NOV 1 - NOV 10, 2011 OUR UGANDA ADVENTURE WITH CLASSIC AFRICAN SAFARIS - INCLUDING TREKKING WITH GORILLAS AND CHIMPS!
We spent 10 day wonderful days in Uganda, on safari with Classic African Safaris (our great guide and driver was Dennis) which included game drives on both land and in boats on the lakes and rivers. We trekked to find chimpanzees and gorillas. No wonder Lonely Planet recommended Uganda in November 2011 as the #1 tourist destination for 2012! Read on if you would like to read more about our wonderful adventure in November 2011.
SUMMARY: It has been a very intense road trip but very interesting and a wonderful opportunity to see a lot of Uganda. We probably averaged 8 hours a day in the Safari Jeep and covered a lot of Ugandan countryside. It is surely a beautiful country, so very green, lush and tropical. Every Ugandan is busy producing a variety of crops on their property, so even though they may be very poor from a monetary perspective, by working hard they can feed their family. The wild life in Queen Elizabeth Park, Murchison Falls, and Lake Mburo Park is healthy with a good quantity and variety of species - even though our compressed schedule didn't give a huge amount of time for game drives. The Ugandan people have all been very welcoming and friendly - the children along the roads are so happy to see us and all shout and scream and ask questions - even if they only know how to say "how are you? how are you?"! The camps and lodges were all excellent and varied - some newer some older - some with an open spacious feel, and others in the bush with an intimate and real traditional safari feel to them. All the meals and service exemplary. Of course the chimp and gorilla trekking were both very special and unbelievable experiences and we feel very privileged to have had this amazing chance to trek and view both the chimps and gorillas in their natural habitat. Uganda has a lot of water sources with the rivers (including the Nile) and many lakes (Victoria, Edward and Albert), as well as several swampy and marshy areas - this has made for healthy wildlife (lots of new babies including the impala who can select when to birth their babies, they wait until the conditions are good for new babies), and also wonderful and different safari options by boat - the afternoon on the Kasinga Pass channel was an excellent and relaxing safari and we would love to spend more time doing that - we will never forget the lion resting up in the branches of the giant euphorbia candelabra! That Kasinga 2 1/2 hour safari just flew by and the variety and quantity of bird life, cape buffalo, hippos that we saw was spectacular!
Read on for the details day by day!
Tuesday Nov 1, 2011 ENTEBBE, UGANDA - Millionaires for a day!
We were ready to leave the Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi Kenya by 10 am after we had packed 1 bag to leave behind at the Norfolk until we return on Nov 10. The traffic on the taxi ride to the airport was busy but we were checked in well before 10am in lots of time for our 12:55am flight to Entebbe Uganda with Kenya Airways. We joined Lyndsay Harshman (our Rep from Kusini Collection who arranged this tour for us) in the JAVA coffee shop where we enjoyed an almond croissant and an apple danish. There was a power outage at the Nairobi Airport - so it was extremely hot, and all the stores were open but everything was pitch black! Our flight was about 40 minutes late leaving but we arrived in Entebbe Uganda at 2:25pm. Entebbe is just South of the capital Kampala and right on Lake Victoria - you fly in over the Lake as you come in to land. We were soon through Customs and Immigration after buying our $50USD Visa and outside the baggage claim area we met Dennis from Classic Africa Safaris who will be our guide for the next 10 days. The tours in Uganda have a lot of driving, and we will be doing what is usually a 15 day tour in 10 days, so we will be busy and on the go!
We stopped at the STANBIC bank in the Entebbe airport to exchange US$ for Ugandan shillings - the exchange rate was approximately 2500 shillings per dollar so for a very short time Terry became a millionaire when he had 1,222,500 Ugandan shillings in his wallet! Most notes were 50,000 shillings (about $20).
As we left the airport in our green Toyota Land Cruiser we were really impressed with what we saw - Uganda is hilly and gets quite a lot of rain - so everything is very lush and well maintained - very different to the hot and dry drive from the airport in Nairobi. Next to the main Entebbe Airport (across the road but using the same control tower) we saw the airstrip used by the United Nations where they had several UN planes and many vehicles there. From here the UN flies to Congo, Somalia and the Sudan. Overhead we saw and heard 2 USA fighter jets take off - apparently the USA is assisting Uganda's Military in refining their operations to track down the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) which has moved into CAR (Central African Republic) from Northern Uganda (Operation US AFRICOM). The LRA also operates in South Sudan and Congo.
After a quick 15 minute drive we arrived at Lake Victoria Hotel and were soon checked in to comfortable rooms overlooking the beautiful green gardens, complete with lots of palm trees and flowering shrubs surrounding a large olympic size swimming pool complete with high diving board! After freshening up we took a slow walk around the gardens, checked out the 2 gift stores in the lobby and by 5pm I was sipping a cold G&T on the terrace and Terry was enjoying Uganda's Heritage Bell lager while overlooking the pool. When I asked Terry what he thought of this beer he said "It's cold, it's wet, and I'm relaxed and enjoying it!". The birds are singing, we can hear the traffic on the roads outside the hotel grounds, and there are many guests enjoying the pool and diving board (actually the young men on the diving board are very hesitant about diving into the pool!)
The temperature was warm and sticky today, but less humid than Nairobi. It's now 7pm and the evening sky is getting dark, the cicadas are getting louder by the minute. There are a few stars to be seen, but a fair bit of cloud around as well. We are still on the terrace overlooking the pool - the swimmers have all left. We ordered a plate of cheese and crackers earlier from the menu. We were given a plate of cheese (all one kind) but after 20 minutes or so I asked Prissy the waitress if we might get the crackers. She came back 10 minutes later to tell us that sorry, but they are all out of crackers. I asked if we might get a couple of buns? She said yes, so we got those about 10 minutes later "sorry for the delay but we were heating the buns up".
At 8:30 pm we got together with our group of 6 (Lyndsay from Kusini Collections Seattle, Matt and Maggie from Natural Habitat Boulder Colorado (currently living in Cape Town), Thiery from Heritage Safaris in North Vancouver along with Mel (Partner from Classic African Safaris) and Rachel (Office Manager from Classic African Safaris). It was an excellent dinner with lively conversation and we even got to try the local gin called Waragi (which Rachel ordered) very smooth and drinkable!
Wednesday Nov 2, 2011 ENTEBBE to KAMPALA to MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK, UGANDA (to PARAA Safari Lodge)
After a good buffet breakfast (lots of fruit, cereals, juices, and hot cooked items) we were on the road by 9:10 am in our limousine stretched Safari Land Cruiser. Mel makes and modifies many vehicles himself since in Uganda it is very hard to get vehicles and the import duties are apparently very high. So our vehicle has 6 individual captain's seats in the back and 1 passenger seat up front next to the driver. Luggage is stored behind the back seat, and there is a small cooler filled with water in between the 2 front seats. Each seat has a window that opens for fresh air and the leg room is good. There are 3 removable roof sections for the game drive - one over each set of 2 seats.
Entebbe is a nice city with approximately 400,000 population, whereas the main Capital city of Kampala has approximately 1.5 million population. The population of Uganda (which is quite a small country) is 33 million with about 9% muslim. There is a very large Mosque in the City Centre - it was started by Idi Amin but not finished before he was kicked out. So Mohamar Kadaffi paid to have it completed and it is called the Kadaffi Mosque. Uganda was under British rule for many years and gained independence in 1962. Uganda has come out of 30 ears of war, starting with a ciivil war from 1962 - 1986, and then from 1986 to 2005 the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) terrorised the country with guerilla warfare. Since 2005 Uganda has been peaceful with very limited raids in the far north by the LRA. Our safari guide driver Dennis was originally from the Eastern (drier) part of Uganda and has some amazing stories about growing up during these years. The traffic into Kampala is very busy and we arrive around 10am and do a site inspection of the Kampala Serena - a very nice business hotel with large rooms, many with views of the beautiful gardens on property (152 rooms). Next we visit the Emin Pasha - a small upscale boutique hotel with 20 rooms on two levels overlooking the gardens, each room with a quaint colonial feel. The staff are lovely and the various lounges and sitting areas very peaceful and private. There is an incline to the property so nice views of the gardens wherever you sit.
