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UGANDA
'The future depends on what we do in the present.'
Mahatama Gandhi
One still perhaps associates Uganda with the dreadful atrocities of the Idi Amin years and one wonders how the country and its people, could ever recover from such horrors and instability.
Bearing this in mind, Uganda turned out to be our big surprise of all the countries visited so far. It was incredibly green and very beautiful, with fantastic, natural scenery. Wherever we visited, we felt extremely safe and were always greeted by friendly people.
To visit the mountain gorillas, we decided, would be a once in a lifetime experience and the forests of the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in south western Uganda, close to the border with the Congo, are one of the last places left to find this now, rare animal.
The last mountain gorillas left in the world today, are all found in a small area of East Africa straddling the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and Congo.
25th November
The green hills, banana trees and fields full of healthy crops continued from Matakala where we crossed the border without any problems and found the officials very welcoming. There were plenty of fruit and vegetable stalls, huge bunches of green bananas and giant Jack fruits at the sides of the road, with no shortage of rich, green grass for the cattle and goats.
North to Masaka and then the road for Kampala, a hectic city of smoke and fumes belching out from congested traffic, making it a city thick with pollution. Fighting our way through the late, afternoon traffic, we eventually found the Backpackers Hostel and it was great to see Rielle and Jeroen our Dutch friends were also there camping, in a nice, quiet grass area with shady trees.
26th - 30th November
Kampala gradually grew on us and it had a great atmosphere but it was sad to see so many disabled people and street children begging.
During our stay, we made an interesting walk to the down town area with Rielle and Jeroen. We visited the Teachers House in Bombo Road where the disabled widows and youths made lovely crafts to sell in their shop, along with other artefacts from elsewhere in Africa.
We discovered a fast Internet, visited a very decorative Hindu Temple, found where we could fill one of our gas bottles, were able to book our visit to the gorillas at the Ugandan Wildlife Office, stocked up at a good supermarket and had a meal at Mama Mia, sitting outside and watching the afternoon traffic build up.
1st December
Another new month begins and it will soon be Xmas! We left Kampala today hoping to catch up with our Dutch friends later in Nairobi.
We turned off for Mbarara and then on to Kabale, the green landscape and rolling hills continuing into the hazy distance. Bananas were big business here, green mountains of them lay by the roadside, lorries were loaded with them and sacks filled with them. Mile after mile of emerald, rich grass, trees and hills, many fields now divided off by fences and hedges. This southern part of Uganda was certainly very beautiful and is often referred to as 'The Switzerland of Africa' with its cultivated and terraced fields reaching right to the top of the hills, amongst forests and lakes. We had a beautiful view whilst we stopped for lunch, bought a pineapple, tomatoes and an avocado at a nearby stall and then continued on to Kabale to stay for the night.
2nd December
We arrived at the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and then the village of Buhoma, after a long journey over rough, dirt roads, climbing up and around steep, rounded hills, passing villages and little thatched huts nestling in the valleys or perched on the hillsides but everywhere a world of green.
We camped at the Community Campsite in Buhoma where there were hot showers, good food and friendly people and where we also met James and Chris, both from the UK and backpacking around Africa.
3rd December
Our big day trekking the gorillas! The weather looked good after having had rain most days and we were up at the crack of dawn, as we had to check our permits in soon after 7.30 a.m. A briefing followed this, as there were many strict rules to be adhered to, which was encouraging, and then a vehicle took us along dirt roads for approx 40 minutes to our starting point.
There were 8 people in our group, the maximum allowed. Australians, New Zealanders and a Kenyan, plus two armed rangers and Augustine our guide, a great guy, who stopped to point out birds and give us information about trees, plants and crops, as we climbed up through the scattered villages before reaching the edge of the forest. A small group of children appeared on the opposite hillside and began to sing to us, welcoming Muzungus (white people), to BwindiForest. Their little voices sounded lovely and floated across to us.
We were trekking the Habinyanja group of gorillas which was the largest group, with about 24 individuals and a dominant silverback. This group however, could prove a tough climb before being found but we heard from people who had visited them yesterday that they were not too far away.
