uganda
Uganda
Thursday 17th July 2008:
We drove the few metres to the Ugandan border, adding another hour onto our current time. We were going back to being in the same timezone as Tanzania again, and driving on the left hand side of the road again. We were ushered across to "Security", a lady sitting behind a small wooden school desk with a big book. She filled in our passport and vehicle details and then told us to go to the Immigration and Customs offices. The Immigration officer was a very nice man, who asked us for US$50 each for our visas! We were quite shocked by this as the Lonely Planet - March 2007 (this time living up to its name LYING Planet), clearly states US$30!!! This is quite a big jump, which it would have been nice to have had up-to-date info about. The Immigration officer informed us that the increase had happened last year and it's on their website. He was sympathetic to our surprise. We got a receipt and were given a 2 month Ugandan visa, which he stuck in one page of our passports. From Immigration we went next door to Customs, to get the carnet stamped only to get another price surprise. We had to pay USh35 000 for road tax, only valid for 2 weeks, a new thing too apparently. For the road tax they only take Ugandan Shillings, no other currency, so we had to change money at the border with the money-touts there, which we hate doing. We got a lower rate than what Eric had told us was normal for US dollars to Ugandan shillings. We got $1 to USh1 500, which wasn't too bad, but we didn't change too much more than we needed. "No the roads aren't very good in our country, but I think they are going to use the road tax money from tourists to improve them...", he told us. We got a receipt for this too and then drove on our first not-so-great Ugandan road, certainly not worth the US$23 we paid! We were also told to take care when driving and to watch out for steep corners, where we were advised to hoot first as a warning before driving around. Good thing they tell tourists this because the locals fly around corners on the wrong side of the road, as fast as they can...
This part of Uganda was very steep and full of farming. It was absolutely amazing and very beautiful to see how every piece of land and hillside, no matter how steep, is farmed right up to the very top of the hills/mountains. You could see the piles of volcanic rocks that had been cleared from the fields, before they were able to farm and a lot of the rocks were used as support banks, along the very steep parts of the hillsides. Ugandans have learnt from the Rwandans, or vice versa, but the difference is that in Uganda the farmers are growing lots of different vegetables, spring onions, cabbages and others we couldn't identify. It was beautiful winding our way through the patchwork hillsides of different crops. At one stage we were on a ridge with intensive farming on our right and dense green, steamy natural jungle on our left. Unfortunately there was lots of mist and cloudy haze, so it got dark quite early and we were not able to see the surrounding volcanoes at all. As the sun lowered and began to turn red through the clouds, we could just make out the side of one huge volcano. It was A LOT higher than we were and we were about 2 400m or 2 500m above sea level!
We drove through Kisoro and tried to find a bank to change money, but they were all closed. This stretch of road was the first time we've seen ladies carrying big round clay pots balanced on their heads. They were also carrying neatly woven square grass baskets, like some of the ladies depicted in our Malawian painting on Duzi2. We took the road out to Lake Bunyonyi, which seemed to be having a lot of work done on it. A lot of it had been tarred and graded, which was great, and almost looked like it might be tarred one day in the near future. After much winding up and down, in and out of the various hills and valleys, we caught our first glimpse of Lake Bunyonyi. The lake looked just like a fjord lake in Switzerland or New Zealand and definitely not something we'd expected to see in Uganda. Eric had suggested we drive along the lakeshore road on our way to the Kalebas' campsite, which we decided to do. This road is very narrow and steep in places, with gaps where the road has fallen away on the steep edges, probably not the best road to take when it's getting dark. It would have been very scenic and picturesque to drive it in the daytime, following little hidden bays in the lake, but got a bit scary at times at night. We saw fishermen on the lake and passed a few little boys who were herding goats. Tonight was a full moon and it was so lovely to watch it rise in the clear sky. Amazing how, now that we were away from the volcanoes, the sky was cloudless and clear.
We eventually arrived at Kalebas' Campsite (USh7 500p/p/night camping) in the dark and were both so tired. We were welcomed by William and Bosco, who showed us a perfect rooftop-tent camping place. William brought us a menu to look at to order dinner, which had pizzas and pasta and even fresh water crayfish, fresh from the lake. There was amazing singing coming from across the lake, where the local church community were rehearsing for when the local bishop was due to visit in a few days. We showered and woke up a bit, just in time to enjoy yummy spaghetti bolognaise and a cold Coke, kind thanks to Kalebas' kitchen. It was an expensive dinner (USh9 000 each), but so delicious. We warmed up around the fire for a bit, before heading to bed.
There are lots of wooden sitting areas scattered along the lake edge in the beautiful gardens, so this will be the perfect place to stop and catch up a bit tomorrow. We went to sleep to the sound of frogs croaking in the water below, a sound we haven't heard for a long time.
Friday 18th July 2008: Kalebas' Campsite on Lake Bunyonyi, Kabale, Uganda
GPS Info: S01° 16' 05.0" E29° 56' 17.6"
Miles Today: 0 Total Miles: 29 156
Woke early to the sound of a bell ringing and the birds chirping crazily in the trees around us. Their calls were beautiful and totally different to what we've heard up 'til now. We both enjoyed a late lie in knowing that we didn't have to drive anywhere today. The view of the lake and the vibrant colours from all the flowers in the garden and the bright green lawn was so lovely to see, now that it was daylight. This is what we missed by arriving in the dark last night.
After showering, we discussed a rough time-breakdown of our route, taking into account sites of interest, national parks and countries for the time we had left between here and when we would like to get back to South Africa.
The weather was sunny and perfect so we relaxed, did the laundry and enjoyed the stunning views over the lake, watching pirogues carrying people back and forth and listening to the beautiful chorus of all the different bird calls, coming from the trees and bushes all around us. Kalebas' has exquisite gardens with lots of colour and variety, a real haven for all kinds of birdlife - weavers, honey suckers and other birds with gorgeous calls.