At Rachel's recommendation Dennis calls into the Garden City Shopping Centre and we get 20 minutes to buy any last minute items we may have forgotten before we leave Kampala and to check out the Banana Boat store which Racgel says has very nice Ugandan gifts and baskets - and she is correct - its a beautiful store and so we ask Dennis if at all possible to stop again on our way back through Kampala at the end of our safari! We pass lots of motorbike taxis everywhere - here they are called bodaboda - they got their name from driving you from border to border (boda means border) - you see them with the driver and everything on the back! Bananas, ladies in dresses side saddle, 2 or 3 men or women, baskets of groceries, sacks of charcoal - you name it the taxi driver will carry it!
We leave Kampala and head North and the road is paved and Dennis makes good time. Around noon we drive through the town of Gombe - this was where Idi Amin came from and was a real stronghold of his. He had barracks here and was well supported by the Nubians (who still live here and can be found as far North as Aswan on the Nile in Egypt) - Nubians are mostly Islam. Idi was a Kakwan and came from the Koboko border of Sudan and Uganda where many Nubians also come from. By 1pm we are driving through Nakasongola and then stop at 1:45 pm at the Kafu River Lodge and campng site to eat the boxed lunch that we brought from The Victoria Hotel in Entebbe. This is where many local Ugandan families would go for vacation - very basic rooms but clean. Close by is the ZIWA white rhino sanctuary where they are successfully breeding white rhinos. During the 30 years of war much of the wild life was slaughtered to feed both the local population and the military forces. Slowly the wildlife is returning to the National Parks, but there are no white rhino and soon they expect to release the first white rhino back into Murchison Falls National Park from the ZIWA white rhino sanctuary.
We cross the Kafu River and drive through the main town of Mwindi about 40km from Murchison Falls National Park where we enter through the Kichumbanyanyobo Gate and immediately hit the dirt road. The Park Fee for every National Park in Uganada is $35 USD per person per day. Murchison Falls National Park is split by the river and the South and North sides of the river produce very different habitat in - the South side is heavily forested and unfortunately there are lots of tetse flies - those nasty biting flies that seem to love me - so yes I do get a bite on my right leg which swells horribly my entire leg over the next few days! WE see baboons and a huge monitor lizard on the road and it's also possible to see chimps crossing the road but no luck for us today! We do see cattle with massive - and I mean massive horns - these are called akoli cattle, and their name comes from the Acholi people who live in the North of Uganda and into Sudan. We also see many birds: Abysinian hornbill, pintailed whydah, a bateleur eagle which had just killed something and took off flying away with it in his claws! We take the 6pm ferry across the river into the northern part of the park which is very open and savannah grasslands, essentially NO tetse flies! - it is a car ferry - very small but probably fits 10 cars or small trucks (we walk on - only the driver is allowed in the vehicle on the ferry). On the north side of Murchison Falls National Park we get back into the safari jeep for the two minute ride to the Paara Lodge where we stay for the night. This was built in 1952 and Queen Elizabeth stayed here in 1954 after being crowned in England.
All the meals here are buffet, (lots of salads) and we manage a G&T at the pool bar overlooking the river - incredible views - before heading into dinner at a lovely table al fresco on the balcony. The Lodge has a great location, somewhat dated rooms, twin beds, fan only no a/c but comfortable enough - the view makes up for everything! We catch up with a little email (they have intermittent WIFI here no charge) and crash in bed at 10:30pm.
Thursday Nov 3, 2011 MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK UGANDA (to Nile Safari Lodge)
What a great day we had today! We had a wakeup call at 5:30am (a real person knocking on the door) and opening the drapes to a calm ,clear morning watching the sun come up and the Victoria Nile flowing quite fast below us. It is a wide river but a smooth surface - no rocks for the water to tumble over. The hippos were back in the river after their foray last night to feed on the vegetation. We ate an excellent buffet breakfast at 6:30 and we were off on our game drive at 7am with Dennis our driver guide. There was blue sky and couds and very humid and warm - as we drove along the red dirt tracks the mist was rising and because this North side of the Murchison Falls Park is lush grasslands and very undulating - the scenery was truly beautiful as the mist was in the valleys but clear on top of the hills. There has been rain in the past few weeks (it mostly rains in the afternoons) and the grass is quite long - some as high as 3 to 4 feet.
Murchison Park Falls is the oldest National Park in Uganda. Many of the animals were killed to provide food for the military during the 30 years of war but are now coming back in truly large numbers since the end of the war in 2005. During the game drive we saw many birds species, including one I had never seen before and just loved - a brilliant red northern bishop, about the size of a large sparrow. Many animals including defassa waterback, Jackson's haartebeast, over 1500 Rothschild giraffe in the park, Uganda Kob (Uganda's National animal also seen on Uganda coins), 3 side striped jackals in the Park where the lions had killed earlier in the morning, oribi (little larger than a dik dik) and several large bull elephants in the water when we reached the river delta. The Kob are fascinating - they have a mating ground where all the females congregate - then ther is a male in the middle and the females go up to the male to mate. After a couple of days he is worn out and he is continually challenged by the other Kob males and eventually he loses the battle and the new male Kob moves in to continue the mating! We also saw several very cute Patas monkey with small babies. The birds included blue faced juvenile bateleur eagles, short toed snake eagle, speckled mouse bird, guinea fowl, grey headed kingfisher, red Northern Bishop, pallid March harrier, Egypt Nile geese, palm nut vulture (aka fishing vulture) and its' nest in the trees. Also spar winged plover, red eyed dove, denhams buster, black kite, fish eagle, African Jicana, pied Kingfisher, Goliath heron, yellow billed stork, - yes this is truly a bird lovers' paradise! We went looking for the rare shorebill stork but did not find any - probably due to the large overlander truck (safari vehicle) that was in the area - every time we see one of these monsters the consensus amongst everyone is "why would anyone do that?". Again we saw the whistling acacia trees with the ants with whom there is the symbiotic relationships - the ants (crematogaster) live in small round nests on the branches and race out to protect the tree should any animal (giraffe) come along and decide the tree is a tasty treat! We also a large Elephant and his buddies enjoying the water.
At 2pm we took a private river cruise from right by the ferry down to Murchison Falls. Yu may remember this from its’ fame in The African Queen movie starring Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart! The river varies between 3 to 5 metres deep to 6 to 8 metres at its’ deepest. There used to be about 14,000 hippos in the river but now there are about half that number since Idi Amin told his solders to use the animals in the Park “as their pantry” so much of the wild animals including the hippos were killed during Idi Amin’s reign. There used to be 14, 500 elephants in the park and most of these were killed during the same time frame. The good news is that now both the variety and quantity of the wild life is recovering well. The hippos can run 8km per hour underwater and 40km on land and there are about 3,000 hippos in the Murchison Falls stretch of the river. The hippos have a gestation period of 8 1/2 months and a life span between 40-45 years. Humans are the biggest predator for the hippos. There are a large number of Nile crocodiles in the river, and their predator are the lions who go after the babies.
We spent a wonderful 20 minutes enjoying the hundreds of beautifully coloured and small red throated bee eaters (birds). They live in their nest which are holes in the banks along the side of the river - they were flitting around and all over the place - stopping occasionally just long enough to take photos of the, along with the many pied kingfishers in the same area. We saw the beautiful black and white colobus monkeys (with huge fluffy tails) 2 adults with a baby. But the peaceful cruise down the river was son to become very exciting - we could hear the sound of thunder getting closer - this was the Murchison Falls and we were getting close to the bottom of the Falls. There were several boats on the river and each boat takes it in turns to tie up on a small island about 1km down river. The roar of the Falls is loud, the spray from the Falls enough to wet us all even at this distance, and the currents and turbulence amazing as the water raced past us before settling down as the river widened below the Falls,
Back at Paraa Safari Lodge we enjoyed a G&T at the swimming pool - a beautiful location watching the sun set over the river. Dinner was excellent and after recounting the many events and sightings of the day - we all retreated to our welcoming beds!
