I had trekked in Bwindi and seen mountain gorillas. Now I had to get back to Kabale. Transport was difficult. Adrone, from my lodge said a pickup was coming. It arrived at 6pm as the first rain fell in 3 days. We drove to Butogota where I would get transport to Kabale. The pickups to Kabale left at the ridiculous time of 4am. I got a room at the Pineapple lodge and went out for food. Aston, one of the guys who brought me in the pickup said he would come get me at 3.30am and we would leave at 4. I went to bed early. I heard noise around 3am, Aston was early. He said they were ready to go. I packed my things and got into my reserved front seat of the pickup. It was dark and cold but many pickups were on their way to Kabale. We didn't stop as much as we did on the way to Buhoma and it took just over 4 hours to get back. I brought a few chapatis on the street before going back to Flockline hotel. I took a non self contained room for $5 and went to sleep. I got up and had lunch. I went back to Edirisa. It was like seeing old friends there. There were still volunteers around that I knew. I hungout there for the day. I went back to my hotel just to bring in my freshly washed clothes and then went back to Edirisa. It was a festive mood because it was the last night of one of the longterm volunteers. There was even delicious chocolate cake and lots of Waragi, the local booze. It was a very fun night. Everyone was interested and impressed with my gorilla stories and even more so that I was able to get the permit at a discounted price!
The next day started out gloomy and while I was taking care of some errands it began to rain. My plan to go to lake Bunyoni would be delayed. It was only 8km from Kabale but involved a boda boda ride and then an exposed canoe trip to the island I would be staying on. I hoped the rain would stop soon.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Bwindi National Park - Gorilla Tracking
I woke up at 7am monday morning. I finished my breakfast by 7.40 and was ready to go with Loris to the park. We drove there at 8. As we pulled up anther vehicle driven by a guide I had met at my lodge was coming towards us. This guy had a permit and was on his way to get me at the lodge. I transferred from Loris's jeep to Anuk's jeep. Anuk quoted me $500 for the permit but before Loris left, I said that he was giving me a discount. They talked for a brief moment and Anuk got the tour operator Steffy to come over. He was the guy I had to deal with. After bargaining for a quick moment, Steffy agreed to give me the discounted price. So I did get the elusive discounted permit. I was so happy to have saved $100 and now I could pass on this information firsthand to other travellers interested in seeing the gorillas. I gave Steffy the money in US cash and joined the group already being briefed about tracking gorillas. As I looked at the group of about 20 people, myself, along with 3 others were the youngest in the group by at least 20 years. We finished the briefing and I joined the smaller individual group that would be tracking family Habinyanja or group 'H'. There are 4 habituated groups in Bwindi and 8 permits available for each group everyday. This means there are only 32 permits available daily and these can be booked out in the high season. Thankfully now is the low season and a permit is available on site most days. 3 groups are tracked from the Buhoma side of the park and one group is tracked from Nkuringo, on the other side of the park.
I joined a group of 5 others, a couple from Germany and 3 from the U.S.. The group H that we would be tracking was the largest habituated group with 23 member but there were located far from Buhoma. We had to drive for 45 minutes to reach the area where we would be entering the forest. We met porters and armed escorts there. The group I was with hired 4 porters. I told them I would be fine carrying my small daypack by myself. Once we met up with the trackers in the forest, our entourage contained 15 people.
We entered the forest without a trail. I was following behind our guide, Meddy, since I was in the best shape of our group. The terrain was fairly steep going up and down but the ground vegetation wasn't very thick. We would stop every few minutes to wait for the whole group to catch up. After an hour of bushwacking we were close to the gorillas. Meddy told us to get our cameras ready and drink water because eating or drinking in front of the gorillas was not allowed. Neither was flash photograpy. We were told not to make any sudden movements or loud noises and keep at least 5m from the gorillas. If they approached us we were to move back slowly. This was it, we were ready to go. The moment we had all been anticipating. We only walked for less than a minute when I started looking up in the trees and spotted my first gorilla. As I looked around I could see more, some high in the tree, some low and some on the ground. I was seeing one of the rarest animals on the planet, with only an estimated 700 left in the wild. Mountain gorillas have not been bred in captivity, making them even more rare. The gorillas in zoos are all western lowland gorillas.