We enjoyed having the time to just catch up, typing a few updates and not driving anywhere. In the afternoon we walked over to Bunyonyi Overland Resort to see what it was like and to change some more money, as Kalebas doesn't change. Bunyonyi Overland Resort (USh10 000p/p/night camping) is nicely positioned and has a huge area of land. There were lots of people around and two big, pink Swedish overland buses - Pink Elephant. We walked around and saw where rooftop tent campers could stay. This area is separate from the restaurant and bar area, with nice views over the lake and even a grassy lawn area in front, which would also be used for ground tents. We changed some money, but their rates weren't that good US$1 to USh1 500 (average rate) and €1 to USh1 800 (a very BAD rate). On leaving we glanced quickly over their menu and decided we'd walk back later for some dinner, as they had a lot on their menu and their prices were quite reasonable.
Returning to Kalebas, we washed Duzi2 giving her/him some dignity back and then walked over to Bunyonyi Overland for a quick dinner...our meals took over an hour to be served and were okay, but certainly not worth the wait!!! Ross had a chicken sweet and sour stir-fry with rice, while Heidz had "poped" crayfish with chips, which was basically deep fried tiny pieces of battered crayfish with a huge plate of chips. Tonight’s meal was an experience and not something we would do again in a hurry. When it came time to pay, the rude man dealing with taking payment tried to overcharge us twice!
Arriving back at Kalebas we were warmly welcomed by the night watchman, who had been waiting for us and then locked up the gate behind us. It was VERY late so we headed straight to bed.
Saturday 19th July 2008: Kalebas' Campsite on Lake Bunyonyi, Kabale, Uganda
GPS Info: S01° 16' 05.0" E29° 56' 17.6"
Miles Today: 115 Total Miles: 29 271
Up early again to try and get on the road early, as we had quite far to travel today and we weren' t too sure about the condition of the roads. With clean clothes and feeling more refreshed, we left lovely Lake Bunyonyi and the friendly Kalebas campsite, heading through Kabale and on towards Queen Elizabeth Park in the west of the country. We stopped in at the Stannic Bank in Kabale, changing at a good rate of US$1 to USh1 505 and €1 to USh 2 300, with NO commission being charged. We then filled up with diesel and drove on a good tar road through some very scenic areas, with more steeply farmed hills and passed bright green tea and coffee plantations. We also passed many papyrus wetlands and remnants of tropical jungles. Another agricultural fact we started to notice were the enormous horns of the Ugandan cattle, which are bright white, long, and thick.
Branching off the main road, we took a bumpy gravel shortcut road from Ntungamo to Ishaka. There are no road signs telling you where roads are going, so we were very grateful to have the GPS. At Ishaka we joined the main tar road towards Queen Elizabeth National Park and then Fig Tree Camp. Upon eventually arriving at Fig Tree Camp in the late afternoon, we found it to be completely deserted. Walking around to have a look at the place we wandered down to their viewing deck over the beautiful gorge, which was long and green with a fast flowing big river below, but due to the dense tree growth, it wasn't possible to see the river itself. We decided to open up the tent for the night and made something hot to drink, as it was becoming quite cool. Some Chinese guys, who had come to look at the gorge from the deck, wandered over and took photos of us and the open roof top tent. We felt like celebs on Tourist TV as they started asking to pose with us in front of Duzi2.
Fig Tree Camp is where you can come to do chimp trekking into the gorge, to see the chimps for US$30p/p, plus park fees. Eventually a ranger appeared and seemed unsympathetic to our request to camp for the night, telling us to go to Kingfisher Camp (USh20 000p/p/night to camp) or to Jacana Camp, which is the National Park's campsite inside the park, meaning we would need to pay park fees US$35p/p/24hrs, plus US$40per vehicle and USh 10 000p/p/night to camp. We finished off our hot drink and stalled as long as possible, until at last the ranger set off home as his shift was over. At around 7.30pm another ranger came over and, after a discussion, made a special allowance to allow us to camp for the night for USh10 000p/p/night, with no ablutions at all. Fig Tree Camp is not open for camping, as there is no water or camping facilities, but we were very grateful to have a special arrangement made for us, saving us a lot of money.
Chatting to the ranger, he said for humanitarian reasons he couldn't force us to leave at night, but we wouldn't recommend trying to camp here, as they don't particularly like it at all. The night ranger was very friendly and very interesting to talk to, telling us a bit about Ugandan culture etc. We could hear the chimps fighting colobus monkeys in the gorge below us, but it was too dark to see them. We cooked a quick, one pot, easy tagliattelli with carbonara sauce for dinner, which was so yummy. We ate inside Duzi2 while it drizzled outside, but forgot we'd left the back door open while we were inside. Ross got out of the car after dinner, only to jump straight back in again with a shocked look on his face. As he had glanced to the back of the car, he saw a buffalo standing right there - far too close to feel comfortable about with only a head torch as protection. The buffalo wasn't quite between the rooftent's ladder and the back door, but really close. Without a word he was back in and sitting dead straight on the seat, with eyes as big as saucers. "Buffalo are right at the back of the car." he said with surprise. Heidz, thinking he'd seen a lion, was really relieved, but we decided to wait a bit and use more light and make more noise to scare them away. They moved off into the dark, getting as much of a fright as we had, and they were something we definitely hadn't expected to meet, here on the top of the gorge. We then headed to bed as it was getting chilly and quite damp.