Friday Nov 4, 2011 MURCHISON FALLS TO KIBALE, Kyaninga Lodge "Elegance at its' Peak"
Today was a long day of driving but a wonderful day for everything that we saw. Our wakeup call came at 5:54 am, and after a welcome bucket shower it was a light breakfast with juice and coffee watching the vervet monkeys eating the tamarind nights in the huge tree next to the open air dining room and deck. we left a 7:30 on the nose since we knew it would be a long day. The Uganda Wildlife Service has a camp close to the Nile Safari Lodge and there is a community there as well. The area is very lush with lots of crops growing (maize, kassava etc) and the small kids were all walking down the dirt track to school. They are so excited to see us - all waving and shouting at us with big smiles. We stopped to talk to 1 group who loved having their photos taken and one little girl asked if we could give her a book, "what kind of book " we asked and she said "a story book". Only a couple of the kids were carrying books an they looked about 50 years old and incredibly thick paper as if every page had been turned over thousands of times by dirty little fingers!
It was 1 1/2 hours drive to the top of Murchison Falls. It was just a 5 minute walk and we were right at the top of the Falls- and I mean just a few feet away! The power of the water was amazing - 300 cubic metres of water every second funnelled through a 6 metre wide crack in the rocks and 43 metres deep - you definitely were very careful where you put your feet - if you slipped you'd be in the water and over the Falls! You could feel the power all through your body from your toes to the top of your head! While we were there some water started a new stream down to where we came in from so we had to jump over it to get back! Then we climbed to the bottom of the cliffs to the Victoria Nile - this was very steep with big steps and our clothes were soaked with sweat when we reached the bottom. The view was amazing and we were closer than we came last night on the boat. From here we could see both Murchison and Uhuru Falls. Uhuru Falls were running in 1907 but had been dry for years, but started running again when the river floods were so high in 1962 and so the river found its’ path and started the Uhuru Falls. It truly was a special trip to do - even though I was very red faced and soaking wet by the time we get back to the Land Cruiser after all the long and steep trail - some big steps to climb up! Winston Churchill came here and said that it would only cost 10 sterling pounds to build a bridge over the chasm of Murchison Falls - so he had it built in 1960 (it was called the 10 pound bridge) - but it was washed way (except for 1 pillar) during the 1962 floods. I don't think I would have been very keen on walking over that bridge to look down on that ferocious boiling water below!
We passed the mud hole again full of old male waterbuffalo laying down and covered in mud chewing contentedly - you could practically hear them sighing! We drove out of the Murchison Falls Park and were passing the Bugungu Airstrip and Park Gate just after 11:00am. You can take an expensive private charter to Bugungu Airstrip should you wish. It took a little while to get the Park warden to accept our Park Permits as we exited (we'd had the same issue when entering) because they were issued at Park Headquarters in Kampala and were on the 24 hour clock which most Ugandans are not familiar with. The Murchison Falls Park permit is $35 per person per day. The drive was interesting - so much to see - beautiful Paradise Fly Catcher with an amazingly long white tails, black and white Guereza Colobus monkeys sitting in the trees with their long white bushy tails hanging down, Lots of locals walking - men cycling or pushing bicycles loaded with wood, bananas, mattresses - every aspect of daily life. The ladies were walking with everything on their heads - bunches of wood, baskets of kassava, water - amazing! We saw one bike go by with a lady with a very small baby in piece of fabric around her chest and back, and one child in front and another behind - just on a regular bicycle - how she kept her balance I have no idea! Then there are the cows - everything uses the road - the goats, dogs, and cattle - there was one pig walking along and another laying in a muddy ditch on the side and looking very happy with himself! Everyone is so friendly here - it is the Uganda habit to greet each other, and all the kids wave and shout and we wave back, and all the adults are the same, giving us a big smile as we pass by.
We were soon driving through Budongo Forest which has many tree varieties including many majestical mahogany Trees. Uganda is trying hard to keep its' National Forests but pressure is high to turn them over for Sugar Cane farming by big corporations. The scenery is beautiful and the miles quickly pass by. We stop to eat our picnic lunch sitting on a tartan blanket by the side of the road overlooking Lake Albert. There are old ruins here from Fort Butiaba all overgrown by the lush tropical growth (we checked underfoot carefully for snakes when we walked through and looked for the bush for our bathroom break). On the opposite side of Lake Albert is the Congo (the boundary between Congo and Uganda is in the middle of Lake Albert) so the Fort was built here by the British during Colonial times to watch for invasions from the Congo. Three young men are cycling up this quite steep hill and we surprise them as they come around the corner and see us sitting enjoying lunch. One of them speaks French (he spent some time at school in the Congo which is French speaking) so he and Thiery (from North Vancouver) have quite the conversation and I join in a little giving my High School French a good work out! We give them bits and pieces from our lunch including coconut breaded fish fingers which they look at strangely - we explain what it is and eventually they eat them, although at first they are very hesitant since they have never eaten fish looking quite like this! There is also a memorial to the British hunter Pearson here - he was apparently quite the explorer and hunter during the Colonial Years, but was killed by an elephant who hit him with his trunk.
We continue to see lots of wildlife including colobus monkeys, baboons, and the blue & purple Rupert's long tail starling - beautiful birds also winter warbler, yellow wagtails, white storks. By 2pm we are passing through the old growth Rwenzama Forest and outside the forest the massive sugar cane fields of Kinyara Sugar Cane Ltd - amazing how many acres have been planted with sugar cane. We are taking a detour on our way to the next Lodge to do a site inspection of the Masindi Hotel built in 1923 by the Kenya Uganda Railway Company which has very colonial architecture on quite large grounds with lots of grass and shrubs. The rooms are modest but the hotel quite nice and a good stopover hotel. They even have large grounds for the large overland safari vehicles and backpackers to erect their tents. We leave around 3:30pm to continue our journey South to Kibale. We are having to take a different route than the preferred route due to the recent rainfalls and a bridge that is completely under water. So we are on mostly dirt roads and are fascinated by all the locals we see bent over the banks along the side of the road - they are picking at the bank and putting something into their mouths and they do this non stop - what can they be doing? Dennis our driver guide explains to us that they are eating termites! Once each year the termites grow white wings and leave their termite mound to find a new home - this is considered to be a huge delicacy and snack by Ugandans! So all the kids and adults are snacking on termites as they walk along the roads. In some places the folks have made a tent with a cloth over the termite mound and are catching hundreds of these live termites for later consumption or to sell. Dennis pulls over to show us this and the lady of the house appears from between the bushes with a stern command "I am the owner, these are MY ants!" Dennis laughs and tells her that we are just taking photos and we do not want to eat her ants - she is quite determined that she wants money from us but Dennis laughs and we get back into the Toyota Land cruiser and continue on our merry way.
But our adventures have not stopped here! We reach a junction on our short cut where the local market is in full swing and the road is very muddy. Dennis asks (in his native language) which direction we go from here - one gentleman points right the other says left! There is animated conversation and we go left - Dennis says he has been told that the road on the right is not passable due to the rains. Well - we only go a couple of miles and are stopped behind large trucks stuck in the mud who can go no further! Dennis gets out and walks past the lorries and returns with his diagnosis - we can pass and keep going! By now it's after 4pm and the afternoon is fading along with the light under dark skies. Dennis is a great driver and how he manages to get past the trucks and keep moving forward is unbelievable but he does it and we continue. Around 4:20pm we reach the main paved road to Hoima and Kiboga and Dennis looks really frustrated - he says we are almost back in Kampala so we still have a very long way to drive to get to Kibali where we are staying that evening. The highway is very busy and Dennis drives carefully but fast - we pass lots of trucks, and it rains quite heavily at times causing the windows to fog up and on the outside smear with whatever is getting splashed onto the windscreen from the road. We breathe a sigh of relief each time we safely pass the next truck!