As we reached the edge of the forest after about an hours climb, we met the rangers who had been out early tracking the gorillas for us and we were told they were about another half hour trek through the forest, not an easy walk across a sloping and slippery forest floor, with messages sent down the line to step over the soldier ants when sighted.
We came across the gorillas, maybe 10-15 of them with the big silverback, a number of youngsters and some females, one with a baby clinging to her back. Distance from them had to be kept at about 7 metres and Augustine continually made reassuring noises to them. The gorillas feel at ease with the guides who have spent hours just sitting and watching their behaviour.
We moved on, following the gorillas through the forest after having watched the youngsters playing and having fun swinging from the trees. The silverback preferred mostly to remain hidden, but suddenly he dashed half way up a tree with the agility of a small monkey, pulled down some large branches as if they were twigs and then lay back in the forest munching the leaves but also keeping an eye on us through the undergrowth. His size was unbelievable, what a presence! Our hour watching them came to an end all too quickly but it had been another memorable experience.
We climbed back out of the forest and within 5 minutes it was pouring with rain, thunder and lightning over our heads and water rushing in torrents down our path. Unbelievably, the row of little girls still stood in the pouring rain waiting for us and burst into song when they sighted us once more, slipping and sliding back down the hillside. By the time we reached the vehicle that would take us back to the campsite, our feet were swimming in our boots and we were completely soaked through, even with our plastic macs.
This amazing forest at Bwindi with all its wildlife is under real threat however. Augustine described it as an island in the midst of all the cultivated land and the villagers are still trying to encroach on what is left of the forest. The rangers have a hard task keeping them at bay and one of our photographs shows the straight line between the forest and the fields. It is one of the last, remaining places where mountain gorillas can be found and if it wasn't for the tourists who come to see them, there would possibly be none left in this small area at all, the cultivators and poaching would have taken over. Gorillas are not the only animals to have benefitted from this major conservation project however. The Bwindi Park also contains a small number of elephants, other species of primates, duikers and bushbucks and the rare, giant forest hog, not to mention all the bird and insect species.
4th December
A beautiful, bright and sunny morning today lighting up the forest trees at the end of the campsite in all their array of greens. We stayed another day to get everything dry from our soaking yesterday. In the afternoon we walked through the village to visit the local hospital after an earlier invitation from Paul, an English doctor working there. We had met on the road as we drove into Buhoma and had stopped and had a long chat.
At the hospital we met Vicky (Paul's partner) and she kindly showed us around. A tiny miracle lay wrapped in one bed, a baby born 1 month premature and weighing only 1kg, so tiny, every feature on her face just perfect but in miniature! Everyone there was working under incredibly difficult conditions without any funds from the government but managing to achieve so many worthwhile tasks. We felt very humbled and deeply impressed.
Vicky offered us tea at their house, set up high with wonderful views from the balcony across the trees to the hills beyond. No electricity, so no fridge or hot showers and monkeys would often pull out the external ariel from the house, so that mobile phones would also frequently not work. Many thanks Vicky for your company and interesting tour of the hospital. You and Paul are really doing great things there. I shall never complain about a cold shower again and we hope our contribution will help towards getting you the ambulance that is so badly needed.
5th December
We left the Community Campsite at Buhoma today and drove through emerald hills, with black and white Friesian cows grazing in lush meadows full of big, shady trees, reminding us of similar scenes in England.
We passed through the village of Butogota very close to the border with Congo. It was a very rough and stony dirt road all the way, with deep gullies from the rain, chewing our tyres even more. The local guys at the campsite had given us a different route to follow, as lorries were stuck in the mud on the road to Inshasha. We passed through Burema and asked for directions to Kihihi that we seemed to have missed. Katete however, was to our left and so we continued along the track, narrowly avoiding two collisions with trucks coming in the opposite direction and taking up the whole of the road. We decided to sound our horn on every bend!
From Katete, the police directed us on to the right road for Kambuga. So many people with big smiles and friendly waves. Sadly we passed what looked to be an orphanage, the children all out on the bank in front, jumping up and down, waving and smiling.