Sunday 20th July 2008: Fig Tree Camp (but not a camp), Queen Elizabeth Park, Uganda
GPS Info: S00° 11' 18.7" E30° 06' 05.4"
Miles Today: 212 Total Miles: 29 483
Up very early while it was still dark and misty. Mist and light drizzle hung over everything and the gorge wasn't yet visible. We packed up the tent and made some hot tea, to enjoy on our drive through the park today. There was no sight or sound of the chimps we had heard in the gorge last night. It was probably too dark, wet and miserable for them to stir yet. Once we had packed everything away and were ready to leave, we gave the night ranger some bibles, which we had promised him last night and drove off just after 7am, as we had promised. It was still cool and initially we saw very little game. Along the main road through the park, we were passed by some game viewing vehicles heading into the park for their mornings drive. Queen Elizabeth Park has a totally different type of vegetation to what we've seen so far. It has thick bush and then truly open flat grassy savannah. On our way through to Ishasha, we spotted an elephant bull, two kinds of antelope we've never seen before - one looked like waterbuck without the ring around their bums, the other buck we think are Ugandan Cobs. They look like a cross between an impala, a puku and a waterbuck. We saw a lone hyaena snooping through a burnt area of grassland and large families of baboons sitting comically in the middle of the road, moving off as we drove through and then moving straight back on again.
At one stage we parked in the middle of the baboons and just observed, at which point they merely ignored us and carried on around us, as if we weren't there. We also saw two huge herds of buffalo. The weather got clearer and warmer, but the road we were travelling along got wetter and bumpier. Although we thought we would be able to, we couldn't really see Lake Edward. That meant we didn't see any hippo either, but could hear and see many fish eagles calling in the skies around and above us.
We arrived at Ishasha, where the lions are known to climb and sleep in the trees. We looked around everywhere for these tree-climbing lions, but couldn't see them anywhere. Following Eric's waypoints we then drove to his great bush camp spot nearby, to stop and have some breakfast, before turning around to drive back and continue on the main road to Fort Portal, as it was still fairly early. On our way back out on the road from Ishasha, we saw 5 beautiful Colobus monkeys with their long flowing black and white hair and thick long white tails. They were beautiful and quite shy. We stopped to sit and watch them for a while, both thinking this had made our morning's drive so worthwhile. Last night we heard the chimps fighting with these lovely primates. These wouldn't stand a chance against a chimp, as they are quite small. While we were watching the Colobus monkeys, we heard more parrot-like noises and saw some very cute and playful Golden monkeys in the branches nearby. We had seen an information board about Golden monkeys at the place where the gorilla trekking starts in Rwanda. They are beautiful with black bodies, long rust red coloured or golden coloured tails and cute black and white faces with a white nose. These are often seen while gorilla trekking and chimp trekking and are known for their playfulness. They were SO cute to watch and were playing Peek-a-boo with us in the trees. Wow! What a treat to be so close to such exquisite primates, and alone to have them all to ourselves. We headed back, passing more ellies, more antelope and more cute golden monkeys, which seemed to co-habit with baboons.
We decided against spending another night in Queen Elizabeth Park as it costs US$35p/p/24 hrs for the first day, US$25 for the 2nd day and a hefty US$40 per foreign registered vehicle. The campsite costs US$10p/p/night with basic, if any, ablutions and we would rather try to spend an extra day further along our trip. We passed a crater lake, which was weird, but very obviously a crater lake, with its complete crater wall and buffalo lazing in the sand around the water. Stopping in at a coffee shop along the road we hoped for something hot to drink and a nice piece of cake, but there was none of that. It was overpriced and nothing was fresh. Here we found out that Queen Elizabeth had visited this area in the 1950s. The Duke of Edinburgh had opened up the coffee shop, Internet cafe and info centre towards the end of last year. We also found out that there are lots of impact craters in this area, which made more sense to us, as there aren't many obvious volcanoes around. Pressing on to Fort Portal we decided to stop at the Gardens Restaurant for dinner. Eric had highly recommended their buffet for only USh 5 200p/person. The road to Fort Portal was good tar most of the way, with some sections still needing to be finished off, so making it single track in some parts. The only horrible part of this road were the thousands of high rumble-strips when entering and leaving each town, with mountain like speed bumps which made the car jump, even when going really slowly.
We found Gardens Restaurant and parked Duz outside, both very hungry by now. We had sadly missed their cheap buffet, so ordered other meals from their very reasonable menu. Here they give you a time guide for each meal and both meals were meant to take 20minutes. We phoned the mobile number from the Lake Nyamirima Rest Camp pamphlet we had picked up at Lake Bunyonyi Overland Stop, to check about camping and to find out how to get there. Our meals arrived promptly. For dinner, Ross had an egg and bacon pizza while Heidz had a mushroom steak with chips and salad. After dinner, we set off in the dark to Lake Nyamirima Rest Camp (USh3 000p/p/night to camp), on the road towards Kamwenge and Kibale Forest National Park, asking locals for directions along the way as there were no signs. We arrived rather surprised to find no obvious facilities there. We stumbled upon a small wooden reception hut at the top of a hill and were directed down by George, to where we could camp looking right onto Nyamirima Crater Lake. The moon rose like a giant red ball and the stars shone brightly. As the moon rose higher, we could see the lake below us. George told us the shower would be cleaned first thing in the morning and we would have a hot jerry can of water to bathe with in the morning.
Having had dinner already, we crept into the tent and were grateful to be able to sleep warm and dry, after what seemed like a long day's drive. Ross saw a huge bright shooting star disappear behind the trees, so close he thought he'd hear it crash, just before climbing up the ladder into bed. Lucky him!
Congratulations on your 30th birthday Duane. Pity we can't see "da Mexican" on your special day, but know you'll be spoilt by Claire, Emily and all your family and friends.
Happy birthday Bridgie. We hope you have a very special day and are able to celebrate your day with close friends.