There is another really interesting event happening in each town as we pass through! As we drive into the town there are huge lights blazing - most of Uganda has power but due to how expensive it is , most locals are very frugal with how they use it so what are all the floodlights for? Well, once each year the grasshoppers fly away and they are attracted by bright lights. Grasshoppers are a huge delicacy in Uganda (as they are in other countries such as Thailand). So enterprising locals purchase several huge 20 foot high sheets of aluminum roofing and stand them on end in a triangular arrangement and set up flood lights at the top of the aluminum sheets. The grasshoppers are attracted to the lights and fly into the aluminum sheets - when they hit the sheets they slide down onto the ground at the bottom and then can't get out! The small business owner then collects all the live grasshoppers, boxes them up and ships them into Kampala (the city) where they are sold as a delicacy for about $4 kg. Then the wings are pulled off and they are fried and are apparently very tasty. Dennis tells us that should any wife buy and cook grasshoppers for their husband, he would be so thrilled (this is such a treat) that the husband would then buy his wife a new dress as a Thank You!
Saturday Nov 5, 2011, "CHIMP TREKKING" KIBALE to QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK - Kyambura Game Lodge
Our Chimp Trekking has been scheduled for today in Kibale Impenetrable Forest, so we eat an early breakfast at Kyaninga (cooked to order by the poor kitchen staff who went to bed at the same time that we did this morning!) and we are driving away from Kyaninga Lodge by 7:30am. The sunrise was spectacular we are so high here with 360 degree views all around so we take photos of the lodge , the surroundings including Crater Lake below - there is even a swimming pool overlooking the fabulous views of crater lake! This would be a wonderful Lodge to spend a few days in to relax and enjoy great surroundings and excellent food and service. Their byline of "Elegance at its' Peak" is very fitting!
We check in with the Chimp Trekking wardens and receive instructions on what the trek will involve and what we can and can't do. We are split into 2 groups of 3 and Theiry, Terry and I set off with our guide and are soon walking through the forest - our pants tucked inside our socks so that we can try to avoid the fire ants of which there are many and apparently quite vicious if they get onto you! Our guide has spent 4 days for the last 3 years from 8 am to 5 pm every day sitting with a wild family of chimps to get them acclimated to humans so that they take groups in to see these chimps in the wild in the forest. He tells us that if there is a day when a guide does not go out and sit with the chimps, then the next day when they go back they have lost ground and the chimps don't let them get as close as they were before, so the guide has to start out sitting further away from the chimps and start over again getting closer to them! We enjoy the walk through the impenetrable forest - the terrain is up and down in the forest and we see and hear lots of birds. Our guide has radio contact with guides who are ahead of us trekking and locating the chimps. After little more than an hour, and after stepping over several trains of ants crossing our trail, we hear some chatter on the radio and it seems that we are getting closer to the chimps - in fact we start to hear them calling to each other and so we all stop and get our bearings for which direction we need to head in. The chimps can move very fast and although we head for where we hear them, after walking in that direction we then need to turn back towards where we come from. The chimps are now very close as are the other 3 from our group" Lyndsay Maggie and Matt - but Lyndsay, Maggie and Matt are frantically disrobing and slapping at themselves as they try to get the fire ants off themselves - they were engrossed by the chimps and must have stood on or walked over an ant train, so now they are being bitten and trying to get rid of the ants!
We follow our guide and get closer to the chimps, and soon they are in front of us, behind us, beside us and in the trees above us! They are quite noisy and so we are just enthralled watching them. The forest is thick with lots of foliage which makes taking photographs very tricky since the camera will focus on the foliage in front of the chimps and not the chimps - but we spend time just watching and enjoying the antics as well as taking photos. The babies enjoy climbing in the trees and swinging from tree to tree and jumping down, sometimes falling down! At one point the alpha male Magezi (which means wisdom) takes one of the babies and Magezi stands on his head and is trying to show the baby how to gambol, or turn over on his head! The guide is so informative about the chimps and what is happening - we have to watch Magezi closely and be sure to not get too close to him since he is the leader of a community of 120 chimps and will protect them if he or they feel threatened. Our guide is generous and we have lots of time to follow and watch the chimps, but all too soon it is time to leave.
We walk back to the track in the forest where Dennis is waiting for us with the Land Cruiser - the track is really muddy and as we head out another land cruiser is stuck in the mud! We can't get past so we all get out while dennis uses his tow rope and significant skills to pull the other Land Cruiser out of the mud (his 4 wheel drive was apparently not working). We head back to the chimp checkin lodge and eat our packed lunch (and leave our muddy hiking boots out in the sunshine to dry off!) before we drive 2 minutes to the Primate Lodge Kibale for a site inspection. This is situated right in the Impenetrable Forest and you can walk from here to start the chimp trekking and frequently the guests at this Lodge get to see the chimps as they walk through the grounds and trees surrounding the Primate Lodge which was opened in 2005 and has 7 cottages and 8 tents. There is also a bar. lounge and restaurant with entertainment some evenings by local dancers and singers. It is also possible to do all day Chimp Treks from here starting at 5am and returning at the end of the day when it gets dark! For guests who stay here for 2 or 3 nights there is also the opportunity to interact with the local community.
We see the Bigodi swamp and wetland sanctuary very close by, home of the beautiful blue Turacos and 200 other bird species, and also monkeys. You can also visit the local market, the traditional healing woman, and even have a traditional Ugandan meal at Tinka's home next door. Tinka is a gentleman who has been an entrepreneur in the tourism industry for many years and also a strong proponent of helping the local community. He initiated a project for the local women to make and sell their hand made baskets (Ugandans make truly superb baskets) - we saw the small outdoor area where guests would share a meal and ask questions about the Ugandan way of life, and we also visited the Bigoda Women's Handicraft Store and of course made a few purchases! Each basket has a small piece of paper on it with the lady's name, and 90% of the selling price goes back to the lady who made the basket and 10% of all sales goes to the Community for the Community to use as they see fit.
We said our farewells to Tinka at 2pm and continued our drive through to the Rwenzori Mountain Range where there are many crater lakes from the extinct volcanoes in the area. Our next site visit was the quaint Ndali Lodge sitting on top of a ridge with beautiful views all around and the most amazing number of bird species - the most dramatic for me being the beautiful blue turaco as they flit from tree to tree. The back deck overlooking the lake has the most amazing large blossom on it - Dutchman's Pipe Orchid. The cottages are quaint and each has a spectacular view either over the lake or the Rwenzori mountain range. Before we leave we are treated to homemade ginger cookies (yummy) and lemon grass and ginger tea - made with grated ginger and fresh lemongrass - the tea has a real bite but is oh so delicious! We can see the stormy skies all around us and lightning on several of the ridges. As we depart Ndali at 3:50pm we are stopped by a couple of guests who are returning from an afternoon walk. "You can't go that way" they say, "there has been an accident and a truck is turned sideways right across the road". The roads are all dirt here - so Dennis drives down for a hundred feet or so, then he gets out and walks down to see what the story is. Sure enough - a truck has slipped sideways and is stuck across the mud road, and a land cruiser has tried to drive by and it too is also stuck in the ditch! Looks like another trip will take longer since we now have t back track and go another way!
Fortunately this diversion is not too long and we are passing the Toro Kingdom Palace at 4:35 pm - Uganda has several Kingdoms and Kings. The current Toro King is in his early 20's but became King when he was only 2 years old when his father passed away! We are heading for the very large Queen Eiizabeth Park (guess who this Park was named after?) which we reach just after 6pm as the sun goes down and we cross the equator. This park still has 11 communities living in it (they were there before it was declared a park and were given permission to stay) so even though the communities are not supposed to have cattle or goats (they don't mix well with wild life) Dennis tells us that in fact there are several herds of domestic animals in these communities on the edges of the park. In the past there were man eating lions in the Park but even though there continues to be human wildlife conflict in the park, because of the communities in the park you can be on safari in the park and see folks walking, riding bicycles, grazing their cattle and goats etc.
