Kenya, Uganda & Rwanda

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Africa - Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda

So after 6 busy but amazing days in the UK, Tracy and I flew to Nairobi, Kenya to start our African odyssey.
Nairobi was nothing special, but it was the starting point for the overland trip that would cover nine countries in eastern and southern Africa. For most of our trip we would be travelling on a large truck-like 4x4 bus (called Caprice), with a guide, assistant guide and cook. For the first part of the trip we have also had 19 other travellers of various ages and experience. Most nights we will be camping and cooking our own food.

The first part of our journey takes us from Kenya to Uganda and down to Rwanda before returning the way we came. On our first day we drove to Lake Nakuru National Park for a safari and camped here overnight. The NP surrounded a large lake, and consisted of wetland, forest, and grassland habitats. We spent most of the afternoon driving around the park looking at flamingos, vultures, Thompson’s gazelle, zebra, impala, elands, dik-diks, baboons, vevet monkeys etc. We also saw more charismatic animals including giraffes, hyenas, buffalo, white rhinos and tree climbing lions. Not a bad start!

We camped on the southern edge of the park near a waterfall. That night, about an hour after we had gone to bed, we heard a troop of baboons barking close to the camp. They had been there since we arrived and so we thought nothing of it until about five minutes later when we heard a lion roar. For the next 15 minutes a lion approached and moved through the camp. At one point the lion was about 2 metres from our tent and occasionally roaring. Let me tell you, when all that is between you at a fully grown roaring lion is two sheets of canvas it’s pretty scary! Tracy and I didn’t move or make a sound! It was quite an introduction to camping in Africa.

Over the next two days we drove onto Uganda. This journey included stopping at a local school project for half a day that was sponsored by the tour company. The welcome we received from the children was amazing, and even though we were asked to stand at the front of the classes, sometimes it felt as if they were more nervous to be around us than we were around them. Nevertheless a smile and wave goes along way here - and they all enjoyed Tracy taking photos of them and showing them the results afterwards.

We headed on to Kampala, Uganda and then early (3am) the next day to Kibale Forest NP. That afternoon (after I had been mauled by a line of fire ants at lunch) we walked up into the forest looking for chimpanzees. Despite the warning that it might take 3 hours to find our furry cousins, our group of six found a female and two males up in the trees within 20 minutes. We found three (two females and an alpha male) up in the trees eating fruit and then watched as the male came down of the trees about 3m from us and walked off into the forest. We followed this male, and he in turn led us to another group of chimps. Most were in the trees feeding, but every now and again they would come down to the ground and walk past us. Often these were males, but on one occasion a female with a baby chimp on her back passed us too. We spent the night at a campsite on a tea plantation and the following day toured the tea fields.

After another night back at the tea plantation we headed off to the Queen Elizabeth II NP for a short game drive and a boat trip down the Kazinga Channel (a stretch of water between Lake Edward and Lake Albert). The big draws here are the Hippos and the Elephants, and we saw them both in and out of the water! We camped in the NP that night; no lions this time, just the risk of hippos!

We then drove to southern Uganda and stayed near the beautiful Lake Bunyonyi, before crossing the border to Rwanda. We spent just three days in the country. On our first day we drove to the capital Kigali and visited the genocide memorial and museum. The museum is located adjacent to several mass graves resulting from 100 days of madness in 1994. It was a sobering experience for everyone and certainly a challenging, informative and important part of any trip to this country. Nevertheless several people on the truck were shaken by what they saw.

Happier times were around the corner, however as we travelled north that night and stayed in a small town outside Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park. This park was made famous by the work of Diane Fosse, and it was her Gorillas in the Mist that we were here to see. We set out in the morning and walked approximately 700m uphill in groups of six after being allocated a group of Mountain Gorillas to visit. We trekked first through farmland, and then through the bamboo forest on the border of the NP. As we trekked it got stepper and the paths eventually disappeared, which meant the guide had to use a machete to get to where the gorillas were. Fortunately for us they started to come down the mountain, and after a lot of scrambling, we found them having an afternoon nap. We saw 8 gorillas in total and this included the alpha male or Silverback. We stayed with them for an hour as the young played and the adults rested, and then left them. We think Tracy may have set a new world record with the number of photos taken!

The return leg to Nairobi took us back over the border to Uganda, returning to Lake Bunyonyi for a night before driving to Lake Mburo National Park for a walking safari and an overnight camp. The following day we drove to Jinja, Uganda. This town is located at the ‘official’ source of the Nile at Lake Victoria, however there are other claims further south. We had a day in this town, so Trace and I chose to do some whitewater rafting on the Nile. We spent the whole day out the river with 5 other brave souls, throwing ourselves down some of the biggest rapids I’ve seen. We fell out twice, went down a 15 foot (5m) waterfall, travelled 31km and conquered a number of grade 5 rapids. It was a fantastic, but exhausting day.

After two days of travel, and one great night in Eldorat in Kenya (eating curry, drinking beer and saying thanks and goodbye to some members of the group) we are now back in Nairobi. Tomorrow we head south to Tanzania, after an amazing two weeks, to visit the Serengeti National Park and Zanzibar.

Hope everyone is well and we look forward to hearing from you all soon!

Will and Tracy xxx

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