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Uganda Part One Compared to the violent nature with which we left Kenya, Uganda has been a welcome change. It is an incredible beautiful country with some of the friendliest people we have encountered in Africa. It is right up there on our list of favourite African countries. We started our Uganda experience in Jinja, fast becoming the white water rafting capital of Africa. We stayed at Bujagali Falls a few kilometres from Jinja itself at the Nile River Explorers Camp. While it has a great bar area with incredible views over the Nile River, it lacks facilities that you would expect are essential for independent overlanders – flushing toilets, running water and somewhere to wash dishes. We were scheduled to do the rafting the next day, but after the ‘Kenya Experience’ we were not up to it. The reality of what we had been through was beginning to sink in. We moved up the road to Eden Rock, a quieter and shadier campsite with better facilities. Unfortunately it lacks the lively and picturesque bar of Nile Explorers, but you can walk there in a few minutes thereby having the best of both worlds. We have time when we come back from the rest of Uganda, so we will do the white water rafting then instead. We did a twilight quad biking trip through the local countryside one evening that was lots of fun. We followed the Nile for somewhat and then spent a few hours riding through amongst local fields, past banana trees, through villages and ended up having a local meal at one of the local farms. For a local experience (these can be badly run experiences for the most part) it was very good. We don’t know if we could eat the African staple foods every day though; they are pretty bland if not quite interesting (food is always interesting when you have no idea what it actually is). We headed for Kampala to pay for and pick up our Gorilla permits to be greeted by a looming fuel shortage. Uganda is almost solely dependent on Kenya for its fuel. Being landlocked with no ocean ports, it relies on Mombassa and the roads through Kenya for all its fuel, its other imports and most of its exports. With the boarders being closed, the violence in Western Kenya and the refusal of tanker drivers to try to get through, Fuel was becoming a problem as supplies began to dry up, people began to panic buy and fuel stations raised prices to cash in. Diesel went up from AUD1.50/L to around AUD2.05/L overnight. We are carrying 170L of fuel and will be filling up where we can until they can get fuel through. If its not one thing its another isn’t it? We headed for Murchison Falls NP and stopped overnight at Masindi Hotel. You can camp here in the grounds and the hotel itself is worth a look. It was built in the 1920’s and has been well restored to give a glimpse back to the colonial past. The town of Masindi is uninspiring unless you like fine dust on everything. We had probably the best steak in Africa at the hotel for around AUD5.00 and Jacinda had one of the best curries that she can remember here as well. Africa can certainly surprise you at times with what you can find and where. The meal was washed down with a few cold Nile Special’s and we made use of the WIFI internet to email and check the website. The next day we headed into the Murchison Falls NP, a two-hour drive from Masindi to the campgrounds. Entry to the Ugandan parks is very well priced compared to a lot of other parks in Africa. Three people plus the car for three days or more worked out to be US$190 in total. In the Afternoon we decided to do a three-hour chimp-tracking walk in the nearby Budongo Central Forest reserve. While we didn’t actually sight the chimps (we did see branches move, and heard them run through the undergrowth) the walk through the forest was well worth the experience. (US$25pp). The Murchison Falls are worth the trip and would rate as one of our Ugandan highlights. Part of the Nile River (some 6,700km long) it is a 6m wide gorge through which this huge river has to fit. The roar of the water is deafening and is though to be the most powerful natural surge of water in the world. We saw the falls from the boat but we thought it was best seen from the top of the falls. The hour or so over dusty roads was well worth it. Awesome. We stayed at Red Chilli while we were in the park. It has adequate facilities and was not the worst campsite we have stayed in. It has a resident hippo that wanders the grounds at night that we were lucky enough to see, along with a collection of Warthogs that get into any scraps. On the way back to Masindi, we had a local guy on a bicycle who panicked and instead of taking his bike to