Wednesday morning started at about 5:30am as we woke up to leave before the sunrise. Dennis was our driver from Kampala to Mbarara and he drove us today as well. He wanted to leave early so that we could try to see some lions at Queen Elizabeth National Park. We grabbed some coffee and were out. The sunrise was one of the most beautiful we’ve ever seen as we had made it to the western mountains of Uganda. The picture above is from a lookout point at the top of the mountain as come out onto the plain of the national park.
We made it to Queen Elizabeth and began to see some waterbucks,
monkeys, and even elephants, but Dennis just continued to drive because he
wanted us to see some lions and sure enough we did. He called some other drivers and caught up
with them just as they found the lions.
We saw 2 males wrestling one another and 2 females stalking some
antelope. It was definitely a once in a
lifetime experience for all of us. 
After the lions, Dennis slowed down and stopped for all the
other animals. We saw probably 60+
elephants and about 20 at one time crossing the road right behind us. We saw baboons and monkeys early on, but one
of the biggest thrills came as we were eating lunch. We ate outside looking over a huge river
channel at an embankment where water buffalo, hippos, crocs, and elephants all
came down to drink and rest. As we were
watching we saw 4 hyenas come down and spook all the animals and begin to
surround them. Everything began to
scatter in fear. We never saw them
attack, but we definitely had a glimpse into the real African wildlife. I had to break out my Steve Irwin impression
and describe the scene. 
After lunch we took a boat ride through the channel and got
up close and personal with 100’s of hippos and water buffalo, a handful of
crocs, about 20 elephants, and all kinds of birds. After the boat ride, Dennis picked us up and
we made our way back through the park and on our way home!
It’s amazing that the first day traveling we were amazed by
how different the people and culture were, but after a while they begin to be
common. The same thing happened today at
Queen Elizabeth. At the beginning of the
day, the first glimpse of an African animal is so impressive, but then after
seeing them over and over they almost become common. Cassidy found himself not wanting to waste
pictures on just another elephant unless he had the perfect shot!
I pray that we would be amazed by the most common things in
our life and see the glory of God in them as if it were the first time we had
seen them.
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