UGANDA

12 to 17.03.08 - After finding Eden Rock so peaceful we decided to stay a while and just relax and chill out for a few days which turned into 5.  We found out that Prince William had stayed in this very camp on his trip to Uganda so with a recommendation like that how could we leave!  Spent our time reading and sunbathing until we bumped into Alan & Taryn the South African couple we had met previously in Jungle Junction.  Glad to have some company again we spent some long evenings drinking and chatting around the BBQ.  We enquired about doing the white water rafting but in the end decided to do it in Zambia as we were enjoying doing nothing too much.  Jinja is where the source of the Nile is, we found it amazing to think we have travelled the length of the Nile all the way from Egypt, it is some river and is spectacular no matter which country you are in.

18.03.08 - We were heading off the Kampala today as we had totally run out of food again, Alan & Taryn were off to Murchison Falls.  We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.  The drive to Kampala was very quick and easy as was good tarmac all the way.  On the way to the Red Chilli Camp we stopped at the supermarket to buy a few things for that night.  Found the camp, settled ourselves with a nice drink when who should arrive but Alan & Taryn.  They had started going north but had a noise coming from the wheel they didn’t like the sound of so came back to Kampala so they could get it checked out in the garage.  So we had another night sat around the BBQ drinking.  Got to bed very late just before it poured down, we have finally hit a country in their rainy season after months of no rain, it felt very cosy in the tent to start with but the novelty soon wore off when it was so loud it kept us awake.

19.03.08 - Climbed down the ladder from the tent and straight into a puddle at the bottom, we seemed to have parked in the only area of the camp that puddles gather, decided to move the car in case it rained again tonight.  Went back to the supermarket to do a full shop, again I was very impressed with the shop as again it was just as good as at home, bought far more than we had room for and again lots of luxuries, but the prices aren’t bad so what the hell!  Found a shop called Game which sells all sorts of things including camping equipment and much to Troy’s delight fishing rods!  Like an excited kid he checked them all out but eventually only bought a small telescopic child’s rod as we had no room in the car for anything bigger, all we need now is to find him somewhere he can fish with it and he will be happy.  Alan & Taryn’s car took far longer at the garage than expected so they had to stay another night and again we had a BBQ and drinks and planned the trip to Murchison Falls as we had now decided we would go with them.

20.03.08 - Left Red Chilli Camp at 7am to try to miss the rush hour traffic, however they were already ahead of us and it took an hour to get out of Kampala.  Once on the road we made good time as most of the way there we were on new road and the parts where we were diverted looked like they would be finished soon.  We hoped to do Chimp trekking at Busingiro which is just outside the park, however when we arrived we were told that they no longer did it because of problems with the Chimps getting too used to people which is a shame as it is a stunning location, however they still have a campsite and an education centre and you can still arrange forest walks.  Stopped just before the entrance to the park so Alan and Troy could buy a crate of beer as they had run out again.  Once in the park it was a short drive to the Red Chilli Camp which is really nice and run by the same people as in Kampala.  Bumped into the Dutch family we had previously met in Nairobi, spent the evening drinking and chatting.  During the night we heard many noises which we thought were the bush pigs we had seen in the camp earlier so we didn’t bother to look out the tent.  However Taryn who is in a ground tent and consequently a little nervous of the animals woke to find a hippo grazing right next to their tent.

