Uganda

We spent a lovely few days in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest at Buhoma rest camp. When we booked the gorillas I booked the Rest camp, however when we arrived they had lost our booking so we got to stay at their sister lodge for half price in luxury! How wonderful that was as it was on the edge of the forest with abundant birdlife. We tried to identify some of them but in the end just enjoyed the whole place. It was fully catered and they were so kind to us- real Ugandan hospitality. Then of course there were the gorillas which was such a special experience…..
Heading north from there our first stop was Queen Elizabeth National Park where we stayed at Ishasha campsite.

Camp site hippos
Camp site hippos

When we arrived campsite one was full of lunch time picnic people so we opted for campsite 2 which had no shower and a pit toilet plus a family of about 50 hippos across the Ishasha River (border with the Congo). This caused great consternation amongst the rangers who insisted on giving us an armed guard to protect us against the roaming hippos at night despite our protests that we would be fine. On the first night we had a huge elephant visiting but no hippos!!! Alan rigged up the shower and it was marvelous, he was so pleased that it worked. Much better than the cold showers in campsite 1.

Ishasha Camp Site
Ishasha Camp Site

We had several visitors to the campsite, huge Olive baboons, black and white colobus monkeys and red tailed monkeys ( plus tourists picnining at lunch time). It was a lovely spot.

Picnicing Baboons
Picnicing Baboons
Picnicing Baboons
Picnicing Baboons

Colobus
We hunted and hunted for the tree climbing lionesses visiting the wild fig trees a couple of times a day, but they proved to be elusive. Apparently they only climb the 20+ wild fig trees so they’re marked on the maps. We were there for 2 nights before heading to the North of the park some 100 kms away. We stayed at Mweya in the park and got there in time to go on the channel game cruise. The channel is called Kazinga and it links Lake George to Lake Edward which is in the park. We had a delightful park ranger Ruth who acted as our game guide, she had quite a quirky sense of humor. The cruise was great, herds of Buffalo, Topi, Elephants, Nile Crocs, Hippos were all at the water’s edge. Towards the end of the cruise we passed a bird sanctuary with lots of birds. Ruth was also a keen birder and pointed out many more birds.

Waterbuck
Waterbuck
Topi
Topi
Vultures
Vultures
Monitor Lizzard
Monitor Lizzard
Ugandan Kob
Ugandan Kob
Elephant
Elephant
Nile Crocodile
Nile Crocodile
Buffalo
Buffalo
Bird Sanctuary
Bird Sanctuary
Bird Sanctuary
Bird Sanctuary
Malibu Stork
Malibu Stork
Vultures
Vultures

That night we had Elephants roaming outside our room and a “tame” Waterbuck sleeping just in front of our room.
It’s hard to describe the beauty of the Park and the changes in vegetation. At times the savannah just stretches out in front of you for miles, then changes to riverine, forest and thick bush. The bird life is amazing. There’re flood plains with herds of Ugandan Kob, Topi and Buffalo and it’s really wild. You have the sense that this is the African bush!

We left there and headed to Fort Portal but first we crossed the Equator which was nicely marked on the road.

Crossing the Equator North to South
Crossing the Equator North to South

Arriving in Fort Portal was a pleasant surprise as it was the first town that we’ve been in, in Uganda that felt like a town. We hadn’t booked accommodation and found ourselves staying at a place called Sunrise- run by a chap called Colin from the UK. He’s a type of Missionary and full of interesting stories about his life here. We got the “pink” room to stay in as the camping looked dodgy! It was pleasant with a great view of the Ruwenzori Mountains that where mostly covered in mist whilst we were there. These mountains rise from the bottom of the Rift Valley between Lake Albert and Lake Edward and were formed by the tilting of a large slab of the Earth’s crust during the Rift Valley formation. They rise to over 4000m. I got quite excited as we had lunch at the Gardens Restaurant and had a toasted sandwich….. and Al had ice cream!!!! It was quite civilized.