The gorillas seemed to be in a good mood. Young ones were playing with each other and doing phony chest beating. They were so fun to watch. It sometimes looked as though they were putting on a show for us. Meddy motioned for us to get closer so we could see the silverback, the leader of the group. He was sitting up against a tree. I had seen many photos of gorillas and read a few books about them but it didn't prepare for seeing them. I was surprised at how big and scary looking the silverback was. They can weigh up to 180kgs and tear you apart if they wanted to. Thankfully though, most of them are peaceful vegetarians and acts of violence are rare. Group H had been opened for tourist for 10 years now and were fully used to their daily prescence. Some of the gorillas ignored us completely, while others put on a show and some went high into the trees. The silverback casually glanced in our direction sometimes if one of us moved on the crunchy loud forest floor of dried leaves. The ground was quite soft. Everyone got in a good viewing positon and started taking photos and just appreciating what we were seeing. An armed guard was sitting beside a tree when a subadult gorilla came around the other side and tapped him on the back like they were playing a game of tag. Everyone laughed. It was a great atmosphere. Sometimes the silverback would grunt and Meddy would grunt back at him. I also heard a lot of flatulence. Their vegetarian diet makes gorillas extremely gassy. The silverback got up and walked short distance to another tree to sit down. This was when I could really appreciate his massive bulk and shiny silver coat on his back. Gorillas live for up to 40 years in the wild and the silver hair is a sign of maturity. We followed the silverback to his new resting spot and got comfortable again. The time was flying by. Meddy announced that we only had 30 minutes left. Some of the gorillas came quite close to us. One of them walked by on bipedally waving his hands up in the air until he grabbed on to a small tree and swung around. Infants wrestled and rolled on the ground with each other. Some of the group was feeding but most were just resting. Gorillas spent 30% of their day feeding, 30% being active and the rest sleeping or resting. Most groups don't move more than 1km in a day. Yesterday group H was only a 10 minute hike from the road. Before I knew it our one hour time was up. I had taken many photos, some good, some bad. I would go through them later. As our guides left, the Germany couple and I were the last ones to leave the group. As we hiked uphill I looked back and could still see gorillas in the trees. This would be my last glimpse of this endangerd and majestic animal. I was very happy with my experience and think it was totally worth the money.
We got back to the rest of our group who was waiting for us close by. We hiked for almost an hour and then stopped for lunch. I only brought a banana with me and this I had already eaten but I just sat quietly while the others ate their packed lunch. They noticed I was not eating and I told them I had nothing to eat. I was quickly showered with food that they said they would not eat. Sandwiches, apples, dried fruit, fruit juice and even quiche. It was the most nutritous and varied lunch I've had in a while. I was grateful. We reached a thin trail and took this back to the road where our jeep met us. We drove back to the park, leaving the gorillas behind. A percentage of park fees goes to support local communities to build schools and hospital and it's hoped that this encourages locals to support tourism and preserve the gorillas. Gorillas are increasingly threatened and their habitat shrinking. This causes them to sometimes leave the forest and raid local crops. Of course villages don't like this and are trying to strike a balance to live in harmony with the gorillas. I believe gorillas will always be under threat from man but hope that they will be preserved for future generations. Their numbers have been slowly increasing which is a good sign. Mountain gorillas are only found in Uganda and the Virunga national parks in DRCongo and Rwanda.
Back at the park reception we were given our official gorilla tracking certificate and shown a small color poster of group H which we could purchase for $10. I would think paying $500 should include this small poster. I didn't buy it from the park. Later I did my gorilla souvenir shopping and got the poster for a cheaper price when I bought it together with some postcards. Back at my hotel I relaxed in my room and went over the days events. I had seen gorillas, I have done it.One of the world's ultimate wildlife encounters. I was so happy, relieved, extremely satisfied and just filled with a great feeling.
I joined a group of 5 others, a couple from Germany and 3 from the U.S.. The group H that we would be tracking was the largest habituated group with 23 member but there were located far from Buhoma. We had to drive for 45 minutes to reach the area where we would be entering the forest. We met porters and armed escorts there. The group I was with hired 4 porters. I told them I would be fine carrying my small daypack by myself. Once we met up with the trackers in the forest, our entourage contained 15 people.
We entered the forest without a trail. I was following behind our guide, Meddy, since I was in the best shape of our group. The terrain was fairly steep going up and down but the ground vegetation wasn't very thick. We would stop every few minutes to wait for the whole group to catch up. After an hour of bushwacking we were close to the gorillas. Meddy told us to get our cameras ready and drink water because eating or drinking in front of the gorillas was not allowed. Neither was flash photograpy. We were told not to make any sudden movements or loud noises and keep at least 5m from the gorillas. If they approached us we were to move back slowly. This was it, we were ready to go. The moment we had all been anticipating. We only walked for less than a minute when I started looking up in the trees and spotted my first gorilla. As I looked around I could see more, some high in the tree, some low and some on the ground. I was seeing one of the rarest animals on the planet, with only an estimated 700 left in the wild. Mountain gorillas have not been bred in captivity, making them even more rare. The gorillas in zoos are all western lowland gorillas.
