Semliki National Park

The road to Semliki is only 52km but it's all unsurfaced. Minutes after leaving our hotel, the road turns into a bumpy mess. After an hour we reach the northern end of the Rwenzori mountains and cling to their steep sides for another hour. The park is on the other side of the mountains, close to the border with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The road offers superb views over the Semliki valley and on clear days, to Lake Albert, but it's very hazy today. We stop a few times at strategic lookout points. We finally reach the park reception at noon. We pay our entrance fees and get a guide, Bosco is his name.
Semliki national park is a continuation of the huge Ituri forest in DRC. It has many plants and animals normally found in central Africa which are at the eastern most limit of their range here. Forest elephants,forest buffalo, certain species of duiker and monkey are only found in this part of Uganda. The forest rests at one of the lowest elevations in Uganda at 600m. It's certainly the lowest point that I will visit in Uganda. I came here to see the hotsprings, the lowland forest and De brazza's monkey. I knew the hotsprings would be easy to see but I wasn't sure about the others. The 40 minute trail to the hotsprings led through a swamp forest with many phoenix palms, though the forest was dry now. Black and white colobus and red tailed monkeys fled upon our approach.
There are 2 hotsprings, for some reason named the male and female. We visited the female first. They are a primevil site, sulphur water bubbles out of geysers and small pools everywhere at a scalding temperature of 106 C! There are numerous shallow small streams with steam blowing off them. When the wind blows the steam in my direction, it really is super hot. The air temperature is already about 32 C, seems a bit funny to be visiting hot springs in the heat. We need a cold spring! Simone bought eggs and plantains in a village on the way and our driver, Richard, sets out to cook these in one of the small pools for lunch. The springs are truly impressive and aren't like other hotsprings I've seen. We eat our hard boiled eggs and plantains for lunch and then walk for 30 minutes to the male springs. The male springs are smaller than the female and consist mostly of a small bubbling pool, depth unknown. The springs are reached via a raised wooden board walk which is in a state of repair as we speak. We left the forest to see a very unimpressive waterfall outside of the park, across a road which forms the park boundary. The forest is very thin before the steep Rwenzori mountains begin, or should I say what's left of the forest. It's been recently cut down to make room for a powerline. Ah, the benefits of modernization! It seems a bit extreme to me as they cut down trees far from the road and even trees on the park side of the road. They burn the trees to sell as charcoal.
Ntandi village is located about 5km from the park and is the home of some displaced Pygmies. The pygmies have had it rough here after being forced out of their forest home into a small village. They have been reduced to commercializing their identity and culture to make money. Our guide said the village, which you must pay to see, isn't much different than any other African village and I decide to give it a miss. Only Simone still wants to see it. While waiting to be picked up after the waterfall, a group of 4 pygmies, in tattered clothes, are walking down the street. They are obviously different than other locals, their faces, body and hair structure and their short stature. I'm not tall by any means ( 5'8", Ok, 5' 7.5"!) but none of them come close to my height. They all appear to be at least in their 30's and the shortest guy maybe comes up to my shoulders. I thought of asking for a photo but they would surely charge and I'm not in the habit of paying people for their photo.
Richie, Ed and Simone head towards the pygmie village but I get dropped off at the Bumaga campsite, 2km from reception. I will be staying here for a few days. I say bye to everyone and walk to the camp. I like the location of the campground. No one is around while I set up my tent as close to the forest as I can. Red tailed monkeys and baboons are in the trees. For me it's weird to see baboons in the trees. They are large monkeys and are usually on the ground. They are heavy and really take a toll on the trees while jumping around. A large male watches me curiously while I wash clothes.
A ranger/guide arrives. His name is Tadeo, he's 49, very short and skinny but no relation to any pygmies. He was away buying tomatoes, he explains. After an overhead shower, I ask Tadeo if I can use the fire to boil some water for noodles. I brought some food with me from Fort Portal. It's no problem and I'm eating my dinner in no time. Due to the low elevation, it's still very warm even after the sun has set. I ask Tadeo if he's ever seen any noctural animals around. He says he hasn't seen much. I ask him about bushbabies, if he's ever seen them. He says no and I ask him why. He says he has never taken a torch out to look for them! Oh well, that makes obvious sense, can't see what you're not looking for. I walk around for half an hour but see nothing. I crash in my tent but since it's so warm, I take the fly off my tent for circulation and a view. It's almost like sleeping outside in a mosquito net. It's usually been to chilly or wet to leave my fly off for the night so I'm happy I finally got the chance to do it.