On our travels we met a couple who recommended a place to stay on Lake Albert, and since it involved a small detour on our way north to Murchison Falls we picked it as a half way point. Well the road we took was the worst we have travelled on and it lasted about 50kms before we turned off to a secondary road that was so much better! There we were, travelling carefully, looking for the best line of approach on this rutted, holed and corrugated road when we heard a hoot from behind and a local in a Toyota corolla whizzes past us leaving us in the dust!!! We’re in the 4×4! The difference is that when something breaks, they sit and fix it on the side of the road. We have seen whole rear axles with open differentials being repaired in the dust and mud on the side of the road! Now we’re close to our destination when suddenly out of nowhere this beautiful tar road appears on our right- well we just laughed having spent hours on the terrible road the last 20kms were a breeze. We’re still not sure if we travelled on the right road or not. It was great to arrive at Lake Albert Safari Camp, their campsite is being renovated so they gave us a spot in the carpark, and opened a chalet for us to use for ablutions. It’s run by a South African couple who have just taken over management. It was lovely. We even got to swim it was so hot.

Lake Albert Sunset
Lake Albert Sunset
Lake Alber Sundowner
Lake Alber Sundowner

We were invited on a game drive with them to a spot where we watched the sunset, enjoyed some cocktails and snacks. We were there for 2 days before moving on to Murchison.
The Sani’s exhaust started blowing as during the drive to Lake Albert so we stopped in a town called Hoima to get it repaired. The staff at the garage were great even bringing a chair for us to sit on whilst we waited. An exhaust mounting bracket had broken and the exhaust pipe had separated itself from the center silencer. The guys removed the two pieces, took them off into the village to have them welded together and on returning proceeded to refit the entire single piece exhaust, feeding it in from the rear of the vehicle. It was achieved with much jacking, twisting and removal of certain strategic items. We then went to one of the local hotels for lunch where we experienced our first rainstorm since we’ve been away. Finally the car was cleaner!!!!

Well back on the dirt road we went north to Murchison Falls Park. Another beautiful place where we camped at Red Chilli Rest Camp a backpackers joint that was full of youngsters on tour. The first night two hippos grazed outside our tent- all you could hear was munch, munch, munch!!!!!
Access to the northern section of the park is via a ferry across the Victoria Nile and we spent a very pleasant morning game viewing there, but had to come back in time to do the river cruise to Murchison Falls.

Nile Ferry
Nile Ferry
Murchison Mermaid
Murchison Mermaid
Murchison Falls top
Murchison Falls top
Murchison Falls top
Murchison Falls top
Murchison Falls
Murchison Falls
Murchison Falls
Murchison Falls

The next day we got to see the top of the falls which is very impressive. Due to the volume of water that goes over the falls you can’t get too close on the river side, but the sight from the top is glorious. We stayed two nights here and then headed towards Kampala. We had discussed going on to Kidepo Park in the north, but decided against it.
We have spent the last 2 nights at Nile River Explorers Camp in Jija, just outside Kampala (80kms/ 3 hours mainly due to traffic)(also run by ex-South Africans) overlooking the Victoria Nile which flows over the Murchison Falls into Lake Albert. From there it takes a sharp northerly turn and exists via the Albert Nile which becomes the White Nile. Jija is widely claimed to be at the Source of the Nile. Denise braved a local hairdresser and looks as stunning as ever!

Hair Cut
Hair Cut

We leave tomorrow for Kenya.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest – Uganda

Dense (Impenetrable) forest
Two or so hours hiking up a mountain
Last 20 minutes was straight up with the guide hacking a path with a machete
We spent an unforgettable hour with a family of 13 gorillas with the youngest being 3 years old. The dominant male is currently 14 and is just attaining his ‘silver back’ which will be fully formed by 15.
The pictures say the rest…..

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Gorillas13

Gorillas11

Gorillas12Gorillas1 Gorillas2 Gorillas3 Gorillas4 Gorillas5 Gorillas6 Gorillas7 Gorillas8 Gorillas9 Gorillas10Gorillas14

What an amazing experience!!

