Outbreak

On our trip to Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP), we learned that five men were found dead in the park near one of the lakes. It was quite a mystery for the game wardens, since there seemed to be no causes for their deaths. There were no bullet wounds or trauma on the bodies, yet they had died during the night.

 

It turns out that there was an anthrax outbreak among the hippo community within QENP and many of them were killed from being in contact with spores along the lake shores. The men that were found had been poachers...they had died from eating hippo meat. This was sobering news as we set out down the Kazinga channel - a 40km river connecting the park's two largest lakes (George and Edward).

 

 

We took a launch cruise down the river and saw all sorts of animals playing in the water. There are also 11 native fishing communities allowed to live inside QENP...it would be kinda amazing to swim in the hippo-infested waters or view elephants in your front yard!

 

As the sun begins to descend...elephants cease to play in the waters, buffaloes start to wander home, and the fishermen return from the horizon. To see the rest of the album, click here.