The gorillas seemed to be in a good mood. Young ones were playing with each other and doing phony chest beating. They were so fun to watch. It sometimes looked as though they were putting on a show for us. Meddy motioned for us to get closer so we could see the silverback, the leader of the group. He was sitting up against a tree. I had seen many photos of gorillas and read a few books about them but it didn't prepare for seeing them. I was surprised at how big and scary looking the silverback was. They can weigh up to 180kgs and tear you apart if they wanted to. Thankfully though, most of them are peaceful vegetarians and acts of violence are rare. Group H had been opened for tourist for 10 years now and were fully used to their daily prescence. Some of the gorillas ignored us completely, while others put on a show and some went high into the trees. The silverback casually glanced in our direction sometimes if one of us moved on the crunchy loud forest floor of dried leaves. The ground was quite soft. Everyone got in a good viewing positon and started taking photos and just appreciating what we were seeing. An armed guard was sitting beside a tree when a subadult gorilla came around the other side and tapped him on the back like they were playing a game of tag. Everyone laughed. It was a great atmosphere. Sometimes the silverback would grunt and Meddy would grunt back at him. I also heard a lot of flatulence. Their vegetarian diet makes gorillas extremely gassy. The silverback got up and walked short distance to another tree to sit down. This was when I could really appreciate his massive bulk and shiny silver coat on his back. Gorillas live for up to 40 years in the wild and the silver hair is a sign of maturity. We followed the silverback to his new resting spot and got comfortable again. The time was flying by. Meddy announced that we only had 30 minutes left. Some of the gorillas came quite close to us. One of them walked by on bipedally waving his hands up in the air until he grabbed on to a small tree and swung around. Infants wrestled and rolled on the ground with each other. Some of the group was feeding but most were just resting. Gorillas spent 30% of their day feeding, 30% being active and the rest sleeping or resting. Most groups don't move more than 1km in a day. Yesterday group H was only a 10 minute hike from the road. Before I knew it our one hour time was up. I had taken many photos, some good, some bad. I would go through them later. As our guides left, the Germany couple and I were the last ones to leave the group. As we hiked uphill I looked back and could still see gorillas in the trees. This would be my last glimpse of this endangerd and majestic animal. I was very happy with my experience and think it was totally worth the money.
We got back to the rest of our group who was waiting for us close by. We hiked for almost an hour and then stopped for lunch. I only brought a banana with me and this I had already eaten but I just sat quietly while the others ate their packed lunch. They noticed I was not eating and I told them I had nothing to eat. I was quickly showered with food that they said they would not eat. Sandwiches, apples, dried fruit, fruit juice and even quiche. It was the most nutritous and varied lunch I've had in a while. I was grateful. We reached a thin trail and took this back to the road where our jeep met us. We drove back to the park, leaving the gorillas behind. A percentage of park fees goes to support local communities to build schools and hospital and it's hoped that this encourages locals to support tourism and preserve the gorillas. Gorillas are increasingly threatened and their habitat shrinking. This causes them to sometimes leave the forest and raid local crops. Of course villages don't like this and are trying to strike a balance to live in harmony with the gorillas. I believe gorillas will always be under threat from man but hope that they will be preserved for future generations. Their numbers have been slowly increasing which is a good sign. Mountain gorillas are only found in Uganda and the Virunga national parks in DRCongo and Rwanda.
Back at the park reception we were given our official gorilla tracking certificate and shown a small color poster of group H which we could purchase for $10. I would think paying $500 should include this small poster. I didn't buy it from the park. Later I did my gorilla souvenir shopping and got the poster for a cheaper price when I bought it together with some postcards. Back at my hotel I relaxed in my room and went over the days events. I had seen gorillas, I have done it.One of the world's ultimate wildlife encounters. I was so happy, relieved, extremely satisfied and just filled with a great feeling.
Bwindi National Park - Ivi River Trail
We began to hike the Ivi river trail just after 7am. The trail followed the same way we went yesterday to the waterfall but instead of branching off we would be following it all the way to the river. The trail is 13km roundtrip. Not long after hiking on the trail our guide Ben ( whose real name I'm not using so he doesn't get in any trouble) brought up the proposition of tracking the gorillas. He asked Laszlo and I how much we would pay if he could show us the gorillas before the groups of tourists arrived to watch them. This isn't a thing to be encouraged but I thought a short sneek peak at the gorillas couldn't hurt. The habitated groups are used to seeing people everyday. The hefty fees for the tracking permit and entry permits for the park don't benefit the guides at all. Uganda has been steadily raising its prices for national parks but not raising the salaries of park employees. Illegally taking visitors to see gorillas is one way park guides can earn more money. We said we would pay $150 between the 2 of us for some time with the gorillas. Ben said he wasn't sure yet where the gorillas were and would let us know if there would be a possibility. The wide trail eventually got thinner and thinner. After 2 hours we reached a junction. One way lead to the Ivi river along the main trail and the branching trail lead to the other side of the park. Laszlo was carrying all his things with him and he was going this way and carrying on from the other side of the park. I would be going to the river and then back to Buhoma, but first we went to see the guides waiting for Laszlo at a small river to find out information. They said a gorilla group was near the compound on the other side of the park but were too afraid to take us there. There would be a small chance but I wasn't going to go that much out of my way for just a small chance. Laszlo wanted me to go with them because I was the one who had more money than him. There are 3 gorilla groups on the way back to Buhoma so I had a better chance by just sticking to the original route of going to the Ivi river and back. Laszlo walked back across the river to join the guides who would be taking him. He didn't say bye to me or anything. There was some tension between us and I was glad I would be leaving him. He just rubbed me the wrong way. My guide, armed escort and I carried on back to the main trail. It was still another hour to reach the Ivi river
The Ivi river marks the boundary of the park. It's nothing exceptional, just a small, clear, fast flowing river. We rested here for a bit before heading back. I was surprised that I had spent hours hiking in the park today and yesterday and not seen a single animal. As we got closer to Buhoma there was a troupe of red tailed monkeys in the trees. Finally, an animal, I thought. Further down the road there were many l'hoest monkeys on the road. Ben stayed back and let me approach the monkeys slowly. I was able to get quite close without disturbing them. Some l'hoest were crossing the trial, which was very wide at this point, right behind me. While watching the l'hoest, a troupe of black and white colobus passed through the trees overhead. Wow, I thought, no animals for hours and now 3 species of monkey in 10 minutes. I thought the possibility of seeing gorillas had passed. I said to Ben earlier I would still pay the same amount we had agreed upon with Laszlo's money but there was no pressure to find the gorillas. If we found them great, but if not, it was ok. Ben started checking trails with fresh gorilla signs and I got excited that there was still a chance to see them. It was now about 1pm and the groups had already been visited by tourists. The groups are only visited in the morning and once located, are limited strictly to one hour with the family. We went off trail but Ben said the gorillas had gone far away. There goes my cheap chance of seeing gorillas but that was ok, I was prepared to pay more to see them and this would have just been a bonus.
