertainment.

After looking longingly in their direction, the aforementioned helped and we jumped into a moving vehicle for a direct return back to our place-in second gear. The driver tried to shift up a few times but played it safe. We were slowly making our way back (and how our 3 hour trip became 3.5). 

It is not unusual to be stopped by rangers to make sure you have the correct paperwork that you secure upon entrance. As we approached one, our driver yelled out that he could not stop and continued. The ranger was on foot, so we were pretty safe of not being stopped-for a while. 

Our slow pace did allow us to watch for animals well. Our guide let us know that that the antelope gather in large groups on the plane at night to see predators better. It was amazing to watch them gather in anticipation of a night together. Hundreds and hundreds of them.

Then we came to place where to road was blocked by two other vehicles-I guess it’s time to stop! It was obvious they were looking at something good, evidenced by the binoculars we saw and everyone gazing in the same direction. We stopped and the vehicle died-the bad news. The good news is that they were observing the lion! After about 10 minutes of observation (the lion was certainly less impressed with us, than we were it), the guide started the modified jeep in gear and was able to get it going in second gear. Mike’s assessment is that we had a great starter and a really bad clutch. And we made our way back to the lodge a half hour late, grateful that we weren’t walking and becoming a buffet for wildlife!

Turns out Joel, the director of curriculum played out a scenario in his head that was neither comforting, nor accurate (thankfully). He had taken some security classes and he flashed back to this being a really great time and site for an ambush. I was partly annoyed and amused at the whole episode. In America, we are used to life working. We ended up with a story and muddy shoes which was addressed the next morning as the cleaning lady took it upon herself to address. We never made the call AAA. Next post-an interesting man we met at the lodge.

Larry Szyman

Pastor for Missional Life