Uganda and Rwanda - Green, green, green.

As some of you may know, we were fired from our hotel job in Entebbe (hooray!) and have since been on the road again! Here’s what’s been happening in Uganda and Rwanda…

After our side trip to Ethiopia we headed from Nairobi across the border to Uganda. The first thing we noticed after crossing was how beautiful Uganda was! Rolling green hills coupled with thick forests, cute little village towns and a more relaxed pace – It was a very pleasant surprise!

The Rwenzori Mountains - Mountains of the Moon

Our first stop was Jinja, which is a sleepy little holiday town situated on the source of the Nile river. Jinja is East Africa’s adventure capital with white water rafting, bungy jumping, AWD motorbikes etc. We opted for the Grade 4 & 5 rapids and had a full day out on the Nile and had a great time. Perhaps the best thing about the rafting was that they included a free night’s accommodation at their camp site right on the Nile and all the beer one could consume!

The next day, as we we’re suitably hungover, we met a bunch of Aussie expats who owned business’ in the area. After a few minutes chatting we rather jokingly asked if they had any work for a couple – As it turned out they did! The following day we met a hotel owner named Merryde (pronounced Merry – d), discussed our travel plans and then agreed to a 3 month contract - From travelers to hoteliers!

We did a quick side trip up to the famous Murchison Falls and enjoyed a couple of days R&R (because we needed it before starting work) checking out the wild life and falls! We also went bushwalking in a Rhino sanctuary – We never thought we’d get that close, but surprisingly Rhino’s are pretty chilled out animals. Unless you kill their spawn.

Sipi Falls - Ren and I's new 'love swing' harness.

The powerful Murchison Falls

Ren and her Rhino, Kinyanjui!

Three days later we were driving to Entebbe, Uganda’s international airport town, to start as hotel managers at the Gately Inn. Our introduction to hotel management was quick – The hotel had about 33 staff, all of whom we’re generally good workers, but there was a lot to do. Meals were too big, grease traps were blocked and no one had any clue what roster they we’re working!

Working hard... on the tan.

Despite the long hours and minimal pay, Ren and I actually enjoyed the business as it was a new challenge and very exciting to be living and working in Uganda! Entebbe is a great town on Lake Victoria with a relaxed African vibe and some great food. We even had a gym and pool to go too and started playing squash (Watch out Snotty and Mich!).

Ren and I on a boda boda - Motorcyle, motorcyle.

The local fare - Carb me up!

After the 1^st month we approached the owner and said we may be keen to stay and that we’d be interested at looking at a 12 month contract to know where we stood with our future travel plans. Merryde was keen and said she’d get something back to us soon – Wicked!

However, it seemed that Merryde was on ‘African time’ and that ‘soon’ meant ‘in the next couple of months’. We explained that if we couldn’t look at something within the 2 months, that we’d have to move on to finish our travels – This is when things turned a sour. Merryde started retracting benefits we agreed too and changing the goal posts. After a series of emails going back and forth she turned up out of the blue one day and told us that the contract was over! An argument ensued – Ren and I gave our best and I even got to tell her male side kick ‘You don’t know what the f$%k you’re talking about, so shut the f$%k up!’. The long awaited moment of telling your boss to get jammed was upon us!

In a strange way it turned out to be a highlight of the trip and one of the, ahem, merriest moments of life – Who knew our re-entry to unemployment could be so awesome?

Being back on the road again we high tailed it to Kampala and organized a road trip trough western Uganda into Rwanda for our long awaited Gorilla Tracking! As chance has it, we picked up two travelling buddies from London, Janet and Ian, to join us for this exciting leg. Let the party begin

Kampala street life.

First we visited the Kabale National Forest where we went Chimpanzee tracking – This was a fantastic experience and great start to our safari. We had to climb, run and cut through the forest to keep up with a group of about 35 chimps. The chimps we’re screeching and carrying on like, well, chimps. They we’re amazing to see in the wild!

Ren = 98.7% chimp

Chimpy!

Chimps!

