A few more pics - part 7

A Cob, for you Mum!

Colourful Lizard at QENP

Shopping time at Lake Bunyonyi - taxi rank, Uganda

And the lovely Gorillas in Rwanda, family group

Mum and 8 month baby


The Gorilla blog will follow soon, hopefully!

A few more pics - part 6

Black and White Colobus monkey at Lake Nkuruba

Yes!! Sue fishing on Lake Albert, Uganda

Gone for lunch?


Oh and me at it too!!

Crossing equator in Uganda

A few more pics - part 5

Amazing African cattle having a swim

A light load, believe me they get much bigger!

Another amazing cow with HUGE horns

Ladies sifting rice in Hoima, Uganda

Lake Nkuruba, Uganda

A few more pics - part 4

Flamingos on Lake Bogorio, Kenya

What a stink at the Lake Bogorio hot springs!

The hot springs!

Somewhere in western Kenya, name escapes me!

Murchison Falls, Uganda

A few more pics - part 3

Fasilidas' palace in Gonder, Ethiopia

Buying spices in Gonder market

Sunrise at Lake Tana, Ethiopia

Crossing the Koroli Desert in Western Kenya

On the way to Maralal in Kenya

A few more Pics - part 2

Amazing Lalibella in Ethiopia

more Lalibella ...

more Lalibella ... kind of liked the place!!

Colourful church in Ethiopian Highlands

On the road to Axum, Ethiopia, time for coffee ... oh and haircuts

A few more Pics - part 1

Sue's favorite buck, a Gerenuk or ET as she calls them

On the long road to Moyale, time for coffee and plug Paul and Lizzie's radiator ... again!

Ah delicious Ethiopian injera and some fasting food!

Anyone need a reliable runner, one careful owner

Our new house, well one of many new homes being built in Ethiopia, gets covered in mud next

