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UGANDA
Day 293 30.10.05
Eldoret to Jinja (Bujagali Falls)
Speke campsite
N00 28.955
E33 09.492
We found the Kenya Uganda border quite tedious. We were not our usual selves and were irritated to have the attentions of an 'official helper' who told us which office to go to next. Having been through so many borders we can usually work our way through ourselves.
We were told we had to go to an office to pay 200 K shillings.
'What for?'
'It is Sunday'
'No, why do we have to pay 200 ks?'
'Because it is Sunday and the officials have to be paid overtime'
The helper wanted to come to the Ugandan offices with us but we managed to tell him no.
On the Ugandan side we went to have the carnet stamped.
'Have you got vehicle insurance?'
'We have COMESA'
He sighed and produced a piece of paper on which was written that Uganda does not recognise COMESA insurance unless your vehicle is registered in the country in which you bought the insurance. As it only covers African countries then obviously every non-African traveller is caught out by this.
Apparently every traveller who comes through argues about this, because other countries do recognise it, which is why he has the piece of paper.
The insurance woman was hovering ready to take us upstairs to the insurance office to buy insurance for Uganda.
If you don't agree to stump up the $30 they don't stamp your carnet and you don't get your vehicle into Uganda. We went from office to office collecting receipts for visas road tax and insurance.
Then at the barrier we proffered all our bits of paper and he said where is your other form. We had specifically asked in the offices did we now have all the bits of paper to get out of the compound. He must have seen the looks on our faces as he raised the barrier and let us through.
The road to Jinja (a main road to Kampala) started well and then deteriorated into deep ruts, which are difficult to drive in on a tarmac road.
It got worse with huge potholes and our speed got slower and slower. The sun was setting and we were not so far from Jinja but the road was so bad we had to go slowly. There was nowhere to stop and stay the night so we had to continue in the dark. Then there were confusing road works and it was hard to know which side of the road we were supposed to be on. We tucked ourselves in behind a lorry for safety and then had to go at his speed, which was literally about 20k an hr.
It wasn't a great day.
At Jinja we managed to find the right turn off to Bujagali falls and eventually found Speke campsite.
We went straight to the bar and as we were ordering drinks and looking at the menu the electricity failed. We switched on our torch and were immediately covered in flying insects. They were everywhere covering the menu and all over us.
'No worries' said the barman optimistically.
We ran back to the land Rover where there seemed to be less bugs and unable to switch on the lights for fear of attracting them we heated up 2 tins of ravioli and went to bed.
Not one of our better days. Day 294 31.10.05
Stayed Speke campsite
Woke in the morning to find ourselves camped on the bank of the river Nile right beside the rapids.
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We cooked ourselves a great cheering up breakfast. Exhausted from the day before and still feeling stunned by the sad news we had had we sat and watched life on the river all day.
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Bujigali falls
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While the campsite was in a spectacular place the facilities were badly in need of renovation. The door of the shower was half rotted away and the walls were manky but surprisingly there was hot water. Day2 295-297 01-03.11.05
Moved to Nile River Resort campsite
N00.27.642
E33.10.562
We summoned up the energy to move and found the Nile River Resort, which also has the Adrift campsite.
The reason we had come to Jinja in the first place was to go rafting on the Nile, which so many people had recommended we do.
Adrift is one of the 2 main companies who run trips.
Miriam the manager said they were not running a trip the next day but we could go the day after.
Meanwhile we could use the facilities including the large well-maintained swimming pool at the neighbouring Nile River Resort.
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The campsite is set high up where the wooded banks of the Nile rise steeply above the river.
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View from the tent
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The next day anticipating a day by the pool we got up late. Miriam came along and said there were 3 guys desperate to go rafting that day and 3 was not enough but if we went they would do the trip.
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So an hour later we found ourselves aboard a raft on the river with Chloe our river guide and three South African bush pilots real gung-ho characters! Chloe's enthusiasm was infectious and it was a beautiful day.
There was a safety raft and 2 guys in kayaks.
We slid and rippled our way down the small rapids then we were ready for the big ones. We successfully negotiated the first part of Bujigali falls and then in the second part at the beginning of the rapid the raft flipped right over catapulting us all out.
Well I had signed up to go through the rapids in a raft, not to swim through bodily!
As I surfaced for the second time one of the kayakers had almost reached me. There are some advantages to being the only woman as you get rescued quickly.
We had had a demonstration of how to be rescued by a kayak e.g. don't grab at them but only hang onto the strap at either end and let them tow you to the raft and grab the raft rope as soon as you can reach it. They quickly got me to the safety raft and I was hauled on board. Meanwhile Chloe had righted the raft. Steve had managed to stay hanging onto it the whole time with his paddle!
