Crater Lakes

South of Fort Portal is an area with a violent past. This can be seen in the 70 or so crater lakes that dot the region. The crater lakes are all that's left of multiple volcanoes and eruptions ages ago. Most are not that big and almost circular in shape with high cliffs or surrounded by forest. Some are irregular shaped which suggests they filled multiple collapsed calderas. I wanted to check out this area to see the crater lakes, do some hiking and just relax in a cheap place. I'm trying to balance the expensive places, like the national parks, with cheap places in between. Richard didn't have much of a plan and he liked what he read about the crater lakes so he decided to join me.
We left Fort Portal at noon. We decided to travel in a bit of comfort and called Gideon to take us there. Gideon was the guy who gave me a ride back from Kibale national park and gave me a good price on a ride to Lake Nkuruba in the crater lakes. It was only 25 minutes away on a dusty road. I choose Lake Nkuruba as a base because it had a good central location, cheap food and accomodation and most importantly was one of the only lakes completely surrounded by forest. Monkeys, butterflies and birds lived in the forest there. When we arrived a troupe of black and white colobus monkeys were eating the bark from a papaya tree right beside the restaurant. There were people about and they didn't care. It was the least skitish I've ever seen them behave. I wanted to set up my tent and do some washing though and thought the monkeys would be around again for photos.
Richie and I choose the best spot for camping. A few minutes walk down a gradually sloping trail to the edge of the lake, far away from what little noise there was. It was a very peaceful spot. I wanted to start washing my sleeping bag and sleeping bag liner so they would be dry to sleep in later. I had been camping so much and haven't had the time or right place to wash them yet. It felt and smelt so good sleeping in them later. They both dried within hours. No electricity was available which ensured quiet. We just hung out our first day. Later in the afternoon, Alexandria, a solo female backpacker from Poland arrived. She was on an ambitiour Cairo to Capetown trip and then up to West Africa.
There was a short trail through the forest and after dinner, Richie and I decided to walk it to search for bushbabies. Within minutes I found about half a dozen sets of eyes. Most were to far away to see clearly but it was nice to know the forest was full of them. My mammals book states that in a proper habitat, bushbabies can reach densities of 400 per sq. km.! No wonder there is so many! It seems to me that any forest that is rich in duirnal primates is also rich in nocturnal primates.


Day 2
We get up early at 7am , just as dawn breaks. Richie wants to get up early to beat the heat and get some good photos before the haze sets in. Alexandria joins us and after a bowl of cornflakes that I brought along, we leave at 7.30. We get picked up by a large truck and catch a free lift to the market village of Rwaihamba. From there we walk to Kabata and branch left towards Muhoma falls, our destination. We stop at a local stall for tea, called chai here, but it's not chai like chai in India. It is super cheap though. We get another lift in a truck up to a church on a hill were we have to leave the road and walk paths through huts and cultivated land to the waterfalls. 2 young local boys have been following us and now are acting as our unofficial guides. They help us find the way to the waterfall which we couldn't have done without them. The Muhoma falls are nothing too amazing but a nice place to chill. We eat peanut butter sandwiches and pass the time. The boys just sit on a log and wait for us. We make our way back to the main road and the boys reach their village. They ask for money and none of us mind paying them a little, they did help us a lot and earned their money. A few minutes later, the truck that dropped us off hours ago is coming back in our direction. It's now full of plantains and bananas and we dubbed it the banana bus. We hopped on the bundles in the back with half dozen Ugandans. We diverted from the main road to pick up some more bananas. Our driver stopped for a drink of the local tipple, waragai. It's true that most of the big truck operators are drunk and that's the reason for the high number of crashes on the road. He seemed to still be coherent to me ( maybe he drove better buzzing!) and since the road was rutted and hilly, there weren't any opportunities to really go fast and lose control. He offered me some of his drink but after wincing after just smelling it, I politely declined. It's funny, he seemed to be the only one drinking!
We get off the banana bus at the market and buy green peppers, tomatoes, garlic and onions for our dinner. My guidebook said self catering was possible so we brought a bit of food to help cut costs. We cooked up a huge pasta dinner with all our veggies and was more than enough for Richie, Alexandria and me. It was a tasty, filling and most importantly, very healthy meal. I was feeling tired from the early start and some walking and crashed hard.


Day 3

It takes a long time for 8.30am to roll around and I wake up feeling rested. I head up to the restaurant for a coffee and passionfruit juice and finish the rest of my cereal. Today is going to be a do-nothing-don't- leave-the lake kinda day. I take this opportunity to wash my small pack which has become filthily embedded with dust and dirt. Richie thinks I'm a bit obsessed because I'm always washing something. I just like being clean and it feels good to me knowing I have clean clothes to put on. Also self washing is super cheap, kills time and is rewarding. I wished I liked washing clothes this much at home! I finally left the campsite late afternoon for the restaurant. A troupe of about 20 black and white colobus were everywhere, in the trees and playing on the ground. This was the closest I had ever gotten to them and it was amazing. One thing that really surprised me though was watching them stick their face close to the mud/cement base of the building and eat it. They must be after the minerals in the mud. Didn't look too tasty! In the morning, red colobus were in the same trees but are bit more frightful than these black and white colobus but still provided good photo ops.
On the way to the campsite after dinner, I find 3 sets of bushbaby eyes, they really are everywhere, I love it!