Volcanoes and Beyond

Volcanoes Nation Park Rwanda

Rwanda’s national day fell on 4 July and as we travelled to Volcanoes national Park the streets were very quiet for Rwanda. We unwittingly got caught for speeding- in the towns the speed limit is 40km which we only found out after being stopped the 2nd time. Both times they took pity on us and let us off, it helped that we couldn’t communicate in French though we tried! The main town before the Park is Musanze- this is the town where Dian Fossy (Gorillas in the Mist) based herself when not in the jungle with the gorillas. The Musanze Hotel keeps her room as a museum in her honor. We stopped for coffee. Gorilla talk and sightings were the topic of conversation all around us. It has a bit of an alpine feel about it with mountains, green vistas and crisp air.
We headed to a place called Kinigi Guesthouse which is about 1 km from the park headquarters. Once again they didn’t really have a campsite but opened one of the rooms for our use- whilst we set up our tent in the garden. Having looked at the beds we were better off in our tent!!!

Kinigi 'camp site'
Kinigi ‘camp site’

The park is about 2200m above sea level so it was a bit chilly here especially once the sun set. The 5 iconic volcanoes were shrouded in cloud for most of our time here however they came out when we were leaving and we got a good look at them.

Volcanoes2Volcanoes

Volcanoes
Volcanoes

We had just sorted ourselves out when another South African family arrived- they were so glad to see us as we previously them in Gombe where we had seen the chimps together. It was lovely to share their campfire with them as they camped in the carpark (roof top tent) and could have a fire- we were on grass.
Next morning they went off to see the gorillas and Al and I went on a community walk.

Morning stroll
Morning stroll

The walk took us through the terraced fields to the wall that demarcates the beginning of the national park.

Terraced fields
Terraced fields

Fields2 Fields3

This wall is built of volcanic rocks piled together and is just over 1m high and is almost as wide. On the park side there is also a deep trench. The wall follow the park boundary from Uganda to the DRC – about 80km.

Volcanoes park boundary
Volcanoes park boundary

The gorillas inhabit this area which comprises 3 National Parks; Volcanoes – Rwanda, Vuringa – DRC and Bwindi in Uganda. Our guide was really lovely and so tickled that we were able to keep up with him, as we headed straight up the volcano slope. We were able to look into the park where there was thick bamboo growing- it’s really dark underneath that! We discovered that not only gorillas live here but buffalo and elephant – hence the wall! The community have to have guards against the buffalo who escape the park as well as the golden monkeys who love to eat their Irish potato crops.

Chocolate Irish Potatoes
Chocolate Irish Potatoes

We discovered that they grow three variants of Irish potatoes – Chocolate (brown), white and yellow. (Now you also know!). The community have learnt to farm honey by constructing bee-hives near the forest edge.

Bee ives
Bee ives

We also learnt how charcoal is made. Freshly cut wood is layered in a trench with, in this case Eucalyptus leaves. A fire is lit at the one end and the pile is covered up with a breather hole at the other end.

Charcoal Furnace
Charcoal Furnace

 

It burns through like this for about three weeks after which it is unearthed, cooled and ready for use. The community here have formed an association called SACOLA recognizing that they cannot rely on the government to supply everything for them and guide fees from community hikes goes back to the community. We came across some of the ladies working in the potato fields and they were tickled pink when I “hoed” in the potato fields too!

The labourer
The labourer

We were greeted by an old woman with song and dance as a welcome to her home. Then of course there were the children. They are learning English so they practiced on us. We soon became familiar with the format.
“What is your name?”
“How old are you?”
“What is your country? How’s your country?”
We had read that whenever taking photos we should ask, the children though had no such qualms as we came into view they took our photos on their cell phones! In our interactions with them we were struck by their thirst for information, most of them have never been further away from their village then school. They do however all have email and asked us to exchange addresses! Quite paradoxical! Whenever we ventured out we felt like the pied piper with a group of them following us around.

A familiar sight for Denise - Kid magnet!
A familiar sight for Denise – Kid magnet!

