Uganda, the tail end

Masindi Hotel, Masindi
Well, if it’s good enough for Hemingway, Hepburn and Bogart, it’s good enough for us!
As you know we didn’t quite make it all the way to Murchison Falls but paused a while in Masindi getting the washing done and what a monster wash it was too. It came back all clean and ironed!! Imagine that, ironed! You may not think that too special, but believe you me, we do.
On the day we left, we watched an interesting situation unfold in the campsite when the staff wouldn’t open the gates for a busload of Italian tourists who’d camped over. It turns out that some of them claimed to have had a sleeping bag stolen by the hotel staff and were given a room for the night. The next morning, they were caught trying to leave with all the bedding from the room in the bus. Imagine that, where do these people come from!
We’d made ourselves at home at the hotel, using one of their rooms to shower and watch some of the Olympics, getting hot water from the kitchen for our tea and coffee breaks and despatching an askari to buy our mandazi (local doughnuts). It was a really good place to stay.

Murchison Falls
Murchison Falls was waiting so we packed up and off we went. We had our first little “incident” at the gate when the chap on duty sympathised with the fact that Rebecca was 5 and needed to be charged for and suggested we settle at half price for her. I was happy with that as long as he reflected it as such on the receipt which, for some very strange reason, he wasn’t happy to do. I politely told him to get knotted and paid the full whack. Dipstick!
Instead of making our way directly to the falls we found ourselves at the Red Chilli Camp where we had a drink and some lunch. Food pretty reasonable and the bar area was nice but we didn’t fancy the look of the campsite. We retraced our steps to the actual falls and the “top of the falls” campsite. Easy really, just follow the waypoint called “Parking” on the GPS. The actual sign was pretty overgrown so one just needs to look out for the Shell sign and then hang a right at that intersection. The falls themselves were pretty spectacular, the way the entire river just falls through a tiny crevice, plunges down 40 metres or so and then changes from an angry mass of water into a really peaceful river.
We had the campsite to ourselves and went to sleep to the sound of this roaring river and the grunting of some nearby hippo.
We then decided to take the ferry across the Nile River and camp wild at Delta point as recommended by Carl and Karen, some Capetonians we’d bumped into on the drive up from Fort Portal. They had even seen lion in their camp at night. The cost of the ferry was a bit steep but then Ugandan Wildlife are in a monopoly situation here. The terrain in the northern side was quite different as we skidded and slid along the road after quite a downpour. We eventually found the campsite, which is marked on the GPS, after enlisting the help of a ranger from a nearby outpost. We declined his offer of a ranger to keep the fire going. He insisted on giving us some dry firewood and said we needed to keep the fire going all night as there are lion, elephant and buffalo in the vicinity. Yeah, right, I was planning to sleep , not tend fires!
The campsite was deserted, just as we like it. We got the tent up and lit a fire to cook. I tried to make pumpkin fritters which were ok. It was Friday night and guess what? Yep, there was an almighty party in one of the villages on the other side of the river which continued until after 2:30 am! Talk about a peaceful night in the bush. As much as we would have loved to and were planning on spending 2 nights here, we couldn’t risk it so after a breakfast of chapattis and egg, we got packed up to go on a game drive and then head back to the “top of the falls” camp. At least the sound of the river there will block out all but the wildest of parties!

Delta Camp
It’s funny how things happen. We have had so many experiences this trip where we’ve changed our plans at the last minute only to find that we meet people we wouldn’t have if we’d left when we were going to, or experience things that otherwise we would have missed. This was no exception. We packed up early because of the disco fever over the river and drove straight into a “Big Cat Diary Moment”. Not 200 metres from the campsite, Rebecca and I got out the car and walked to a nearby pond to photograph some flowering water hyacinths. We drove a further 100 or so metres and saw a lioness walk down to the water’s edge. Scanning around we noticed a couple of sub-adults ripping something to shreds with all the growling and gnashing of teeth that goes with it. We pulled off the road slightly to watch the action when out of the corner of our eyes we saw the buffalo vanguard approaching at speed! These big boys came in and sent the lions running for cover, for the moment abandoning their breakfast. Imagine if all this had been going on while we were still pottering around in our campsite. We could have missed all the action. The buffalo-lion contest continued for some time. As soon as the lions (about 8 sub-adults and 1 lioness) thought it was safe to come out the thick grass, the buffalo disagreed and the sentries would have another go. The buffalo then turned their attention to us (they are probably Landrover fans) and gave us our fair share of a hairy eyeball. They didn’t seem to be too used to vehicles or that’s the impression I got. Finally the rest of the really big 100-200 plus buffalo herd moved through the area and the lion jogged back to reclaim their kill. Phew!

Top of the falls camp to Kampala
We caught the ferry back to the southern side of the Nile and headed back to the campsite. We had to share it this time. I took our solar shower off the roof where it had been sloshing around for 2 days and we enjoyed a warmish shower. The shower seems to lessen the itch of those pesky tsetse bites, thank goodness. Up and out fairly early as it is a longish push for us back to the big smoke of Kampala. We had our coffee stop at the gate as we couldn’t remember a nicer spot further on. We skirted Masindi and headed down to Hoima as this is the recommended route even though 40 kms longer than the direct Masindi-Kampala road. In Hoima we found some yummy things to have for lunch and got some cash. The road from Hoima was really good until about 40 kms out from Kampala when it got a bit potholed! Best road we’ve been on for ages. Funny that it wasn’t to be found on the GPS at all. It’s interesting that they paint the lines in the middle of the road yellow and the ones on the sides white. (Yep, it actually had painted lines on)
In Kampala, we stopped for some diesel as both tanks were very low and then made for the Red Chilli Hideaway on the eastern side of town. Nice place. Sunday night is BBQ night so we drank their drinks and scoffed their food. It also has free wireless internet so that is a great help to keep up to date.

Emin Pasha
Of course, the only reason we stayed at Red Chilli was because the Emin Pasha Hotel was fully booked!! In any event, we had, courtesy of an intro from Sheena, been invited to lunch there on Monday. So, in anticipation, we scrubbed up well in the morning. I had a shave, we practiced our knife-and-fork skills, and dug out decent shoes. We first went shopping, to Shoprite, nogal, at the Lugogo Mall. Of course, we had coffee too. Rwenzori, at the mall, makes a mean Americano.
The Emin Pasha is everything you’d expect from a boutique hotel. Marc Harris, the main man, was very welcoming and showed us around. He is from Durban, as is the chef. Lunch was amazing too. They had a fantastic menu and as it is a far cry from baked beans on toast, we were spoilt for choice. What a real treat. Thanks Marc!!

Tom Cruiser is having his 10 000 km service done in Kampala and once that is done and we have hopefully found some gas for the gas bottle, we are heading back to Kenya and on to Ethiopia.

You just have to love Kampala, where else can you find a city with Marabou storks circling, a campsite in the middle of it with goats, chickens, rooster and a hooded vulture perching on a lamp post!