Next on we visited a local ‘kingdom’ and the Royal Tombs as we headed to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Not much to report on the tombs, other than the fact that once a year the king sacrifices a goat (at the tombs?) for the local community to enjoy. Nice guy!

Inside the tombs!

Ugandan Funeral Services

In QE Park we did some game driving and a boat ride along Lake Edward. Unfortunately, we didn’t come across a great deal of wild life, but when we exited the park it was a different story. We almost came head on with a bull Elephant – It was challenging our Toyota Hiace van to a road side dual! Fortunately our driver Patrick knew what he was doing and revved the engine when the Elephant charged. It came within a metre or so and then backed it’s ‘little bitch ass’ in to the bush – Don’t make me wear your tusks as a necklace, elephant.

Watch it, elephant.

Hippo and Waterbuffalo unite.

Ren getting to close to a killer warthog!

Further up the road, we spotted a Leopard crossing into the bushes. In all the safari Ren and I have done we’ve only ever spotted one leopard – It was a real treat to see it running along the road as the sun set! We crossed our fingers to see a lion eating a crocodile, however this did not eventuate.

The Lake Bunyoni

From QE park we then headed to Lake Bunoni – Perhap’s the most picturesque lake we’ve been too this trip! There we spent an easy evening with Janet and Ian drinking cold beer and taking in the serenity. The next morning we took a boat ride on the Lake and visited some of the islands including my favourite, ‘Punishment Island’. This was where the single pregnant ladies were sent to perish, the wicked souls that they were. Their only chance was if a single man from another village paddled across and then picked them! Lucky birds.


Uganda's national bird


Punishment Island!

With our work in Uganda done, we headed across the border to Rwanda to set up for our long awaited Gorilla Tracking in Volcanoes National Park. As soon as we crossed we noticed a difference in the infrastructure and roads in Rwanda – Everything was clean, gardens and farms were maintained and plastic bags were illegal!

Renee handing out berries.

Rwandan Forex.

After a poor nights sleep, we headed out at 5:30am in anticipation to the Volcanoes National Park. The park is without a doubt one of the most beautiful, green and serene vista’s we’ve ever encountered. It is littered with volcanoes reaching up to 4500m above sea level and has a truly wonderful ambience. As if this wasn’t enough of a draw card, the park also hosts some of the world’s last Mountain Gorillas.






The volcanoes.

After being sorted into groups and meeting our fellow trackers, we were designated to the Amahoro (Peace) family of 17 gorillas including 3 silverbacks. We drove out up into one of the mountain villages and began our walk through a field of daisies – A pretty scenic start!

Hiker Ren!

From there we entered the park and started tracking through the dense bamboo forests and fields of stinging nettles - After 1.5 walking we spotted the park trackers and were ready to see our long lost cousins!

UNIT!

So close!

Words don’t justify seeing these beautiful animals in the wild – There sheer size and presence makes your heart skip a beat. It was quite fitting that this family was called the ‘Peace’ family. They all sat around eating the bamboo, which gives them a drunken feeling, and chilled out in the shade! All we could say is that it must be rated high on anyone’s bucket list and we’d recommend it to anyone! Hopefully some of the photo’s do it justice.

After the excitement of the Gorillas we then headed to the border town of Gisenyi, on Lake Kivu. This was exciting in itself as it bordered the Democratic Republic of Congo – Home to blood diamonds, the other type of guriella and Nyiragongo, an active volcano! We had entertained the idea of crossing into Congo for a 1 night trip up the volcano where there is an ocean sized bubbling lava pool. However, the cost to cross - $285 for the visa (the official fee was more like $35, but surprisingly officials in DRC are… corrupt?) – and the thought of either getting shot or dying from overflowing lava was somewhat discerning.

Instead we spent a couple of days taking in the local sights and purchasing some Congolese masks.

Now we’re in Kigali for a day or two before we finish our East Africa leg! It’s been 5 months and we’ve had an absolute blast – Lions, rhinos, gorillas, mountains, rain, sun, tribes, work and play – It’s been, once again, a merry, merry, merry old time!

Tomorrow we’re off to South Africa to start a 6 week driving trip – Thanks if you made it this far!

Over and out!

John and Renee