21.03.08 - Left camp a little too late for the boat trip to the falls so booked for the following day instead.  Caught the ferry to the northern half of the park where most of the game is located.  Spent the next few hours driving round the park heading for Delta point where we were told the lions were and we also had a rendezvous with a South African couple Kevin and Philippa to deliver their beer.  Sat and had lunch with them, but no sign of the lions although we were informed they had not gone far.  As time was getting on we left to see a bit more of the park.  On our way back to the ferry we were lucky enough to see a young male lion eyeing up a warthog.  Stayed with him for 5 mins as he looked very hungry and pretty cheesed off with us as we were disturbing his hunt.  He was also eyeing Alan up for his next meal as the warthog had run off.  Just missed the ferry back and had to wait for about 45 mins for the next one.  While we were waiting a troupe of baboons came to pay us a visit circling the cars and generally making a nuisance of themselves, there was also a couple of hippos that had come out of the water and were grazing not 50 metres away.  Troy wandered off the chat to Alan leaving his window down and me sat in the car, the next minute I was joined by the biggest baboon in the whole troupe, I thought he had come in to kill me or pinch the Landrover so I screamed for Troy at the top of my voice trying desperately to open my door.  The baboon saw Troy running towards us so grabbed the bag of crisps and murray mints which is all he was after and legged it back to his troupe.  Troy took off in hot pursuit but soon gave up when they cleverly hid behind the hippo.  All the locals thought it was hilarious however I was not amused, describing to everyone later how baboon genocide would be a good thing.  Not thinking about our agenda properly we decided to camp at the top of Murchison Falls, which is a very basic camp site, basically bush camping with drop toilets and a bucket shower.  We drove the 30km and eventually arrived in the dark then realising we would have to get up in the dark to drive back to where we had just come from to make the boat trip in the morning.  Made a camp fire to keep the hippo and leopard away that we were told may walk through the camp.  Went to bed, with Taryn electing to sleep in the car, and not with Alan in the ground tent after her experience the night before.

22.03.08 - With droopy eyes we managed a quick look at the Falls from the top, which was very impressive with the whole Nile squeezing through a 6 metre gap (wouldn’t want to be a fish taking that ride!)  Then it was our mad dash back to the river to catch the boat.  Made it just in time to brew a quick coffee and climb aboard, the boat then went across the river to pick up Kevin and Philippa.  So the 6 of us cruised up the river enjoying all the game Elephants, Hippos etc and a huge amount of birdlife.  Just before you reach the Falls there is an area where about 20 crocodiles park themselves all in the hope if catching dazed fish as they come through the falls, and judging by the size of them they do well!  After photographing the Falls from the river it was time for beer and the leisurely cruise back.  Left Kevin and Philippa and from there the 4 of us then drove to Budongo Forest Camp which has gone upmarket after being totally revamped with no camping any more but with extremely nice cabins and dorms and has only been open a week and a half.   Enquired about doing a Chimp trek in the morning and were told they were fully booked but that we could do it now; we quickly changed and were soon in the forest with our guide.  Unfortunately after 3 hours of walking we got a glimpse of a chimp just as the light was failing so our guide said we would have to go back, but they would only charge us for a forest walk and then arrange a special walk for us the next day.  Tired after all the exercise which is a rarity these days, it was off to bed early in our brand new dorms which we managed to have one each.

23.03.08 - Got up early to see if there were any cancellations on the morning trek, otherwise we would have to wait until 12.  Lucky for us everyone turned up however they saw no Chimps as they were out of the forest on the hill.  As we had missed the Chimps yesterday they didn’t want to take us out at 12 in case the Chimps were still not back in the forest so we finally left at 2.30pm leaving Kevin and Philippa behind who had arrived earlier, the guide was very informative endowing us with his knowledge of the forest.  Eventually we saw a small group of Chimps feeding in the very top of some fig trees.  We spent about an hour getting neck ache whilst dodging falling figs, urine and excrement, it was fantastic.  Back for a few beers, and another night in the dorms.

24.03.08 - Leaving early for a whopping 330km drive on dirt roads we arrived at the Lake Nkuruba community campsite, a stunning setting in the bowl of an extinct volcano.  5 mins after parking the car the heavens opened so cooking went out the window and we decided to order a meal in the restaurant instead (a tip: order your meal at least 3 hours before you want to eat) or end up drunk as we did waiting for your food.

25.03.08 - Drove towards Queen Elizabeth National Park, stopping for lunch on the equator, looking very British with table and chairs on the side of the road and taking the obligatory pictures of the equator sign again.  As the time was getting on we didn’t think it was worth paying to go in the park today so decided to stay at the Hippo Hill Camp which is just outside the main gate where we negotiated a price half of what was first stated.  Spent the rest of the afternoon preparing some meals for the bush camps ahead and got some much needed washing done.  As we are now alone we finally managed to catch up with our blog that we have let lapse due to too much drinking and socialising.     