the side of the road like most people do, he through it in front of us. With no room to swerve (thanks to a girl on another bike coming the other way) we had no choice but to let the Cooper STT’s turn his bike into scrap metal. Given our experiences in Kenya we figured the best policy in Africa is to keep on driving, so that’s what we did. Given that our nerves are still shot from Kenya, this is something we didn’t need. A few beers and another steak at the Masindi Hotel washed away the tension of the moment. From Masindi we braved the dirt roads again to head towards Fort Portal and the beautiful crater lakes that dot the region. We stayed at the Lake Nkurba Community Camp Site, set on the banks of one of the most beautiful lakes we have seen. The campsite is locally run with proceeds going back into the community. It is a parish initiative with local people trained and nurtured on how to run a tourist venture. You sit several metres above the lake at tree canopy height, which gives great views of the monkey and bird life that you don’t get from the forest floor. A highlight was a four-hour walk through local plantations to see several of the other crater lakes in the area. The local people are incredibly friendly and most appreciate the value that tourism brings to the local economy. Many are genuinely interested in just talking to tourists without motives of selling you curios or souvenirs. Next on the agenda was Queen Elizabeth NP. For a change we had decided to treat ourselves to an expensive lodge to get a break from the tent and camp food. The prospect of unlimited hot water, king sized bed, all the food we could eat and views over the water from the hilltop was too hard to pass up. We stayed at Mweya Safari Lodge, with the highlight being a river cruise along the Kazinga Channel where we saw dozens of birds, hippos, water buffalo, waterbuck, elephant, and crocodiles. Speaking of birds, in three weeks since we were at lake Turkana in Kenya we have seen so many birds. Not being a natural birdie, we figured that because there are so many birds in Uganda we should try to get a bird book and see how many we could identify. The result to date is 114 birds that we have been able to identify with maybe half that number again that we have missed identifying. The list includes:     Little Bee Eater Red Throated Bee Eater White Throated Bee Eater Kori Bustard Great Cormorant Long Tailed Cormorant Blue Headed Coucal White Browed Coucal Grey Crowned Crane Pied Crow Blue Spotted Wood Dove Ring Necked Dove Black Egret Great Egret Little Egret Grey Backed Fiscal Mackinnon's Fiscal Lesser Flamingo African Blue Flycatcher African Paradise Flycatcher Blue Mantled Crested Flycatcher Crested Francolin Handsome Francolin Scaly Francolin Crested Guineafowl Helmeted Guineafowl Grey Headed Gull Lesser Black Backed Gull Hamerkop Black Backed Night Heron Black Crowned Night Heron Black Headed Heron Common Squacco Heron Goliath Heron Grey Heron African Hoopoe Green Wood Hoopoe Abyssinian Ground Hornbill African Grey Hornbill Black And White Casqued Hornbill Crowned Hornbill Pipin Hornbill Red Billed Hornbill Southern Ground Hornbill Hadada Ibis Sacred Ibis African Jacana Chocolate Backed Kingfisher Grey Headed Kingfisher Malachite Kingfisher Pied Kingfisher Striped Kingfisher Woodland Kingfisher African Wattled Lapwing Spur Winged Lapwing Red capped Lark Fischer's Lovebird Red Headed Lovebird Blue Naped Mousebird Speckled Mousebird Yellow Billed Oxpecker Great White Pelican Pink Backed Pelican Eastern Grey Plantain Eater African Water Rail African Fish Eagle Augur Buzzard Black Kite Egyptian Goose Lizard Buzzard Long Crested Eagle Pallid Harrier Palm Nut Vulture Steppe Eagle Tawny Eagle Yellow Billed Black Kite White Browed Robin Chat Broad Billed Roller Lilac Breasted Roller Common Greenshank Wood Sandpiper Black Headed Gonolek Ludher's Bush Shrike Magpie Shrike Yellow Billed Shrike Greater Blue Eared Starling Rupell's Long Tailed Starling Superb Starling Black Winged Stilt Black Stork Marabu Stork Saddle Billed Stork Yellow Billed Stork Blue Headed Sunbird Bronze Sunbird Green Headed Sunbird Green Throated Sunbird Red Chested Sunbird Scarlet Chested Sunbird Barn Swallow Common House Martin Lesser Striped Swallow African Skimmer Water Tick Knee Great Blue Turaco Ross's Turaco White Crested Turaco African Pied Wagtail Yellow Wagtail Little Weaver Slender Billed Weaver Spectacled Weaver Yellow Backed Weaver Grey Woodpecker   We then headed to Kabale and stayed on Lake Bunyoni at Lake Bunyoni Overland Camp. It is a picturesque place right on the lake. There are not great facilities to camp but the permanent safari tents are comfortable