** Please forgive the length of this entry but there was so much to write about!
Saturday May 30- Jinja
After spending an amazing day rafting the Nile, we spent the evening at a fantastic lodge called the Nile Porch. The Nile Porch over looks the Nile as it approaches the falls. According to my guide book “the tents are spacious yet cozy, with inner mosquito netting and verandas facing the river”. It definitely lived up to our expectations; our luxury permanent safari tent was literally on the edge of the bank over looking the Nile. We had an incredible view of the Nile! For the first time in days we had our own ensuite bathroom. Even the bathroom had a view of the Nile! It was incredible to fall asleep listening to the mighty Nile. We awoke to a thick wall of fog over the river so we couldn’t see the Nile at all. It was awesome to watch the fog slowly break and reveal the beautiful river.
After living on “local food” for the last four months, which while it is healthier than my typical American diet tends to be a bit bland. It was such a treat to eat such great food on this trip. The Black Lantern at the Nile Porch was no exception, we had two amazing meals in the restaurant that overlooked the Nile. I’m looking forward to returning to this hotel someday.
Sunday May 31-Leave Jinja for Lake Mburo
Our driver (who is a friend of Tinka’s) picked us up from the Nile Porch in Jinja and was with us the rest of the trip. We drove back though Kampala than west to Lake Mburo, it took about six hours to make the trip. Along the way we stopped to take pictures at the equator! There was a lovely café there as well where we had lunch.
My main reason for wanting visiting Lake Mburo is that it is the closest park with zebras. I couldn’t go on an African safari and not see zebras! When we arrived in the afternoon we did a game drive where we saw my first zebra, lots of impala, buffalo and warthogs.
The entire time we were on our game drive we didn’t see any other visitors. I knew that this was not one of the busier parks but I didn’t expect it to be empty! We were suppose to stay in a safari tent but since that part of the park was completely isolated, we opted to stay in a cottage at another lodge. The cottage was very cute and had its own bathroom though no electricity or running water! We were awoken at about 2am by the sound of something outside our window. It sounded like a warthog or larger animal grazing but every time I looked outside I couldn’t see anything. That kept us awake for awhile for fear it was going to start grazing on the cottage which wasn’t really very study. Just when we were relaxed enough to go back to sleep, we heard lots of scurrying in the ceiling, which was probably just a rat or lizard but was unsettling. I got to sleep about 4am and I think Sharon was up the rest of the night!
Monday June 1- Arrive at Queen Elizabeth
We awoke at 6am so that we’d have time for breakfast before our game drive and the four hour to Queen Elizabeth National Park. The game drive was great as I got to see lots of zebras !! We got fantastic pictures of them. I don’t know whey they fascinate so much though I did grow up in horse country in northern Virginia and never saw a stripped horse!
We arrived at Queen Elizabeth National Park a little after 1pm which gave us some to check in to our lodge for the evening and have lunch before our 3pm boat ride on the Kazinga Channel. We splurged for this and stayed at the luxury Mweya Safari Lodge. According to my guidebook and everyone I know this is one of the most beautifully situated lodges in Uganda. Some have described it as a Sheraton in the bush. After staying there I totally agree and it was worth every penny! As soon as we arrived we were greeted by a butler with hot washcloths and fresh glasses of passion fruit juice. The entire lodge offers amazing views of the bank of the Kazinga channel. We could see elephants and buffalo grazing as we were eating our lunch. The food in lodge was fantastic, as good as any four star restaurant back in the states! We both had salads for lunch which is a real treat for me as we can’t eat raw veggies in Bigodi.
After lunch we went on the boat ride which was wonderful and unlike our last boat ride, we didn’t get caught in a storm this time. It was about two hours long and we saw tons of elephants, buffalos, waterbucks, water birds, and hippos. In comparison to the other two parks that we visited this week, we saw more of everything here at Queen. Instead of seeing a family of three elephants we’d see a heard of more than twenty! Instead of a handful of buffalo, there would be twenty-five or more on the bank of the channel. We passed a small island that was full of at least six different species of water birds!
When we returned to the lodge from our boat ride, we went to the spa and had massages! Oh what a treat and they were only $20 per person! I consider a real shower a luxury these days so this was blissful. Afterwards, we had pre-dinner cocktails in the bar that reminded me so much of the Grove Park Inn with its large fireplace and stone accents. Instead of a view of the mountains, we had an amazing view of the channel. The drinks had great names like hippos delight! Dinner was phenomenal, I had fried corn fritters to start and Sharon had the most amazing spinach/mushroom soup I’ve ever had. For the main course, I had chicken cordon blu that was out of this world and Sharon had pork that was also amazing. We both had the chocolate cake for desert-who’s going to say no to chocolate cake!
Tuesday June 2-Queen Elizabeth day 2 and drive to Bigodi
On the one day on this trip where I could sleep in, at about 5:30am I was awoken by the sound of elephants. Sharon questions how I knew it was an elephant and not another African animal but since a large heard was gathered on the other side of the channel; I say it was likely that it was an elephant! Whatever it was, it was very cool. Since I was already up, I went outside on the veranda to catch up on my journaling. While I was there, I witnessed the most amazing sunrise over the channel. It was absolutely breathtaking! It seemed like we could see for miles in ether direction.