We arrived back in Buhoma about 6 hours after leaving. I had lunch and then took a seista for the afternoon. It had been a while since I've hiked for 6 hours. The day was again clear and sunny. I got up around dinner time and browsed the many souvenir stalls to find the one I would buy from. Most of them sell the same stuff, carved gorillas of all sizes. I found one that had decent carvings for a good price but wasn't going to buy anything until I actually saw gorillas.
I had put the word out at my lodge that I was looking for a permit. Loris, the guide staying next door to me said he had reliable information of a permit being available tomorrow at a discounted price. Permits sell for $500 US but he said he could get me a discount of $100. This sounded great to me but I wouldn't believe it until it happened. I had heard third hand reports of people getting discounted permits but had not actually met anyone who got one, so I was sceptical. Loris and I arranged to go to the park together tomorrow where he was almost positive I would get a permit. I was getting excited, I could be seeing the mountain gorillas tomorrow, and at a discounted price.
The Ivi river marks the boundary of the park. It's nothing exceptional, just a small, clear, fast flowing river. We rested here for a bit before heading back. I was surprised that I had spent hours hiking in the park today and yesterday and not seen a single animal. As we got closer to Buhoma there was a troupe of red tailed monkeys in the trees. Finally, an animal, I thought. Further down the road there were many l'hoest monkeys on the road. Ben stayed back and let me approach the monkeys slowly. I was able to get quite close without disturbing them. Some l'hoest were crossing the trial, which was very wide at this point, right behind me. While watching the l'hoest, a troupe of black and white colobus passed through the trees overhead. Wow, I thought, no animals for hours and now 3 species of monkey in 10 minutes. I thought the possibility of seeing gorillas had passed. I said to Ben earlier I would still pay the same amount we had agreed upon with Laszlo's money but there was no pressure to find the gorillas. If we found them great, but if not, it was ok. Ben started checking trails with fresh gorilla signs and I got excited that there was still a chance to see them. It was now about 1pm and the groups had already been visited by tourists. The groups are only visited in the morning and once located, are limited strictly to one hour with the family. We went off trail but Ben said the gorillas had gone far away. There goes my cheap chance of seeing gorillas but that was ok, I was prepared to pay more to see them and this would have just been a bonus.
We arrived back in Buhoma about 6 hours after leaving. I had lunch and then took a seista for the afternoon. It had been a while since I've hiked for 6 hours. The day was again clear and sunny. I got up around dinner time and browsed the many souvenir stalls to find the one I would buy from. Most of them sell the same stuff, carved gorillas of all sizes. I found one that had decent carvings for a good price but wasn't going to buy anything until I actually saw gorillas.
I had put the word out at my lodge that I was looking for a permit. Loris, the guide staying next door to me said he had reliable information of a permit being available tomorrow at a discounted price. Permits sell for $500 US but he said he could get me a discount of $100. This sounded great to me but I wouldn't believe it until it happened. I had heard third hand reports of people getting discounted permits but had not actually met anyone who got one, so I was sceptical. Loris and I arranged to go to the park together tomorrow where he was almost positive I would get a permit. I was getting excited, I could be seeing the mountain gorillas tomorrow, and at a discounted price.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park - Waterfall Trail
The trail with the possibility of seeing gorillas is the longest trail in the park. It goes to the Ivi river and is 13km roundtrip. We wanted to get started early at 7am and so arranged the trek on saturday afternoon for sunday morning. The permits for entering the park are valid for 24 hours and if we entered the park on saturday at 2pm we would have a valid permit till 2pm sunday. This way we could get 2 hikes into the park for the same entry fee, just paying another $10 to do the waterfall hike. After lunch Laszlo and I went to the park for 2pm. We joined 2 South Africans. We had our guide Ben and a mandatory armed escort. Bwindi hit the headlines in 1998 when 8 tourists tracking gorillas were kidnapped and killed by rebels from Congo since Bwindi sits on the border with the DRCongo. Since then security has really been stepped up, a little too late for some though I think. The trail started out along an old logging road that hasn't been used since 1991. It was fairly easy hiking until we entered into the proper forest. The trail got thinner and steeper as we got close to the waterfall. The views of the forest got better. The forest along the road was very dense and hard to see into but now it opened up.