and offer good views of the lake. It rained our whole stay there so we were glad we didn’t pitch our own tents. The real reason for being in this part of the world was to see the Gorillas at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in the south of Uganda near the boarder with Rwanda and the DRC. The road in was muddy and slippery because of the constant drizzle. We had heard that the group the day before us had trekked for hours before they found them. We began our trek as the rain of the last few days cleared and the sun began to emerge from the cloud. Having set ourselves up for a very long day we were amazed that we we found the Gorillas after only one hour and in a clearing that gave us the perfect view of them. Apparently this almost never happens. We were blessed with one of the best viewings of them that the ranger could remember. It is a truly amazing experience. Uganda has been an amazing experience on the whole. It is incredibly beautiful, the people are friendly and no one throws rocks at the car. It has helped to restore our faith in Africa. We had been a bit jaded for a few months with the constant attempts to rip us off, people asking for money and the like. Uganda has restored our energy for Africa. Churchill one described it as the pearl of Africa, and that is still true today. Our next adventure is a return to Kampala, a few days in Jinja again to do the rafting, dropping my sister off at the airport for her flight home and then a return to Tanzania to find a back door route (relatively) through Kenya again to Ethiopia. Uganda Part Two Now where were we? After seeing the gorillas it is hard to imagine things getting any better. Africa has been choc-a-block with wildlife experiences and that gorillas are right up there with the best, almost rivalling our Galapagos Islands experience a few years ago. Heading from Bwindi (which itself is a beautiful forest area even without the gorillas) we had a long days driving ahead of us to make it to Masaka. After about eight or nine hours driving we made it and decided to stay at the Hotel Brovad as it was my birthday and Jacinda and Min wanted to celebrate after a long day on the road. It was relatively cheep and not a bad option given the options in a somewhat uninspiring town. We had a reasonable meal and ordered pear flan for desert. After half an hour they bought out banana fritter. When we queried it they said they had no pear flan so they figured we could have banana fritter instead. We ordered coffee and had the choice of African, English or Instant. We naturally went for African assuming it would be freshly ground Kenyan coffee or similar. When the coffee finally arrived they gave us instant coffee that was made in Kenya. There was no milk and the water that came in the thermos had a strong taste of ginger, as probably that what was last in the thermos. This place was a little like Faulty Towers. All it was missing was Basil and the Major. Min was locked in her room because of a faulty lock and breakfast had no toast, as there was no electricity. Heading back to Kampala (after crossing the equator for we think the 8th time on this trip) to sort out a few logistical issues as well as changing Min’s flight to leave from Entebbe instead of Nairobi, we stayed again at Red Chilli. Next it was back to Jinja where the girls did the white water rafting (I was feeling crook so I read a book and sorting out a loose wiring connection with a spot light instead – I know who had more fun). Last on the agenda for Uganda were a few days in Entebbe (rather than Kampala as it is closer to the airport). Entebbe is a sleepy little place that was a welcome change form the crazy traffic of Kampala. It was a little gem that was just what the doctor ordered. We stayed at Entebbe Tourists run by a nice guy called ‘Frank’. This place ended up being another little gem with one of the best steaks in Africa for dinner for only a couple of dollars. Unfortunately the day came to drop Min at the airport and say good-bye. It was amazing having her travel with us for a month and seeing her get on that plane made us realise how much we miss everyone back home. Before you get to the airport, there is a police block that checks all cars as they enter the airport. “I am looking your car for weapons, mainly guns,” the burly police officer informed us. “We don’t have any guns, we’re from Australia,” we said in our friendliest Ocker voices. “Ok then, have a nice day.” Not the tightest security we have seen even by African standards. We helped Min with her luggage (that was only fair as half of it was ours anyway) and managed to get to the check in desk. As expected she was