Days 6 to 10

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Am now in Rwanda, having travelled across Uganda to get here. Don't know if anyoneés ever tried typing on a French keyboard, note / don't even contemplate it!

Day 6 - Jinga

Free day today; Still flipping raining and incredibly muddy! My feet seem to be permanently stained a lovely shade of red - nice. Spent today feeling very bruised and battered after the rafting yesterday. Nothing a few local beers couldn't numb though (litre bottles for about 20p - at that price, who wouldn't?!)

Fact: -60% of Ugandan girls are raped by the age of 16 and 80% by 18. Apparently it isn’t considered a crime. And they wonder why such a vast proportion of the population has AIDs...

Day 7 - Jinga to Mbarara (Uganda)

Up at 5.30 this morning. Surprisingly, I'm getting used to all these early mornings. I can't survive without my daily nap on the truck though!!! Yes, the motion is sending me to sleep but I've learnt that if I sit at the back of the truck, I can only drift off for about 5 minutes before we hit a pothole and I get thrown a foot in the air (no exaggeration). We have great competitions to see who can stand without holding on the longest. The record is 9 minutes so far! Crossed the equator today and yes, it was raining. I couldn't believe it! We "embraced the culture" this evening, experiencing cold dribble showers and long drop toilets; how I miss the UK's bathrooms!

Went for a walk into the village tonight. The people were so friendly and undemanding. One 10 year old girl invited me into her house to dance with her! I bought some bananas from a local woman, even though I didn't need them. I paid 500 Ugandan Shillings for them and I think she thought Xmas had come early! It was about 30p!

When I returned to the camp, the lads were being thrashed at a game of footie with some local kids. It was hilarious. Later on that evening some of the local women came with their drums and babies tied to their backs and danced for us. We all joined in - I was exhausted at the end!

Day 8: Mabarara to Lake Bunyony

Went shopping to buy food to cook for dinner tonight. We cook all our food ourselves in groups over open fires. Went to a giant fruit and veg market. It was a good experience, but am finding the markets quite claustrophobic, mainly due to the fact that they are very busy and enclosed; pickpockets aren’t really a threat though, although obviously we are still careful. If someone is caught stealing here they are extradited out of the family and community. It is the worst punishment of all for these people.

The campsite we stayed at tonight was beautiful; it was right by Lake Bunyony. Been playing lots of cards but still remain unbeaten at 500! My partner is Romy, the tour leader, who refuses to let me play with anyone else! S**t Head has gone down a storm too.

Day 9 - Entering Rwanda

Was on breakfast duty this morning so up at 5.30. Had a scenic butt somewhat hairy journey from the campsite to the border involving lots of tight turns around a cliff route. We live pretty basically at times and I have now perfected the art of squatting - remember to check for thorns and stingers first!

Crossed the border fine but it took ages; Everyone here works on "African Time" - VERY slowly with 15 minutes usually meaning anything from an hour to 8 hours!

Day 10 - Rwanda - The day of the Gorilla trekking

Today was hyped up to be the highlight of the tour and it didn't disappoint. Got up at 5am to make porridge to fill us up. Took flippin’ ages - where is the microwave when you need one?!

Anyway, after a short journey over the bumpiest roads we've seen so far, we were soon off in search of the infamous Mountain Gorillas. There are only 730 of these amazing creatures left in the world and they can only be found in three countries; The Congo, Uganda and Rwanda. We were joined on our trek by two guides and two armed soldier to protect us and the gorillas from poachers. Sadly, the baby gorillas are still highly sought after in private zoos and the poachers will destroy a whole family for the baby.

My 3Three Peaks3 training certainly came in handy as the mountain was hard work on the old legs! After a couple of hours trekking through dense and very muddy rainforest, we were told there had been a sighting not far off; We had to drop our bags and trekking sticks and creep quietly forward. I was first, following directly behind our guide who was making grunts and calls to the gorillas. Suddenly he stopped and there staring directly at me within touching distance was the biggest Silverback in the world! I was so scared - I couldn’t move an inch! He growled at us, starting beating his chest and moving towards us. We moved back pretty smartish! After a minute or so, he calmed down and continued munching away on the vegetation - phew! (he eats about 25kg of leaves a day).

We saw the entire family of eight - the Silverback (the biggest in the world aged 35 years), two adult females, two juveniles and two babies (aged only 2 and 6 months and incredibly cute). They came so close to us, one even grabbed my leg! Their hands and feet were so human like. It really was just the most amazing experience, one I'll never forget.

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