Rwanda is a beautiful country however wherever you go you are aware of their recent history. You never escape from this and we think there is an inherent distrust amongst each other – how do you get over having your family butchered by best friends, family and teachers – even in some cases fellow church members? There is a strong military presence, lots of AK47 armed policeman and I found people quite serious. The people in the North were the exception as we heard lots of laughter there. We found the contrast of the beauty and the horror difficult but we are glad that we went. Denise was visibly disquieted for a couple of days after we left.

Lake Bunyoni Uganda
We were running ahead of schedule as we only had to be in Bwindi national forest by the 13th July as our gorilla trekking permits had been sent ahead for us so we found ourselves with a few days spare. Crossing over from Rwanda into Uganda though a minor border post was easy, people were friendly and we were back on the left side of the road and into East African time – an hour ahead of SA. The rolling hills and terracing of crops that we saw in Rwanda have continued here, and everything is beautiful and green. We had lunch in Kabala at Café Barrista whilst we planned our shopping.

Cafe Barista
Cafe Barista
Kabale main street
Kabale main street

The main streets have all been dug up for road works so it was chaos! Lake Bunyonyi is just outside the town and we headed for Bunyonyi Overlander Campsite where we have chilled for the last few days.

Lake Bunyonyi
Lake Bunyonyi
Lake Bunyonyi
Lake Bunyonyi
Our Bunyoni home for 5 nights!
Our Bunyoni home for 5 nights!

It’s a beautiful setting, lots of birdlife which has been good to watch. We’ve canoed in a dug out log- it’s not as easy as it looks but we only did two circles over the hour of paddling!

Dug-out driver
Dug-out driver

We’ve watched the passing boat traffic, read and enjoyed the sunlight after the volcanoes. We found a hotel called Birds Nest which makes wonderful pizza and where we got Ugandan coffee with a choc brownie. Yummy!

Ugandan coffee and brownies at the Nest
Ugandan coffee and brownies at the Nest

That was really lovely. The waiter told us that despite it being peak season it’s very quiet and we’ve been told that there are lots of Gorilla permits still available.
Next door to the campsite is a preschool and it has been funny to see the kids being taken across the lake to the school, you just see a row of heads along the side of the dug-out! There’s also been lots of singing. This is a launch point for the Overland Groups to visit the Gorillas and we’ve seen a number of them come and go. Al has befriended the guide of the crowd currently sharing our space, John from Nairobi who has answered some of our questions and shared his charcoal with us.
We leave here today to have our turn to see the gorillas and will be spending some time on the western side of Uganda before going to Kampala.

The Route so far

Route 23 May - 30 September
Route 23 May – 30 September
Route in Malawi
Route in Malawi
Route through Mozambique & Zimbabwe
Route through Mozambique & Zimbabwe

 

Route 23 May - 13 September
Route 23 May – 13 September
Route in Eastern Tanzania
Route in Eastern Tanzania
Route in Kenya
Route in Kenya
Route 23 May - 17 August
Route 23 May – 17 August

 

Route in Uganda
Route in Uganda
Route 23 May - 27 July
Route 23 May – 27 July
Route 23 May - 02 July
Route 23 May – 02 July
RSA
RSA
Rwanda
Rwanda
Tanzania
Tanzania
Zambia
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

RWANDA

Our Boma ‘camp site’ marked the start of the tarmac road to Kigali, however it was more potholed than tar for almost the entire way to the border. (We had travelled nearly 900km continuously on gravel (some of the worst roads I have driven on!). We jostled for space and right of way with huge numbers of heavy vehicles which have obviously done the damage to the roads.

Potholed tarmac
Potholed tarmac

Rwanda road

Our transition into Rwanda was a breeze (relatively speaking). The border post was clean, well sign posted and had helpful officials. This set the tone for a surprising first experience of Rwanda which has continued to present the same impression. The country with a 1000 hills (which is what the name means) is truly beautiful, green, mountainous, clean and friendly. Predominantly French speaking, with driving on the right hand side of the road, the country is one of most densely populated in Africa with over 11 Million (2014) people (compared to Zambia’s 11 Million – maybe an old figure). Look at a map and compare the sizes! This became apparent on the 150Km drive from the border into Kigali. There was hardly a stretch of road that did not have people on it – nor were there many straight and level stretches of road! The trip took over 3 hours despite the good road. The contrast with Tanzania has been amazing – starting at the border gate!