Tonight we are at the KYAMBURA Game Lodge - a new lodge next to a small community sitting on top of the Albertine Rift on the Ketchwambo escarpment ridge overlooking the Queen Elizabeth Park - you feel as if you are in the Park but have the benefit of being high on the ridge and looking down - amazing views of the Rwenzori Mountain Range! The KYAMBURA Game Lodge is the result of a partnership between Jose from Spain and Robert from Uganda. And what a wonderful tented lodge they have developed. We are in tent #3 and it is fabulous - very large, luxurious, big bathroom, hot and cold running water, large soaker tub - and they also do laundry! The lounge, bar and restaurant area are large, spacious and with great views of the park and a beautiful log fire to sit around - which we all enjoyed before dinner after a very fast, but welcome, shower and change of clothes! Fortunately we were staying at KYAMBURA Game Lodge for 2 nights - so this would be a nice breather in our very packed schedule. After an excellent dinner, all served at the table, we shared wine and then headed back to our tents. Every tent has a deck on the front and comfortable furniture to sit, relax and enjoy the views.
Sunday Nov 6, 2011 QUEEN ELIZABETH & KASINGA PASS BOAT RIDE
We woke up ready to explore and this morning we had time for a slow breakfast before departing at 9:15 to do a site visit of the Jicana Safari Lodge in Queen Elizabeth Park. As we passed through the community next to Kyambura it was Sunday morning and as we drove through we watched the morning activities. This a muslim community and the butchers were busy carving and cutting up goats and cows for the villagers to buy and take home for their family meal. This was all done on wooden planks next to the road in the open air with all the men and boys in the village standing and watching the action. The Jicana Safari Lodge was not far away - a small safari lodge, surrounded by tress and right on the lake. The walkways to the cottages have quite a few steps or stairs and are the same design as those at Nile Safari Lodge - octagonal shaped with a balcony for viewing and bucket showers filled with hot water by housekeeping as required. The restaurant and Virunga Lounge had comfortable wooden furniture with soft cushions for relaxing on.
We then trekked through the Mamagambo Forest (with pants in socks once again) to the bat caves - a local attraction where thousands of bats go every day at dawn to sleep until sunset when they all emerge in groups at essentially the same time to fly away for the night and go find their food. The short guided walk through the forest to the bat caves was interesting and informative - the bat caves were amazing as you looked at these thousands of bats all hanging upside down on the ceiling - all screeching and flying around from one area to another. We climbed down a short way to look at a huge cobra curled up in a corner of the rocks. There is a python that lives there as well but we didn't find him that morning - the smell from the guano from all the bats was horrific! Back at the Land Cruiser we headed off to take a quick look at the Kyambura Gorge viewpoint. This gorge is quite deep and very beautifiul with lots of trees and vegetation - you can also go chimp trekking here (we didn't have the time) and this can be very arduous since the sides of the gorge are so steep - but it certainly is a beautiful area. Then we were off to have lunch at the Mweke Lodge and a site inspection.
The Mweke Lodge is quite large and mostly has somewhat small and dated rooms, but there are a couple of beautiful suites, and some fabulous new tents - our choice for sure! All the rooms and the tents have wonderful views of the park and the Kasinga Pass - the Lodge sits right on the edge of the pass that connects Lake George to Lake Edward. The Mweke reception, lounge, bar and restaurant are grand and very stately. They are quite large but lovely furnishings and decorations, and again - incredible views. Lunch was ordered from the menu and all the choices were very generous portions and excellent (some amongst us indulged in french fries but I loved the avocado and shrimp salad I ordered - the avocados in Uganda taste delicious and they are huge!) and this was all served al fresco on the terrace overlooking the Kasinga Channel. So this would not be the small safari lodge experience but a great location with all the facilities and amenities. A real bonus for us was that in front of the Lodge there were several small banded mongoose (maybe 20+) with tiny new babies - all running around feeding on the grass and the babies nursing from Mom. In addition there was a large warthog comfortably sharing the space with banded mongoose and lying alongside them. We watched the mongoose babies go up to the warthog and lie next to him, scratching his side as if they thought he could feed them - it was almost as if the warthog had adopted the mongoose as his family!
After lunch and the site inspection we drive down to the dock where we we boarded the boat for our tour of the Kasinga Channel - this was a water safari and it was excellent. The small boat (which holds about 12 passengers) is a flat bottomed boat with comfortable seating - and we had an amazing safari with excellent Captain and guides - we saw an unbelievable species and quantity of bird life including fish eagles, spoonbill, hammerkopf, buffalo weaver, white wing black terns, little egrets, grey heron, black egret, yellow blue oxpecker, yellow blue stork, pied kingfisher, egyptian geese, black crake, malachite kingfisher, red chested sunbird, hadada ibis, common sand piper, pygmy kingfisher, long tailed starlings, maribu stork (such an ugly extra large bird!), hundreds of cormorants,and kites - and one of the pied kingfishers was on a branch in a tree holding a live fish in his mouth and he was repeatedly banging the fish on the branch to try and kill it! There was also lots of wild life including monitor lizards, warthogs, a large herd of cape buffalo, huge Nile crocodiles (15 years old), a school of over 30 hippos, elephants with one male having a wonderful time playing in the water and throwing water and weeds over himself - sometimes submerging himself completely under the water and using his trunk as a snorkel for air to breathe. And something we had never seen before - a large lion fast asleep and settled comfortably amongst the strong branches of a euphorbia candelabra (looks like a massive cactus tree)! The boat behind us also saw a lion come down to the water to drink but this was just a few minutes after we had passed this spot on the shore. As a bonus, our Captain opened the cooler and served us (on a china plate no less) appetizers and white wine - the white wine was in an airline sized bottle and we drank from the bottle but we couldn't have enjoyed this special sundowner hour more if we had been drinking from crystal glasses! The Kasinga Pass empties into Lake Edward and around 4pm as we reached Lake Edward we came to the Kasinga fishing village on the ridge overlooking the water - the men were all very active getting into their boats and heading out to go fishing. These are small row boats and these men (two in each boat) have developed strong muscles with the rowing which were all in use as they rowed against the strong wind blowing against them from Lake Edward.
We returned to Kyambura Game Lodge after a wonderful day in Queen Elizabeth Park in time for sundowners we hoped. We were in for a wonderful surprise - when we arrived at the Lodge we all headed back to our tents for a quick shower and change then met by the lovely swimming pool overlooking the park and the Rwenzori Mountain Range, and just below the swimming pool with the same fabulous views was a grassy area which had been set up with a bar for sundowners and some high tables with bitings (peanuts etc) - what a great location. But the best was yet to come - the dance and drumming troup from the local community arrived and we were treated to a display of drumming and dancing before dinner - and then more during dinner in the restaurant, the traditional Runjege dance with the dancers wearing grass skirts - it was so well done and so enjoyable - I just love the opportunity to hear the local drumming and music and see the traditional dancing - and the best part? These villagers were having a wonderful time enjoying themselves doing this display for us. Matt, Maggie and Dennis all participated in the dancing and did a great job mimicking the moves that the villagers were teaching them! The Kyambura Game Lodge owners (Jose and Roberto) joined us for dinner and it was a wonderful meal with very varied and interesting conversations, with lots of wine, and we stumbled to bed promising ourselves that we would return again in the future to enjoy the Kyambura Game Lodge. This was also the night that during dinner several of our group tried the fried grasshoppers that we had learned about on our road trip - I confess that I passed up this offer!
Fb 2, 2012 On a sad note, there was a controlled burn in the Q.E. Park that got out of control and destroyed the Kyambura Lodge and 4 of the cabins. Our hearts go to to Jose, Robert and all the villagers who worked at Kyambura, and their families.
