European route

European route

African route

African route
The red line will indicate our progress

Tuesday, 29 May 2007

Uganda

Friday 18th May

We woke up yet again to pouring rain – it seems to rain every night- and our proposed day of rafting seemed very un-inviting! Lorraine assured us that it would clear and sure enough, it did. We have just had the MOST exciting, adrenaline pumping, challenging day-as Dave says “a once in a life time experience.” We rafted the Victoria Nile from Bujagali Falls for 20kms downstream to Itanda rapids. The route included 9 major rapids, 4 of which are classed grade 5. It was a very “hands on experience” as we all had to paddle! Will and Maureen did not come with us, so there were 6 of us plus our guide, Juma. The raft completely flipped over 4 times and besides that, on other rapids, although the raft did not flip, several of us were thrown overboard! The one time we went down a 6m high waterfall! Brian, who has done 25 Duzi’s, even found the day to be an adrenaline pumping one! We all agree that this has been one of the high lights of the trip. Tonight, at 9pm, we are going to see the video and I am sure that we will buy it. The last rapid was VERY strong and us girls chickened out, but the 3 men did it with Juma while we all observed from the bank. Juma said it was a very strong, sucking rapid and we saw that for ourselves! In fact, I was really scared as they were all thrown overboard, including Juma, and they all disappeared for a few seconds. Dave was under the raft and then sucked back into a vortex of swirling water – he actually lost his shorts to around his ankles, and after the “bare bum” had climbed back on board the raft, he saw that the shorts were completely ripped! On the 45 minute trip back, I had my first beer! So, Donovan, I am also learning to drink beer this year! I am sure we are all going to have a few aches and pains tomorrow morning.

Saturday 19th May

We had a leisurely start – drove into Jinja to look at the place where Speke first saw the Ripon Falls and claimed it to be the source of the Nile River – and then proceeded to Kampala. We arrived just before lunch time and met Terry Esterhuizen and his wife, Rita van Tonder. Rita is The First Secretary(Administration) at the South African Embassy in Kampala and they live in a huge embassy house in the suburbs of Kampala complete with security guards, maids and a chauffeur! This has been wonderful for us as we have all handed in HUGE piles of washing and generally just chilled out. After lunch, we went to an Irish pub called Bubbles O’Learys to watch the rugby. It was really festive, especially as Rita is an avid Blou Bulle complete with her horns and Terry is a Shark! The pub was full of ex-pats as well as local Ugandan rugby fans and we had a really good time. It was a disappointing end but that can’t be helped, at least it was a close match. We had a few drinks after the match and then came home to more drinks and snacks! Rita and Terry have been fantastic hosts and all Dave & I hope is that we can one day reciprocate their hospitality.

Sunday 20th May

We had a day of rest! An afternoon braai and generally just a relaxing day with plenty of laughs and good times.

It has been wonderful to have time to catch up with email as they have a permanent internet connection and we have all had turns to monopolize the computer!

Monday 21st May

After breakfast we lazed around till Terry came back at about 11.30am with all the info from Rita. Then we set off in 2 vehicles to the Sudanese Embassy where we all filled in visa applications – they will consider these applications and we should know in a week. We filled in the Ethiopian visa applications and these visas should be ready in a couple of days.

In the afternoon we did a bit of shopping and then came home for a rest before going out to dinner as a “Thank you” to Terry & Rita.

Tuesday 22nd May

We do still know we are in Africa as this morning there was no water and no electricity! However Terry and Rita are geared up for this – there is a massive generator in the garden that can run the whole household and within an hour Rita had summonsed the water tanker to fill up the water tank in the back garden so we were sorted!

Our Ethiopian visas will be ready tomorrow but only at 3pm so it looks like we are only going to leave Kampala on Thursday morning. Maureen has not been feeling too well so she is going to the International Hospital for blood tests. We are just continuing our lazy life. Kampala is really one of the nicest cities we have visited in Africa. The city itself has several hills which gives it definition and makes it attractive.

In the evening we had a lovely braai and just chatted and relaxed. Maureen’s thyroid level was too low so her medication has been adjusted and she is much happier!

Wednesday 23rd May

Everyone did last minute errands or went sightseeing or fishing. Our passports were ready at 3pm with the Ethiopian visas so we are going to leave tomorrow to tour Uganda and Rwanda. We will call back in Kampala after that to see if the Sudanese visa applications have been approved.

Thursday 24th May

Well, 8.30am and we are on the road again! Thank goodness, because I tend to get restless and then homesick when I am not busy. Today, Dave is not feeling wonderful-I think he is getting a cold. So, I was at the helm, driving Garfield! It is quite challenging dodging the pot holes and I gained a new respect for Dave’s steering ability – it is not so easy when you are in the driver’s seat. To Dave’s credit, he never criticized my “pot hole dodging ability” or disability at times! But I think we are both better at filling our normal roles so hopefully he will be feeling better tomorrow.