The Queen Elizabeth NP, Lake Bunyonyi, and Me

Well I guess when you are someone important then you get things named after
you! I am not aware that HRH has set foot inside 'her' park since her visit
some 50 years ago although Prince Phillip was here only a couple of years
back (probably to shoot some animals) but I would think she might be a bit
sad at the current state of the place. Now don't get me wrong it is nice and
will potentially one day be great again but there is a long way to go until
then. The wildlife is still recovering from the bad years in Uganda and the
infrastructure is still somewhere short of perfect. But despite all that we
had a great 3 nights there.
Leaving Semliki on the Sunday morning after much deliberation of whether to
stay or not was quite easy in the end. It was a great spot up at Ntoroko and
we felt we could have stayed there a few days. However Sunday morning came,
another bright sunny morning, and we felt we had to move on. The disturbance
of staff from the Semliki Lodge preparing a boat for guests to 'hunt down'
the Shoebill made it feel like we had lost our perfect spot, so we set of to
the QENP. Stopping off briefly in Fort Portal again to buy beers and visit
the market we then took the good tar road all the way to the park via
Kasese.
Our first stop before reaching the park, the Equator again. No song and
dance at this crossing, no shops, no buckets of swirling water, just a
couple of signs and a photo opportunity. Then we stopped off briefly at the
QENP information centre to chat to Moses, yep he works there, and try and
glean some information on the available campsites. Suitably armed with the
required information, we then proceeded to the Kabatoro Gate to pay our fees
and head for camp. As usual we can never fully decide on a plan so we paid
fees for a single night with the option of topping them up if needed. Our
destination was a bush camp just down the track from Mweya called Campsite 1
(S0 10.678 E29 55.104). Good name, and the one next to it is called, yep
Campsite 2. Despite the unimaginative name the site was perfect. Just us and
the bush, positioned high up above the channel that links Lake Edward and
Lake George. Facilities, pit latrine. It was a delightful place despite the
annoying little flies that pestered us. After a peaceful night, no wild
animals in camp, we popped along to Mweya to pay for the camping and also
top up our park fees as we had made a plan to stay in the park for 3 nights.
Whist there we topped up the water tanks, had some breakfast, and then set
off to see the wildlife. The Queen has a couple of tracks named in her
honour too, and the Leopard track was presumably named after all the
Leopards in the area, assuming there are actually any there as we saw none.
The bush is quite dense in that area of the park and spots were few and far
between. Quite a few birds were around, and we saw one nice herd of
Elephant, a few Cobs, and the odd Warthog. After exiting that area of the
park at the Katunguru Gate we headed east across the main road to the
Kasenyi area with the possibility of lions. This area is not gated so we did
wonder if you actually needed to pay to drive in it at first but then we
were stopped by two UWA rangers who checked our park fee receipt. It was
much more open in Kasenyi but still fairly quiet on the animal front. There
very well might be Lions but alas we saw none, just average numbers of Cob,
Waterbuck, and Buffalo. It was a pleasant drive but as time was pushing on
we made tracks back to the main road and crossed the Kazinga Channel that
divides the park north / south and before entering again popped along to see
the Kyambura Gorge and have lunch. The gorge is quite impressive but not awe
inspiring. Driving up to it you would never know it was there as it is a
huge rift in the fairly flat landscape. It is best described as a sunken
forest and is home to some habituated Chimpanzees.
Re-entering the NP our aim was initially the Jacana Camp but we never saw
the turning. The road that passes thru this section of the park is a public
road and thus busy with trucks in transit between Uganda and the DRC. We did
get stuck in a traffic jam at a bridge. A road work water tanker that had
filled its belly from the poor dwindling stream had broken down where they
had parked it blocking the bridge. Thankfully only about 30 minutes later
normal service was resumed and we managed to skip past the queue of trucks
that had built up. As Jacana was not an option we amended our plan to stay
at Ishasha Camp instead (S0 37.154 E29 39.668). Blimey the place was busy,
probably 3 separate tour groups, and not our peaceful bush camp from the
previous night. The facilities were not much better, pit latrine and a cold
shower, but it was just fine. This is where our visit to the park hit a
downturn. That night I slept for only about 10 minutes, nothing to do with
the warthogs and Hippos snorting and snuffling in the camp. (Sue's comment -
loads of hippos were munching around the car and she got to watch them -
brave me, Matt was too knackered to look). The following morning I was
knackered and had no energy. I initially put it down to dehydration and we
relaxed for the day and I drank plenty of water. It was quiet in camp as
everyone else had packed up and left so we had a nice day despite my
ailment. Peace and quiet was briefly interrupted in the afternoon by a
thunderstorm, but thankfully come nightfall I had managed the odd doze here
and there and caught some good sleep overnight too.
Feeling somewhat better the following morning we packed up camp early and
went for a game drive. Plenty of Cob, Elephant, Buffalo, and some good new
bird spots, but not a sight of the alleged 'Tree Climbing Lions' that live
in the area. So instead of staying another night we hit the road just before
lunch to Kabale and Lake Bunyonyi. Mufasa's belly was getting a touch light
as we had not filled up since Kampala some 1200km ago, so a quick splash and
dash in Kihihi, and then the slow road thru the hills down to Kabale. All
was going so well and then we hit a snag. As usual we passed all sorts on
the road and most of the people wave and gesture as if they want you to stop
so they can hitch a lift of ask for 'gifts'. One chap was most insistent but
we just passed on by. About 10 minutes later we found out why, the road was
shut. A river had flooded the road and the main road we needed was only
about 2km past the river. We had seen no other road for miles and had
visions of having to drive most of the 100km back to where we had come from
before finding an alternative. Backtracking up the hill we this time stopped
at the chap who had tried to stop us previously. 'Why didn't you stop' he
asked 'I was going to tell you the road is closed!'. We tried to explain
that if we stopped for every frantically waving person we would have only
travelled about 100km in 4 months! Anyway, he kind of explained that there
was a 'new' road around the problem and we eventually found it. Road, or
narrow muddy track down the side of a hill? Things came to a halt briefly
when we met a pickup coming up the track. After some negotiation and
manoeuvring we managed to get around it and continued down the 'perilous'
descent. Things were not much better when we eventually reached the main
road as that was under repair.
Eventually we managed to reach Kabale and looked for bread and beer. The
muffins from the Hot Loaf Bakery were dry and more like biscuits, obviously
not a Ugandan staple, and the beer very expensive. So armed only with a loaf
of bread which we hoped would be more like bread than the muffins were
muffins we set off down to Lake Bunyonyi and the Bunyonyi Overland Camp (S1
16.314 E29 56.276). Again the night was not good and I was up several times,
now with diarrhoea, stomach ache, more than my usual quota of flatulence,
and what Sue described as 'eggy burps'. Managing to eventually make daylight
we consulted our 'what you might be dying from' medial book and diagnosed
Giardia, a form of bacterial diarrhoea. We did bring some antibiotics with
us, but not the specific one we needed. Thankfully after chatting with one
of the staff at the camp he offered to mercy dash to Kabale and try and buy
some for us, which he managed. Hopefully now I am on the mend, and we will
depart here over the weekend and head to Rwanda relatively fit and healthy
ready for the chance of spotting the Gorillas.
Our spot at the Bunyonyi camp is right on the waters edge and is very nice
indeed, and thankfully we have flushing toilets here and not a pit latrine,
what a nightmare that would have been!!!

