Mbale to Budadiri

The Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) office told me I have to get myself to the small village of Budadiri in order to arrange my trek in Mt. Elgon National Park. I had a feeling Budadiri was a very small place with no internet or things to do, so I was in no rush to get there earlier. UWA told me guides were always on standby, they don't need much notice. So, I checked out of my room at 9.30am, they have the stupid checkout time of 9am, which I think is much too early and have hardly seen before ( and trust me, I've seen a lot of checkout times!), noon is the average checkout time. They let me stay till 9.30am. I went out and bought the rest of my food for the 5 day trek because guides/porters have their own food and it's best to get your own. I stored my luggage at the hotel and then went out to the internet cafe for a while. I got to the Kumi Rd. taxi park at noon and waited about 30 minutes for the minivan to fill up. As soon as we left Mbale we turned down a dusty red dirt road. We followed this road for an hour before reaching Budadiri. This was rural Uganda with small mud brick huts and local crops such as coffee, banana and maize. Maize flour boiled in water, known as posho, is the local staple for most Ugandans.
When the conductor of the minivan wasn't around, I asked the passenger next to me what the fare is, 2000 Ush(Ugandan Shillings) ( about $1), he said. When the conductor asked me for the fare, I just handed him the 2000 Ush. Then he said ' And 1000 Ush for your luggage on the roof.' I firmly said 'No,', and that was it. No one pays for their luggage here, especially when it isn't taking up any passenger space. In most of the countries I've been to there hasn't been an extra charge for luggage. The exception that I remember was Ghana and I would pay for my luggage there because it was the norm but not here and I wasn't going to let myself be taken advantage of, if I could help it.
The minivan dropped me at the UWA office. I arranged everything and paid for my 5 day trek here. I would be ascending the Sasa route and descending the Sipi route to avoid backtracking. I hired a porter, who would carry my food and most of my things and also help with getting firewood and other camp duties. I also hired a sleeping bag because mine is only good till about 15 C. and it gets much colder than that on the mountain. I was all set to go. The officer showed me my accomadation for the night, across the street at Rose's Last Chance Guesthouse. The officer would contact a guide and he would come to the guesthouse later to go over the details of our departure. My room was spartan but clean, just a huge bed in a concrete room. Showers were of the bucket variety but they would heat the water up. Rose was a very friendly woman and cooked me an omelette and potatoes for lunch. I read for a while and wandered into town to buy some tiger balm, in case of any sore muscles during the trek. A small jar of tiger balm cost 500 Ush ( 25 cents).
Around 5pm I heard chanting, screaming, hooting and a catchy tribal drum beat coming from street. I went to see what it was all about and discovered it was a group of men, all different ages joyfully gallopping around town celebrating one guy's impending circumcision. Now is the time for circumcisions apparently. While in my hotel room in Mbale I also saw groups of men chanting and drumming down the street from my window, 3 times, but wasn't sure what it was for. I just know I wanted to avoid large gatherings, but it turns out they had no ill intent.
Dinner at Rose's consisted of rice, chapathi, beef and some veggies and of course, a Nile beer. There was much more food than I could possibly eat. Fred, my guide, had come around earlier in the day and we discussed the details of the trek. We would be leaving tomorrow morning at 8am by boda boda for 7km to where the road ends. From here we would start trekking. Sounded good to me. I chatted with Rose and her cousin for a while after dinner and then went to bed.
Pancakes with honey, bananas, an orange and coffee was for breakfast the next day at 7am. Fred came by at 7.30 to assure me everything was on schedule. I paid Rose for the room which I thought was quite overpriced at 20,000 Ush ($10US) but was made up for by the very cheap food and drink. I had 3 full meals there and a beer and it only cost 8000 Ush ($4US), so that took the sting out of the high room rate and I left full and happy.
On the way to our trekking point, the boda boda I was on was trying to climb a hill but couldn't make it. The driver kept trying but his motorbike didn't want to do it. I walked up the hill and when Fred arrived on his boda boda, I was sandwiched between him and the driver. His skilled driver and tough bike made it to the end of the road, from here it was by foot for the next 5 days.