*How* did the elephants cross the road?

So, we're were in Murchison National Park and came
across about a dozen elephants. They were maybe 50 yards
from the road. Water was on the other side so they
had to cross it, but we were sitting there gawking
at them. Over the next 5-10 minutes they formed and
implemented a strategy. Here they are:



They bunched together in a tight group and headed
for the road.



First they sent an adolescent across. The flapping ears
are supposedly a warning.





Then the mothers came across shielding the babies from us.



The last one was an adolescent too.




Finally, when they were across the road one of them stared
us down and made sure we didn't follow them into the tall grass.





Later on we saw this bird





and these lions. I got out of the car to take pictures of the
elephants, but stayed inside for the lions!

Uganda

If anyone is actually reading this, I have not
disappeared. Just went to Uganda where I don't
have a fast internet connection and can't upload
pictures.

I went to Murchison Falls National Park. On the
way we stopped at a rhino rehabilitation project
that has the only rhinos in the country. Three are
recent babies, one is named Obama as he has a
Kenyan father and American mother! At Murchison I
saw kob (National animal), water buffalo, giraffes,
elephants, a couple lions and all sorts of birds.
Pictures and a cool elephant story when I get home
this weekend.

So I leave for Uganda tomorrow. I haven't posted much as what
I've been up to is only interesting to me, walking around,
seeing people, doing math.

I ran into a few of my algebra students from two years ago:



It was fun seeing them again!

So how do you get around town? Well, there are minibuses
and moto-taxis. The minibuses are the size of a small van.
They have a driver and conductor then they squeeze in 17
passengers. There are (an increasing number of) bigger
buses too, but none the size of what we have at home.






You can hail a moto-taxi almost anywhere and go anywhere
in town, up to 4 miles away for less than $3. The minibus
is about 30 cents, but obviously takes a lot longer. Also,
if it empties out too much at a stop, they may wait til it
fills up some before going on. Two years ago I did not see a
single woman as either minibus driver, conductor, moto-taxi
driver or cab driver. In the last two weeks I have seen at
least one of each.

A correction to two years ago: I said Gandhi worked in Uganda.
It was South Africa. I have no idea why they built a bust of
him in Uganda and scattered some of his ashes in the Nile there.