We drove NW up to Murchison Falls. It took us about 4 hours to get to Masindi where we had a drink at the Masindi Hotel in their Hemingway Pub – supposedly named after Ernest Hemingway, the writer and a hunting enthusiast. Then we proceeded into Murchison National Park. All over, they knock non residents with dollar prices, and we had to pay $140 per vehicle to enter for 3 days! Anyway such is life – we will just have to work harder when we get home!

Friday 25th May

We had a very good nights sleep except for our visitors at 2am – Dave woke me up and said listen to that! – There next to Garfield was a mother hippo with her calf, chomping the grass! We had been warned that it was quite common for hippo to graze in this campsite but still when you actually heard the mighty jaws crunching away, it was quite scary! This morning Dave repaired yet another tyre puncture-we have lost count, although we have now replaced the tyre, as there must be a thorn embedded in the tyre that we cannot find. After lunch we are going on a boat cruise on the Victoria Nile to the base of the Murchison Falls. We have just had avo on toast for breakfast – the most beautiful avos that a local gave us in exchange for coke! We have hardly used all the tinned food that we brought with us, as we are primarily living off the land- eating plenty of tomatoes, bananas, sweet potatoes, cashew nuts, avos, pineapples and pawpaw etc. Meat, we have managed to buy at supermarkets in the bigger centres, and so I have not had to turn vegetarian yet! When we were in Kampala we had the chance to weight and Dave has lost 6kgs!!! Sadly, I have only lost 2kg so I am obviously eating his share of our food! Dave has had to buy a belt to hold up his jeans, and it still looks like he is wearing his big brothers pants!

The cruise up the Victoria Nile started at 2pm and the boat was full of tourists – quite a few Americans – it is the first time we have encountered crowds anyway on this trip. Within minutes we spotted loads of hippo – the most endearing being a mother with her calf standing ¾ ‘s out of the water. But from then on it was just a visual overload of birds, baboon, hippo, crocodile and antelope with the Jackson’s Hartebeest being a new sighting for us. After 2 hours we reached the base of the falls, or rather as close as we could get. What a spectacular sight – the Murchison Falls are 43 meters high and the sheer power of the water is amazing as the wide Victoria Nile is forced through a 7 meter wide cleft in the rocks – an electrifying sight! The trip back only took 1 hour as the boat was flowing with the currant.

Saturday 26th May

We woke up and packed up camp before taking the Paraa ferry across the Victoria Nile to the northern side of Murchison National Park where the bulk of the wild life is situated. We spent an enjoyable morning game and bird viewing and then went to Paraa Lodge for a drink before catching the ferry back to the southern side. We drove back a bit to camp at another campsite at the top of Murchison Falls. Now we were right next to the falls and the deafening roar of the water and the soaking spray really brought home to us the power of that water being forced through the narrow cleft in the escarpment. We did a walk to the bottom of the falls where we saw not only the main falls but also another section of waterfall to the N of the main waterfall. The falling water is snow white and is contrasted by the dark green, moss covered cliffs – altogether a beautiful sight.

Sunday 27th May

We drove out of the Murchison National Park through the Budongo Forest which was cool and green. Then we headed down S towards Fort Portal and the Ruwenzori Mountains. Traveling in Africa is never boring and today we saw a huge black pig strapped on its side on the back of a scooter! We couldn’t imagine how they got such a huge animal on to the scooter or what backache the poor pig would suffer from? We also crossed a river which was a thriving car wash business! It is quite comical to see all these cars parked in the river, being energetically soaped down. The roads today were dirt but in fairly good condition and we covered about 350kms which is very good going.

Thank goodness Dave is feeling much better, I had been starting to get quite concerned about him and had even done a malaria test on him(he really complained when I pricked his finger and said it felt like I had stabbed him right through to the bone!), but fortunately it was negative. And today he is definitely much better and full of his normal chirps!

Just before we reached Fort Portal our brake light came on and we stopped to discover that the rear brake fluid pipe had once again broken – it had been repaired in Marangu! We were just in a village when it happened so we pulled into a garage and 2 local mechanics dived in – as Will said they were like 2 monkeys let loose with a spanner box – and basically we had to ask to eventually ask them to get their heads out of there so that Dave, Will and Brian could do the work. Then they still charged us the equivalent of R250 for their labour! Anyway, the main thing is that we got on the road again.

We came 8kms W of Fort Portal to a campsite at Amabere Caves which is a beautifully lawned campsite with a proper flush toilet and a hot shower = paradise! Just as well there are good ablutions, as we are all covered in a film of red dust- Dave looks as if his beard has gone instantly red!

Tonight is the night and I am having a number 6 haircut! (Sorry Glyni but I have to join the other girls on this trip) I don’t know if I will be brave enough to put a photo of myself on the blog!!

Monday 28th May

We explored the surrounding area – Amabere Caves, a waterfall, forested area and a group of about 5 crater lakes. It was a good morning hike and it feels good to have done some exercise. Now this afternoon we are just catching up with chores and we will leave early tomorrow. I have made some yeast bread and we are going to bake it in the coals tonight.

The bread turned out beautifully and we had a real feast on warm, crusty bread with oodles of butter! Not too good for the diet.

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