Addendum to the message from the birthday girl

For those interested parties I will fill in the missing information from the Birthday Girls blog entry, the coords of where we were.
Whilst in the Semliki GR we passed thru the Semliki Lodge (N0 54.525 E30 21524) on the way to the Chimp Researchers Camp (N0 53.589 E30 22.685). Eventually we made it to the Ntoroko Campsite (N01 03.437 E30 32.749) on the shore of Lake Albert. Normal service will be resumed soon!

message from the birthday girl....

Thanks for all the birthday messages, I had a great day.

Saturday 13 Sep - Thought it about time I did a bit of an update. Currently
sitting on the southern shores of Lake Albert in the Semliki Valley game
reserve. It is boiling hot even though there is a cool breeze blowing in off
the lake. Although we can't complain as we wanted sunshine and warm weather
when we left Ethiopia and that's what we're getting. Don't think it'll last
too long as we'll probably be in the rain forests in the not too distant
future.

Can't remember when Matt wrote his last blog so if I repeat any of it...
ignore it. We spent 3 nights at Lake Nkuruba and didn't really do much at
all apart from chill out and watch the monkeys and birds. We had dinner
there one night and decided we should try the local Ugandan food, so we
ordered matoke with groundnut sauce and cassava with beef. Matoke is mashed
plantains (some sort of green banana) and when cooked it is slightly like
mashed potato but not as nice and as for the groundnut sauce - it looked
like cat puke, but we did eat it. Cassava is a bit like parsnip but drier
and once we'd mashed it up in the beef gravy it wasn't too bad. Luckily
enough we don't have to eat local food every night.

We came down to Semliki valley game reserve on Thursday and stopped off at
the Semliki lodge for a drink. Have to experience the life of luxury now and
again but I'll do without it if it means no going back to work. We had lunch
at the lodge courtesy of the US Coastguard. No they didn't pay. When we
arrived we asked if it was possible to have lunch and as they normally only
cater for the guests staying there Kristin (runs the lodge with her husband
Mark) said if there was food leftover she'd be able to sort something for
us. Luckily for us there was. It was much appreciated, and free!

We then went through to the chimp research camp to find out if we would be
able to do a chimp trek the following day. They said it would be fine and we
could join the researchers on their walk which would leave at about 6.00am.
We camped at the research camp and woke up next morning to thunder and
lightning and a bit of rain. We joined Justice (ranger with the medicine -
rifle), Charlotte and Phineas (both students from Cambridge) and had to walk
to the forest in the dark and luckily didn't encounter any lions, buffalo or
any other wild beast. We got to the forest as the chimps were de-nesting
(getting out of bed). We spent about 6 hours in the forest with them and
they had quite a lazy day, which meant we did too as we didn't have to
follow them for miles. The noise they make when they call is quite
disturbing as it sounds as if they are really aggressive. It was really
special to spend time with the chimps and to see what they get up to. A
birthday I won't forget in a hurry.