Bwindi is one of Uganda's newest national parks but has been a protected area for decades. It was declared a world heritage site in 1994. Bwindi has one of the richest floras and faunas of any forest in Africa. The 331 sq km park is all steep mountains and valleys with lush rainforest draped over them. Besides mountain gorillas there are also chimpanzees, black and white colobus, red tailed monkeys, l'hoest monkeys, baboons, duikers, giant forest hogs and forest elephants. Though besides primates, many other animals are rarely seen. I have wanted to explore Bwindi ever since I bought a coffee table called Tropical Rainforest almost 10 years ago. It had 6 chapters, each about a different rainforest area of the world. Bwindi and Borneo really stuck out as the ones I wanted to visit first.
The waterfalls consisted of 3 levels, the highest fall being 30m but I didn't find any of them that impressive. I did really like the setting they were in though. The forest is dripping with epiphytes and moss on everything. Tree ferns, some of the oldest living 'fossil' plants, abounded. It was another clear day with blue skies.
I ate dinner at the local place and went to bed early but not before I arranged breakfast for the following morning at 6.30am. I got up at 6.30 and was ready but apparently breakfast wasn't. It didn't come till almost 7, but I didn't care that much. 10 minutes late starting our hike isn't a big difference. Laszlo and I got to the park at 7.10 and met our guide from yesterday, Ben and our armed escort. We were ready to begin the Ivi river trail.
Bwindi is one of Uganda's newest national parks but has been a protected area for decades. It was declared a world heritage site in 1994. Bwindi has one of the richest floras and faunas of any forest in Africa. The 331 sq km park is all steep mountains and valleys with lush rainforest draped over them. Besides mountain gorillas there are also chimpanzees, black and white colobus, red tailed monkeys, l'hoest monkeys, baboons, duikers, giant forest hogs and forest elephants. Though besides primates, many other animals are rarely seen. I have wanted to explore Bwindi ever since I bought a coffee table called Tropical Rainforest almost 10 years ago. It had 6 chapters, each about a different rainforest area of the world. Bwindi and Borneo really stuck out as the ones I wanted to visit first.
The waterfalls consisted of 3 levels, the highest fall being 30m but I didn't find any of them that impressive. I did really like the setting they were in though. The forest is dripping with epiphytes and moss on everything. Tree ferns, some of the oldest living 'fossil' plants, abounded. It was another clear day with blue skies.
I ate dinner at the local place and went to bed early but not before I arranged breakfast for the following morning at 6.30am. I got up at 6.30 and was ready but apparently breakfast wasn't. It didn't come till almost 7, but I didn't care that much. 10 minutes late starting our hike isn't a big difference. Laszlo and I got to the park at 7.10 and met our guide from yesterday, Ben and our armed escort. We were ready to begin the Ivi river trail.
Kabale to Buhoma
Buhoma is the village at the gate of Bwindi national park. Public transport from Kabale to there only goes tuesday and friday. It's friday now and time to go to the park. Bruno, the do it all guy at my hotel says he is friends with the pickup driver. We talk to him, Abraham, at 8am and he says he will be leaving at 11am. I reserved the front seat. I ate breakfast and packed up my things. I decided to go minimalist to Bwindi and leave most of my stuff at the hotel. I did this because I wouldn't be saving any $ if I camped in Buhoma and it would be much easier and hassle free if I didn't have my large rucksack to worry about. Sure, I prefer the atmosphere of camping but I figured for a few days it would be ok. Abraham came and got me on time and we left Kabale shortly after 11.
The small Nissan pickup was loaded to the brim with passengers and their goods in the back. I shared the front bench with a fat woman and Abraham, so it was mostly comfortable. We followed a mountain road all the way to Buhoma. Near Kabale the road was being worked on extensively. It was kind of strange to be driving very close to all these huge road constructing vehicles. This would never happen in Canada. It seemed like we stopped a million times on the way to pick up even more people and drop some off. What should have taken 4 hours took almost 6 hours. After 4 hours though we entered the park and drove through nice forest for the rest of the drive. The pickup only went as far Butogota. From there I had to hire a boda boda for the last 17km to Buhoma. This was another reason I left my large pack. It's difficult to travel on a boda with all my stuff. I have done it and will probably do it again but this time I would give myself a rest.