overloaded and the guy checking her in wanted to charge her nearly USD200 excess luggage. A bit of swift talking, some smoke and distraction and we managed to help him forget about the small matter of excess luggage. We accompanied her as far as immigration before we were told that was as far as we can go. We both shed a few tears, a couple of hugs and we had to go our separate ways. Walking back the way we had come, we were confronted by security and told that we shouldn’t have been allowed past the front door, let alone to the check in desk or even the immigration section. “How did you get past our security?” the little man asked us. “We just walked in,” was our honest reply. How, what a safe and secure airport. We got a SMS from Min shortly after saying that the check-in guy came looking for her wanting a bribe for not charging her excess luggage. Having learned quickly during her time in Africa she replied “I don’t have any money, I gave it all to my brother, you should speak to him.” Off he then goes to try and find me. Good luck, we were already back in town. The next day we set off for the Tanzanian boarder. We had hatched a plan to avoid Western Kenya by taking a slight detour (5 days and 1,400km) around Lake Victoria, through Tanzania to Arusha and then straight up to Nairobi. Once there we would get the damage to Truckasaurus repaired and then head for Ethiopia. We would bypass the hotspots in Kenya, a good option even considering the extra time and distance involved. Crossing the boarder at Mutukula we checked out of Uganda with ease but had a bit of a paperwork hassle in Tanzania. Because when originally crossing into Tanzania, we had been issued with a 30-day visa instead of a 90-day visa as we thought we had been, we had to cough up for another visa each. They then tried to charge us road tax again. I informed them that we would be there for less than 7 days so we didn’t need to. They argued that we couldn’t make it around in that time and I had to argue that I could until they caved in. With paperwork all done and the wallet somewhat lighter (welcome to Tanzania), the guy at the gate wanted ‘a present from Kampala’ for opening the gate, which by the way is what he is paid to do. “With the amount of money we have to pay to come into your country, you should give us a present,” I said to him as we sped off. We made it to Bukoba for the night and found a room at the Spice Beach Motel; a small little place right on the beach at Lake Victoria. It is cheep, uncomfortable but dryer than a tent and has hot showers. The next morning saw us up well before dawn as we had the longest day of driving on this ‘shortcut through Tanzania’ ahead of us. We had around 190km of tar left before our maps said we would be spending the rest of the day on dirt. The plan was to travel on the Tar while it was dark and then have the daylight to traverse the dirt. Our target was to get to Mwanza, but we didn’t hold out much hope of making it in one day. Just outside of town we encountered a roadblock manned by a machine-gun-wielding Tanzanian Police Officer. We tried our usual trick of waiting several metres from the gate with the windows still up (close enough so they know we need to go through the gate, but far enough so that the lazy ones cant be bothered to walk all the way to the car and just open the gate instead). This one wasn’t lazy and waited for us to wind down the window. “I search your car I need to!” why do they have to talk like Yoda? “What are you looking for?” If you can pin them down to something specific, then its easy to talk your way out of it rather than have them searching for anything they like. “I look for your weapons,” he insisted. “Ah, we are from Australia, we don’t have any weapons. Can you open the gate we have a long drive ahead of us and we must really be getting a move on now?” “If you don’t get search, I can open the gate if you pay me corruption!” in one day we were already missing the hassle free nature of travelling through Uganda. “I cant to that mate,” I said quietly and with sarcastic concern. “That would be illegal. I could go to gaol if I paid you a bribe; no I cant do that. I think you should go and open the gate for us now, we have been in Africa a long time, we know how it works.” I pressed the button and wound the window up. Outfoxed he reluctantly opened the gate for us and we were on our way. True to form the tar road turned to road works (and hence muddy dirt road diversions) not long after that slowed us down considerably. Turning at Biharamulo the road while still dirt was in pretty good shape allowing us to make up for some lost time. Suddenly the road turned to unexpected