After that we headed to the campsite on the lakeshore via the lodge, had to
have a birthday drink didn't I! Matt then cooked a veggie curry with coconut
milk - it was delicious and then we had some of my birthday pressie,
Cadbury's chocolate. And don't forget the beer. Then it was into the tent to
wait for the hippo's to come out to graze but I didn't see them and Matt
sure didn't as he was fast asleep.
Today we decided it was time to do something completely different - ready
for this Oz - we tried fishing. Didn't catch anything although we had to be
really careful not to catch birds. Not what you think , the birds were
flying past when we were casting and it looked at times like they wanted to
eat our lures. Will try again tomorrow. Oh and Matt nearly caught a Pied
Kingfisher that was very interested in the lure in the water, needless to
say he reeled it in post haste!

Latest news on ablutions - decided that bush showers and bucket showers are
the best as they are outside and you don't have to go into any grotty dingy
damp rooms. As for loos, long drops are still gross especially when Matt
tells me he has seen bats flying in them. So when we get back to
civilization please don't worry if we go out into your garden for a pee or
shower!

Only got about 7 weeks left, how time flies.

From the Amazing Murchison Falls to the tranquillity Lake Nkuruba

We took advice from the Bushcats on which road to take north to the
Murchison Falls NP, they suggested the road via Hoima and then up from
there. Thankfully we got better advice from the people at the Red Chilli
site in Kampala, no offense! So we took the main road up from Kampala direct
to Masindi avoiding Hoima, saving about 40km and I will get to the Hoima to
Masindi road later!. It was hard work getting out of Kampala at first. We
thought we had managed to skirt around the busy centre only to find one hell
of a mess to negotiate at the start of the road north. We ducked into a
garage to fill Mufasa's tanks and to get out of the scrum for a minute or
two. It was a very busy road and for the first 5 to 10km under construction
so we did wonder on the advice from the people at Red Chilli. But just like
the miracle of the sun pushing through the clouds on a wet and horrible day
the tarmac appeared and it was new and good too. So we whooshed along almost
all the way to Masindi without any problems. There was one stretch around
Nakasongola (N1 18.556 E32 25.653) that was poor for about 40km but after
that it was good again until not far short of Masindi where we caught up
with the road works. The road had almost been finished but for a stretch of
about 5km where it was very new they had laid speed humps every 15m, so it
was a slow 5km and a bit bumpy. We stopped along the way to buy some fruit
and veg and also our first lot of charcoal. The Jiko so far has only been
used with wood and our left over charcoal from SA, so new territory here and
we just hope the stuff burns!
As we had made good time and it was only just after lunch arriving in
Masindi and we decided to pass thru continuing on to the Murchison Falls NP
as we would probably be stopping at Masindi on the way back. Before leaving
town Sue made a dash to the market to try and get some additional supplies
and I kept guard over Mufasa and plotted the route.
The road north was dirt but pretty good and we made the gate to the park in
good time and the opportunity to pay our first UWA (Uganda Wildlife
Authority) fees. By comparison to the parks in Tanzania and Kenya things are
pretty good here. The category A parks are $25/$35/$50 for 1/2/3 nights per
person and $40 for Mufasa. Sounds expensive, but the good thing is that you
only pay the truck fee once no mater how long you stay and if you stay more
than 3 nights it is still only $50 per person. So a week in the Ugandan
parks can be pretty good value. We decided on 2 nights and paid the friendly
lady at the desk our USD and then hit the park. The southern part of the
park below the Nile is mostly animal free due to poaching when things were
bad in Uganda, and the northern part has most of the game. The landscape
also makes a difference as it is mostly thick forest in the south and open
savannah in the north. Our first stop was the Kaniyo Pabidi Eco Tourism site
in the Budongo Forest. Now Sue had wanted stay there for the night and
perhaps do the Chimpanzee tracking in the morning. First problem was they no
