Uganda
in the heart of africa, driving along the swampy and humid shores of lake victoria the biggest lake of africa and one of the key water sources of the white nile, we passed the border from kenya to uganda in busia. surrounded by huge eucalyptus, palm and banana trees, we spent the first night at a beautiful campsite on a range of hills overlooking the powerful floods of the victoria nile. with vervet monkeys hanging in the trees, bushes dotted with exotic flowers, the melodic sounds of beautiful birds in the ears, even at nights, and mornings that start with an entirely golden shining sky – this might match everyone’s imagination about equatorial africa.
having been so fascinated and totally becalmed by this natural paradise, we leisurely started our trip to kampala as it was supposed not even an hour in distance until there. well, although already well-experienced with the traffic of other big cities, we definitely underestimated the traffic jam of uganda’s capital and thus, we fought our way through the humid atmosphere and dusty roads for more than four hours. luckily and before everyone went already to bed, we found the beautiful guesthouse of the ugandan-italian couple james and elena on the probably steepest hill of entire kampala. it was an excellent stopover and by listening to the wise advice of james, we ordered a boda boda (african motorbike taxi) for the whole next day in order to get all our duties done without losing too much time stocked in traffic. and as we cruised through the city, both on the back of the same boda boda, we breathed not only kampala’s fine dust into our bronchi but also enjoyed an extraordinary sightseeing tour at the same time.
on the next day, after we were so lucky to get the last permits for the gorilla trek in bwindi for this period and katharina had done an after-dengue fever control blood test, we let the city behind us and went to the wild nature again. as we are cooking by ourselves most of the time, we have never had the pleasure to taste «rolex». your look might be as puzzled as ours were when we heard about it for the very first time. but we got the proof of a friend that not a luxury swiss watch but rather the ugandan traditional food consisting of an egg omelet and veggies wrapped in a chapati is served. instead of this culinary experience, we got many chances to enjoy the friendliness and the peaceful vibes of the ugandans.
while we were heading upwards to the picturesque vastness of murchison falls national park, named after its impressive and powerful waterfalls, we stopped at the ziwa rhino and wildlife ranch, where the only wild rhinos of uganda are living. this sanctuary leads a great rhino re-introduction project after uganda’s rhinos were becoming extinct by 1983 mainly due to civil war and poaching, as well as urbanization. on a guided walk through the bush, we had the seldom occasion and wonderful experience to spot white rhinos, especially a female rhino with her three months old calf.
hilly roads often grounded by a red sandy soil and lined by beautifully shaped tea and banana tree fields characterized our route from the north to the south of uganda. once, we camped directly at one of the picturesque crater lakes in the south of fort portal, where we could watch black and the rare red colobus monkeys in a fairytale forest surrounding. by passing and staying overnight at the queen elizabeth national park, we tried to spot the region’s famous tree-climbing lions, unfortunately unsuccessfully since a recent migration of elephant herds pulled them back to regions, where they can lay up in trees undisturbedly.
one of our adventure’s highlight was definitely the gorilla trek in the world heritage-listed bwindi impenetrable national park, a swath of steep mountains covered in thick, misty jungle. it is one of africa’s most ancient habitats, even surviving the last ice age as most of the continent’s other forests disappeared. the combination of its broad altitude span and its antiquity has produced an incredible diversity of flora and fauna and a perfect home for the endemic mountain gorillas. after a strenuous but beautiful uphill trek through the thick and magnificent jungle, we were honored to spot and visit the muyambi family and its youngest member, a one and a half month old gorilla baby. seeing them and spending moments with these admirable and critically endangered creatures up close was an unforgettable and heart touching experience!
as these rainforest highlands are spanning beyond uganda also into the democratic republic of congo and rwanda, we were already very close to our next destination and thus could enjoy an absolutely stunning descent drive through the steamy and mysterious rainforest.
