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Thursday 30th November.
We set off to Bwindi to see the mountain gorillas. Absolutely amazing. They are situated in The Impenetrable Forest. It takes 4 hours to get to the campsite on a road that has been barely cut into the mountainside. We travelled there ina Toyota Hi-Ace minivan which certainly wouldn't pass it's MOT in the UK. At one point the driver stops to fill up the radiator and the whole thing explodes as water whooshes up and soaks the inside of the cab -did I mention that the radiator was underneath the front passenger seat!
The roads are treacherous but the scenery is so rewarding - Uganda is beautiful. Sorry if I'm repeating myself but it is the most spectacular place I've ever seen. We pass people on bikes carrying 2 seater sofa's on the back and bicycle taxi's with women sitting side saddle on the back. I'm not sure how the tyres survive on these roads but they do.
As we get out into the countryside the people get poorer - as the scenery gets even more magnificent. Mountains filled with crops that look like patchwork quilts. They grow rice, tea, bananas, beans and then there's the forest - it's dark and lush and looks like something out of Lord of the Rings. As time passes I lose all feeling in my bum from being bumped around. It takes 5 hours to reach our destination and en route you can smell the weed growing naturally in the forest!
The camp is pretty basic - cockroaches, hornets, flying ants, mosquitoes - nothing unusual there then. But we get to sleep in our first bed since leaving Nairobi. I'm really glad I brought my silk sheet to avoid those bed bugs - thanks for the top tip Caroline!
The flora is beautiful here with lots of plants growing on the side of the road that my Dad grows in his house. I've taken some pictures so you can see Dad.
We're at around 3,000m altitude here. We go into the village with an armed escort! It's understandable as they are so poor that they would mob you for what you have. Such a shame as they are such lovely people and incredibly striking - particularly the women and children. In the village we wander around their huts looking at the carvings, baskets and batics for sale and we watch a group of boys shaking hedges to catch the grasshoppers for dinner.
Friday 1st December
We trekked to see the gorillas today through the banana plantations, the tea fields, maize and yams. We reached the edge of the forest where small boys lived in huts made of banana leaves in order to protect the crops from the raiding baboons.
At this altitude the trek was tough going through the fields in the baking sunshine and the forest where you slip and slide as it's so dank and moist. The trees crumble when you touch them as it's so humid and they have rotted.
The gorillas were amazing - such magnificent creatures. The large male silverback was looking after two babies. The males turn into a silverback when they hit 13. There were two in this group. The babies were so funny to watch playing around. One slid right down a tree like a firemans pole just infront of us and another spent a long time trying to prize his friend from the branches he was clinging to. What an incredible experience - I feel so priviledged.
We heard the horror stories afterwards of people who had come to see the gorillas and been held up en route, particularly in the Congo. Infact only 2 weeks ago we ran into the Africa Trails overland truck and they had been robbed. Also one of the other trucks - Kumuka I think - had 3 passengers shot dead as they were held up by rebels but wouldn't give them their valuables.
We were shattered when we got back to camp after leaving the gorillas but decided to go into the village again. They organise village walks which you pay for and the money goes into the community. Tea is a fast growing plant and they harvest it 4 times a year. Everyone helps pick the tea - it's usually womens work to tend the fields and look after the children but because it grows so quickly everyone helps out. They get around 10p per kilo - you can imagine the mark up - someone is making a huge profit and it's not these people.
We were taken to be introduced to the medicine man - a very important member of the community - who offered us natural viagra for men and women. He was sure he could treat various STI's and help you get pregnant if you were infertile! Also, he told us he could cure HIV but not Aids! Hmm - well with the nearest hospital over 70km away and with no money to pay to get there or for treatment then I can understand why he's still doing a roaring trade. He would treat even the poorest people and take whatever they could give him for payment including chickens or crops.
Next up was the banana brewing - they make banana juice for the children, banana wine (7% proof), then banana gin (40% proof) which actually tasted quite good.
We headed to the local school where the teacher informed us that of 340 students, ONLY 19 had Aids! They were educating the children about how you catch it and also that they shouldn't treat the children with Aids any differently. They teach all the students to weave and carve as some of the poor children won't be able to afford to go to secondary school so this was one way of helping them supplement their income.
We met with the Pigmy tribes - very short and very enthusiastic in their dancing! It's another tragic story here - the government has declared the Impenetrable Forest a National Park and so has evicted them from their homes in the forest. They can't see that they are integral to the eco-system and don't actually do any harm. So instead they have given them a few houses in the village.
The pigmy's tell us that they weren't happy in the forest as it was a hard life and they love the government for giving them homes and white people for buying their crafts. I'm not sure I believe it but they put on a brave face for people who have been evicted from their homes.
On the way back to camp we spoke to Gladia about whether she thought that education would help stop the spread of aids. She said that women were very poor and men would help them out with money so they felt obliged to have sex with them. That's why 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men here have Aids I guess. So unless you can get rid of the poverty it's not going to stop the spread.
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