As far back as Botswana, other travelers had warned us. Even with all these warnings, we were not ready for how much we would love Uganda! The people are so warm and welcoming. The scenery is dynamic and awesome. Wildlife is just as diverse and making a comeback from poaching. Our friends and other travelers were spot on, it is a fantastic country to visit. After crossing the border from Kenya, we headed for a camp just out of Jinja, the source of the Nile, that offers half price camping for international overland travelers. The beautiful, grassy campsite overlooks The Nile just above Dead Dutchman Falls, the first set of rapids that the river rafters hit on their trip. Watching them practice righting the boat in the calm pool just above the falls was our morning entertainment with coffee. On a grocery run into town, we even found a Mexican food place that was really close to what we know of Mexican food from home! This place made it easy to kick back for a few days while Paul got over a cold he had picked up in Kenya.
With our Australian friends, we came up with a plan for the month we had in Uganda. A counter clockwise tour through Sipi falls on Mount Elgon, Kidepo Valley NP, and Murchison Falls NP would fill the next couple of weeks. Our first stop, Sipi Falls, is on the flanks of the gigantic dormant volcano that is Mount Elgon. Really a series of 3 falls, with the middle the most stunning. The view from our camp looking west over the wetlands of central Uganda made for awesome sunsets. It has been our goal to buy locally grown coffee in every country we’ve visited that grows it. The folks living on Mount Elgon grow some delicious coffee, which we purchased before leaving Sipi Falls. From here, it was a two day drive to Kidepo Valley National Park. The first day saw some muddy, but manageable tracks, and we stopped at a local arts education center that offers camping on their grounds. Along the way, we interrupted a fisherman bathing. We know he was a fisherman because he came running out to the road, naked from his bath, carrying a giant catfish to try and sell it to us. The next day, we arrived to the park.
Kidepo Valley NP had been described to us as “just as full of wildlife as the Serengeti, but with a view.” The views did not disappoint. While we didn’t see as many animals, we did get to camp in the park, with no fences around the camp site. At the office, they offered us a ranger as a guard, which we asked if we really needed. “Not really, but most people like one” was their response. We opted out, we hadn’t had any problems thus far with animals. As it turns out, another group came into camp and had a guard, so we did get to chat with Denis, a ranger in the park. He was a wealth of knowledge about the park and the animals that live there. He also slept in a little pup tent right on the ground, so we weren’t too worried about animal visitors in the night. The park is right up in the north of Uganda, on the border with South Sudan. While they hadn’t had any problems in a while, it was still mandatory to take an armed ranger to visit the northern half of the park. With short time and extra expenses for the ranger, we opted to stay in the southern part of the park for our two days. As it turns out, the park was as far north as we would go on our African journey. We would be southbound from here until we ship everything home. Kidepo Valley was one of our favorite stops on the whole trip, and we hope to someday get back to further explore the valley.
It took two days to get to the border of Murchison Falls National Park. The rest of us were fighting off the cold Paul had brought in from Kenya, so we opted to spend a couple of nights just outside the park. Our second evening saw a small family of giraffe wander up to the edge of camp. Getting to see them so close was a special treat. From here, we drove into the park and down to the ferry crossing on the Nile river. We left the cars and hopped onto a boat to get up to Murchison Falls, the most powerful waterfall in the world. They say that the volume of water through the narrow gap creates more energy than any other waterfall. From the boat, we saw crocodile, giraffe, buffalo, elephant, and a handful of antelope. At the ferry dock, the biggest baboons we had ever seen rummaged through the trash. One safari vehicle forgot to close a window and one got inside looking for food. They, and the baboon, were grumpy until he found the window again and jumped out. They were glad he didn’t damage anything and only stole their lunch. The ferry crossing, our first in Africa, was uneventful and fun. On the other side, we found a campsite with a view over the river.
Over dinner, we mapped out our route from here. Julie was still fighting off a cold, so they were going to find a place to stay in Fort Portal and hunker down for a couple of days. We decided that we would run in towards Kampala and do a grocery stock up to get us ready for the last week or so in Uganda, our trip through Rwanda, and western Tanzania. We found a camp just outside the city and headed that way. This camp was also close to a protected marsh where we could see the shoe billed stork. On our stork tour, we were lucky enough to see 3 storks, one landing, and one flying.
Once our errands were done, we headed to Fort Portal to find Paul and Julie. After a couple of nights with them, it was time to say good bye. While we were going to see the mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, they were not. Meeting Paul and Julie in Namibia probably shaped our trip more than anything else. They taught us the value of staying an extra night somewhere just for the view or fantastic sunset. We learned how to pace our trip from them. Jen and I are glad to count them as friends and know that we will see them again, somewhere in the world. Their plan was to explore a bit more of Uganda before heading back to Kenya and on to Ethiopia and Sudan. We miss traveling with them, but enjoy hearing about their journey. We look forward to showing them the US, or meeting them somewhere else in the world.