Monday 21st July 2008: Lake Nyamirima Rest Camp, 20km south of Fort Portal, Uganda
GPS Info: N00° 31' 07.6" E30° 19' 15.5"
Miles Today: 188 Total Miles: 29 671
We woke up quite early and it was still very cool. There were all sorts of different birds flying around, chirping in the trees around us. The views of the Crater Lake were beautifully clear and it was interesting to think what might be found under all this water. We wondered if there would be fossils, or if pieces of the original meteor that had formed this impact crater could be lying somewhere deep down below in the water. We both loved the hot water that George had arranged, for us to wash with in the shower cubicle this morning. We had our usual quick breakfast and walked a little up the hill, to see the view over the 3 crater lakes all in a line, as advertised on the pamphlet. The view was beautiful and we couldn't believe we had it all to ourselves. It will be interesting to see what will become of this place under its new ownership, with their big development plans for the future.
Lake Nyamirima Rest Camp is about 20km south of Fort Portal, on the road to Kibale Forest National Park. Due to its location and the fact that the joining road, down from Fort Portal to Mbarara, is shown as only being 170km on the map, we thought we'd rather drive this way down than going back up to Fort Portal and around the way we had come. We were told this road was gravel but good and much quicker than the other route. We set off and passed many other camping options a little further south, closer to Kibale Forest National Park, which would be advisable to stay at as an option, since Lake Nyamirima isn't really open at the moment.
Driving through the Kibale Forests reminded us of driving through Gabon; it has dense lush green jungle with tall trees. The difference being that here in Kibale we saw lots of primates. Kibale is known to have one of the highest primate population densities in the world, including chimps. We stopped to watch a baboon family and while we were watching them, a golden monkey popped down to look at us. A little further along we heard the parrot-like calls of more golden monkeys and then saw a totally different type of monkey, which we've never seen before. This monkey looked like a golden monkey, but had a totally black body, a bit of white on its face and a long black tail. They made a different call and seemed more scared. We stopped and watched a whole family around us. Some of them even crossed the road behind us, giving us a chance to try and get photos of them.
From Kibale Forest the road was decent all the way to Mbarara, where we stopped to buy some lovely fresh produce being sold in stalls along the road. We bought lovely fresh green beans, green peppers, mangoes, avocado pears, tomatoes and eggs. They were also selling fresh carrots, red onions, garlic, granadillas, bananas, pineapples and lots of different beans. The tar from Mbarara to Masaka was badly potholed and even non-existent in some parts, due to huge holes and rain, which have caused big areas to become badly rutted . We passed more cattle with huge horns and saw our first crowned cranes, which are Uganda's national bird. We stopped to photograph them and then saw some more. These cranes are so beautiful with a slender build and stunning facial and head colours, as well as their circular yellow crowns on the top of their heads. We also marvelled at how many green bananas could be carried on a bicycle, without the load or the cyclist falling off.
We arrived at Masaka Backpackers (USh6 000p/p/night camping) in the late afternoon and after such a long day of driving, Heidz felt shattered. The sun was streaming into the tent, which made it ideal for a late afternoon nap, but there were so many other noises around the outside of the campsite that this was impossible. Joseph, the owner of the backpackers, is such a knowledgeable guy. He told us all we needed to know about the ferry crossing from Bukakata to the Ssese Islands. There are 3 ferries a day - 8am, 1pm and 4pm and the ferry trip is an hour and is meant to be free, but because the government often doesn't provide the fuel to run it as they should, the vehicles are sometimes asked to pay USh10 000 each. He suggested we go across on the 1pm ferry, leaving the backpackers at 10:00am. Jane, his wife, was going into town and gladly offered to buy us some bread on her way.
Masaka Backpackers is pretty basic in facilities, but has a lovely lawned garden to camp in and it is quiet, safe and peaceful. Joseph and Jane are so helpful and lovely. Joseph showed Ross his very clever parabolic solar heating dish, which uses sunlight to heat and cook things. We had cold showers, but at least felt refreshed and clean. We cooked up a yummy veggie stir-fry, using our fresh veggies and got into bed to watch the movie "Apocalypto", by Mel Gibson, which was good.
Congratulations on your anniversary Claire and Grant. We hope you are able to do something very special together today to celebrate.
Tuesday 22nd July 2008: Masaka Backpackers and Camping, Masaka, Uganda
GPS Info: S00° 21' 48.2" E31° 42' 51.9"
Miles Today: 0 Total Miles: 29 671
Hmmm... woken by the hedge being cut, with the squeakiest hedge cutters possible. There was a mist hanging over the valley, which slowly lifted as the sun rose. We cut another juicy Tanzanian pineapple, which we enjoyed for breakfast. Joseph came over to find out how we'd slept. There were big birds flying around which looked and sounded like a lourie crossed with a hornbill. They were big speckled grey birds with thick grey white legs, small yellow beaks and red under their wings. They were beautiful, but so noisy. We packed up and set off, on the bumpy and unsigned road to Bukakata, to catch the 1:00pm ferry, making sure we were there early to actually get on.
We passed more huge horned cattle on our way to Bukakata and wondered what the reaction would be if one of them had to arrive in South Africa, in comparison to the cattle horns there. The ferry jetty, leading to where vehicles would drive on and off the ferry, was closed with a chain hanging over the road. There was no one in the office-looking area, but a man selling drinks in the little shed alongside told us to just park and wait. A policeman came along a little later to chat and tell us about the ferry. Mom phoned very briefly, to try and talk about her potentially joining us for a few days in Tanzania. Hopefully this can happen as it will be lovely for her to see a different part of Africa. Just a big pity Paps can't join us too, due to work commitments.
We sent a text to the Rovuma Ferry captain (+255 754 869 357) to find out about the dates, prices and times the ferry will be crossing, in the week of the 17th to 23rd August 2008. There was a car parked ahead of us with 4 Spanish people travelling in it, with a driver. They came over to enquire about our trip after looking at the flags and map on Duz. After a bit of a wait in the sunshine the ferry appeared and unloaded its vehicles, trucks and people. The ferry is a typically African ferry, but carries so many vehicles. The queue of vehicles behind us grew, which meant that the 'free' price should drop for us.