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In between the rapids the river widened out and was surprisingly slow and lazy. People were using the river as they have done for centuries to wash, gather water, and water crops and animals. We met fishermen in wooden canoes. They waved at the crazy mzungus who pay money to go through the bits they avoid!
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Rafting route
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The next day we managed to get our day by the pool. They have a wireless Internet at the pool bar so you can surf the net from your sun lounger. The poolside service is excellent and you don't have to move all day.
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By the pool
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Day 298 04.11.05
Jinja to Kampala
Red Chilli campsite
N 0 19.125
E32 37.487
The Land Rover had developed severe vibration at 50 mph so Steve spent some time underneath looking for the cause.
We had been aware of a slow leak from one tyre and Steve found a large rip in the inside wall. The reinforcing on the tyre wall had prevented it going right through.
The owner of the campsite is a British guy, Steve Willis. Very helpful and accommodating he suggested Trentyres in Kampala. Day 299 05/11/05
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Stayed Red Chilli
Visit to Trentyres. Pieter the manager sold us the spare tyre off his own vehicle as he didn't have the right tyres in stock.
They also repaired a previous dodgy repair with a mushroom plug and balanced the wheels. All round very good service.
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Trentyres
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As we needed to get some cash out to pay for it they called a taxi for Michele.
It was a bodaboda -a moped taxi. Mm that was fun threading through Kampala's traffic on the back of it!
We also spent time drinking coffee and eating cakes in a good Internet café where the wireless Internet connection was free. Very civilised! Days 300-301 06-07.11.05
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Stayed Red Chilli.
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Campsite dawn chorus
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Steve unwell so spent time relaxing in the campsite trying to persuade ourselves that the vervet monkeys were really quite cute and I shouldn't be so scared of them.. However the gardener rather spoilt this by warning me to beware as the male monkey had already attacked one woman! Apparently the local council will exterminate them rather like they will exterminate rats at home!
Steve Willis is also travelling to his other Red Chilli campsite at Murchison Falls where we are heading for next, so we said 'see you there.' Day 302 08.11.05
Kampala to Murchison Falls Park
Stayed Red Chilli Murchison
Started the day with a visit to the Uganda Wildlife Authority office in Kampala to get our gorilla permits for next week. Fortunately we had been advised that the office had moved.
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Then long drive north to Murchison.
We were intrigued by the long horned cows, which are common here.
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Extra insurance
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Long and lonely road
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Very busy campsite but plenty of space for us.
The falls themselves are a spectacular surge of water where the Nile has to funnel through a 6 metre wide gap.
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Murchison falls
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Day 303 09.11.05
Stayed Red Chilli
Up early to go for a game drive on the north side of the river.
Due to the rebel activity north of here towards the Congo border the tourist area is heavily patrolled by the rangers.
It is made very clear that tourists should stay in the delta area where the Victoria Nile joins the Albert Nile.
With huge expanses of water it was very beautiful and the game was different to what we had seen elsewhere with, for example, herds of Hartebeest.
Returning to the ferry we found it had broken down and they were waiting for the mechanic.
Then we got a worrying text message on the mobile phone. It was from Andrew saying that the BBC were reporting that a British tourist had been shot dead while rafting in Murchison falls national park which of course was exactly where we were.
Well this made no sense. Tourists don't go rafting here. Also we had just gone on a game drive round the park and by the ferry nothing seemed amiss.
There were some armed soldiers but we were bordering on a rebel area.
Steve spoke to the German guy who had come over to mend the ferry. Werner is working here on a project funded by Germany improving communication networks in the area. He also happens to be a good mechanic.
We were shocked when Werner confirmed that someone had been shot and that it was Steve Willis the Red Chilli campsites owner and he is dead.
We returned to the campsite to find that the tourists of the day before had mostly left and many people in uniform had arrived. Most of the tourists come with an organised tour and the tour companies were aware of what had happened. They took their tourists away and no more were arriving.
There was only us and a Dutch couple, Roland and Ilona, also travelling independently left in the campsite.
We were annoyed that no one at the campsite had informed us what had happened. Gradually we pieced together the story by talking to as many people as we could. We were so sorry that Steve Willis had died and also we needed to understand what happened to be sure that were safe ourselves.
It turned out that as far as we could understand the ascend the Nile expedition which we already knew about (http://www.ascendthenile.co.uk/news.html) had run into problems.
The expedition was quite some way up the river from Murchison falls. Several people including Steve Willis set off to help accompanied by armed rangers. This was in a known unsafe area. On the way back Steve Willis was driving. They were held up at gunpoint and as they attempted to escape he was shot dead.
