This is Africa: Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania

So here's the update on Africa! It's quite long as its been a while so hope you manage to get to the end before slipping into a coma...

Our first stop in Africa was Uganda where after you get used to people shouting Mzungu at you (meaning white person in Swahili) and being generally stared at, it was everything that Africa promised: Friendly people, amazing scenery and cramped transport! We made most of our way around Uganda on Budabudas (motorbikes) or Mutatus which, is what you and i know as minibuses. All are licensed to carry 16 passengers, all carried about that many people sitting on your lap and they all drive like nutters! Although generally we were wedged in at the back somewhere and could count ourselves lucky as we only had 6 people on the backseat made for 3, there were at least 8 plus two children and usually some amount of livestock on the front seat. It is also the only place where i have actually seen two people on the drivers seat!




In said luxury we first traveled to Bujagali falls in a Mutatu-Budabuda combo. Budabudas aren't so much fun when you are wearing a 25kg backpack and the driver wants to take you on his fisher price moped that can't make it up the first hill! Still we arrived there eventually and decided to tackle the grade 5 rapids at the source of the river Nile - the raft promptly got flipped and we were all flung into the river where we had to be rescuded by the accompanying canoists. It was hilarious although some of the other people in the raft didn't think so on their third tumble into the river!




From here we headed off Murchison Falls National Park where among other things we went to track Chimpanzees which was superb and then headed to Rwanda by means of about 10 different mutatus and by way of a some random town in the middle of nowhere, where as with everywhere in east Africa from the most developed city to the smallest village, even if they have no running water and they live in mud huts, there was a pool table and a tv showing the premiership matches live!




In Rwanda we headed up to the mountains to trek gorillas and saw some of the only 700 mountain gorillas left in the world. We were literally a metre or two away from them, them being a silverback, mum and 2 babies as well as some fighting juveniles and a chest beating infant who spent most of his time showing off for us! It was awesome but, then again you'd want it to be for a 500 dollars (and that's just for the permit!) I wouldn't mind if all that money went back into the park or the local communites - which they say it does - but the fact that every kid you walk past is asking for a pen or a French dictionary makes me think that 25,000 USD they are making from the 56 Gorilla permits a day might be doing more to line some politian's pocket than to fund the local schools but, I'll get off my soap box now.




After Gorilla treking and failing miserably to speak French to the locals we headed to Kigali to see the genocide memorial. The memorial was grim but worth it, even worse i think, than S21 and the killing fields in Cambodia for those that have been there; mainly due to the images and the videos that they used. Actually seeing a video (albeit from a distance) of someone going at someone else with a machete is pretty powerful! Also there was a room full of large photos of kids with information about them: Favourite toy, what they were like at school etc. The last piece of information was always how they were killed. Invariably hacked to death with a machete but, sometimes they were burnt alive taking refuge in a church or some other such atrosity. It was not the most pleasant few hours but, it was a necessary eye opener and after thoroughly depressing ourselves we then headed to Tanzania.




Once in Tanzania we wasted no time in going on safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater and as you saw if you looked at the photos saw literally heaps of lions, the big 5 twice over and herds of everything that sees fit to herd. The only slight disappointment was that the wilderbeest weren't so much sweeping majestically as meandering aimlessly!





After the wildlife fest we had to wave goodbye to Patsy and jimmy and I headed onto Moshi (the nearest town to mount Kilamanjaro which they want a 1000USD to climb and hence we binned off) and then onto Lushoto where we minced around in the Usumbara mountains for a few days, meeting the locals, dolling out stickers to the kids left right and centre and trying the local banana beer!




From there we went to Zanzibar which is a great place the pituresque and historical Stone Town teamed with the white beaches and crystal blue waters make it an island paradise that's hard to beat! Although it could have done with being a bit cheaper and with a few less tourists! While there we got away from the crowds by zipping around on a Moped for a day, spent a couple of days investigating the spice markets, eating at the fish kebab from the stalls and going out with some locals and some Massai in Stone Town and a few days on the beach where we lounged around and went to a full moon party which was more jelly and ice cream than Koh Pah Ngan hedonism before heading south via some Islamic ruins intending to cross the border into Mozambique.





Up until this point we had thought that traveling Africa, well accepted as being one of the harder places to travel, was relatively unproblematic. We'd obviously been counting our proverbial chickens and now that they've hatched we've realised there are a few distinctly missing! After travelling all the way down to the Mozambique border, some 400km, we arrived there to be told we could not get a visa (as we'd been told we could) and we have to get it from the high Commission in Dar Es Salaam which to put it into some context, is 11hrs away on a bus, will take at least one day to get issued and 11 hrs back!! So, slightly irritated, we embarked on our 4 day round trip and returned all the way back to Dar Es Salaam and this morning presented ourselves at the Mozambique High Commission. Once again ineptitude rains supreme and apparently they couldn't issue us with a Visa because they'd (wait for it) 'Run out of stickers!!' Seriously?! We offered them one of our stickers ....they didn't think it was funny! As to be expected they can't tell us when the stickers will arrive, as finding out seems like too much hard work and some jobsworth has to count them and put them in piles or some such rubbish in Maputo (capital of Mozambique) before they can send them. I wouldn't mind but they realised this on Friday, it is now Tuesday - who have they got counting - Jade Goodie? So, it looks like we will have to sack of Northern MNozambique and head into Malawi instead which, is a real shame but, as people keep saying to us T.I.A - This Is Africa!

---

---