longer had camping and second was the $40 per person they wanted for the
Chimps. Yes cheaper than say the Kibale Forest near Fort Portal which is
$70, and yes we will probably pay $500 each to see the Gorillas, but as they
wouldn't let us camp we had no choice but to pass on the Chimps and head up
to the falls instead. It was a shame but hopefully we might see the Chimps
elsewhere.
So back on the track we were stopping now and again to check out any birds
we saw and suddenly before we knew it we were in Tsetse fly country!! They
go mad seeing the moving truck especially a white one and when you stop they
swarm around you. If you are foolish enough to have a window open at the
point of stopping they flood into the car and proceed to chomp on you! Yes I
may have over stated things a bit but it is still no fun. So we proceeded to
the falls with windows shut and blower on full, no aircon, and had to look
at birds thru closed windows. We were dreading getting to the campsite at
the falls and having to get out of Mufasa and face the flies but thankfully
when we stopped and got away from the truck things were not too bad. After a
while most of the buggers got fed up and moved on to find another target
leaving only a few pesky comrades behind. Spraying ourselves with the deet
mosquito repellent seemed to help but they still manage to bite you thru
your socks or shirts. For those in the northern hemisphere they are kind of
the African equivalent of Horseflies.
Anyway, the Top of Falls camp site (N2 16.552 E31 41.386) was fab and we had
it to ourselves. We were parked up above the Nile looking down at the
stretch that ends up at the falls, about 1km to the west of the site. The
water was pretty choppy already at that point, I presume getting all excited
about its great passage over and down the falls! We had a nice camp fire
using up the last of our large wood and cooked rump steak, pumpkin and
jacket potatoes, all washed down with a cold beer or two, bliss! The hippos
down in the river that we could hear in the afternoon made their way thru
camp during the night, saw their huge footprints in the morning, but alas we
did not see them.
The morning came and after breakfast we took a walk over to the falls. Wow!
The mighty White Nile which is over a 100m wide at this point squeezes
itself thru a 7m gorge before plummeting down to the rocks below. As you can
imagine it is quite a sight and noisy too!! We had exclusive viewing of the
falls as the tours only arrive later on in the day. The best viewpoint of
the falls is a great spot but very wet as the vast clouds of spray soak you
and the camera equipment too!
Back in camp the Jiko was lit at lunch time using some wood so that Sue
could cook up dinner early leaving the evening free. Later on we lit it
again using some of the previously acquired charcoal, burned very well, to
heat up the bolognaise sauce Sue made earlier and the pasta to go with it.
It was another blissful evening in the wilds and the minibus with 3 Germans
who appeared late afternoon parked elsewhere in the quite large camp so we
were still alone at our spot.
After our two very pleasant nights at the falls, could have easily stayed
longer, it was time to move on again and we left the park out of the western
gate after stopping off at the Red Chilli camp near the ferry across the
river for a quick soda. The ferry takes you across to the northern side, but
the cost is quite steep and we had decided to keep the money for use at one
of the other parks. I saw on the GPS that there was a road that went past
the Nile Safari Lodge west of the ferry and then down to join the exit road
to the gate. We asked at the Red Chilli if we could go that way but the
barman was a bit vague and I wasn't sure if he really knew what we were
asking. So despite him saying 'no' we ventured that way. In hindsight
perhaps he did understand as the road got very rough and narrow and in the
end we had to about turn, 43 point turn, and backtrack to take the official
route out. However we did see a few great bird spots on our misguided
excursion so it was well worth it in the end.
After leaving the park we headed west and then south along the shore of Lake
Albert. The border between Uganda and DRC runs down the middle of the lake
for its 150km length, so more of a sea than a lake. We stopped off at
Butiaba on the lake shore for a quick stretch of the legs and to gaze across