tar, brand spanking new tar road. The travel gods were indeed smiling on us today. Outside Geita the tar was suddenly taken away from us and replaced with the worst corrugations we have ever seen. These suckers were hell bent on blurring the definition between corrugation and pothole; they were that big. They violently shook the car, rattled through every bone in our body and randomly caused the car to slide this way and that. The only way to regain control was to do either 20km/h or around 90km/h, with the latter being a very dangerous and unattractive alternative. I dropped the tyre pressures and this gave us some control back and a large rainstorm softened them up a little further. Unfortunately it disguised the depth of the random but perilous potholes that were able to coexist with the more numerous corrugations. We still had to make it to the ferry before we could get to Mwanza, but we began to feel hopeful that we could get to Mwanza by nightfall. We arrived at the ferry just before it was due to depart (if we missed it we had a three hour wait), I managed to jump the waiting line of trucks with some smooth talking and we were onboard. We ended up arriving in Mwanza around 5pm, around a day ahead of schedule. It goes without saying that we were pretty chuffed with ourselves that night. Waking up the next morning (we stayed at the catholic guest house because it was cheep and clean), the aim was to camp that night in the Serengeti. The road from Mwanza was much better than expected and we arrived at the gate an hour and a half early. We had to pay our entrance (USD50 each and USD40 for Truckasaurus – we convinced them that Truckasaurus was less than 2000kg so saving a lot of beer money, although it is now coke or dry money as Min bought me a 1L bottle of Johnny Walker duty free that I have to finish before entering Sudan where alcohol is a prohibited item. As you have to pay for camping (USD30 each for some sand and a drop toilet) on entry they asked where we were staying. I told them we were staying at the expensive lodge. He scribbled something illegible on the accommodation section of our paperwork and we were sorted for potential free accommodation. I told him that we didn’t want to enter yet (the pass is valid for 24 hours and if we got in too early we would be rushed the next day on the way out), could he date it as 12pm and we would wait a few hours before we went in. I did the usual dance but finally convinced him he could do it. We needed change (USD10) from him that he said he would bring out to us shortly. He came out as we were brewing a pot of coffee and said, “I have to go now, but if I keep your change you can go in now.” “No, we will wait until twelve,” I said taking our USD10 note from his hand, “and we will keep our change thankyou.” Three days in the country and three crooked officials. I bet that’s a slogan the Tanzanian tourism board hasn’t though of yet. In just six weeks, the Serengeti has changed considerably. It was very dry and dusty, but this time it was very green and lush with tall grass hiding a lot of wildlife. The only animals we saw were giraffe (because they are very tall) and a few zebra. We camped for the night and the ranger came around to check our paperwork. Jacinda was thinking this is it, we are finished, he will find out and arrest us, or worse. She quickly checked to make sure she wasn’t wearing camouflage pants again. He looked at our paperwork, couldn’t read the hieroglyphics that said where we were supposed to be staying and adopted the policy that if in doubt they must belong where we were. He wished us a safe journey and was on his way. We had recovered the cost of our bribe that we had to pay last time we were in Tanzania, it was a good feeling. Next day we exited Serengeti and paid the same money to transit through the Ngorongoro reserve without going down into the crater this time (it is USD200 for our car for 4 hours). On the way out we ran into the wildebeest migration. The plains were covered in literally thousands and thousands of the animals, grazing on the lush grasses, the sound of mass hooves filling the air. It is a wonderful sight that made the trip back though the Serengeti well worth it. A night near the crater, the heaviest rainstorm we have seen in memory and we were in Arusha, bang on schedule. We refuelled, exchanged money and called in to see hour mate Bobby who had fleeced us out of considerable beer money last time when he didn’t fix our car. As luck would have it he was in Europe (we probably paid for his flight) and we had to deal with his son who is a bigger crook than his father. He is an argumentative little turd who has a unique perception