We went on the trip to see the gorillas as part of an overland guided trip. The truck you see here was our home for 3 weeks. We camped out most nights, sometimes in the middle of nowhere, usually in an official campground. These people were our roommates. In Uganda, 2 people stayed to work at the volunteer organization.

Our first stop was a park called Lake Nakuru National Park. It is known for it's huge quantities of flamingos. They were as noisy as can be.

A nice photo of us scaring away the flamingos.

The zebras were fat. Apparently zebras have a talent to stay fat, even when there is no food or anything.

The park had black and white rhinos. They got very close to the car, but we were always prepared to drive away quickly I can assure you.

We went out on a quiet boat trip around Lake Manyara to see the birds. There were a few hippos that we passed by. Incredibly this one charged us. You don't have to wonder any more if these guys can haul ass in the water. This gal made a giant wake as she pushed through the water, presumbaly running on the lake bottom. It was frightening, couldn't even get the picture straight!

We drove by a ton of kids going to school. Most of them decided to chase us.

I just thought this was cute. Probably a place that President Bush would go to renew his driver's license if he lived in Uganda.

The famous equator as seen only from Uganda. Those yellow trays next to us were used by a man to prove to us that water really does spin opposite directions north and south of the equator. He set them up filled with water and used 1 blade of grass. When he let the blade of grass go not more than 50 feet from this equator marked, the grass did in fact spin opposite directions! We couldn't believe it!

Welcome to the Volcano National Park. We arrived here early in the morning riding on the back of a small pickup for 10 miles or so. The shocks on that truck weren't very good. I'm afraid that the road was even worse!

This is the volcano where Dian Fossey tracked gorillas for years and years. She was ultimately disappeared. The locals suspect that poachers finally did her in. They didn't find us because we had 10 guys with machine guns accompanying us. One of them also had a rocket launcher and 5 rockets (in case 1 wasn't enough). They told us that the rockets were for buffalo in case one wanted to attack us. The mountain was so steep though, I fail to see how or why a buffalo would go to where we were.

In Rwanda the national park worker guys search out the gorillas every morning at 6 AM. They have a pretty good idea of where to find them because 2 men stay with the gorillas every night until it gets dark. Although they knew where the gorillas were, we treked through the rainforest for an hour and a half to get to them. It was quite the build up (and treacherous walking) and was very exciting when the guide said "hold it right here." We had found a family of 12 or so the guide said. We actually only saw about 6 of them during the hour that we got to spend with them (they only allow a 1-hour visit). There was one baby and a silver back.

Although you are supposed to only come within 20 feet of them, we actually were much closer at times. The gorillas are very playful (and fast). It's hard to keep your distance when you just want to get closer and the gorillas are running all around.

This gal (I think) was eyeing us suspiciously during breakfast.

Although I didn't know it before, evidently Uganda is famous for it cattle. They have enormous horns (this is not a particularly large one) that puts the Texas longhorn to shame.

People were selling bananas all along the roadside. They dress very colorfully making it a very nice site.

I couldn't resist putting this one in. Now this was one cute kid!

While in Uganda, we volunteered to help repair a school for the day. There is a volunteer organization in Uganda that spends its time building and fixing the schools for kids. They took us a class for young children first where we were introduced to a ton of kids.

You wouldn't believe it. Todd didn't even get paid for this!

We left the first school, then went to a school for older kids. Our job for the day was to paint the trim in a classroom. The kids found us to be a little interesting. There were as many kids as could squeeze by that window watching us. That is a little distracting!

When we drove by, kids would run out of their houses and wave to us. Usually they asked for water bottles. They didn't beg for money in Uganda (although it was clear that they needed it), they only wanted empty water bottles that they could take to school. Most people don't have plumbing or running water. They have to carry water to their houses from nearby lakes, streams, or sometimes puddles.

We braved it and went mountain biking at Hell's Gate in Kenya on the way back to Nairobi. This is the entrance.

There were zebras, hartebeast, wild boars, and a few other non-dangerous animals there. Here's mightly Kam.

Todd got a photo with the zebras as well.