at the Monts Bleus in the DRC before heading inland towards Biso. At Biso I
again got it wrong! I knew that the road from Biso to Masindi was not on the
GPS and despite a very clear sign telling me which way to go I blindly
followed the GPS and headed off following the road it was showing towards
Hoima instead. My excuse, concentrating on the road! After a brief 2km
diversion we were on the right road and made good time to Masindi. Again Sue
had her hopes dashed as another option she had picked out for staying at and
viewing Chimps were again dashed on the rocks. The Busingiro Eco Tourism
site no longer had Chimp tracking but they did still offer camping but for
the silly price of Ush18000 each, do they think all Mzungus are fools? The
camp was not the greatest and we had hoped for Chimp tracking there but I
think they must have either eaten the Chimps or relocated them to the Kaniyo
Pabidi Eco Tourism site as that now falls inside the Murchison Falls NP and
you pay parks fees to visit it! Cynic, me? Sue's final option along the road
was the 'Royal Mile' in the Budongo Forest that allegedly offers the best
bird watching in Uganda, but we never saw the signs for it. So instead we
ended up at Masindi and the Masindi Hotel (N1 41.524 E31 42.879).
What a nice hotel, very colonial. The grounds around the back that we camped
in were very smart and we decided to treat ourselves to drinks and dinner in
the restaurant as it looked good and not too pricey. We had eventually made
up our minds on what to eat but at the last minute Sue was informed of the
buffet available so for the same money we filled our boots with several
helpings of delicious food from the buffet instead. Suitably stuffed we made
our way back to Mufasa and slept on full bellies!
It rained quite hard during the night, the tent was very wet and we needed
an early start to get off to Fort Portal. However, things went slowly that
morning. I dried the tent off, the sun was still hiding, Sue had a cold
shower but the water ran out. I then managed to have a shower in one of the
hotel rooms after Sue had complained at reception, and we eventually hit the
road at about 09h30. Needless to say that the sun came out just after we had
zipped up the soggy tent!!
We knew that the road from Masindi to Hoima was going to be poor as the Red
Chilli people had warned us, and thus why we had not used it coming up from
Kampala! Yes it was a mud road and it was bumpy and full of holes, so it was
slow going to Hoima. Strangely enough the road in Hoima itself was good tar!
Virtually the whole trip we had experienced good roads which fell apart in
the towns and were then good again the other side, here it was the reverse.
We stopped in Hoima briefly for bread. Sue managed to find some rolls and
also some Mandazi, the local triangular shaped doughnut. The Mandazi didn't
last long when we stopped for coffee later on! As usual we had a few
onlookers but they soon wandered off when they realized we were just crazy
Mzungus having coffee. The lunch stop later on for avocado sandwiches was a
bit more crowded. We found a nice open patch of ground to park on not
realising we were just next a small village. The locals heard our arrival
and all came for a look and see!
The bumpy holed road continued all the way to Kyenjojo on the main Kampala /
Fort Portal road when we were again reunited with smooth tar. Our options
were limited for a camp site. We first checked out the UWA site just off the
main road before Fort Portal. The site was ok but as it kind of fell in the
Kibale Forest NP they wanted us to pay park fees to stay there, easy
decision, bye. Instead we headed off south of Fort Portal to Lake Nkuruba
and the community campsite there (N0 31.102 E30 18.135). What a great
choice. The site is fab and situated just above the lake, a crater lake in
an extinct volcano. It is lush and tree lined with a view down to the lake
and very peaceful here, not to mention fairly cheap. The bird life and
wildlife here is also very good. Many a new bird spot has been made and we
have also been privileged to see both the Red Colobus and Black & White
Colobus Monkeys that live in the forests around the lake.
I think we will hole out here for 2 or 3 nights and then head back up thru
Fort Portal to the Semliki WR and another meeting with Lake Albert. The menu
at the restaurant looks good so we might sample some Ugandan delights one
night.