Once I arrived in Buhoma I went to the supposedly cheap options. There were 2 places. One of them had a room for $20 and the other a dorm bed for $13. I didn't like either of these options and kept looking. I asked a local and was lead to the Nature Access Lodge. This is where the drivers and guides sleep. Adrone, the friendly owner at first suggested $10 for the non self contained room but when I told him I had a self contained room in Kabale for $6, we negotiated the price down to a reasonable $5. Now I had to find cheap food. This also wasn't easy. I looked around and only found one place, tiny with no sign and a curtain in the doorway but even there the prices were double what they should be. This was until I learned I could get half portion which was still more than enough food for me. I met Laszlo at the cheap eaterie, a backpacker from Hungary. We got to talking and he had a friend who saw gorillas just out on a nature trail in the park and convinced me to join him trying this trail. If I saw gorillas there it would save me a lot of $. I had originally planned to stay a few days at the park exploring its trails before but wasn't sure before I left. Upon hearing this new news I decided to go with my original plan and try out the park trails before I do the gorilla tracking.
Besides, permits for gorilla tracking are suppose to be bought before hand in Kampala. I didn't have a permit because I didn't want to be tied down to a certain date and I heard that you could just show up at the park and get a permit most days. Tour companies buy up permits months in advance but often have cancellations, making an on the spot permit available most days. This is what I was hoping for.
Bwindi is a mountainous rainforest park and I thought it would be overcast and raining but my first night there, the sky was crystal clear and the stars were amazing.
The small Nissan pickup was loaded to the brim with passengers and their goods in the back. I shared the front bench with a fat woman and Abraham, so it was mostly comfortable. We followed a mountain road all the way to Buhoma. Near Kabale the road was being worked on extensively. It was kind of strange to be driving very close to all these huge road constructing vehicles. This would never happen in Canada. It seemed like we stopped a million times on the way to pick up even more people and drop some off. What should have taken 4 hours took almost 6 hours. After 4 hours though we entered the park and drove through nice forest for the rest of the drive. The pickup only went as far Butogota. From there I had to hire a boda boda for the last 17km to Buhoma. This was another reason I left my large pack. It's difficult to travel on a boda with all my stuff. I have done it and will probably do it again but this time I would give myself a rest.
Once I arrived in Buhoma I went to the supposedly cheap options. There were 2 places. One of them had a room for $20 and the other a dorm bed for $13. I didn't like either of these options and kept looking. I asked a local and was lead to the Nature Access Lodge. This is where the drivers and guides sleep. Adrone, the friendly owner at first suggested $10 for the non self contained room but when I told him I had a self contained room in Kabale for $6, we negotiated the price down to a reasonable $5. Now I had to find cheap food. This also wasn't easy. I looked around and only found one place, tiny with no sign and a curtain in the doorway but even there the prices were double what they should be. This was until I learned I could get half portion which was still more than enough food for me. I met Laszlo at the cheap eaterie, a backpacker from Hungary. We got to talking and he had a friend who saw gorillas just out on a nature trail in the park and convinced me to join him trying this trail. If I saw gorillas there it would save me a lot of $. I had originally planned to stay a few days at the park exploring its trails before but wasn't sure before I left. Upon hearing this new news I decided to go with my original plan and try out the park trails before I do the gorilla tracking.
Besides, permits for gorilla tracking are suppose to be bought before hand in Kampala. I didn't have a permit because I didn't want to be tied down to a certain date and I heard that you could just show up at the park and get a permit most days. Tour companies buy up permits months in advance but often have cancellations, making an on the spot permit available most days. This is what I was hoping for.
Bwindi is a mountainous rainforest park and I thought it would be overcast and raining but my first night there, the sky was crystal clear and the stars were amazing.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Masaka to Kabale
I left Masaka around 10am. I took a boda to the main road 3km outside of town because no transport passes through Masaka town. I didn't have to wait long before a big bus came along that was going directly to Kabale. I took a seat near the back of the bus beside a young girl and her son sitting on her lap. It was a fairly comfortable bus and not overcrowded. For the first time in a while there were 4 other foriegners on the bus. The road wasn't great but it was paved just with some patchy potholed areas. Halfway through the 5 hour ride to Kabale, the young kid sitting on his mother's lap beside vomitted on himself and her. Thankfully none of it got on me and it didn't smell too bad. A little while later, the guy sitting 2 seats over from me across the aisle, vomitted all over the back of the seat in front of him. It was on the floor, himself and his luggage. He didn't make any effort to lean out the window, just vomitted all over the place. It smelled and was really disgusting. I have my menthol inhaler and eucalyptus dabber and put some of the liquid under my nose to take away from the stench. This worked great. I talked with Seva, one of the white girls on the bus later and she told me the woman sitting beside her also vomitted. She had a bag but didn't get it all in and some of it got on Seva. The road was not that bad and it wasn't winding enough to cause motion sickness I would think but I was obviously on the puke bus!