Kambuga was quite big and there it began to rain, but fortunately not for long. The fields of banana trees continued to cover the hillsides, their wet leaves glistening in the sun again. The spectacular views continued as we climbed up and down and round the hills, crossing over a river at Kambuga, the brown, fast flowing water rushing under the bridge.
At Ruerere and then Nyakagyeme the dirt road improved and we found many people now zipping about on small motorbikes. Men struggled up the hills pushing their bikes loaded with huge bunches of green bananas, their massive, curved stalks where they had been cut from the tree, sticking out at the side.
Rukungiri next, was a large town but we were soon back amongst the hills. It was so important to the children to have 'muzungus' smile and wave to them, they were so enthusiastic and had such lovely smiles themselves. They also looked incredibly poor.
After 5 hours on the dirt roads, we finally arrived at Ishaka where we found an ATM, petrol, a tarred road again but also torrential rain.
A good road now all the way to the Queen Elizabeth National Park where we entered by the Katunguru Gate. We camped by the Kazinga Channel that connected Lakes George and Edward. We could hear the hippos honking and later in the evening a lion on the prowl. A big, golden moon rose over the hills and we could see lightning illuminating the sky in the distance but it kept dry.
6th December
A peaceful night and a beautiful sky at sunrise through our tent opening, followed by a cold shower!
The Queen Elizabeth National Park covers about 2000 sq. kilometres. It is bordered to the north by the Rwenzori Mountains, whose melting glacier waters create a vast wetland comprising 2 main lakes, George and Edward as well as the connecting Kazinga Channel, all of which are home to many hippos.
We drove through a rich, green and open savannah, dotted with acacia and euphorbia trees and surrounded by beautiful hills fading into the distance.
We saw buffalo, Ugandan Kobs (a pretty type of antelope), waterbuck and many elephant with young, including an encounter with a lone and very large, bull elephant. We unfortunately disturbed him whilst he was having a mud bath, next to the track. He became quite threatening every time we tried to pass and we had to wait patiently for some time, before he moved further off to the other side of the track to eat.
We took the track that led to the Katwe Explosion Craters, climbing higher and higher with fantastic views down to the plains below and dark, stormy clouds collecting on the horizon.
The Katwe Craters were spectacular and brought back memories of Ngorongoro. These craters however, just followed one after the other and three in particular were very beautiful. The first had steep, wooded sides leading down to a huge, flat area of pale, green grassland dotted with trees. The second had even steeper sides and was filled with water and the third was thickly forested on the sides and the floor. Quite breathtaking!
We saw many interesting birds of which the park boasts around 600 different species but sadly, no lion, even though we heard them continually last evening.
From this beautiful park we drove toward the crater lakes south of Fort Portal, to the Community Campsite at Lake Nkuruba. A very small lake compared to those in the Queen Elizabeth Park but the setting was quiet and on a grassy area. There was no electricity or gas, so everything was done on a wood fire. We had a lovely vegetable meal in their little restaurant followed by Nutella pancakes.....what a treat!
7th December
We were brought a large, plastic container of hot water in the morning for a bucket shower. A very dull morning, everything now is soaking wet, and it is difficult to get anything dry.
We left on the dirt road for Fort Portal and then took the tar road to return once more to Kampala, with heavy showers and sun all the way. Children walking home from school, men struggling with heavy loads on their bikes, women working in the fields or on their way to the big market day at Mubendo in their best dresses, everyone and everything getting soaked in the torrential downpours.
On reaching Kampala, we decided to try the Red Chilli Hideaway this time for camping but as soon as we arrived it poured down, so we took a very basic room for one night but with a hot shower, which was a nice surprise after being told that our room only had cold water!
8th December
We were heading for Jinja today but by the time we had gone back into town for an ATM and shopping, waited for torrential rain to stop whilst in the Internet and struggled through grid-locked traffic to check the price of a new set of tyres (much more expensive than Tanzania because of high taxes), it was late afternoon and we still had to fight our way through the traffic to get on the Jinja road. We had been told that this was one of the most dangerous roads in Uganda and we could understand why with the number of massive lorries and coaches thundering by and creating impatient car drivers when they were held up behind them on the hills. Fortunately, it was only just over 70 kilometres to Jinja but it was almost dark when we finally arrived. The Backpacker Campsite looked all bright lights and noise, not what we wanted after a long and hard day, so we took a room at the very reasonable and very clean Hotel and Tourism Training Centre in the same road.