We had an incredible breakfast buffet complete with fresh passion fruit juice and nutella for my pancakes! I’ll admit having banana’s, bread, and tea day in and day out for breakfast gets a bit old so this was a real treat! I didn’t want to leave this incredible hotel any earlier than we had too, so we didn’t check out till after 10:30am. This is definitely a place that I want to come back to some day.
We did our last game drive as we departed Queen Elizabeth. On our way out of the park we saw elephants, antelope, warthogs, and lots of birds! We stopped at another equator marker, a salt lake, and a sign post saying DRC is 27 km to take pictures. The stop at the salt lake was a little dramatic as I fell, reinjured my left leg and broke my camera! I think I was more upset about my camera than my leg as the camera was a bon voyage gift from my NC friends. Our driver loaned me his camera for as long as I need it and Sharon took the camera back to the states where it will be fixed!
It was about a 4 hour drive back to Fort Portal and than it’s only 45 minutes to Bigodi my home away from home. As we got closer to Fort Portal, the landscape gradually changed from the tall grasses and scraggly trees of the savannah that we saw at Queen Elizabeth to the lush green foliage and mountains that signal that I’m getting closer to home. I can truly say after traveling a good portion of this amazing country that my favorite area is the one where I live. I am blessed to live on the outskirts of a lush tropical forest and at the foot of the Ruwenzori Mountains!
In Fort Portal, we stopped at the post office where I had three packages waiting for me! One had been mailed on April 8th, so I was thrilled that it had arrived safely. I have been so blessed on this entire journey to be supported by such amazing friends and family. If you have mailed a package, please don’t lose hope –I’m sure it’s on it’s way but the mail can be very slow here.
This evening, we stayed in the tree house in Kibale National Park just a few miles from where I live. The tree house is deep in the forest (it’s a little less than a mile trek to get to it) and has a great view of a swamp that is often frequented by elephants. While we didn’t see any elephants, it was very cool to wake up to the sounds of the forest.
Wednesday June 3- Chimp Trekking
In the morning, we set off on our 3 three hour trek though Kibale National Park to see the famed chimpanzees. I had gone chimp trekking in February and after four hours of very difficult trekking though the forest we had failed to find the chimps. Luckily, this time was different. Within just about 30 minutes, we found over 30 chimps eating high up in a fig tree. It was amazing to watch them eat and play high up in the trees. After watching for over an hour, we followed a few as they came down to the ground and was able to watch one male chimp while standing only about five feet away. It was fantastic!
Afterwards, we took a boda-boda (my favorite means of transport) back to Bigodi and had lunch at home. In the afternoon, Sharon decided she wanted to get her hair braided. We sat outside Betty’s hair shop and attracted half the women in the village as they watched the muzuga get her hair braided! The women were having a workshop on making paper beads so as Sharon was getting her hair done I got to learn how to make beautiful beads out of paper.
Thursday June 4-Bigodi
The original plan had been to leave Bigodi this afternoon and stay in Fort Portal for the evening. However, we were having such a great time in Bigodi and at Tinka’s that we decided to stay another night. In the morning, we went on a guided walk of the Bigodi wetland (this was my eighth visit to the wetland). We had a great walk and saw so many of the animals that live in the wetland, including five different primates, the great blue turraco, and other wonderful birds! We were able to see four different species of monkeys playing in the trees! The only bad part was nearing the end of our walk I was stung by a wasp! I hadn’t been stung in over 25 years. Our guide wanted to put kerosene on the sting which is a local remedy however I refused as I had a first aid kit back at my house with western medicine.
Sharon got to experience a traditional Ugandan meal at lunch. There were three other American’s at the house for what I call “tourist” lunch. Tinka gives a presentation on traditional Ugandan customs and afterwards everyone feats on a traditional meal. We had spinach/carrots, fried cassava, mattoke, groundnut sauce, posha, rice, beef stuff, sesame sauce, and pineapple for dessert-yum!
After lunch, we walked to Bigodi primary school and visited the p4 class which is taught by my friend Alex. Due to the kids break and my safari, I hadn’t seen most of them in well over a month so it was great to get back in the classroom. We talked to the kids about our trip and quizzed them about animals found in each park. Afterwards, they sang traditional songs and preformed dances. As usual it was very touching. I love those kids!
In the evening, we walked around the village and met some of my friends. We visited Irene who operates the local restaurant near my house. Irene is always great for getting the local gossip though sometime she tells me gossip about my self! Our next stop was to see Helen who is Irene’s mom, she who founded and runs the Bigodi peanut butter project. Over ten years ago Helen started buying groundnuts ( peanuts) from the local women and making peanut butter. The project now supports over 40 families in the area! Helen went to NC in 2000 and even named her last born after my boss at the NC Zoo! Our last stop was to visit Alex in his store in the trading center. Alex has been a member of UNITE for years and got to visit NC on one of our teacher exchange programs. He currently teaches p4 at Bigodi primary. After school, he comes to the trading center where he operates his store for a few hours every afternoon. Every time, I come in Alex insist on giving an avocado or a bunch of banana’s because as he said everyone in NC treated him so well!
Friday Jun 5- Trip to the airport
It’s hard to believe this amazing trip is coming to an end. We left Tinka’s at 7am and drove the 6 hours to Entebbe airport. After having lunch at the airport and saying goodbye, our driver and I headed back to Bigodi.
This was an absolutely amazing vacation!
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