Home Safe

Our plane touched down in MA just a few hours ago. Well...most of us. It seems some confusion happened at Delta and at least one person was on a much later flight and won't arrive home until late tonight. But for the most part we are now state side and feeling that inevitable sinking feeling when returning home to a place that now seems as unfamiliar as Africa when we first touched down there. It's as odd to be surrounded by White faces as it was odd to be the minority there. It's odd to not see the dirty underbelly of abject poverty in the streets; odd to not smell the smoke of burning trash or the fumes of passing boda-boda's (bike-taxi's). As with all long trips, home has become our final foreign destination.

I'm pretty darn exhausted from the trip but I just couldn't hop on and post some pictures from Queen Elizabeth National Park, perhaps one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Well, don't take my word for it, take a gander as some of these pictures:

That top picture is of our hotel from the lake below. Our first full day included a boat safari around the lake, which was unbelievable in terms of wildlife and scenic views:

The first picture of this series shows you just how close we got to two African Elephants, who were coming down to the water to cool off and play. The second is of hippos on the left, and an elderly water buffalo to the right. Our guide explained that older males are rejected when they can no longer fight. They simply retire to the edge of the water, alone, waiting to die. The final picture in this series is of what I think (correct me if I'm wrong guys) a fishing eagle, which our guide explained is a close cousin to the bald eagle (it looks just like it in person).

And for good measure, here is a picture of a warthog in our hotel backyard, which seems fake...but they really do kneel like that. Also, look for the short video of the hippos surfacing on the lake.

Until I am more awake! Ciao! Nathan