Monday Nov 7, 2011 ISHASHA & BWINDI , Mahogany Springs Lodge
We were scheduled for an early 7am breakfast departing by 8am latest - and the views while we ate breakfast of the Rwenzori Mountain Range were clear and spectacular - we could even see snow on the peak of Mt Margarita! As we said our Thank You's and Goodbyes, we could see the Virunga Mountains in the Congo on the opposite side of the valley - this truly is a beautiful part of the world. We entered the Queen Elizabeth Park (19, 789 square kilometres) once more via the Ishasha Gate and did a short South Circuit game drive on our way to do a site inspection of the Ishasha Wilderness Camp - we were looking for the tree climbing lions but weren't fortunate enough to find them in the time we had available - several of the tracks were under water and muddy in patches due to the recent rains. Given how much rain there has been we consider ourselves extremely lucky to essentially have not had rain at all. The sides of the tracks were lush with ichtana bushes (small orange and pink flowers) which are apparently not native to Uganda at all but have been thriving in the park. The fast flowing muddy brown Ishasha Rover separates Uganda from the Congo and it was quite fascinating to see how close to the Congo we are here. We saw long crested eagle, lap faced vultures, defassa waterback and the Uganda Kob. Neil (Camp Manager) welcomed us at the Ishasha Wilderness Camp (owned by Exclusive Camps & Lodges) and hosted us with a lovely lunch set on the most amazing very long table in the central mess tent made from a large tree cut down (with permission) in the park. This is a small safari camp with all the tents currently being replaced with beautiful wood and canvas structures which are large and spacious, quite elegant and many have a view of the Ntungwe river where the camp is located. Neil mentioned how much rain there had been in the two months that he had been Camp Manager so we were very lucky with a hot sunny day to walk around the camp. The public toilet by the central mess tent area had a sign that you turned to occupied as you went in and had to remember to turn to vacant as you exited - very sweet with the 4th wall being an open air view facing the bush.
We departed around 2pm and were on our way to Bwindi in Southern Uganda in preparation for our Gorilla Trekking scheduled for tomorrow. There are only 719 gorillas left in the wild and they are really in one very small geographic area in Southern Uganda, Northern Rwanda and Eastern Congo where the borders of the 3 countries meet. Around 3pm passing through Kanungu I noticed at the side of the road a refugee Transfer centre which apparently handles the influx of refugees be they from Rwanda or the Congo. We were passing huge tea plantations, and the Kayunga Growers Tea Factory - tea is a huge export crop in Uganda and we have passed large numbers of tea plantations all over Uganda as we traverse this beautiful country. As we got closer to Bwindi the valleys were getting steeper and higher and it is amazing to see how every inch of ground is planted and maintained by the locals - all day long they are working on these steep hills growing their own produce in this fertile country.
We reached our home for the night around 4:30 pm the brand new Mahogany Springs Lodge set towards the bottom of the Valley in Bwindi, next to the Impenetrable National Park where the gorillas live in the wild, a World Heritage Site. The Lodge was beautiful, spacious, lots of mahogany wood, beautiful fine crafted furniture, a long welcoming bar, and a wonderful deck overlooking the valley where apparently quite often the clients can see the gorillas when they wander onto the hills across from the lodge. Joseph (the Lodge Manager) made us very welcome and as usual our first stop was the shower! The large cottages that were our rooms, each with their own deck with superb views, were very spacious and again with beautiful mahogany furniture. As we sat on the deck in the main lodge enjoying a G&T while we used the WIFI to check our email, we looked across the valley and at the 400 year old mahogany tree in front. As the sky darkened to a midnight blue and the large full moon started to rise - Joseph came out and asked us to look at the shadow of the mahogany tree and what it looked like - we looked up and without hesitation the mahogany tree and all its' lacy branches and leaves is the shape of the continent of Africa - unbelievable!
Our supper was excellent - all the serving and kitchen wear tshirts with Griller In The Mist printed on the back!, and they were all so friendly and smiling, very professional at the same time.
Tuesday Nov 8, 2011 BWINDI IMPENETRABLE NATIONAL PARK Gorilla Trek - Gorilla Forest Camp
We all woke up to a beautiful pink sunrise and the excitement level was at its' peak - the day we had been waiting for had arrived - today we are trekking for gorillas and hope we see them! The number of passes are limited (only 8 passes are issued for each group at $500 per person) and if you see the gorillas you are only allowed 1 hour with them and then have to leave. The areas where some of the gorilla family groups inhabit are closer and some further away. Our permit was for H group which is a medium distance away. One group of clients last year spent 16 hours before they arrived back at their camp (2am the next morning) they got lost in the forest! Many tours include 2 permits for chimp trekking ($150 each) and 2 permits for gorilla trekking ($500 each permit) so that you can trek for 2 days to see the gorillas. As you can imagine, this means these safari tours are quite expensive when you add the cost of all the park fees ($35 per day for most parks) and permits.
After a wonderful cooked breakfast with fruit and cereals at Mahogany Lodge overlooking the incredibly beautiful valley below (the SERVING staff all wear Tshirts printed on the back " GRILLERS IN THE MIST" - SO FUNNY!) we head off to the Warden's centre in the BWINDI Impenetrable National Park, a 5 minute ride away - the skies get very black as we enter the Park, it looks like rain. First we watch part of a movie about the gorillas, then we head out for our talk by the warden for our trek. There are 6 of us, so we are joined by a Japanese guy Kakese (carrying a huge amount of camera gear and had purchased 6 days permits back to back!), and Marilyn from California in her late 60's (not travelling together). Our guide was Gadi who we learn later was the warden who spent 2 years in the forest with H group to habituate them to humans approximately 10 years ago. Gadi was also dragged by the silverback and dislocated his shoulder by a wild silverback who was eventually chased off when the trackers fired their guns in the air. The trackers had disturbed the wild silverback and Gadi was leading a group of tourists with these trackers.
The rain starts to pour as heavy as a tropical downpour - we are in a rain forest after all - so we go inside a small round ht for our briefing including the advice that we are not allowed to get closer than 8 metres to the gorillas - if the gorillas approach us closer then that is OK. Then it's back in our safari jeep and we drive through the forest to the closest point where the gorillas were seen yesterday. Trackers are already out following the tracks from where the gorillas had their nests (beds) last night. Our gear has all been checked: hiking boots, pants tucked into hiking socks because of the vicious red ants, rain gear, hats, gloves for holding on as we climb up and down, walking poles, long sleeved shirts, back packs with our packed lunch inside along with a minimum 2 litres of water. When we stop in the forest Gadi our guide and 2 armed guards with rifles are waiting. The guns are because there are elephants in the forest who can be dangerous to humans. There are also local porters when we stop, hoping to be hired The cost is only $15 each plus a $5 tip and these porters will carry your pack, and also push and pull you to help you along the trail as we break it. Terry and I hired Justice and Gadi (same name as our guide) 2 lovely Ugandan locals who were very helpful during our trek.
Soon we are off and immediately climb up a muddy hill and we enter the forest it is humid, hot and dripping water everywhere but not actually pouring with rain - I put on the poncho (which I take off at our first stop about 45 minutes later it is so hot! and I am soaked underneath regardless). It is tricky trekking at times - everything underneath is very wet and slippery, and mostly we are walking sideways up the slopes and trying not slide down the leaves and mud. Occasionally your feet can't move ahead, your ankles have been grabbed by a "wait a minute" vine and you have to back up and step out of the vine! Every once in awhile Gadi (who is walking behind me) puts his hands around my waist to stop me from slipping backwards down the slope. Our lungs most certainly are feeling the altitude (around 6000 feet) and the consistently steep incline - me red maple leaf bandana around my forehead is soaked already! My face is getting pinker by the minute and I can see Terry puffing hard as well. We have been trekking for almost 1 hour when we meet up with the advance trackers and Guide Gadi tells us that we are near - this is the last stop for a bathroom break (everyone looks the other way), and a last sip of water. You are not allowed to take any plastic any closer to the gorillas. The porters stay behind here with our packs and everything else except what we are wearing and our cameras and binoculars. I am now behind Gadi our guide who holds my hand as we continue to climb up and down the slippery slopes - we are just a few feet up from a stream at the bottom of a gully - the tracker at the front is slashing the vines with his panga (machete). Gadi points and in front of us we see a black ball which is a gorilla just 30 feet in front of us by the stream in the grass! I am so excited and can hardly believe it - so close to a gorilla! Then Gadi calls me forward and there below is a mother with a small baby and another gorilla lying spread eagled on her back - the cameras are clicking like crazy non stop! Earlier, we were all told to be quiet around the gorillas so we hear nothing but the sounds of the forest, the cameras clicking and an occasional grunt from the gorillas - or from Gadi who sometimes puffs quite quietly to the gorillas. This is amazing and we are all so happy as we smile at each other, and mouthe "amazing" to each other.