The reports in the international and the Ugandan press were at first confused and confusing.
We understood that the rationale for the campsite manager not informing us was that the incident had happened outside of the area that tourists would visit.
However it would have been better to have been told about it locally rather than by the BBC in the UK! Day 304 10.11.05
Murchison to Fort Portal
Camping at CVK resort
N00 29.888
E030 19.866
As most people had already left Murchison we rearranged our stuff and managed to fit Roland and Ilona in the back of the landy. It seemed unlikely they would get a lift with anyone else and they were wanting to travel the same direction as us.
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The spectacular marram road wound through the hills and villages down the east side of Lake Albert with views of the Congo in the distance.
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Congo from Uganda
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We picked up supplies on the way.
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Shopping for supplies
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Eventually a little way before Fort Portal we turned onto the main tarmac road.
The sun was setting and the rain was falling as we arrived at CVK which is on the shore of one of the many crater lakes which characterise the area.
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Days 305-306
11-12.11.05
stayed CVK
This is a locally owned campsite with bandas. The staff are very friendly and kept us well supplied with food and drink. The women of the village have been supported by the campsite to organise a basket making business. A proportion of the money earned goes towards education of the women in literacy and other skills.
The village also benefits from the water pump at the camp.
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Julius took us all on a walk up to a viewpoint known as the top of the world where there was a great view over 3 of the crater lakes.
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Julius
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Crater lake
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On the way back we visited the village shops where we sampled fried cassava as usual surrounded by loads of kids.
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In the village shop
(photo by Ilona)
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Steve still suffering from his cough, various local cures have been suggested such as tea made from the bottlebrush plant or soup made from goat's entrails.
Land is very fertile here and the climate is good for growing crops which are sold at the local markets. The large tea plantation also provides employment.
It was explained to us that if your main income is from crop growing then it could take about a year to save up for a bicycle.
Once you have one, however, we have seen them used for all sorts of things such as carrying crops, water, charcoal, animals or passengers.
Many bicycles are used as taxis. Day 307 13.11.05
Fort Portal to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Mweya campsite
S00 11.812
E 029 54.077
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As we already had everything reorganised in the back we were able to offer Anthony (Australian fellow traveller) a lift. He is also heading for Bwindi to see the gorillas.
First we dropped Ilona and Roland off at the chimpanzee tracking centre.
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All in one land rover?
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Sometimes just doing ordinary things like acquiring cash is a mission in Africa.
Fort Portal had only had a Stanbic bank which doesn't accept foreign cards so we couldn't get any before we left.
We all needed some cash so we spent some time trying to get money in the only other town we passed through.
First you have to find the ATMs. As often happens everyone is very helpful but not particularly knowledgeable!
The only 2 ATMs wouldn't accept our cards
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As it is Sunday the Forex was closed so we couldn't change any money. We tried 2 hotels including one quite posh one but no luck.
Needing fuel we went to the fuel station to enquire could we pay in dollars. Bingo ….the guy told us of someone who could change some money. We had some dollars we could change.
The other problem we have is that pre year 2000 dollars are not accepted here and 1996 are particularly impossible. As luck would have it we had discovered that we had 1996 $100 bills from the UK.
So Steve and Anthony went to the moneychangers which fittingly also appeared to be a laundry!
Here she grudgingly agreed to change the offending 1996 dollars but at a worse rate of exchange then usual. At least we now had some local cash and could fill up with fuel.
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We crossed the equator again on the journey.
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Significant landmark
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We didn't mean to camp in the park but the journey had taken longer than we had planned and there was nowhere else to camp.
Again it was raining when we arrived. Being muddy and dirty makes a change from being dusty and dirty!
We put up the drop tent for Anthony. It is so much easier to do since we changed the canvas for Nylon. Day 308 14.11.05
Queen Elizabeth to Buhoma
Camped Buhoma Community Camp
S 00 59.198
E029 37.000
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Woke up to a beautiful dawn. A group of mongoose came along to raid the camp rubbish bins. A Malibu stork strutted round eyeing up our tent.
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Campsite at dawn
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Mongoose and warthog
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Anything tasty in here?
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The journey to Bwindi was the usual variation of roads from good tarmac to little more than tracks.
Towards the middle of the afternoon the rain started turning the roads into streams,
not so good for Anthony who was stuck in the back with the hatch open above him. With the rain falling torrentially the hatch had to go back on and although he could easily remove it, it was rather claustrophobic in the back for him.
We still have the security grating in place between the front and the back. Whoever is in the back has to sit behind it peering through. Every so often when we are stopped local people catch sight of the 'prisoner' behind the grating and they stop and gaze in. Anthony tried standing up in the roof opening and waving to show he wasn't a prisoner and the effect of this varied between causing consternation to great amusement.
