-Ugandan Proverb (does not apply to our mothers)
Leaving Tanzania we had both been very ill for several days. When we felt ready to board our 16 hour bus (when are you ever ready?) and off we went. One breakdown, a bus change, two border crossings, several problems later we arrived in Uganda 35 hours after departure and at midnight. Emerging from the garbage filled, cramped, sweaty bus we stepped out into the dark streets of Kampala, the capital of Uganda.
Uganda is a country filled with a tumultuous post-independence history. Much of the remnence of Idi Amin’s rule is still visible today and glamourized in the book and movie “The Last King of Scotland”. The country is poor, the people are very kind and the land is lushly beautiful. When John Speke first arrive he declared it the “pearl of Africa” and one would be hard to argue today.
A few days spent in the busy streets of Kampala and we hitched on to a budget safari heading to Murchison Falls National park in the North West of Uganda, along the Congolese border. Having not planned or budgeted for a safari we were thrilled to jump in our little vans with pop off roofs for a few days of camping in the national park.
Driving into the park monkeys, baboons, warthogs, and buffaloes scurried around our vehicle. Spending dusk at the Falls we watched the sunset over the source of the Nile and listened to the animals in the distance.
At dawn the next morning we grabbed a ferry across the river and drove into the densest part of the area. Seeing the array of animals in this savannah setting was utterly surreal. It was not as packed with animals as areas like Kruger, the Serengetti and Ngorogoro crater but it was stunning for us.
From here we grabbed a bus and headed to the south-west corner of Uganda and an area called Lake Bunyoni. It’s a giant lake sprinkled with several islands and a great place to escape the hectic environment of the mainland. Being awoken by dawn drums and singing from the distant islands, using lanterns as your only source of light and enjoying food that requires 5 hours of warning to prepare you can’t help but relax. We met many interesting people in this area both local and aid workers. Its cross section of populations as you can look into both the Congo and Rwanda from the surrounding hills.
As our van drove through the tall brush all the animals in the area had stopped and looked our way. Suddenly out from our left sprung a pride of seven Lions almost into the side of our truck. We had accidently arrived in the path of their hunt. Seven lions circled our truck looking beyond us to the animals in the distance that they had been stalking. We stared in awe.
We floated in a tiny boat down the Nile to the base of Murchison Falls. The fiver was filled with hundreds of Hippos, crocodiles, etc. From our small boat we could appreciate the sheer size of the hippos and grace of the elephants on the shore. Very cool three days.
From here we grabbed a bus and headed to the south-west corner of Uganda and an area called Lake Bunyoni. It’s a giant lake sprinkled with several islands and a great place to escape the hectic environment of the mainland. Being awoken by dawn drums and singing from the distant islands, using lanterns as your only source of light and enjoying food that requires 5 hours of warning to prepare you can’t help but relax. We met many interesting people in this area both local and aid workers. Its cross section of populations as you can look into both the Congo and Rwanda from the surrounding hills.
After a few days here we piled into a local shared taxi (10 people in a tiny car with the driver sitting on someone’s lap) and headed to the Rwandan border. We have both been interested in Rwanda for many years due to its recent history and the presence of gorillas. We were about to learn much more about both in the coming days.
We will post these stories in the next two weeks.
Hope your summer is winding down well where you are in the world.