The ferry is meant to be free, but the government is also supposed to provide fuel for it to run. Unfortunately the fuel isn't provided, so the vehicles need to chip in to provide money for the fuel. Initially they asked us for USh15 000 per vehicle, but we had been told by Joseph in Masaka and by the policeman, that the local price is USh10 000 per vehicle. We therefore bargained the price down to USh10 000 and drove through on to the jetty, waiting to drive onto the ferry, up a steep, sharp angled ramp with a very smooth but dented surface. Here's where the fun started. The first banana-laden truck made several unsuccessful attempts to mount the ramp, which was amusing to watch. After his 4th or 5th attempt he managed, with lots of smoke and revving. The next car struggled on too, sliding back down the ramp coming to rest on his back bumper and then trying again. Cars and trucks were being directed to park in every possible place on the ferry, but with Duz luckily being quite tall we weren't asked to squeeze under the awnings, etc.
Eventually it was our turn to climb the ramp, which Duz handled with ease. We parked right in the front of the ferry, next to the heavily laden banana truck. It was amazing to see just how many trucks and cars they managed to squeeze onto the ferry, with the last car making it on with centimetres to spare. We watched a rainstorm happening on the Ssese Islands and hoped we wouldn't catch it on the crossing. We could see the lightning across the lake and the sea horses on Lake Victoria. The ferry crossing was slow, and took about an hour. We sat on top of Duz, which got a bit wobbly at times with the swells from the passing storm. There was one swallow which seemed to be flying laps from one end of the ferry to the other, getting fit for its long flight north.
We pulled into the jetty, on the Ssese islands, with no fuss at all and turned Duz around before driving off. Very soon after driving onto dry land we past a fat squashed snake, which made us realise we were entering tropical jungle areas again. The snake was quite beautiful and Heidz didn't freak out, as she knew it was dead. We drove through some beautiful dense jungle and then were horrified to see a huge area of jungle that had recently been trashed, obviously to be replaced with palms, which seem to be replacing the natural jungle. It is so sad to see how the natural jungle has been shrunk to only the protected Forest Reserve areas. One whole big valley, which used to be dense tropical jungle, is now a huge palm plantation. Everywhere was wet and looked drenched after the storm that had happened earlier. The Lonely Planet describes the Ssese Islands as, "This is Uganda's answer to the Mediterranean...with beaches ringing the shores, complete with swaying palms...Inland lie rolling hills coated with lush rainforest.", which is quite far from the truth. The lush rainforest is being chopped down and replaced with palm plantations and there seems to be only one area with tourist accommodation, with a beach. Not too sure about the comparison with the Mediterranean either???
We drove to Hornbill Camp (USh6 000p/p/night camping), which is the one most recommended, but thought it looked a bit run down. There were thousands of flies coming out of the self-composting loos and not too much sunshine able to peep through the dense canopy of trees. There is a nice tiny beach, which would be lovely to camp nearby, but we weren't too sure if we could get there with all the trees. Next we went to Panorama Camping Safaris (USh10 000 p/p/night camping), which has lovely views, but is very pricey for what you get and the camping ablutions are very basic, but do supposedly have hot showers. Then we went to Ssese Palm Beach Hotel (USh10 000p/p/night), which also has lovely beach views, but the campers are shoved in a corner and their ablutions were miles away and 'the campers only have cold showers...'. Following this we tried another place alongside Palm Beach, which looked like a dump and hasn't had tourists for years. They charge USh20 000 per tent per night. We tried one other place, which turned out not doing camping, but were very friendly. Both feeling a bit disillusioned, we tried the last place possible, which was Pearl Gardens Beach Ltd, right next to Hornbill and who advertised camping facilities. They have a huge open beach frontage and very friendly staff. We were met by Maria, Margaret and Maureen, who showed us around. We could choose wherever we wanted to camp and they have hot showers too! Pearl Gardens Beach Ltd (USh7 000p/p/night camping) was where we finally chose to stay for our 2 Ssese Island rest days. We drove down and chose a spot right close to the beach and popped up the tent to dry in the warm sunshine, which was now shining strongly. All the places to stay are along the beach, where the Kalangala ferry docks when coming in from Entebbe. We were told we needed to park at the ferry place the night before, to ensure our place on the only ferry across to Entebbe, which leaves at 8am sharp. Otherwise we apparently need to make an arrangement to book a place, as the ferry only takes about 6 vehicles.
The ferry from Kalangala is small so we will need to book and get there early, to ensure we will get to Kampala or Jinja on Thursday. We chatted to some Danish people who had arrived on today's ferry from Entebbe. For dinner we had some lovely avocado and couscous, with fresh peppers, carrots and tomatoes. After dinner, by candlelight, we went to sit around the huge roaring bonfire on the beach, which was lovely and warm. We had a drink and enjoyed the warmth of the fire. The music from the bar was loud and lots of people were sitting around the fire alone, just staring into the flames. The Danish went to bed and we followed shortly afterwards. By now there was quite a lot of dew on the ground and on the tent. We had received a reply text from Gaston, the Rovuma Ferry captain, about ferry crossing times: Aug17th to 20th crossing at 3pm, 21st to 23rd crossing at 5.30am and costing US$50 per vehicle. Crossing on the 20th at 3pm would suit us best, as we are unsure about bush camping safely close to the ferry crossing, to make the 5.30am crossing on the 21st.
