My teenage daughter and I had the best time in June on a safari in East Africa! I’d been lucky enough to safari a few times but this trip was particularly special. Not only because I got to see the joy in her eyes as Chloe hand-fed a wild Vervet monkey slices of her watermelon from breakfast, but also because we got super-lucky at Murchison National Falls in Uganda and saw some truly amazing things this go-round: Vervet monkeys, baboons and antelope nursing, an incredibly close encounter with a herd of elephants, a three-legged lion (true story) and several rolls in the African hay (also true- thanks monkeys and lions!).

Safaris necessitate bloody early wakeup calls (4am) but the opportunity to hang yourself half out of a 4×4 as you rumble over rutted red clay roads in a stunningly beautiful park is absolutely worth the early start. And there’s afternoon naps in the hammock, right? We stayed at Nile Safari Lodge, which I affectionately describe as 4-star camping.  Outdoor rain showers, monkeys playing in the trees above your cabin and ice cold Stoneys on the balcony as the suns links down over the Nile River? Yes, please.

These are some of my favorite shots from the adventure. Click on any thumbnail to unleash a mondo-sized image. Once you have the super-sized version queued up, then click anywhere on the large image to scroll through a slideshow of them all. And I absolutely wasn’t kidding about the three-legged lion and his roll in the hay. In fact, here’s the video. But be forewarned: you’ll never be able to “unhear” those sounds.

Curious about what initially brought me to Uganda? This blog post will catch you up-to-speed!