of honesty and has never heard of the motto ‘the customer is always right’. Needless to say we didn’t get our money back and Bobby JR came close to needing reconstructive nose surgery. Again DON’T USE BOBBY TOURS, you will regret it if you do. A few postings on lonely planet, a complaint to the organisation that accredits tour operators in Tanzania and warning every tourist we meet heading to Tanzania should cost Robbery Tours considerably more than he fleeced from us. The next day we headed for Nairobi (not before catching up with an overland truck driver called Jason whom we had met in Namibia. As luck would have it he saw our car parked in Arusha and left a note on our window – this is a small continent at times). Needless to say we were incredibly nervous heading back into Kenya. I was fighting tears and the need to be sick by the side of the road. Thankfully Jacinda was incredibly positive and pragmatic about things and that helped considerably. We got a SMS to say that there was some trouble along our route into Nairobi and to go though Nairobi NP instead. We got to Schuhmacher’s safely without any incident, although we were both exhausted because of the emotional roller coaster we were on since crossing the boarder. The trouble cleared quickly and we were able to safely get to Jungle Junction without incident. The car will take a few days to fix and in the meantime we have been surprised at how normal Nairobi is now. There is lots of traffic, people are going about their business and any trouble seems to be over as quickly as it starts. The police are ruthless on those causing the trouble (understandable really, if they want to burn houses and machete people to death they probably deserve to be shot). After what we went through, I have no sympathy for those sorts of people. Instead we have incredible sympathy for the thousands of innocent Kenyans affected by all this violence. They are the ones that have lost homes, loved ones, friends, jobs, security and not to mention a sense of national unity. Even after what we have been though, it is hard not to like the Kenyan people, to love the country and hold out hope that things will improve as soon as possible. The majority of Kenyans do not deserve all this. However, it is only Kenya that can solve this mess, no amount of aid or political pressure or rock concerts featuring aging rockers keen to improve their image will fix the problems here on the ground. It has been strange being caught up in all this, watching history unfold, be it somewhat violently, all around us. There are many lessons for us to learn form this on a personal level. We should never take life and those around us for granted. Security and safety is fleeting and illusional, even back home. Enjoy each day, respect the fragility of this existence and savour those around you. Our aim is to let go of the trauma we are holding and to make a concerted effort to savour and relish the adventure that still awaits us on this journey of discovery. So form here it is a wait to get Truckasaurus back, and then head to Ethiopia and Saharan Africa. It is as though part one is closing and a new chapter to our adventure is beginning. In the meantime we are trying to do normal things like watching movies and admiring the monuments to capitalism that are western shopping malls. Some GPS Coordinates Tanzania      Snake Park Camp     Camp    Arusha              03 24.585S    036 28.974E Tanzania      Rhino Lodge              Lodge    Ngorongoro     03 15.388S    035 31.527E Tanzania      Mwanza Ferry            Ferry     Mwanza            02 43.495S    032 52.106E Uganda        Franks Place              Camp    Entebbe            00 03.038N    032 27.893E Additional Birds Seen Total birds positively identified in East Africa in six weeks excluding several dozen little suckers that are too quick (actually I am too slow at picking them) now totals 140 birds. The additional ones since Uganda Part 1 are as follows; Common Ostrich Cattle Egret Abdim's Stork Shoebill Glossy Ibis Black Shouldered Kite Secretary Bird Hooded Vulture White Headed Vulture Dark Chanting Goshawk Bateleur Black Crake White Bellied Bustard Blacksmith Lapwing Crowned Lapwing Red Chested Cuckoo Abyssinian Roller White Thighed Hornbill Common Bulbul Common Fiscal Ashy Starling White Headed Buffalo Weaver Vieillot's Black Weaver Black Winged Red Bishop Red Cheeked Cordon Bleu Pin Tailed Whydah Fuel and Distance Total distance travelled: 21,084km Average price of fuel: AUD $1.43/L Best fuel economy: 8.56km/L Worst fuel economy: 5.36km/L Average fuel consumption since leaving Kenya: 7.35km/L Total fuel used: 2,985L The car is till in one piece.