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Published: December 13th 2007
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The Equator
Us at the Equator marker Once called the "Pearl of Africa" by Winston Churchill, Uganda is a country of great contrast. Even though we only spent four days there, during our extremely quick visit we covered a lot of ground and got to see a number of different parts of the country due to the 12+ hour drives we had to and from Bwindi.
Unfortunately our visit was not without a certain amount of stress and frustration (something I think we're going to have to get used to in Africa) - in transit from London at about 30,000ft I was reading the Lonely Planet section on Ugandan visa requirements and suddenly realized that I had left our 20 or so passport photos required for our various visas back at home - yep, you guessed it - we were supposed to have two photos each to get our visa on arrival in Entebbe. For the next eight hours, I had visions of us being forcibly removed from the country without so much as a glimpse of a Gorilla.
When we did finally arrive in Entebbe (after trying unsuccessfully to get new photos during our brief stop in Nairobi airport), we decided to bluff the immigration
officer and feign ignorance - this was completely unnecessary as she simply asked for our $50 USD payment and we walked straight in...another few grey hairs for nothing!!
Exhausted, stressed and quite smelly we then spent over an hour waiting for the driver that was supposed to take us to our hotel in Kampala about 45 minutes drive away. Eventually we caught a cab when we realized that the hotel didn't even know we were arriving that day (the first of several issues with the hotel).
As it was Janice's birthday (yes, she was really happy about the day), we decided to find somewhere where we could get a decent meal and ended up walking about 25 minutes (in the dark) through the crowded streets of Kampala - not something we intended to do, but we couldn't find a taxi. Anway, we weren't hassled at all and eventually found our way to a very nice Indian restaurant where we had a good meal and a bottle of South African wine...the day was finally starting to look up!!
The next day we met our guide Jimmy and headed off on our ten hour drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
Tree Climbing Lion
These lions in the Ishasha section of QE National Park are one of only two in the world that climb trees Along the way we stopped at the Equator marker - unfortunately it was raining so we couldn't do the water draining experiments. Driving the several hundred kilometres to Bwindi gave us the opportunity to see a lot of diversity in the villages and landscapes that we drove through. Once you out of the major towns, the countryside of Uganda sometimes looks like Australia and sometimes looks like the rolling green hills of England. The fields and hills look green and fertile and there are either tea or coffee crops or forests growing everywhere you look.
The people seem relatively happy, the roads are terrible and the biggest problem seems to be the nepotism and corruption of the politicians (at least according to Jimmy). When I asked if people thought things were better than in the Idi Amin era I was surprised that a lot of people feel that things are worse as the economy is poorer, infrastructure under-maintained and people are still disappearing without a trace.
After we had left Bwindi (which has its own entry), we headed off to Queen Elizabeth National Park, a spur of the moment decision that was supposed to add two hours onto
the ten hour trip back to Kampala. Arriving at QENP, we elected to do a game drive to look for the rare tree climbing lion; only found there and in one park in Tanzania.
Although it was somewhat rushed and caused us to get back very late, the few hours in the park were well worth it. We got to see the tree climbing lion, Ugandan Kob (which are great lion spotters), baboons, warthogs, elephant, hippos, a long crested eagle, harrier hawk, crested cranes, vervet monkeys, Topi, a Watwold Plover and two types of Buffalo.
On the way back to Kampala, we were running low on fuel and after stopping at the station realized that both Jimmy and I were out of Ugandan Shillings and the attendant wouldn't accept US dollars or Pounds. With no alternative, Jimmy negotiated a deal and we ended up leaving his 4x4 spare tyre at the gas station so he could return, pay and pick it up the next day - try doing that at a petrol station in Sydney or Palo Alto!!
Arriving back in Kampala just before 10pm, we had only 4 hours before having to get up at 2am
and head to Entebbe for our 5am flight to Cape Town (via Nairobi and Johannesburg). A quick bite to eat, brief nap and shower later I was standing at the hotel reception at 2.30am trying to pay the bill and get to the airport - this was where things became REAL frustrating - credit card machines don't work in Uganda - PERIOD!! Resorting to cash, the staff then decided that they needed to dig through a huge pile of paper to find our receipt....all the while the clock is ticking and I'm getting increasingly annoyed at the prospect of missing our flights.
Finally, after much yelling at the staff and threatening to leave without paying, I got out of there and we managed to get to the airport - I was never so happy to sink into my seat and say 'farewell' to Uganda (though it was still an amazing experience and worth every second).
We are now in Cape Town resting for a couple of days before heading off on our six week overland trip across Africa - can't wait!!
Talk to you all soon and in the meantime Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New
African Elephant
Our first elephant sighting in Africa!! Year!!
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