Wednesday 23rd July 2008: Pearl Gardens Beach Ltd, Ssese Islands, Uganda
GPS Info: S00° 21' 48.2" E31° 42' 51.9"
Miles Today: 0 Total Miles: 29 671
Woken by the weird neighing of the two donkeys staying near us, then by the cute little wagtails drinking and bathing in the water on the tent flaps and other stuff on the roof. We saw this morning's ferry loading up and watched it leave, noticing how a black and ominous huge storm was brewing just off shore. The sky got darker and the wind picked up. We decided to quickly pack up the tent rather than have it get drenched, managing to pack it up with seconds to spare, before both jumping into Duz a bit wet, to take refuge from the flooding outside. The grass lawn quickly turned into dams and rivers and we were both very glad we had packed up the tent. After a few hours spent researching other's waypoints and distances covered, from Tanzania through Mozambique, the rain finally softened and we decided to have a hot shower to warm up. The showers we were shown yesterday weren't hot and hardly had any water coming out. Maureen felt sorry for us with the rain, so gave us a room key to have a hot shower in. We tried to resurrect the dwindled "donkey" fire, and both had warmish showers. The donkey heating system is simple and definitely the best way to have hot water.
The rain and grey clouds didn't really let up until about 1:30pm. There were many birds out and about. Cormorants drying themselves out in the sun, Pied Kingfishers trying to make catches, huge black and white Trumpeter Hornbills in the trees, Egyptian Geese, Hamerkops, Fish Eagles, Wagtails and lots of other birds we didn't recognise. We cooked a late breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast and then enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine when it appeared, which dried out the tent from last night and the chairs soaked by the rain this morning. We went over to feed the grumpy donkeys some bread and long, juicy green grass, rather than the plantain skins they had been given. Both of us were so pleased to see them allowed out, to roam freely around the place, rather than being cooped in their tiny pen, which they were slowly eating through...eating the grass roof and wooden fence poles. They were so cute romping around together and so obviously pleased to be free.
Heidz did some typing of updates while Ross did some reading. Luckily the sun came out and dried and warmed everything. We enjoyed spending the afternoon looking out over Lake Victoria onto some of the 84 Ssese Islands nearby. We watched the Kalangala ferry arrive back in the late afternoon, around 5pm, bringing more people onto the Ssese Islands from Entebbe and counted 8 vehicles altogether, including 2 trucks. Walking across to the ferry, we spoke to the captain to see if there was any way of reserving a place, to guarantee we would definitely get on the ferry in the morning, but other than parking your vehicle in the queue the night before, it's first come first served.
For supper we ate the rest of the couscous from last night, but were then told by two people that there were already 5 vehicles lined up for the ferry and they feared we wouldn't get on, as it was still fairly early in the evening. We went over to reception to see if they had a hotel car to park in the queue for us, to book our place, but after much discussion even with some of the ferry crew, everyone thought it best that we moved Duzi2 to the queue and camped there for the night. This is exactly what we did. Luckily all the locals seemed to be watching a movie in a hut nearby and so never saw us arrive or pop the tent up. We crept up to bed and fell fast asleep, until the rain started again in the early hours of the morning.
Thursday 24th July 2008: Pearl Gardens Beach Ltd, Ssese Islands, Uganda
GPS Info: S00° 21' 48.2" E31° 42' 51.9"
Miles Today: 0 Total Miles: 29 671
We awoke to the sound of more rain and wondered how much rain is in the sky??? At 5:45am we heard voices outside Duz saying there were already 7 vehicles. Luckily being parked in the queue already, we knew we would definitely be on the ferry this morning. We got up and packed the tent away and shortly afterwards were called to drive onto the ferry. The Spanish couples, in their hired car with the driver, arrived around 7:40am and luckily Ross had spoken to the man directing the parking of vehicles on the ferry, because even though their vehicle was parked in the queue, he hadn't allowed for it. At 7:45am the captain sounded the ferry's horn and suddenly through all the people boarding, another vehicle appeared. All 4 front cars needed to move out and repark, while the 5th car miraculously squeezed on. The captain was tapping his watch and sounding his horn as this whole parking arrangement was delaying him. We were told the ferry leaves at 8am SHARP, and it did indeed, being out on our way across Lake Victoria at 8:00am.
The weather this morning was grey and damp with rain clouds looming again. Soon after getting into the lake the rain started, and didn't stop for the whole 3 hour trip. Luckily there weren't many waves so the trip was smooth and Ross, monitoring the GPS, saw that we were travelling at about 19km/hour. It rained for most of the ferry trip so we sat in Duz and tried to catch up on diary updates. We arrived at Entebbe as scheduled and drove through the quiet neat town of Entebbe, looking for Gately's Inn and Restaurant to hopefully have something hot to drink and some cake. We were in luck! Ross had a cappacino and Heidz a hot chocolate and we both savoured every mouthful of their rich devil's chocolate cake. The place is new and has been very tastefully done. We felt so civilized as we sat enjoying our coffee and cake, feeling so far removed from the Africa of recent weeks and months. Our waitress was a bit slow and got very confused with our order of 1 cappacino, 1 hot chocolate and 2 slices of chocolate cake, and took ages to bring it. We feared her serving dinner when the restaurant is full. Eric had recommended we eat here as they have a real chef, their meals are reasonable and their food is fantastic.
From Entebbe we entered into Kampala, which is built in and around hills. It's a big busy city, but has nice shops and new shopping centres. We were aiming to find Shoprite and do a shop to restock with meat and snacks. People here just drive, seemingly without consideration, which makes driving a bit hairy, but luckily Ross was driving and this doesn't phase him. It was so lovely being back in a normal shop, although the Clock Tower Shoprite we stopped at didn't really have too much in stock. We had a chicken burger at The Hungry Lion next door and decided to stop and look at The Red Chilli Hideout in Kampala, to then decide whether or not to stay here for the night or drive on to Jinja, 80km further east. Red Chilli seemed nice and spacious, but we thought it better to try and get to Jinja and hopefully get to check emails and do some uploading to the website there. Hopefully Jinja will be more relaxed and less of a bustling city than Kampala. Kampala is a massive city with lots going on and spreads out for ages. On our way out along the road to Jinja, we passed big shoe markets selling all kinds of trainers and sports shoes on stands outside.
