Uganda and the Unforgettable Showers

Almost immediately after crossing the border from Rwanda to Uganda, it felt like we were "back in Africa". On my first day in Uganda I bought bbq goat meat on a stick through the window of a matatu (mini-bus) and had to fight with a goat on another for the precious amount a leg room available to me (I was winning for a while, but once the goat learned to use its horns against my shins I had to admit defeat). This morning while I was eating breakfast at the Red Chilli Backpackers (Kampala, Uganda), a chicken came along, hopped on an empty chair at the table next to me, and proceeded to lay an egg on the cushion while skwaking loudly. I think the chicken enjoyed having an audience of four mzungus while she did her thing. Ahhhhh Africa. Somehow I actually feel more comfortable among the chaos and nonsensical order to things.

If you think I may be escaping the Michael Jackson craziness you are mistaken. Even here in Africa there is no other news. I flipped through a Ugandan news paper today with dozens of articles about mj, and only a handful on other topics. Is there really no other news??? Really???

Our first destination was in Uganda was Lake Bunyonyi - a nice getaway not too far from the Rwanda border. We stayed in a "tree tent" - a furnished tent on a platform high up in the trees. The Lake was beautiful and the accomodation spectacular - but it was quite cold. Too cold to swim most of the time - and almost right on the Equator! This is where we started running into large "overland trips" (which are everywhere in Uganda). These involve massive trucks taking tourists from point to point. They are quite funny -they have a look of shock and awe in their eyes when we tell them we are backpacking on our own - as if its impossible to get around on public transport and make your own arrangements. They also seem to be strangely adverse to getting dirty - one truck even layed out a plastic tarp for their bags to be put on when they came of the truck. We burst out laughing when we saw this. But then again, they may have burst out laughing when they saw how dirty us and all of our stuff is:) It still amazes me just how dirty you can get in Africa just doing ordinary things.


Our next destination was a nature reserve on Lake Nkuruba near Fort Portal. The area was absolutely beautiful with stunning crater lakes, a quaint town and plenty of monkeys hanging around. We went on a "crater lakes exploration" one day which involved a six hour hike by 6 crater lakes and a waterfall. Our guide's name was Christine - and she showed up in the morning wearing black tight jeans, a fitted tank top and a baseball cap. She was carrying nothing. And then there was us - sporting socks and gortex shoes, quick dry travelling pants, moisture wicking and breathable t-shirts, hats and sunglasses, with a camel back tubes slung over over shoulders and backpacks containing extra water, water purification tabs in case we ran out of water, lunch, snacks, bathing suits, sunscreen, sarongs, bio-degradable soap, and of course, our cameras. No wonder people laugh at us so much:) The waterfall was incredible and this is where the first of the "unforgettable showers" occurred. You could get right under the rushing falls for nature's best power shower. It was simply glorious.

Next we headed to Jinja, Uganda. This is where the Lake Victoria pours into the Nile River, making it the major source of the Nile. And it makes for some fantastic grade 5 rapids. We went whitewater rafter, quad biking (four-wheeling) and made a bad attempt at whitewater kayaking. Neither of us could manage to roll over in the kayak - so we ended up just paddling up an down the river for a while, completely avoiding the rapids. We stayed at the Nile River Explores backpackers. This was an average place in general, with anything but average showers. The second "unforgettable shower" was set into a very steep hill over looking the Victoria Nile rapids. On the side facing the view it was completely open - floor to ceiling. Again, simply glorious.

We are now in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. Ugandans are very friendly people, and although you have to be aware of the dangers and annoyances of any large city, it is very tourist friendly. Today is a day of chores - banking, shopping for replacement toiletries and clothes, copying photos to CDs, laundry etc. Speaking of photos - I'm sure you've guessed already that there will be no photos on this blog until I get back (unless I all of a sudden have lots of extra time and money that I want to spend waiting for photos to upload in a dreary internet cafe - not likely).

Next on the agenda is a trip to Murchison Falls in north western uganda. We will do some more safari-ing and maybe make another attempt at chimp trekking. Then on to Kenya. For the second half of the trip we have no set plans whatsoever so we are just taking it day-by-day. Which of course is quite fun:)