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The first two weeks of our trip were spent on an overland truck with 11 other people doing a circuit from Nairobi in Kenya, through to the Ugandan rainforest, home of the mountain gorillas made famous by the 1980's Gorillas in the Mist film. The first thing that struck me about Africa was how friendly and welcoming people were. It seemed like everyone wanted to have a piece of the Mizungus (white people)! As we drove through any town people waved and shouted Jambo (hello)!
Nairobi was a big bustling city, but also surprisingly green in parts with beautiful lilac flowering Jacaranda trees lining the streets. After meeting our group briefly on the first night we were relieved to see that they weren't all really young students as we thought they might be having booked through STA. Our tour guides Frik and Sonja filled us in on what we were letting ourselves in for in terms of day to day travelling - lots of it on very poor roads; and entertainment - cooking and making our own in some very different camp sites.
We got on our way the next morning and stopped off at the vast Great Rift Valley viewing terrace. We continued on to our first night's destination - Lake Nakuru national park. While we were waiting to see if they would let us into the waterlogged camping area in our big truckwe were entertained by monkeys and baboons playing outside and on top of it! This was our first sighting of the blue vervet monkeys (now Chris' favourite animal), so called because of the bright turquoise genitalia held by the dominant males! When we were finally let through the gate we parked up and pitched our tents with the cheeky monkeys and baboons playing all around us! Made dinner under the straw roofed, open-sided huts as it started to rain, but once we'd eaten it was dry enough to light a fire and sit round it watching the stars and getting to know our fellow passengers.
The next morning we started to realise what we'd got ourselves into when we had a very early start to tour the park on our first game drive. It was great to see lots of different animals (giraffes, rhinos, warthogs, zebra, water bucks, more baboons and blue vervet monkeys and water buffalo) all roaming free in close proximity to each other. The birds eye view of the pink flamingo-fringed lake was stunning with a perfect reflection of the clouds in the water I hope came out on my camera! When packing up after breakfast one of our group got a closer encounter than she bargained for with a rather large baboon which decided it wanted to rummage through our rubbish bag, snatching it from her hands and grabbing the leftovers before Frik got his catapult out to scare it off! It's good to be so close but it may not be possible forever as it's only a matter of time apparently before they learn that if they scare and even hurt us they will easily get more food.
From here we headed to Eldoret, an unremarkable town with a remarkable campsite. We had been warned about the owner who had had more than his fair share of drugs in his time and was supposedly a little crazy, but we were received very warmly into his amazing creation; an cavernous bar dug out from the ground with a camp fire and waterfalls inside, and a fully stocked bar. We upgraded to a dorm to enjoy a bed for the night, cooked dinner then settled ourselves around the fire, playing pool and chatting. It was only later when he started getting us to try and spot animals in the rocks on the walls that we realised he was a bit mad! We were amazed also with the luxury facilities - hot, powerful showers, proper toilets with lights and comfortable beds - much more than we expected from camping in Africa!
Headed over the border to Uganda and on to Jinja, the source of the great Nile river. Another beautiful spot awaited us and the open-backed showers disconcertingly allowed you to look out directly on the river where rafters and kyakers paddled past! Monkeys played in the trees around us once more, and we took a run up the muddy track through the village where more locals greeted us warmly. Lots of people have luminous flip flops and one old guy wearing orange ones and a suit joined us for a few paces!
The next day Chris went white water rafting with half of the group, while the rest of us opted to visit some local children. We first went to an AIDS orphanage where the children rushed out of the gate to meet us, most with no shoes and grubby clothes, bit big smiles, and they were desperate to hold our hands. The group of about 150 young children crammed into two small classrooms each day and slept in mud huts nearby each night. They played in the garden outside and sang for us lead by the teachers. We then had to sing for them and some bright spark suggested 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes' might go down well. It did - the children laughed their heads off! We literally had to tear ourselves away as some of them were so reluctant to let go, and it was really quite emotional. We walked on through the muddy tracks to a local community centre to see an arts project, then drove out to a local school, one of many which a charity is helping to improve. We painted the external walls while chatting to some of the students who should've been studying! They made us a tasty lunch and we did a little more work before cleaning up and leaving. If we had more time I would definitely have gone back.
Stopped over at the bustling capital city of Kampala staying at another surprisingly good campsite just outside. We then went on to the stunning Lake Bunyonyi and a picturesque setting by any standards, camping right by the side of the lake. Jumped in for a swim and Chris made it across to the island in the middle where there is one restaurant and a few huts. They have two bars at the campsite with a lovely camp fire we lit in the evening. On the other side of the lake there is a village of pygmies who are less than a metre tall!
We were prepped for the highlight of our trip - the mountain gorilla trekking, prepared for potential disappointment of not seeing them or having scarily too close encounters! We headedto the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest the next day. The long, hot, cramped drive was worth it as the setting was beautiful in the heart of the lush rainforest.
The next morning we handed over our permits and were split into groups of 8 with a guide and armed rangers. We were tracking the Mubare family of 9 including a one week old baby. After two hot hours climbing uphill through the dense tea and banana plantations, our guide received word from a tracking team ahead that we were very close. We put our bags down and moved aside some fern branches, and there they were sitting munching away in a clearing in front of us. We were supposed to stay 7 metres away but we were able to get close enough to see their features and didn't seem to bother them too much. They just pulled the bushes across in front of them if they didn't want to be seen! The mother of the newborn was obviously being protective but we did get a glimpse of her tiny body as she was moved clinging to her mother's tummy. We followed them at a distance as they moved on, the huge headed silverback always staying guard. Three young stragglers in the family came tumbling along after the rest along a narrow path, walking right past us and tugging at the shorts of one of our group! There was something exciting and amazing about the whole experience and it was over all too soon - we are only allowed to spend an hour with them as they are vulnerable to catching human diseases. I would definitely recommend this as an experience to have more than once and I hope I get to do the same!
Took a walk through the beautiful forest and swim in the waterfall pool the next day. Just as we got back to camp it started raining and then it seemed like it was never going to stop. We were due to leave that day but had to stay the night as the road would've been too dangerous. Gladly it gave us the opportunity to see a local orphan theatre group nearby that evening. They sang beautifully, harmoniously and so powerfully, and danced so enthusiastically to the beat of the drum that was almost bigger than it's player! Equally as enthusiastic was their display of arts and crafts they set out immediately upon finishing their set, suddenly turning from children to salesmen! We bought a drawing of a gorilla as a memento!
We tore ourselves away from Uganda, via the same route that we came to the forest, stopping at Kampala and enjoying a night out at an Indian restaurant with a few of the group. We've made some good friends we hope to see in other parts of the world and have a positive opinion of tours we were slightly sceptical about joining! It allowed us to travel deeper into the heart of a country than we might otherwise have done. Having said that we are now looking forward to some independent travel with the freedom that brings.
Back in Nairobi and our last night we went out to celebrate at the famous Carnivore restaurant - a massive complex of several bars and restaurant areas, which later turns into a nightclub. For an all inclusive $20 you can eat as much as you like and the speed of the onslaught of food was phenomenal! They just kept coming with all sorts of meat and I tried crocodile (yes, it's surprisingly like chicken) for the first time! Chris was last man standing but eventually we had to tip the flag to tell them to stop! We had to do some dancing just to feel less full, and there was a good atmosphere in the place, but with an early start ahead and the prospect of the highest mountain in Africa to climb we didn't go too mad!
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