Arriving at Buhoma we found the community campsite, which is just outside the reserve gates.
'You can camp here or there'. Well 'here' was a bog and 'there' was a swamp.
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'It looks rather wet and muddy' I objected.
'yes this is a rain forest' was the swift ripost.
Well rain forest or not we weren't going to wallow round in mud or slosh round in water.
They moved a vehicle and we had some hard ground to park on.
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Bwindi camp
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Stayed Bwindi
Home to the worlds last 600 mountain gorillas, this border area where DRC, Rwanda and Uganda meet is an area where the issues of safety, tourism, local peoples rights, conservation, money are all in the melting pot.
Somehow the local people generally don't seem to be benefiting as much as they could from the tourists, considering how expensive it is to visit the gorillas. There is a line of small souvenir shops in Buhoma at the headquarters which all sell exactly the same crudely carved gorillas and small baskets.
We were very fortunate in that the gorillas were only about 40 minutes treck from the road. (Some people walk hours to see them and it isn't called Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for nothing.) The undergrowth is so thick that you are quite close to them before you see them. Trackers go out in the early morning to find where the gorillas are and which direction they are moving in. The tourists set out slightly later accompanied by the rangers, trackers and guards. A lot of people are involved in bring together for an hour a small group of tourists and a larger group of gorillas!
Spending time with these creatures was a real privilege. The visit is timed to the minute to protect the gorillas
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With only four of us in our group, it was easier to see the gorillas clearly accompanied as we were by only 2 rangers for the last 100 metres and the other rangers, trackers and guards kept their distance.
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The gorillas were moving slowly through the forest. There are 2 huge and powerful silverbacks in the group we visited.
One of them, after studiously ignoring us, suddenly charged. It was a mock charge designed to impress -very successful!
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I'm a silverback and I'm allright
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'Don't run' instructed the ranger -well there was nowhere to run in the thick undergrowth and it was over before we could react anyway.
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Very small gorilla. Photo by Tinnelie.
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The babies swung from the trees, showing off, while the females just carried on with the everyday tasks of eating and grooming peering at us occasionally over their shoulders.
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Day 310 16.11.05
Bwindi to Lake Bunyoni
Camp at Lake Bunyoni Overland Resort
S01 16.335
E029 56.233
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We had a beautiful drive through mountain dirt roads, with lots of cultivation, mostly on a small scale.
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Mountain views
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Steve was just setting up the tent on the lakeshore, when he heard his name being shouted across the small bay. It was Ilona and Roland who had also arrived that day and were staying at Crater Bay Cottages (another good little resort if you are not camping.)
Travelling by public transport, matatu and taxi, they had done some of the journey in a Toyota Corolla with 10 other people in it! Days 311-312 17-18.11.05
Stayed Lake Bunyoni
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Lake Bunyoni is much easier and more direct than the roads for the local people as a means of transport and a way to get their crops to the market. On market day we watched as hundreds of boats were paddled past.
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Across the lake
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One of the local lads cooked us some fresh crayfish from the lake.
'How fresh are they?' asked Steve as the guy arrived with them. In answer he opened his carrier bag and the crayfish, scenting freedom started to make their escape!
The meal was totally yummy but just as we, R and I and Andreas, another fellow camper, sat down to eat, a huge windy rainstorm blew up so were happy we have a large awning.
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We had a long walk the next day to a local village where several blacksmiths ply their trade.
The blacksmith uses a small charcoal fire ably kept going by whomever he can persuade to pump on the hand bellows and using old iron implements for his raw material fashions knew blades etc.
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Blacksmith
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Bellows
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Village boys
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A group of tourists in a big Acacia overland truck arrived for our last night at the lake. A bunch of drunks, they broadcast their drunken opinions and sang all night ignoring requests for them to be quiet. These were without doubt some of the rudest most ignorant people we have met so far in the whole of Africa. In the morning it was some small comfort to find that this was an opinion shared by most other people staying at the resort. Day 313 19.11.05
Lake Bunyoni to Mburo Park
Camp by lakeside
S00 40.128
E030 56.716
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It was raining when we arrived at Mburo Park but as it cleared we drove round to find an isolated campsite. Next to the lake, there were just the hippos for company.
We realised this would probably be the last opportunity on this trip to have a beautiful campsite all to ourselves.
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Evening campsite Mburo
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It wasn't totally idyllic as soon we were both doing a form of African Morris dancing with much leg slapping, hopping and crying out. This happens when you stand in one place for too long and ants run up inside your trouser legs and bite you. Fairly easily sorted by tucking the trousers into socks, except for the stragglers still in there!
to Tanzania again
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