Our rooms in Kigali
Our rooms in Kigali
Kigali accommodation
Kigali accommodation

Our home for the next 2 nights was St Paul’s, a Cathedral and hostel complex in the center of Kigali that played a key humanitarian role during the Genocide. Still run by Nuns, they provide very basic but comfortable accommodation for Mission workers and travelers alike. They also had a very basic ‘restaurant’ and workshop.

Mechanical issues continue to be part of our lives. One of our spotlight’s mounting broke off leaving the light dangling by it electrical cable. Our French travelling companion (in a well kitted Defender 110 Land Rover) lost a wheel nut on his rear axle and we had to fashion a wire ‘circlip’ to get him to Kigali. He has also had to have a steering bush replaced. The balance of the South African clan arrived today. Bennie had broken a bush in the front left wish bone (causing his front wheel to wobble about) and set about trying to ‘make’ one. He seems to be satisfied with his solution – I remain unconvinced!

More repairs
More repairs

So far, everyone we have come across have had vehicle breakages. The worst was an East London couple in an old Cruiser who broke an axle coming into Kigoma and spent 3 days on the side of the road whilst a bush mechanic worked his magic. They are 7 weeks into a 9 month trip! Another passing Cape compatriot broke a tie-rod end on his Fortuna.

We had an extra blade fitted to our rear suspension leaf spring packs as our new Old Man Emu set have been bowed the wrong way and Al has been very afraid of breaking a blade.

Whilst our vehicle was in the workshop, we took a couple of motor bike taxi (by far the most common form of public transport in the cities) to visit the Genocide Memorial. As one can imagine, it was a very moving and thought proving experience. Some 250 000 people are buried on this site.

Taxi ride!
Taxi ride!
Genocide Memorial
Genocide Memorial
Genocide Memorial
Genocide Memorial

 

The French, Germans and Belgians all had a part to play in laying the ground work for this tragedy and as is usually the case, there are two sides to every story. Sadly, reading between the lines and talking to a wide range of strangers (locals, mission and aid workers) we have come across, the peace and reconciliation that seems to be in place may be a bit tenuous.

Kigali is a large, mountainous, populated (1 million), vibrant and modern city. Modern shops, well stocked with most of what anyone would want – a lot of South African brands, good road infra-structure and as clean as you could wish. Apparently, community service was a primary sentence handed out during the post Genocide hearings. This may account for the good roads and cleanliness!

Kigali sights
Kigali sights
Kigali Sights
Kigali Sights
Kigali sights
Kigali sights
Shopping - Yay!
Shopping – Yay!

Our South African, French and Dutch fellow travelers went their separate way into Uganda on the same day we left Kigali. It has been quite fun meeting up with them occasionally during the last few days and sharing ‘war’ stories, meals, camp fires, tools and advice.

We struggled to find the market on our way out of the city as the road names seem to differ from those on the GPS and the poor city maps we have. However, we did eventually find it and Denise managed to get some fabric she was after. We headed for the town of Gisenyi, a border town on the north shore of Lake Kivu. This lake marks the border with the Congo (DRC). Gisenyi and the Congolese town of Goma are almost one town with a border post in the middle! As with the rest of Rwanda, the town (and everything surrounding the Lake) is perched on the side of hills and mountains. We have been blessed to stay at a lodge called ‘Hakuna Matata’.

DRC border post
DRC border post
Lake side meditation
Lake side meditation
Lake Kivu 'Camp Site
Lake Kivu ‘Camp Site

The short drive way required 4 wheel drive to get in and out of and although there is no convenient place to camp for people living out of their vehicle like ourselves, our hosts were REALLY keen for us to stay. (We have been the only guests for the 3 nights here). They arranged for us to camp outside one of the lodge’s rooms, letting us use the room’s ablutions and electricity for the fridge. John the manager, Rafiki the chef and Osama the assistant chef have been at our beck and call all the time. This morning John ‘guided’ us on a walk through the town along the beach and to the border post. A tree lined, bird paradise. He then led us into the country along another VERY bad road to see the tea and coffee plantations that cover both the valley floors and cling to the sides of the mountains.