9th December
The town of Jinja is situated on the shores of Lake Victoria which lays claim to the source of the Nile and is one of the most spectacular, white water rafting destinations in the world.
We camped at Eden Rock Resort, about 9 kilometres out of Jinja and close to the Bujagali Falls, which were more like a series of large rapids on the Nile and in a very beautiful location. Eden Rock was a really lovely, quiet and relaxing place, where you could camp on the beautifully kept lawn amongst trees and flowerbeds just in front of the main, thatched building that housed the bar and restaurant. It was a real 'find' and quite unlike the other nearby noisy camps, full of large overland trucks and where the bars played loud music until late into the night.
We walked down to the Falls to watch the white water rafting. It looked great fun but also scary when boats didn't quite make the big rapid and flipped over, flinging the occupants into the churning water or trapping them under the boats. A good pair of lungs was obviously needed. Not for me, but will Bill take the plunge!
10th December
Bill has decided to spend today white water rafting and left early, whilst I plan to stay on dry land and take photos at the rapids by Bujagali Falls.
Whilst waiting for the boats to arrive, I chatted to a group of nuns with their Pastor from Kenya, where they ran Mission schools for children unable to afford secondary schooling.
They had all come to dip their toes in the Nile here, as they were unable to travel as far as Egypt, although this would have been even more nostalgic for them!
The 4 boats arrived about 11 a.m. from further up river and all took the steep drop over the edge of the first rapid on the far side, instead of close to the bank, so photographs were a bit more difficult.
Bill returned full of enthusiasm in the middle of the afternoon, having been flung into the river a few times, once after a memorable leap into the air at one of the bigger rapids.
We went across to the Nile River Campsite later in the evening and watched a video of the day's rafting on a large screen, complete with music! The filming had been done by an American, who then hopefully sold his copies on disc to those caught on camera! We enjoyed looking out for Bill's boat during the video and of course bought a copy from him!
11th December
We drove into Jinja and took the track that led down to the eastern bank of the River Nile, at a point where this mighty river begins to flow from Lake Victoria and continues it's journey to the Mediterranean Sea, some 4000 miles away. Opposite us on the western bank, an obelisk marks the place where in 1862, John Speke would have stood and watched the Nile thunder over some falls, a short distance from the lake. He called these the Ripon Falls but they are now submerged following the construction of the Owen Falls Dam. Also near to the source of the Nile, there was a small garden with a plaque and bronze bust of Mahatma Gandhi. It is one of the places where Gandhi's ashes were said to have been scattered.
12th December
We have had 3 very hot days without rain but this morning it was thundering in the distance and very overcast. We have really enjoyed our stay here at Eden Rock but need to be on our way again. We said our goodbyes to David Kalebi who was the manager of Eden Rock and also a flight captain. He showed us a photograph of the 5-seater Beech Craft plane that he flew and he then went on to share some interesting information on weather patterns and winds, across different parts of Africa. He also showed us a newspaper cutting with the report of Prince William's stay at Eden Rock, when he also went white water rafting at Jinja.
We have decided to drive to Mbale, approx 100 kilometres from Jinja and then on to Sipi to view the famous Sipi Falls in the foothills of Mount Elgon. Heavy rain again prompted us to look for a banda for the night. We visited Moses Camp first but the keys could not be found to unlock the rooms. Moses apologised profusely and explained that they had been very busy today with many young boys being circumcised and somebody must have taken the keys. He searched empty shelves in a cupboard and sent somebody off to the village to look, but no luck! We eventually stayed almost next door at the Sipi Falls Rest Camp, where we had a great view of the spectacular Falls and across to the plains of Karamojaland far below and stretching away to the horizon.
13th December
Back to Mbale, then Tororo and the border with Kenya. We had hoped to take a smaller, scenic route but were told that a bridge had been damaged during the rains.
Formalities went smoothly at the borders and so we left a green and very friendly country behind us and looked forward to discovering new places and faces in another!
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