Mufasa blows a fuse or two, but we are determined to keep our heads above water!

They say that Jinja on the north shore of Lake Victoria is the adrenalin
centre of East Africa, if not the whole of Africa with the current situation
in Zimbabwe and the Vic Falls. Say no more we just had to get there and see
what near death experiences were on offer!
It is nice to have a short drive for a change and despite Mufasa blowing a
fuse the journey down to Jinja was uneventful. The fuse seems to be a
problem that is related to the washer and reverse light issues that have
cropped up so far. The reverse lights were now working after I had fixed the
switch (read glued it together) in Eldoret, but the fuse for the
washer/speedo and now as it turns out the reverse lights keeps blowing.
Story to be continued later!
Anyway, we headed to Jinja and the Bujugali Falls on the Nile about 9km
north of town. They are more rapids than falls and they will soon be gone
with the planned dam that is due to be constructed just down stream of the
falls. Our home for 2 nights the Eden Lodge (N0 29.082 E33 09.703) is a few
minutes walk from the falls and we almost had the camp grounds to ourselves.
There is a huge camping area that is grassy and dotted with huge trees, and
most peaceful. The bird life in the grounds is fab and kept us both busy.
The Bujugali Falls are the play ground for the white water river rafting
companies that operate on the Nile. We ventured down on the Sunday morning
to see them and hopefully watch some lucky punters wash up from their
adventure! The falls / rapids are pretty spectacular and are a grade 5 in
the white water rafting scales, i.e. death defying. Sure enough after a
short wait the lucky punters appeared. My God, it looked terrifying watching
from the safety of the river bank let alone being bashed around in the raft.
Two rafts went through, the first lost 2 or 3 punters, and the second passed
thru unscathed. Did it make us want to try it, not on your life! Everyone
was safely recovered.
On leaving Eden Lodge we hit downtown Jinja, not a bad place at all, a nice
African town. It is obviously a bit scruffy and suffered in Uganda's bad
years, but you can see the signs of it turning into a real place to be. Sue
was not too keen on all the fruit bats we saw down near the river,
especially when they left their roosts and flocked in numbers above our
heads. The other draw in town is the 'Source of the Nile', i.e. where the
lake ends and the river starts. Can you believe they wanted Ush10,000 each
plus Ush2,000 for Mufasa for us to drive down and see it. Needless to say we
said 'NO' and parked just up the road and saw it all from a great free
viewpoint! Crazy! Then it was time for the short drive to Kampala.
Once again we lost another fuse on the way, bugger. However we now have an
idea of what might be going on. As the fuse is on the circuit for
washer/speedo/reverse lights we have a theory that the damaged reverse
switch on the gearbox is now shorting the circuit and blowing the fuse as it
blew when I put Mufasa into reverse. Coincidence we don't know but I have
now disconnected the reverse switch and bagged and tapped the connector, so
watch this space. Just need to buy some more fuses!
The traffic coming into Kampala was grim as we had read it would be.
Thankfully our destination, Red Chilli Rest Camp (N0 19.205 E32 37.798) is
on the eastern side of town so for the moment we don't have to pass thru the
city and the worst of the traffic. Before hitting camp we made our way to
the Lugogo Mall, home of Shoprite and Game amongst others, basically an
ex-pat shopping centre. Very nice it was to and we stocked up on a couple of
essentials and will hit it again before leaving town to keep us going on the
road for a while.
So apart from a huge thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, tent wasn't erected,
it is hot and sunny in Kampala, but I think we might get another downpour
later! They have free internet here which is great if not very much in
demand, overland trucks stop here, and also a tad slow. It is a wireless
network but we don't have wireless on the laptop to make use of it, and
there is an ethernet connection free to plug the laptop into but I can't get
that to work either! Anyone got a Networks for Dummies book handy?
Next stop for us the Murchison Falls NP and our first taste of wild Uganda,
oh and the expensive parks fees too!