Gorilla Trek

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Hello there, sure you've all missed hearing my tales so hear you go....

We arrived in Kampala, Capital of Uganda, was nice to see some tall buildings again actually, and a hint of civilisation as we know it....

The campsite was called the Red Chilli Hideaway, it was pretty nice actually and we upgraded to a room for the night due to the rain from the night before and the fact that we had to leave at 5 30 am the next day!

The journey was long but really pretty, Uganda is one of the prettiest countries I've been to, loads of hills and pretty farmland (never thought that would float my boat ey?) Finally we arrived at Lake Bunyoni, it is HUGE and a v odd shape but also "pretty" - they call it Little Switzerland? I camped but Kelly decided to have a room - wise move I figured at midnight when the 7 hour downpour started!

We had to leave at 7 30am so I had to pack up in the rain which was fun - NOT! However our early departure was actually delayed by 5 hours as there was no way that our truck was going to make it to Kisoro our next destination due to the rain. So at midday our 4x4 arrived, we piled in and set off - the roads were atrocious, only 1 road was clear, the rest were blocked, another very scenic route took us through the valleys. The hills are amazing (what has happened to me?!) as they use EVERY square foot of land for terraced farming (Oh geog A-level) and all along the roadsides people would be walking Ho's in hand ( as in the garden implement for those curious?) they'd have to walk for miles as their bit of hillside could be 10 miles from their home.....

About 2 hours in however we reached a sudden stop, there were queues of stopped vehicles and people sat at the roadside - with true British intrigue I hopped off to see what the problem was - a truck had broken down in the middle of the road, so another truck tried to pass but slipped as we had had 7 hours torrential rain? and was stuck in a ditch against the hillside - mmmmm.....A digger was at the scene however and about 20 minutes later they had pulled the truck out - the other one was knackered though and wouldn't be going anywhere! Slowly vehicles passed, until the next one got stuck - MADNESS! This time the digger simply pushed it scratching it to shreds but there we go and we could pass!!!

Kisoro is a small town situated about 10kms from the Congo border - there are 3 volcanoes that seperate Uganda, Rwanda and Congo which causes much dispute over where the Gorillas are etc..
We got there late afternoon and had a wander around the town - as we couldn't bring the tent we had rooms and were eating from the restaurant which was a nice change - I had goat which turned out to be some of the best meat I've had since being here! Early to bed we awaited the Gorilla's....

Up early we met Thomas - the guy who for the previous 12 hours had had our passports and yellow fever cert. and a small backhander of dollars in order to sort out our Congo Visas, you see if we had Congo stamped in our passport we would have to pay re entry fees to every country in East Africa SO you hand over some dollars and you don't receive any record of having been in Congo - PERFECT!!! He handed them back which was a small relief and we both scanned them quickly not that we doubted him at all???
Then off to the border, he ran off with our passports again, we walked over, the boundary consisitng of a half built fence with 3 bamboo canes preventing you from passing until the security guard can be bothered to come let you through.

Dominic gave us a quick briefing on the Gorillas, what we would be doing etc - I never realised the Gorillas were so dangerous but there we go. Then we piled into the Suzuki, built for 2 in the back due to the rather large metal wheel hubs but we had 3 so i had half my bum on half off and well it was the most bony painful bumpy ride ever - SO glad when we got there, although the journey took us through rural Congo - wow! Remote remote remote, basic basic living - unbelievable. Still evidently troubled from the War, people welcome tourists as it was only in Jan 2004 that tourists returned after the 10 year war.

At the park we were briefed again, I mean these guys are serious, if you're ill you can't go, you can't use flash, you can't gain eye contact with them, if they're nervous you have to leave.....Still, they are endangered and there are only 380 left so you can see their reasoning.

Walking through dense wet vegetation, stinging nettles everywhere, ants nests that looked like moving soil there were so many of them and generally tough walking ( never thought I'd say that after Kili?!) Kelly and I were both kind of thinking, " This better be worth it?!"
Sure enough, after 2 hours pf trawling through bushes making our own paths, we came across freshly laid Gorilla turd - hooray!!! Then shortly after, 2 gorgeous, CUTE baby gorilla nests!! Finally we were there, the trackers that set out that morning were just the other side of the bush so a few machette swings later we were through. There it was, the Silverback! Hugely huge, and sat content munching away at the bushes, then up above a baby, swinging in the branches. They were so human like and their skin (hands and feet) were wrinkled and thick! We snapped away, and watched then moved closer, they moved away so we followed them into a clearing, there was another baby and it's mother. The mothers were terryfying, they stared at you right in the eye, one started to come at us so we backed away but she passed. All the time the guides are making soothing gorillas noises to try and calm them much to my amusement. We spent an hour with them and it was amazing,the Silverback and his lady sat hugging in each others arms as he picked bugs out of her hair, the children played rolling around, and the funniest moment - when the 3 month baby swung on a branch and it snapped much to his shock......

The walk back was a lot easier as I guess we knew it was worth it, we both took ridiculous amounts of pictures and I will upload them soon but the one I uploaded of Kili took 35 minutes so you can see what I'm dealing with!
We were back in Kisoro by 3 but tired from the day we didnt do a lot.
Congo is a really fascinating place, with 5 official languages, and 500 dialects - amazing!! The people are still very concerned with the war, and on return to Uganda all we were asked was how were the Congolese?!As if doubting their hospitality.

Another cooked meal that night and an early bed again!!

Back to Lake Bunyoni, the journey wasn't so bad as the rain had laid off although it was very dusty!Much to our amazement, the same truck that was broken down on the way was still there, blocking the road - something pretty major must have broken?! We picked up some food and bits in Kabale Town then back to camp.

The campsite was really pretty, Kelly and I took a walk up to a hill top which had pretty good views of the lake!

The next day we just lazed around, we took out a canoe but that was a terrible idea as we spent 45 minutes going around in circles... Now I have canoed before and I am sure it was the canoe and not us? But hey - as it happens The Lonely Planet ( or Lonely Liar as I prefer to call it) does warn you about them for the exact same reason which put me at ease! That afternoon rain came again, it can get dull when it's sooo wet, a little like England I guess so I went on a run to relieve the boredom - bad idea as I mentioned Uganda is so hilly still I came back puffing and beetroot and dived into Lake Bunyoni - you can't just do that anywhere!

Now we start to backtrack, we were in Kampala for the last 2 nights, and now we are in Jinja before Eldoret, LAke Naivasha and then Nairobi to pick up some more passengers (!) and start the journey south! The backtracking isn't ideal as it's all samey but we are using the time to hop on motorbikes and head to the nearest town to pick up souvenirs, ICE CREAM and generally look around. It's scorching hot again, so I'm pretty smelly but that's what it's all about..... OK really got finger ache now so I'm off but hope all is well, keep the messages coming - Take care Rach x

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