I got off in our first stop in Kabale. I went to the Flockline hotel and got a nice room with private bath for $6. Kabale would be my base town while I went to visit the gorillas in Bwindi national park. I went to the park office after I finished lunch. The guy there wasn't very helpful or knowledgeable. I actually knew more about the parks than he did! What I did find out was that it was difficult to get the park except on market days tuesday (today) and friday. I was too late today and if I couldn't find any transport myself, I would wait in Kabale till friday. I went to the Home of Edirisa, a museum, lounge, hostel, cafe and internet cafe place. I was surprised to see many white faces. It seems like this is the place to stay in Kabale. It was here that I met Seva from the bus. We recognized each other from the bus and shot the shit for a while. She was here to do some volunteer work ( surprise!) and was also travelling with guitar. I saw her on the bus and wanted to talk to her but when I saw she was travelling with a guitar, I really wanted to talk to her. I was glad I ran into. I am a musician myself, mostly playing drums but I can play a bit of acoustic and have written many of my own simple tunes on guitar. I thought it would be fun to jam with Seva. We made plans to meet up later at Edirisa. My hotel was a 15 minute walk on the other side of town. After eating a delicious veggie curry I went to Edirisa at 9pm. I found Seva upstairs in 'the nest' with a bunch of other playing cards. I was surprised to find Frank here. I met Frank in Kalinzu forest and we had tentatively planned to meet up on Lake Bunyoni but my malaria got in the way so I was much behind my anticipated arrival, so it was nice to run into Frank again unexpectedly. I hung around for a few hours and then walked back to my hotel.
Kabale is the highest town in Uganda at 2000M and is surrounded by intensely cultivated hills and terraces. It's a pretty place with lots of opportunity for outdoor activities. I met lots of friendly people at Edirisa and figured it would be ok to spend a few days here waiting for tranport to the park. So that's what I'm doing. I've been spending most of my time at Edirisa. Tomorrow is friday and I will be heading to Bwindi national park for my most anticipated event of the trip, the mountain gorillas.
I got off in our first stop in Kabale. I went to the Flockline hotel and got a nice room with private bath for $6. Kabale would be my base town while I went to visit the gorillas in Bwindi national park. I went to the park office after I finished lunch. The guy there wasn't very helpful or knowledgeable. I actually knew more about the parks than he did! What I did find out was that it was difficult to get the park except on market days tuesday (today) and friday. I was too late today and if I couldn't find any transport myself, I would wait in Kabale till friday. I went to the Home of Edirisa, a museum, lounge, hostel, cafe and internet cafe place. I was surprised to see many white faces. It seems like this is the place to stay in Kabale. It was here that I met Seva from the bus. We recognized each other from the bus and shot the shit for a while. She was here to do some volunteer work ( surprise!) and was also travelling with guitar. I saw her on the bus and wanted to talk to her but when I saw she was travelling with a guitar, I really wanted to talk to her. I was glad I ran into. I am a musician myself, mostly playing drums but I can play a bit of acoustic and have written many of my own simple tunes on guitar. I thought it would be fun to jam with Seva. We made plans to meet up later at Edirisa. My hotel was a 15 minute walk on the other side of town. After eating a delicious veggie curry I went to Edirisa at 9pm. I found Seva upstairs in 'the nest' with a bunch of other playing cards. I was surprised to find Frank here. I met Frank in Kalinzu forest and we had tentatively planned to meet up on Lake Bunyoni but my malaria got in the way so I was much behind my anticipated arrival, so it was nice to run into Frank again unexpectedly. I hung around for a few hours and then walked back to my hotel.
Kabale is the highest town in Uganda at 2000M and is surrounded by intensely cultivated hills and terraces. It's a pretty place with lots of opportunity for outdoor activities. I met lots of friendly people at Edirisa and figured it would be ok to spend a few days here waiting for tranport to the park. So that's what I'm doing. I've been spending most of my time at Edirisa. Tomorrow is friday and I will be heading to Bwindi national park for my most anticipated event of the trip, the mountain gorillas.
Ssese Islands
8 days after my first sign of fever, I had enough treatment for malaria and felt well enough to travel again. I resumed my trip and my next destination was the Ssese islands. The Ssese islands are an archipelago of 84 islands in Lake Victoria. They are mainly just a place to chillout and take time out from the rigours of travelling around east Africa. I was in a matatu at 9.30am but it didn't leave till 11. It took about 1.5 hours to get from Masaka to the ferry, the dirt road was in pretty rough shape. I met Marko on the matatu. He was a Englishman on a whirlwind around the world tour in 2 months. We waited a while for the ferry to depart. It took about an hour for the ferry to reach Buggala island and then from there we had to go to the main island town of Kalangala. This took another hour on a bad road.
We finally reached Kalangala after about 6 hours altogether. Marko took a boda boda to the Hornbill camp, the same place I was going. I didn't feel like being overcharged at that moment and just started walking the 3 km to Hornbill camp. It was hot and sunny and I was beginning to regret not taking a boda but then a big truck came by and I hitched a free ride to Hornbill camp. The camp is owned by a German couple, Tina and Dieker. They are very friendly. The camp has a nice location with many trees and a sandy beach. I set up my tent on the grass. There were only 4 other foriegners staying there when I arrived.