From Fort Portal, we stopped for a couple of nights just outside Queen Elizabeth NP, and had an elephant and a hippo come through camp! Neither lingered, but it is always exciting for such big animals to wander so close to our home on wheels. We climbed into the mountains on the way towards Bwindi. Unlike anything else we’d yet seen, these mountains were tall, steep, lush, and green. We stopped just outside the park, to visit a community hospital some other travelers had let us know about. This hospital has an ER, and a Pediatric ER, beds for 120, about 20 of which are in a Pediatric ward, and two surgical theaters where they perform about 150 surgeries monthly. We had a bunch of stuff for kids and some extra medical/first aid supplies to give them and they gave us a tour. They were so grateful for all the tourism generated by the gorillas as it has allowed them to grow the hospital far beyond what the initial private medical mission envisioned. Founded by a doctor from California, it is now staffed by Ugandan doctors, with visiting doctors from the US and Europe helping for a few weeks a year. This would be the first evidence we would see of eco-tourism’s impact in the area.
Further up the road, just outside the park gate, we found a community run camp. After dropping the trailer, we ran up to the park office to see when we could get a trek to see the gorillas. As luck would have it, they had space the next morning. We pounced on it and showed up the next morning at 7 AM. In the pre-trek briefing, we learned that the last census showed an increase in Mountain Gorilla population from 900 to 1020! An impressive improvement over 2 years. With another American couple and a Canadian couple, and our guide and guard, we headed into the mountains to find the trackers and our gorilla family. At the office, they had porters you could hire to help with your bags and the hike. We weren’t sure if we’d need one, but decided to hire one to carry the camera and extra water. He offered to help us get through the steep sections too. We had no idea what we were in for. That was the hardest hike we had ever done. The trail was steeper and more slippery than any at home, and that was when we were on a trail. Our guy pulled Jen up more than a few spots where the mud was slick and the footholds were a stretch for my legs.
Once we found the trackers, we waited for the gorilla family to come down from the tree above. Earlier that morning, a rogue male had come into their territory and the silverback, the leader of this family, was still out fighting off the intruder. The rest of the gorillas were apparently a bit nervy. After about half an hour, they started to climb down to the ground. It was exciting and eerie to watch them silently clamber to the ground, sliding down vines and branches where they could. They took off across the forest floor, with us in pursuit, hoping they would stop long enough for a photo. Wildlife is always hard to photograph, but gorillas were undoubtedly the most difficult. The light is low in the forest, you infrequently get an unobstructed shot, and they don’t sit still for long. Jen did get some good photos though. And we got to watch a baby play on a sapling, gripping it in one hand like a vise and hanging, twirling about his arm like any little kid might. One of the young males was not happy about our being there and let us know it a couple of times. He rushed at us, stopping a couple of of yards short and roaring gutturally as he bared his teeth. Our guide and the trackers knew this family though and said he is always like that, mock charging in an attempt to establish his dominance. They said to hold our ground and NOT look him in the eyes and he would be fine. They were right, he never got too close, just made a lot of noise. It seems like he is just a moody teenager.
Park rules state that people only get an hour with the gorillas, to keep them from getting too habituated to people and keep them safe and healthy. Our hour flew by faster than you can imagine. After a quick lunch, we hiked back out to the park office. Again, our porter was a big help as the only thing harder than hiking up steep slopes is hiking down them. Once we were on more level trail, I got to talking to him. He was grateful for the gorilla tourism, it gave him and everyone else in the village more income and access to health care. The depth of his appreciation was evident in talking to him and the guide. Gorilla trekking is expensive ($600 each), and for us, half the value was seeing the impact on the local community. We are glad we did it, and would heartily recommend anyone else go for a gorilla trek too.
The gorilla trek was our last big activity in Uganda. The next day, we drove out of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest towards the border with Rwanda. The next day, we drove into Rwanda. Uganda had been a delight, wowing us with it’s beauty. The people were easily some of the most friendly we’d experienced in Africa. The Uganda National Parks are among the nicest in all our journey. We hope to get back and explore more of Uganda. Anyone thinking of going should commit and do it, but we warn you, you will fall in love with this country.
Uganda by the Numbers
Miles Driven: 1,605
Days in Uganda : 26
Ferry Rides: 3
Jars of Marmalade Made: 2 (lime)
Traffic Tickets: 0 (Woo Hoo!)