Across the stream we see the silverback alpha male - he gets up and ambles slowly continuing following the stream up this very steep sided valley. The females then get up and start to follow - the baby clinging to the back and side of the mother. Gadi takes my hand and says "come" and we are off again down to the stream where Gadi and I go up to our ankles in water! Gadi and the tracker talk to each other and so we then cross back across the stream and trek along the stream. The pace that looked like ambling is a real huff and puff as we trek quickly to follow and keep up with them. When they stop we stop and take photos, all of our group managing to move around and get a good spot for viewing. The rain stopped awhile ago and the sun breaks through some of the tree canopy so we are very warm and wet. The gorillas move on and soon we come out into an open area - they have trekked out of the forest and climbing up a steep hill which has been planted with vegetables by the local farmers. The H family group (consisting of 17 gorillas) is spread out across the hill and Gadi climbs up and helps to steady me when I slip and soon we are all up the hill and taking non stop photos and video as well as enjoying the time to just watch and soak up this amazing scene - we have gone from saying amazing to awesome to unbelievable - drinking in every movement and activity of the gorillas, we are just so happy to be here. Two females (one with a baby) just sit on a log side by side, quietly looking around for a long time. One baby must have done something to upset the silverback - he grabs the baby and starts shaking him and then biting him - Gad tells me he is reprimanding the baby, but when the silverback bites the baby Gadi grunts and shouts at the silverback who lets the baby go - the baby immediately runs away. Another gorilla suddenly turns around and runs down the hill past us all. Just below Kekese the Japanese photographer is sitting below us all and does not see the gorilla coming - Gadi calls to a tracker who immediately moves down behind the Kekese to ensure there is no confrontation - all is good. The gorilla runs past and climbs the tree. Up another tree is a mother with a baby enjoying eating the fruit off the tree. Another gorilla appears below us, coming up the valley. We are almost surrounded by gorillas, all over the hill and all enjoyng their quiet time or whatever they are eating. We are thrilled - perhaps the fastest and most wonderful hour of our lives spent in the wild with the gorillas.
From this point the trek out is along the top of the ridge and then down to the road where Dennis will be waiting with our safari jeep. It is a wonderful trek back - the views are spectacular - the small children in their gardens all scream and shout at us with big smiles, waving frantically. Everyone is chatting happily about our wonderful morning with the gorillas. The locals are farming everywhere - no wonder they are in such great shape, up and down these hills every day. Here we see tea, maize, sweet potato, kasava, millet, sorghum, highland rice - Uganda is so green with so much vegetation. One young man is striding along with us carrying a huge basket of tea on his head - later at the Tea Factory the leaves will be roasted with eucalyptus wood which will turn the leaves black. We never want this trek to end - it has surely been wonderful, but we arrive back at the Jeep and happily pay our porters and tip our guide, and of course get more photographs! Then we drive back to Mahogany Spring Lodge to pick up our bags, and say Goodbye to Jonathan and his staff. Unbelievably the R family group of gorillas are across the valley and can be seen with binoculars from Mahogany Springs Lodge balcony! Apparently they have been to this location 3 times in the last few weeks - it is not far from their usual territory. The farmers there have stopped work and are also enjoying watching the gorillas who are in the bushes and trees right next to their fields!
We stop at the Bwindi Park Headquarters and each pick up our Trekking Certificate signed by Gadi, and we also buy a composite photo of the entire H group each showing their name so that we can identify the gorillas in our own photos! By now the skies are back and stormy again, and as we arrive at the Gorilla Forest Camp around 2 pm the heavens open and the rain pours! The staff bring us umbrellas and we run up the 50 steps to the lodge where we are warmly welcomed by the Manager. We are shown to our spacious tent (total 8) with 2 double beds ours is called Sunbird, with a wonderful shower, flush toilet and outside in the privacy of the forest, a claw foot bath tub - all this in the middle of the forest - again, so peaceful - and in this steep and close valley, when the rain stops you can see the mists drifting along. After a shower and putting our filthy clothes into the laundry basket we head back to the lounge and finally eat our picnic lunch along with red wine (included for all guests of Gorilla Forest Camp).
We try some internet (WIFI available in the common ares) with some sporadic success, and manage to download all our photos - it so wonderful to enjoy what we have each taken , and enjoy again that amazing Gorilla Trek! AS we all talk excitedly through the hours in the bar drinking red wine, we have a local musician Warren playing a homemade string instrument (dingidi) for us and singing his tribal Ahab music - it is wonderful, calm, soothing and so mellow - we love it but unfortunately he has not recorded a CD so we can't take him home with us! Dinner that evening is excellent (pepper steak and an delicious, but huge, avocado salad) and we fall into bed after 10 pm, satisfied and happy
Wednesday Nov 9, 2011 LAKE MBURO NATIONAL PARK - Mihingo Lodge at 8am
I am awake by 4am and remembering the Gorillas from yesterday while I listen to the birds and the sounds of the forest outside. The wake up call arrives all too soon, and at 8 am after breakfast we are off heading back north east on the start of our two day trip back to Kampala and Entebbe where tomorrow night we will fly back to Nairobi. It is not raining but the clouds are still drifting through the valleys and everything feels quiet and mysterious. Dennis lets us know we'll have about 3 hours of rough road before we hit paved highway. But the adventure continues, and after 1 hour we are stopped by a bus in the middle of the dirt track - stopped with no driver or passengers. In front is the safari jeep with Marilyn inside - her driver has walked ahead to find out what is happening - Dennis gets out to jump over the mud and water to investigate. He soon returns and apparently over the hill ahead there is a truck sideways on the road and stuck - there is no way we are getting through that way. We can see another road to our left which has two smaller trucks stuck towards the top of that hill! Dennis figures we can probably get through so we back up and turn up this road.
We stop behind the immobile trucks and Dennis gets out and advises the driver how to get up the hill- we can see Dennis telling the dozen in in the back to jump up and down as the truck tries again to get up the hill to give the truck some traction. It works - almost! The truck gets up almost to the top but can't quite make it over the brow of the hill! Fortunately we can now get past so we continue on our trip, and by 9:30 we are in Kihihi and take the turn towards the road for Kampala. The drives here are through beautiful country and so much to watch and see - never a boring moment. Everywhere men are pushing bikes loaded with bananas (as many as 8 bunches on one bike - such hard work). Some of the bananas are sold in local markets, but in the very high producing areas everyone grows their own, so the bananas are taken to various villages and towns where they are sold to someone who then arranges truck transportation where they are then shipped into Kampala for sale to the end customer.
By 11 am we are driving down the escarpment on the side of the Albertine Rift Valley - we see crested cranes (Uganda National Bird) sitting on the top of a tree, we also see yellow throated canaries flying in the banana trees. Also here, we see a slightly different banana tree and Dennis tells us these bananas are used for making a local brew. They also make a local brew using millet but Dennis feels this is very addictive. Around 1pm we are held up at a road block and we see many Government vehicles ahead - this is in the area where both the current President (Museveni) and his First Lady come from. It turns out that there is a commemoration for some sort for new road building equipment - there are people everywhere, along with a high military presence, even a tank, even a special vehicle which is apparently the vehicle that carries a toilet for the President. This area has been well taken care of by the current President and his Government.