I came to the Ssese islands just to relax with some peace and quiet and was shocked and disappointed to hear loud music start around 6pm. Tina told me that the 2 resorts on either side of them play loud music, sometimes till 5am! Hornbill camp and other camps around had 'noise terror' complaints in with the local administration but the outcome was still pending. The one resort was very far away but the music just carried across the water easily. Tina was apologetic but I knew it wasn't her fault and there was nothing to do about it. Thankfully the music didn't play late that night but other nights it went quite late.
I stayed at Hornbill camp for 5 nights. I went there just to do nothing and that's about all I did. There was decent food available at the camp and I brought cereal for breakfast so there was no reason to leave. I left camp after being there for 3 days just to go into Kalangala town to get a cold drink and some washing powder. I didn't find the people that friendly in town and was happy to get back to Hornbill. The weather there was similar to the weather in Masaka. Rain most mornings and then clearing up by the afternoon. Though a few days the sun hardly came out at all. Quite a few foreigners came and went during my stay there but not one of them I met was a true backpacker. They were all there to volunteer, work or do research. This seems to be the case across most of east Africa. There's not a lot of indepent travellers. It's quite rare when I meet someone who is 'just travelling'. Tina said she has noticed this difference in her clientele as well. There used to be more backpackers but now most everybody coming to the camp is doing something in Uganda.
There was no real significant events at Hornbill and days blended into each other. I met some cool people and had fun just relaxing. I left Hornbill camp on monday morning to begin the long journey back to Masaka. It took about the same 6 hours to get back to Masaka. I was in the front seat of a shared taxi with 3 others and about 6 or 8 people were in the back. I didn't even want to count how many where back there. They were all sitting on top of each other. Even the driver shares his seat with someone. Back in Masaka I went back to the Hot Ram hotel just to treat myself to a nice room for one last time. After I ate dinner and did a bit of email I went back to my room. The TV has satellite but its controlled by the staff in the restaurant and I would have to watch what they pick. When I was recovering from malaria here I just settled with what they picked for the first few days until they started putting on good stuff like National Geographic channel and movies. I got used to watching them and when they changed it I would go and ask them if they could keep it on a movie station. They usually did this for me and my last night was no different. I went to the restaurant and went through a bunch of channels. I was having a hard time on trying to find something I wanted to watch. I finally settled on a movie channel and they kept it on that all night for me.
We finally reached Kalangala after about 6 hours altogether. Marko took a boda boda to the Hornbill camp, the same place I was going. I didn't feel like being overcharged at that moment and just started walking the 3 km to Hornbill camp. It was hot and sunny and I was beginning to regret not taking a boda but then a big truck came by and I hitched a free ride to Hornbill camp. The camp is owned by a German couple, Tina and Dieker. They are very friendly. The camp has a nice location with many trees and a sandy beach. I set up my tent on the grass. There were only 4 other foriegners staying there when I arrived.
I came to the Ssese islands just to relax with some peace and quiet and was shocked and disappointed to hear loud music start around 6pm. Tina told me that the 2 resorts on either side of them play loud music, sometimes till 5am! Hornbill camp and other camps around had 'noise terror' complaints in with the local administration but the outcome was still pending. The one resort was very far away but the music just carried across the water easily. Tina was apologetic but I knew it wasn't her fault and there was nothing to do about it. Thankfully the music didn't play late that night but other nights it went quite late.
I stayed at Hornbill camp for 5 nights. I went there just to do nothing and that's about all I did. There was decent food available at the camp and I brought cereal for breakfast so there was no reason to leave. I left camp after being there for 3 days just to go into Kalangala town to get a cold drink and some washing powder. I didn't find the people that friendly in town and was happy to get back to Hornbill. The weather there was similar to the weather in Masaka. Rain most mornings and then clearing up by the afternoon. Though a few days the sun hardly came out at all. Quite a few foreigners came and went during my stay there but not one of them I met was a true backpacker. They were all there to volunteer, work or do research. This seems to be the case across most of east Africa. There's not a lot of indepent travellers. It's quite rare when I meet someone who is 'just travelling'. Tina said she has noticed this difference in her clientele as well. There used to be more backpackers but now most everybody coming to the camp is doing something in Uganda.
There was no real significant events at Hornbill and days blended into each other. I met some cool people and had fun just relaxing. I left Hornbill camp on monday morning to begin the long journey back to Masaka. It took about the same 6 hours to get back to Masaka. I was in the front seat of a shared taxi with 3 others and about 6 or 8 people were in the back. I didn't even want to count how many where back there. They were all sitting on top of each other. Even the driver shares his seat with someone. Back in Masaka I went back to the Hot Ram hotel just to treat myself to a nice room for one last time. After I ate dinner and did a bit of email I went back to my room. The TV has satellite but its controlled by the staff in the restaurant and I would have to watch what they pick. When I was recovering from malaria here I just settled with what they picked for the first few days until they started putting on good stuff like National Geographic channel and movies. I got used to watching them and when they changed it I would go and ask them if they could keep it on a movie station. They usually did this for me and my last night was no different. I went to the restaurant and went through a bunch of channels. I was having a hard time on trying to find something I wanted to watch. I finally settled on a movie channel and they kept it on that all night for me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