We followed the GPS past Adrift campsite, as Eric had warned us they had had a few car break-ins there in the past few months, and on to Nile River Explorers and Speke Camp. As we pulled into Nile River Explorers (USh8 000p/p/night camping), we saw 4 big overland trucks parked, which would normally make us turn straight around and drive out. We decided to find out about prices and to look around a bit. As we were getting back into Duz, we met a young German couple who are cycling around Africa. Ragna and Amiram (www.cycle-generation.org), are 3 months into their trip, which they hope to take a year and a half to complete and had started in Ethiopia. As we chatted to them it got darker, so we decided against driving on to find Speke Camp and to rather just camp at Nile River Explorers (NRE) for the night. We parked on a grassy patch near the dorm rooms and even had a electric plug point to use. NRE show the DVD of the days rafting down the Nile at around 9pm, which is what Ragna and Amiram had done today. We didn't watch it, as we were busy cooking, but could certainly hear it, as the heavy metal screaming was SO loud we couldn't hear each other speaking and we were far away.
After the DVD show, the LOUD bar music started and didn't stop until around 4am!!! There were lots of screaming drunken people around and we both were very unhappy about staying here, so far from the kind of camping we enjoy.
We decided to eat our spaghetti bolognaise inside the car to shelter from the noise and mozzies and savoured some TopDeck chocolate before climbing into bed, hoping the music would die down...no such luck.
Friday 25th July 2008: Nile River Explorers, Jinja, Uganda
GPS Info: N00° 29' 03.7" E33° 09' 48.8"
Miles Today: 25 Total Miles: 29 696
On waking up, we both felt like we had hardly slept, due to the raucous partying that went on until the very early hours of the morning. Everything was damp around us and the mozzies were still out and about. Although the bathrooms weren't dry and we hoped nothing would fall onto the floor whilst showering, we actually had hot showers. Ross enjoyed a cup of coffee on the wooden deck overlooking the Nile River. The views from Nile River Explorers deck are beautiful, especially as the water is pumping down. We noticed that they had free Internet available to guests, so plugged in the laptop to try and download some emails. We haven't been able to do this since leaving Cape Maclear in Malawi. The Internet speed was incredibly slow and kept bombing out, so what would normally have taken a short time ended up taking hours.
We wished Ragna and Amiram a safe further cycle, as they set off on a short day's ride to Jinja backpackers for the day. Amiram's black eye from banging it against a paddle on the raft yesterday looked sore, but was cleverly masked behind her sunglasses. They showed us their gear before they left and told us of their awful time cycling through Ethiopia.
We tried again at the Internet room, but still had very little joy so decided to rather go for a walk and see if we could look at Speke Camp, as an option to SLEEP at tonight. We walked a little way down river to the Bujagali Falls, passing bus loads of uniformed school kids all standing along the river banks, staring at the water. A few metres further down the road from NRE, on the right hand side, we noticed a sign to Eden Rock Camp, which is where Prince William is supposed to have stayed when he rafted down the Nile. We walked passed this and followed the road to the end and assumed we were at Speke Camp. There were hundreds of school children everywhere, all huddled together in their same uniformed groups. Speke Camp (USh3 500p/p/night camping) looks non-existent and bleak with ablution blocks looking very tired. Security here would be a REAL issue as there are busloads of people everywhere, constantly coming and going. Even though it is cheap, we would not advise staying here at all.
Walking back we decided to see what Eden Rock Camp (USh5 500p/pnight camping) was like. It is spacious, lawned and open with a very calm atmosphere. The staff are welcoming and friendly and it is a total contrast to NRE, much more suited to independent travellers and sleeping. There were many tents dotted around on the lawn and people sitting in the central communal lounge/ restaurant/ bar/ entertainment area. This was definitely where we were going to move to tonight, to enjoy some normality after last night.
We arrived back at NRE and packed up. After paying, we tried to start Duz, but the battery was dead as a doornail. We realised we had left the inside light on from eating dinner inside Duz last night. The light was very hot and the battery was very dead! Ross got out the jump leads to try and jump-start from the 3rd battery, but it was too flat to start. We then asked for someone to help us. Someone moved their truck to us and as we tried to attach the jump leads to the truck's battery terminal, the terminal disintegrated completely...Now there were 2 stuck vehicles going nowhere. We push-started the truck and then tried the campsite's spare truck battery, which starts their diesel generator, but still had no joy. Eventually we managed to push start Duzi2 and decided to go for a long, slow exploratory drive around Jinja, to try and charge the battery a bit. Jinja is a mixed town with some very fancy accomodation, with stately looking homes that now looked tired and neglected and bustling, crowded small streets. We drove passed many orphanages and children's homes, which highlighted the effect Aids is having here.
After our drive we pulled into Eden Rock and parked up. The sun was out so the tent dried out nicely. We met Adam, our young English camping neighbour, who is out for a few weeks paddling on the Nile. He must be a pretty accomplished paddler to be doing this and has had a ball during his first trip to Africa. He came over to find out about Duz, as he's also a Landy owner and fan. He was telling us that they are currently building another dam on the Nile downstream of Jinja, which will flood most of the rapids they currently raft over in a days rafting trip. We all wonder what sort of effect this will have on the area and on the areas and countries reliant on the Nile downstream.
Later on in the afternoon we walked down the road and bought a yummy chappatti with honey, which is like a pancake. We met Clint, a South African also in a Landy, who started his Cape to Cairo trip in SA, but sadly split up with his girlfriend in Mozambique and then his brother, driving another Landy, decided he didn't want to continue somewhere in Kenya. Poor Clint is a bit confused as to where to go from here as he really wants to see the DRC, Gabon, Cameroon and Congo, but isn't keen on doing this alone. He is very knowledgeable on the DRC and Congo and recommended we read Blood River, a new book recently released, which was written by a war correspondent about his experiences in the DRC in 2004.
