RedPlanetClaire

We got up at 5.30 am, because this is a Wade holiday. And because we were being picked up a 15 minute walk away at 6.50am. The day started how it planned to stay: dark and wet. A guy in a minibus met us on a random bit of pavement outside someone’s apartment. There were 8 tourists, all British except one lady from north Sweden. And so began the 70 minute journey to Auschwitz. The lovely architecture of Old Town quickly gave way to flat-sided, grey and dull apartment blocks, the traffic seemed less pedestrian friendly. Once through the slippage of the city, we drove through leafless winter trees along a highway that appeared to be in better condition than most British roads, probably because it was a toll road. Then the trees gave way to ... read more

I booked a walking tour through Tripadvisor yesterday, with a female guide, Faridausi and Glyn booked an Uber to meet her in town. She was almost 20 minutes late, but it seems in Uganda, that’s standard and not worth an apology. The first stop was a statue of Edward Mutesa, the first president of Uganda, (after independence from the UK in 1962). He was also the King and pushed out of power by Milton Obote and sent into exile, aided by Idi Amin. And then Obote was ousted by Idi Amin, who made himself popular by returning the body of Mutesa, so he could be buried in Uganda. Nearby stood a statue celebrating Uganda’s independence, a public place with a few homeless scattered around. A very old sign displayed photographs from 1962. A big hole had ... read more

Today we left Lake Bunyoni for the 440 km trip back to Kampala including a stop at the equator. It was sad to leave all the lovely people of Lake Bunyoni View, but we did leave them a good tip. At a nearby petrol station, Didan said his farewells too and we thanked him a lot for the awesome time we had. And so started our long journey, through towns, past farms with women and children toiling in the fields. By quarries where mostly women were bent over doing what appeared to be back-breaking work. We left our last dirt road and returned to tarmac, where they have far fewer potholes than the UK. Zedius calls it an African massage when we drive over the bumpy dirt roads, but in all honesty, I’ve not found them ... read more

oday was gorilla day, the original reason we’d come to Uganda, although we have found many more reasons since we arrived. I didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t expect to get so close to gorillas that I could smell their farts, or be surrounded by a tribe of Batwas, or finally meet a female Ugandan driver. The latter being the most unlikely. It is one of the best days of my life, though not as good as my wedding day (hi Glyn!). When we’d arrived in Uganda , Didan had said he could try and arrange a private gorilla trek. I wasn’t going to get my hopes up, as gorilla trekking already is an amazing and privileged experience, but to do it without other tourists would be quite mind blowing. Last night, Zedius told ... read more

We left Irungu Forest Safari lodges at around 7am. They’ll be getting a good review from me as it’s a nice place and the main guy was very attentive. Amazingly (considering all the people in and out of that place) he always remembered our names and welcomed us back personally from our excursions. It was a wonderful location, had cats and fancy birds, plus a nightly herd of waterbuck. What more could you want? Our first destination today was the Ishasha section of Queen Elizabeth National Park, however the safari started long before that. This is because although large areas of land are accessible only with a permit, it doesn’t mean that the animals don’t wander further, as there’s lots of land between each section of the park. So it’s one big safari everywhere. The other ... read more