26.03.08 - Set off early so we could do a drive around the area near Lake George in the top half of the park as we had been told this was the best place to see lions.  We drove the whole circuit and saw none.  We then started the drive to Ishasha which is the very south of the park and where the world famous tree climbing lions live, which was our whole reason for visiting the park.  While we were checking our maps a guide stopped and said he was also going that way so we could follow him and he would show us the way.  This turned out to be a good thing as the road that connects the north and south of the park is extremely bad with huge areas of the road churned up by trucks heading towards the Congo; the guide obviously knew the best routes through so we followed him making our driving much easier.  Finally reached the gate early afternoon, picked up a park ranger who wanted a lift to the information office, which was good for both of us as he got a lift and we got all the information for this half of the park.  After a quick lunch we went on a game drive around the south circuit which is where we were told the lions were that morning but we saw nothing.  Relaxed at the camp for a couple of hours before we set off on our evening game drive, this time trying the north circuit.  On our way out we bumped into a Belgium couple Hanno & Ann who we had met briefly the day before and were friends of Regentas, we had heard much about them over the last couple of months and now we had finally met them.  On our game drive we stopped a few guides to ask if they had seen the lions and eventually found one that had, he explained where they were and we all raced round there.  Quite hard to spot but finally saw them about 250m away sat in the grass, we watched them for a while and were very pleased when they very kindly got up and climbed the nearby tree.  Fascinated we watched and took photos, lions really are not that graceful when they climb and we just cannot think of any reason why these particular ones would do it but they really do.  Got back to camp just as it was getting dark, the rangers had lit a fire for us so after eating we sat around the fire with Hanno & Ann who were the only other people camping there.

27.03.08 - Set off early for a game drive to try to find the lions again, drove to the area they were the evening before but saw no sign, continued to drive round the park until we came to a large fig tree where the four lions were up in the branches asleep.  We cannot understand how the lions can find it comfortable as a couple of them looked like they could fall out of the tree if they moved around too much in their sleep.  Drove back to camp to cook some breakfast, before we left for Lake Bunyoni.  The road to the lake goes up and down the mountains, we were told of a short cut which we dubiously took having had it described as leaving the main road and as we were already on what can only be described as a cart track, alarm bells should have started to ring, it did cut out going around one of the mountains but the road was very narrow and muddy and a couple of points we were worried about slipping off the edge of the cliff.  15km later my heart finally stopped pounding as we made it back to the main road, Troy described it as a drive that was exciting but hasn’t enough clean pants to do it again!  Just back on the main road we bumped into Alan & Taryn who were on their way to the lakes from Bwindi where they had gone gorilla trekking.  Got to the Lake Bunyoni Overland camp late afternoon and set up camp just before it poured down, it was then we realised we had parked in a dip and were soon ankle deep in mud.  We moved the car to higher ground and sheltered for the rest of the evening under the canopy to keep dry.

28.03.08 - The original plan was to spend a week or so at the lakes to relax and sunbathe but as we were now officially in the rainy season and the rain was lasting much longer than it had been we decided to cut our visit short.  Hired a dug out canoe, they are much harder work than they look.  Troy and I ended up doing the muzungu (whiteman) corkscrew several times until we got used to how to steer.  Troy also finally got a chance to use his new fishing rod but unfortunately the fish obviously did not like, bread, cheese or sausage as he did not get one bite.  Tried luring for a while but could not get enough speed or stay in a straight line long enough so gave up.  Paddled around to the bar for a few drinks and ended up staying there for dinner.  Arms aching we went to bed for another night of listening to rain.

29.03.08 - Mud, mud glorious mud was the order of the day today.  Packed up in the rain and mud again, stopped in Kabale to stock up on money and food before heading towards the border.  The roads were extremely muddy, and were like driving on a skating rink making it only drivable by 4WD with diff lock; anything else was either stranded or travelling in a snake like fashion at 1km an hour.  Lorries were getting stuck all over the place.  At one point the whole road was blocked by a truck and everyone was out from the village either trying to help dig it out or just standing around knee deep in mud watching.  Eventually reached the border, got through very quickly and drove to Ruhengeri, went straight to the gorilla booking office where we were told we could go gorilla trekking the following day.  Very excited we went to the Kinigi Guesthouse where we camped in the car park.

          
Final thoughts: After the troubles of the past we were very impressed by how modern areas were and the infrastructure being in a great state of repair.  These very friendly people seem to be making an effort at creating a better future for themselves.  Having had only good times in Uganda which has some stunning scenery we can only recommend it as a thoroughly enjoyable country to visit, the only sad part was finally saying goodbye to the Nile.