We had a yummy chicken and veggie dinner with delicious avocado and then tried to finish typing diary updates, while Ross enjoyed watching live 'Animal Planet', with the geckos stalking moths on the walls in the room we were sitting in.
We could hear the shouting, screaming, laughter and music coming from down the road, and were VERY thankful for the peaceful haven of Eden Rock, with Simon the Sudanese security guard.
Saturday 26th July 2008: Eden Rock Camp, Jinja, Uganda
GPS Info: N00° 29' 04.6" E33° 09' 42.5"
Miles Today: 0 Total Miles: 29 696
It was quite damp this morning, but luckily the tent wasn't as damp as yesterday morning. We packed the tent away and enjoyed the wonderful hot, clean showers of Eden Rock. Our camping neighbours rose slowly and then went off to join the rafters, each in their own plastic kayaks. There really seems to be quite a community amongst the campers at Eden Rock. Adam told us that last night, at Nile River Explorers, a tent had been slashed open and everything inside had been stolen, including the guy's dicitation, and he's 2 weeks away from handing it in!!! Poor guy. We were once again very glad we'd moved across from there yesterday.
The heavy rain clouds kept on building up and the sky got darker and darker. When the wind blew in a certain direction, you could really hear the Nile pumping below. It almost sounded like it was fuller than yesterday, but due to the dam wall upstream, there is a constant release so this wouldn't be possible. Then all of a sudden the wind started to blow and it got very dark with a few big raindrops falling. We were busy unpacking the back of the car to measure how much water we still had in the tank, to refill before we left Jinja, when it really started to pour. We shoved stuff back in and under the car, taking shelter inside to try not to get too wet and cold. After about an hour and lots of rain, the rain softened and we carried on with what we had been doing. The sun came out soon afterwards and it got really hot and humid. We had nearly no water in the tank so luckily we had checked. Filtering the water and filling the tank took a while. Basically our whole day didn't really run according to plan, thanks to the rain delaying the start...
At about 3:00pm we were ready to set off to the Kenyan border. We said goodbye and thank you to Fred, the manager, who told us the road to the border is not good and that we would only get to the border late. We were prepared for a late border crossing, but had no idea about the road conditions on the Kenyan side, and for camping we only had a place recommended in Eldorat, which is quite far along on the Kenyan side. We had a serious chat and decided to rather stay where we were for tonight as well and head off very early tomorrow morning, to try and make up time. We have put together a vague itinerary for ourselves, allocating nights to places and things we still want to see, as well as trying to stick to our schedule of getting to meet Mom on the 9th August in Dar, if she flies in. We also need to try and work around the Rovuma Ferry crossing times too...it all gets a bit stressful when things are so tight.
We had all the other campers come over to chat, including a Canadian couple from Seattle, Heather - a paddler out from New Zealand, Dell - a paddler out from Wales who's just accepted a teaching job in Jinja, after initially just coming out for a brief paddling holiday, Adam after a great day out on the river and Clint who got drenched in the rain storm. We had a late lunch and chatted for most of the afternoon. So much for the washing we were going to do if we stayed. Everyone camping with us was so lovely and it was really interesting talking to them all, hearing peoples differing opinions and viewpoints. Another couple arrived to camp and wandered over too. Fi and Sam are a young Irish couple who are currently working in Kampala and were so easy to chat to. They walked off to get some dinner while we showered.
Once we were warm and dressed in our long sleeved clothes, we cooked a yummy veggie stirfry, with 2-minute noodles, and devoured it all up! It's lovely to have so many fresh veggies to cook with. We were quite keen to head over to NRE to watch the rafting DVD of today's rafting, but after we had finished dinner it was a bit too late. The road from Eden Rock to NRE had also turned to red soft clay with many red muddy puddles. Fi and Sam arrived back just as we were opening up the tent again and were intrigued, longing for one themselves. They invited us to join them for a drink and chat in the bar area. We had such a great evening chatting to them and hope we'll see them again one day in the future, somewhere along the line. Sam is keen to do a microlight flying course in SA, so hopefully we'll see them whenever that will be.
Our peaceful little area was suddenly disrupted as a group of local Ugandans had come to camp for the night and had brought their big music system with them. They were asked by management to turn their music down, as Eden Rock advertises a 'quiet campsite', but this didn't stop them playing their music loudly, shrieking, shouting and dancing until the early hours of the morning. We were both tired and knew we had a very early start tomorrow morning, so somehow managed to sleep despite the music.
Sunday 27th July 2008: Eden Rock Camp, Jinja, Uganda
GPS Info: N00° 29' 04.6" E33° 09' 42.5"
Miles Today: 381 Total Miles: 30 077
Up at 5.20am while it was still pitch dark, we wanted to try and be on the road just after 6:00am. We packed up quietly, made hot chocolate to drink in the car and set off. We watched a beautifully red sunrise while we were on the road and arrived at the Malaba border post really early. Luckily leaving so early in the morning, there weren't that many trucks on the road yet, but we noticed their numbers increasing as it got lighter. We drove passed lush green sugar cane fields, wheat and sunflower plantations and lots of rice paddies on our way to the border. The road from Jinja, through Tororo, to Malaba wasn't even that bad, but it would be good to see them repair some sections, where there are only tiny traces of tar remaining. We had our passports stamped at Immigration and then went up to the manager's office, to call the Customs officer who wasn't at work yet. He arrived shortly after receiving the call, stamped our carnet and we were on our way into Kenya.
Happy birthday today Tami. We hope you have a wonderfully special day and are thoroughly spoilt by Grae, Jonathon and Gabby.