Gorillas in the mist

Krowded Kampala
We had a fruitful and relaxing couple of days in Jinja (the source of the Nile or one of them depending who you talk to. I’m busy reading The White Nile by Alan Moorehead about the explorers Speke, Burton and Baker. Interesting stuff!) and we then headed off for the big smoke of the capital city. We aimed for Lugogo Mall, resplendent with a Game and a Shoprite. We had coffee and an early lunch at the Rwenzori Coffee Shop and then a quick shop. Kaz had a fruitless 20 minutes on the email but Telecom Uganda couldn’t manage a speed of more than 256kps.
We then headed for Garden City Mall and found a far better internet café (R15 per hour and 100Mbps) where I was able to update the blog quite happily. We stayed overnight at the Backpackers Hostel and Campsite, a couple of kays west of the city, at least the right side of town for making a quick getaway. Camping was fine but the hostel part turned us off. Rebecca found some friends and spent the remainder of the afternoon playing in the sand. Generally we are not very keen on city campsites and this was no exception.
So, without a backward glance, we left Kampala behind, lingering memories of Marabou Storks circling overhead, gridlocked taxis and bread vans smousing their wares all over the show. Filled Tom Cruiser with diesel, that came to Ush 220 000, about Ush 2700 (R13.50) per litre. Have been able to find Stanbic ATMs quite often so at least it is not too difficult getting the local currency.
It appears that Kampala also has its fair share of load shedding, but in their case it seems to be “one day on, one day off”. Ouch!

Lousy Lake Mburo
Driving through the forests just south of the city we had tantalising glimpses of turacos and plantain-eaters flying across the road.
En route we again crossed the equator, heading south, and took the obligatory pics. We stopped at the nearby Equation Café for delicious coffee and a scrummy cinnamon muffin which we shared. All the profits are ploughed into the care of Aids children. We bought an Ugandan MTN sim card and gave granny a ring from the Equator! Drove through loads of torrential rain which makes the roads a particular challenge as the potholes fill with water.
This lake is encircled by a national park (an “A” grade one, nogal!) with the park fees to match. The game experience was nowhere near anything we’ve experienced to date but unfortunately the charges are; US$100 entrance and another USh 20 000 for camping. The rare species they had to offer were impala and eland, for South Africans this is a bit of a joke! Ablutions were very ropey too. We never did find the secluded “campsite 3” as you need to take a guide from “campsite 2” which is next to the restaurant - signposts are non-existent. We did have hippos grunting around the campsite which is right on the lake and Rebecca spotted some fireflies. The camp attendant actually rustled up some hot water and the resident monkeys and warthogs moved into the camp in the morning. We had a cooked bacon-and-egg breakfast and struck camp in the drizzle.
A very well placed overnight stop, yes, a “must-see”, no.
Don’t let us hear about anyone having nothing nice to say about our SA national parks! They are national treasures and the infrastructure and accommodation far exceeding anything we’ve experienced since driving out of Kruger at the beginning of our trip and at a fraction of the price.

Lovely Lake Bunyoni
The scenery turned more hilly and the banana plantations more plentiful. The hills were covered in a tapestry of cultivated fields, very beautiful. From Lake Mburo we rejoined the main road at Sanga Village after taking some pictures of the Ankole cattle with their massive horns. Apparently the horns act as a cooling system for the cattle. Now it was on with the Ugandan zig-zag. This is a highly choreographed dance performed by the corps de ballet. In this dance: the dancers weave from side to side; at one second, right in front of each other and then with millimetres to spare each dancer glides back to their side of the road, and of course we picked up the moves straight away. The court jesters (“very, very rude words” buses) of course do none of this; they just head straight for you and force you to vacate the road – stage left - until they have passed!
Quite a rainy day again and we saw a hamerkop fishing in the potholes!

Something that never ceases to amaze, is the transport we’ve seen. There are bicycle and motorbike taxis for people to go from village to village or from market back home. It is banana season and we’ve seen trucks piled high with bananas, bicycles loaded with bananas, one massive bunch on each side and then one or more on the carrier. We’ve also come across bicycles struggling along under a load of charcoal, pineapples or even long planks. This is not unique to Uganda but common across all the countries we’ve visited so far.

We drove through Kabale and headed straight to Lake Bunyoni, about 9kms down a very windy road. The Bunyoni Overland Resort is very comfortable and we are camped right on the water’s edge. We cooked dinner on the jiko last night, it worked really well. I may need to buy a couple more of them. We’ve seen some cool orange ones next to the road.
We are all turning into Sudoku aficionado. This morning we were sat in the sun doing our puzzles, luckily we have a book each.
Today, Friday, is market day in Bunyoni and we saw loads and loads of dug-outs all paddling in from the islands with their wares or to shop. Some of the dug-outs reminded us of container vessels except with bags of charcoal piled high instead of the containers.
We took a walk to the market and bought some avos (R1 each), potatoes, R2.50 for about a kilo, and a cabbage for R2.50. We also purchased 2 big pieces of some colourful cloth for R35. Pretty sure that we get charged mzungu rates, but, at these prices, we are ok with that!

Well, luckily we’re not on a tight schedule! We were planning to leave for Rwanda on Sunday, but by the time we got up, had breakfast, packed up the tent, had showers, taking some calls and had coffee, we decided to climb the hill to the highest point and have lunch at the Arcadia cottages. The view was great and we had a great view of all the islands dotted around the lake. They did offer camping but their rates were not great so we drove down to Kalabas nearby the Overland Resort, and camped there for a night and ate their pizzas, nice but get ready for nearly a 2 hour wait.

A country called Rwanda
We’ve arrived! Had an almost painless border crossing, whizzing through immigration and customs in record time and without outlaying a dime, only to be stopped by an officious policeman manning the non-existent gate. He was looking for something in French and we didn’t have a clue in English. Finally drove back to the Custom guys and one of them came with us to sort out the policeman who was obviously a couple of rules behind! Oh yes, don’t forget to drive on the right hand side of the road. They forget to tell you this small but important fact as you enter the country.

We stopped for coffee along the road and before long a little crowd had gathered taking in all the details like coffee, kitchen box, Rebecca and what we were up to. No communication but very friendly. Rwanda has a nice feel to it.

We have been told that there are no gorilla permits for August or September and that campsites are non-existent in Kigale.
We are currently waiting for our lunch to arrive at Bourbon Coffee and about to log on to their wireless network, the cyber squatters strike again!