We eat lunch (curried chicken and rice) at the AGIP motel and restaurant in Mbarara and see the simple rooms (fans but no AC) and leave at 3 pm back on the road where we shortly pass the President and his entourage currently in tents on the side of the road. Along the road we see huge numbers of bananas and pineapples. The pineapples here are wonderful - so very sweet and juicy, absolutely nothing like pineapples we have ever had anywhere else in the world.
We are almost at our destination for the night at 3:50pm - the entrance to Lake Mburu National Park - the smallest National Park at 158 square miles. Dennis warns us that we may see Antoli cattle (the ones with the massive horns) and sure enough these are the first animals we see (and fortunately the only cattle in the Park). Much of the land around the Park was given to Politician and other friends and family - they let their cattle graze anywhere and so many get into the Park. They have been removed at times and held by the Park Rangers - but then some Politician will phone and demand that his cattle be released! We put up the top on the Jeep and enjoy a slow game drive to the Lodge. We see many young, a great sign that the animals are healthy. Lots of Impala including young, warthogs with their young (such cue little pumbas!). We see reedback (small white spots on their back) who are quite shy, and Dennis tells us this is his lucky totem from when he was a baby. We see bushback and topi but no sitatunga or oribi which are also in this park, along with zebra and eland. For bird life there is lots including blue spotted wood dove, splendid starling, blue eared starling, and woodland kingfisher. We see vervet monkeys and baboons. We don't see any leopards although they are in the park. There has been conflict between the leopards and the community (leopards like the goats) and so some leopards have been poisoned. Apparently Mhingo Lodge is running a somewhat successful program to raise funds and compensate any community member who loses a goat to a leopard so that this will stop the poisoning of the leopards. The game drive takes us past Mburo Lake where there is a campground (sometimes used by overland vehicles, a restaurant overlooking the lake - and you can also take boat trips from here.
By 5;45 pm we are welcomed at the Mburu Lodge which sits in a splendid position on top of the rocky kopje with amazing views in all directions of the park and surrounding areas. There is a watering hole in front which can be viewed while sitting in the restaurant or the bar sipping on an ice cold G&T! There is also a beautiful infinity pool high up on the kopje where you can swim or cool off and gaze out across the park and over the watering hole which seems to always have animals stopping by to drink. This is amazing in itself since the park has a lot of wet and marshy areas so there is lots of water around - at least right now. There has been very heavy rain in the last few weeks, the short rainy season being October, November into December.
The tents were wonderful - airy, spacious, each with a deck overlooking the Park, very large bathroom with flush toilet and even an incredible view when sitting on it! We were in WaterHole - the only downside being that it was the closest tent to the water hole, so a long way down very many steps over the rocks - it took a couple of rest stops on the way back up to the Lodge! We were back at the bar in time to enjoy that very cold G&T at sunset - the bar lounge being large and comfortable, with lovely West Africa fabrics (from Mali) on the walls and pillows. Dinner starts at 8 pm - perfect timing after the visit of the 2 bush babies to the lower deck where they have apparently been coming for the last 3 years. The dinner was squash soup, followed by an excellent roast pork with apple sauce, red cabbage, roast potatoes and cauliflower cheese, and finished with Queen's pudding. Needless to say at 10 am we stumbled back down to the tent with the assistance of a security guard and a large flashlight - very full!
Thursday Nov 10, 2011 to KAMPALA, ENTEBBE - TO NAIROBI, NORFOLK HOTEL
I woke up at 2am and had to put ear plugs in - the cicados were so noisy and I couldn't get back to sleep! You definitely feel in the wilds here - it is lovely! Two flasks of hot chocolate and cookies brought to or tent at 6:30am in a basket with a handle - so practical. After our climb back to the top of the koppe we had amazing crepes with vanilla flavouring for breakfast, with fresh fruit and by 8 am our bags were packed in the safari jeep and we were heading through Lake Mburo National Park on a short but sweet game drive. Several warthogs with young, a bushback with avery young baby, Topi running so fast, we had not seen them move that fast before! A few large eland by the watering hole, along with the Burchell's zebra. From the Mihingo Lodge (owned by Winnie & Riaan Van Der Watt who also own Wildwaters Lodge and the Banana Boat shop in Kampala) you can also take short or overnight horse rides for a safari. The overnight are in tents already set up earlier that day and include the 3 course dinner and full breakfast the same as in the main lodge.
Ater 21km on the dirt track (very muddy in some stretches) we reached the main paved road for the ride back to Kampala which is expected to be quite long due to heavy traffic into the capital. Kysanga 9:25 am.
A busy drive back to Kampala with heavy traffic and a couple of slow sections due to road work. We passed the trucks loaded with the bananas, and even passed the Mpigi village where they make the drums called drum maker's village. We ate our picnic lunch in the Safari Jeep at noon so that we could arrive in Kampala with a little time to shop once more at the wonderful Banana Boat store! The traffic was very busy in Kampala, and Dennis skirted around the downtown area to avoid as much as he could. We really enjoyed our 45 minutes at the Banana Boat - beautiful Ugandan African crafts.
The Presidents' mansion is in Entebbe, very close to the airport. As we drove into Entebbe we (and all traffic both directions) were stopped on the highway and told to pull over by the Traffic Police all dressed in white uniforms. Shortly after the President's vehicle and entourage - including tanks with mounted artillery and military police all drove out and headed towards the airport - that would make it three times in one week that we saw President Museveni in our travels! We stopped at The Victoria Hotel and enjoyed a cold Bell's Lager (local beer) while we chatted to Lydia and Rachel from Classic African Safaris about our safari and thoughts. It has been a very intense road trip but very interesting and a wonderful opportunity to see a lot of Uganda. We probably averaged 8 hours a day in the Safari Jeep and saw a lot of Ugandan countryside. It is surely a beautiful country, so very green, lush and tropical. Every Ugandan is busy producing many crops on their property so even though they may be very poor from a monetary perspective but by working hard they can feed their family. The wild life in Queen Elizabeth Park, Murchison Falls, and Lake Mburo is healthy and varied species - even though our compressed schedule didn't give a huge amount of time for game drives. The Ugandan people have all been very welcoming and friendly - the children along the roads are so happy to see us and all shout and scream and ask questions - even if they only know how to say "how are you? how are you?"! The camps and lodges were all excellent and varied - some newer some older - some with an open spacious feel, and others in the bush with an intimate and real traditional safari feel to them. All the meals and service exemplary. Of course the chimp and gorilla trekking were both very special experiences and we feel very privileged to have had this amazing chance to trek and view both the chimps and gorillas in their natural habitat. Uganda has a lot of water with the rivers and many lakes, as well as several swampy and marshy areas - this has made for healthy wildlife (lots of new babies including the impala who can select when to birth their babies, they wait until the conditions are good for new babies), and also wonderful and different safari options by boat - the afternoon on the Kasinga Pass channel was an excellent and relaxing safari and we would love to spend more time doing that - we will never forget the lion resting up in the branches of the giant euphorbia candelabra! That 2 1/2 hour safari just flew by and the variety and quantity of bird life, cape buffalo, hippos that we saw was spectacular!
Our 8pm flight (1 1/4 hours) with Kenya Airways was a little late leaving Entebbe - but that gave us chance to do a little duty free shopping and we had excellent assistance and advice from the lady in the one store who played several tracks on Ugandan CD's for us so hat we could select the music that appealed to us. We also bought Nikon Travelite binoculars for the Kenyan Safari. We have been looking for new ones for awhile and Maggie and Matt (from Boulder Colorado) had a pair that we had tried in Uganda which we really liked so were thrilled to find one pair in Entebbe Duty Free. We had light traffic in Nairobi (oh joy) between the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the Norfolk Hotel and so were checked into the room by 11pm and in bed by midnight.
Now we will get ready to head off for our Safari with Gamewatchers and Porini Camps - this is going to be exciting!
Now we will get ready to head off for our Safari with Gamewatchers and Porini Camps - this is going to be exciting!