Tea plantation
Tea plantation

Everything is beautifully terraced with very little signs of erosion. It seems that every square inch of this country either has a building on it or is cultivated. We have seen tea, coffee, maize, sugar cane, sorghum, cabbage, carrots, cassava, bananas (hundreds of banana trees) and stuff we haven’t recognized. Rafiki the chef used to work t hotel in the Volcano National Park to the north – our next destination and has arranged for someone from the local village to act as a guide for us in the area. We look forward to the experience.

Gombe National Park

Early Saturday morning Al and I got up to get on a boat with a group of people to Gombe National Park on Lake Tanganyika – this is where Jane Goodall studied chimpanzees.

Boat ride to Gombe
Boat ride to Gombe

We met up with the other 7 South Africans, 1 New Zealander, 1 Dutch lady and a Frenchman (those that we had met previously) at Jakobsen’s campsite. It was still dark as we hopped onto the boat and prepared for a 2 & 1/2 hour boat trip. Along the way we passed fishing villages that were very different from the ones in Zambia, and a couple of water taxies.

Lake side village
Lake side village

The terrain changed once we were in the park, it is a jungle forest area and very beautiful allowing us to see what the whole area must have been like.

Baboons sat on the sandy beaches watching us as much as we watched them!

The boundary of the Gombe reserve
The boundary of the Gombe reserve
Forest walk
Forest walk

It’s the first time that I have ever seen baboons kneeling down to drink water. The lake at this point was so clear we could see to the bottom of it. Finally we were there!

Entrance to Jane Goodall's research base
Entrance to Jane Goodall’s research base

We were allocated guides and off we went. After a short walk we found the chimps. A mother named Gremlin with her son Gizzmo (6 years) and new baby of a month. They passed right next to me (Denise) with Gizzmo brushing up against me- totally unfazed by our presence. We tracked them and watched as they climbed up a palm tree to get the fruit, swung around the tree branches and finally came back to ground a little drunk as the fruit they had eaten has that effect on them.

Mum and baby
Mum and baby
Mum and baby
Mum and baby
Gremlin and her month old son
Gremlin and her month old son
Over indulged Chimps
Over indulged Chimps
Mother and 2 chiildren
Mother and 2 chiildren
Gizzmo
Gizzmo
Gizzmo
Gizzmo

Then we sat with them as they lounged around on the ground, groomed each other and scratched. All with the baby hanging on to the mum. The jungle itself is beautiful with lots of butterflies but not many birds as the chimps disturb their nests. We had really great guides who made sure that everyone got to see the chimps. It was amazing just to sit with them.

Once back after a 3 hour trip because the wind was blowing we took a detour to the market. It is hidden in the center block of Kigoma and was found through a hole in the wall between the shops facing outwards. Fresh fruit and vegetables, fabric, eggs, tinned goods, electrical goods just about anything can be found here. The stalls are all tightly packed together in spaces about 1.5 by 1.5 m. incredible to see. The people don’t hassle you which makes it a pleasant experience.

Next morning we were off on our way to Kigali but knowing that we would have to find an overnight place. The dirt road started out okay, but ended not so well. It was quite an education and at times frightening to see how the local busses hurtled down this roads not deviating to the right or left and not slowing down as they head towards you. We had no choice but to find a way off to the side and let them pass. The amount of dust generated by the road traffic is extraordinary. We stopped to take photos of the trees along the roadside – they look like something else until you see that underneath the rust color is actually a banana tree!

Banana tress beneath the dust
Banana tress beneath the dust

We arrived in a town to find the only campsite was at an old German Fort (called Boma Guest House) and we camped in the courtyard. We were happy to see some of our travelling companions of the last week who had arrived before us. The place is a guesthouse and many local workers for NGOs in the area also stay there.

Camping at an old German fort
Camping at an old German fort