Safari!

For Eli's 7th birthday, we travelled to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Located in southwestern Uganda, this beautiful reserve stretches 764 square miles and is home to an array of African wildlife. We had a wonderful time relaxing at a safari lodge, driving into the park in search of animals, and taking a boat tour on Kazinga Channel, which connects Lake George and Lake Edward. Below are some snapshots from our trip.

View from Kingfisher Lodge with Mount Stanley (the 3rd highest peak in Africa) in the background.

The kids were excited to have great views from our van while on safari. Our guide didn't know how to drive, so Marc had the adventure of navigating through the mud and potholes in search of wildlife.

We saw lots of amazing animals. Here's a Water Buck grazing near Kazinga Channel.

Water Buffalo. We saw many of these in large herds.

Ugandan Cob - so graceful and beautiful.

Roadblock! We saw lots of these very close to the road. I guess you don't have to be afraid when you are bigger than most vehicles.

The kids enjoyed having a closer look at the animals from our roof rack.

Marabou stork. Queen Elizabeth is home to over 500 species of birds.

Monitor Lizard

Baboon mother and baby enjoying a banana.

Katelyn directing us to the animals.

Our favorite part of the trip was a boat ride where we got an up close look at some of the more dangerous wildlife.

Crocodile

Ahhh! Isaac and Katelyn made us so nervous as they ran all around the boat and insisted on getting as close to the edge as possible. We certainly didn't want to have to jump in after them if they fell in! Check out that hungry hippo submerged in the water.

Hippo family

Enjoying one of the many beautiful sunsets over the park.

The kids loved the pool, even though the water was frigid!

Had to stop for a pic as we crossed the equator.

It was a memorable birthday for Eli Marcus!