Uganda

The Gorilla Trek had the feeling of the climax of the Uganda section of our trip, which it probably was, but the days following it have certainly measured up.

The day following the gorilla encounter, we headed a few hours west to Lake Bunyoni, hailed as "Uganda's Switzerland". There was not a Swiss Army Knife nor a block of cheese to be found (unfortunately for Mar), however we could see what they meant. The lake itself was enormous - it took us a good hour just to drive halfway around it - and it was surrounded on all sides by mountains. Stunningly beautiful. We were greeted by a two hour downpour (hello early rainy season), but it ended in time for us to walk around to the nearest village, see some of the local kids do a traditional dance, and we even managed to get a free boat ride back to our camp from some Slovenian missionaries (I think they liked the fact that we had been to their home country).

The next day we made the long drive to Jinja, long beloved by limerick writers needing a place that rhymes with "ninja". Not too much to report that day, but the following day we had perhaps our most thrilling day of the trip so far - white water rafting on the Nile River. Having little to no rafting experience, we were quite surprised to find that we would be tackling a number of Level 5's along the way. But we went along, and despite flipping the boat a few times, we survived with just a few scratches and a solid sunburn. Thankfully our guide decided to skip the Level 6 rapid known simply as "The Bad Place"... good call. So we had a fantastic time along a beautiful stretch of the Nile, and we met some great people. We even thought about heading back out today, but decided to relax, read, and nurse our sunburns with some cold bottles of Nile Beer instead. A wise choice, I think.

The pictures above are of Lake Bunyoni and rafting - Colin's in the back with the black helmet and Mar is the one near the center of the boat cowering in fear of losing a contact lens. And scroll down to see some more photos we uploaded today.

Tomorrow we leave Uganda to back to Kenya. It's 3 or 4 consecutive camping days ahead, so it may be a while until our next post. We hope all our family and friends are doing well... take care!

A few years back, on our trip to India, a woman on the trip (who will make an appearance on this blog in a months time) mentioned to us that her favorite travel experience was a trek to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda. I remember her description of the encounter as if she told me yesterday. A seed was planted. Couple that with my love of the movie made about the life of Dian Fossey and it's not a shocker that yesterday Colin and I trekked into the volcanic hills of Uganda to see these gentle giants for ourselves.

I believe in the last blog I said we'd be trekking in the Impenetrable Forest. This was a lie. We were actually in Mgahinga Park - a much smaller but just as dense park. There was nothing penetrable about the place so it really was an honest mistake. We drove by the Impenetrable one today if that counts. Anyway...

We left our lodge at 7am and after a VERY bumpy ride we arrived at the entrance to the Park. I believe "imposing" was the word Colin used to describe it. The top of the volcano and the surrounding hillsides were shrouded in a thick mist. The ranger told us that we might have to hike a good 5 hours to see the gorillas as they were on the move into the Congo. There were a few rain clouds in the sky so we put on our rain gear as a precautionary measure. Walking sticks in hand, we set out to find the gorillas.

We may have mentioned in the last posting that Uganda was beautiful - as green as Ireland in fact. This, of course, is due to the heavy amounts of rain the area receives over the course of 12 months. I think about 85% of their yearly rainfall fell on us during our hike. God bless Columbia sports rain pants and wide brim hats. I suppose the rain wouldn't have been so bad if the hike had been equivalent to say a stroll through Lincoln Park. But gorillas wouldn't be elusive if they were easy to spot would they?

Collectively Colin and I have hiked in many gorgeous parts of the world: The Cinque Terra in Italy, the Slovenian Alps, Yosemite Park, the hills of Vermont in the fall, etc. Nothing, in my opinion, was as amazing as hiking that volcano. The vegetation was incredibly thick; requiring a ranger to blaze a trail with a machete in front of us. Just as the rain picked up even more (if that is possible) we'd dip into dense bamboo forests where you had to squeeze yourself between shoots. Then pop out into lush greenery again. The mud was deep and slick so it was a challenge to stay upright or not lose a shoe to the sinkholes. So yes, perhaps the hardest hike (besides the time Rich and I were lost on the other side of Mount Mansfield) but may have made sighting the gorillas even more rewarding.

It happened without much warning. We were weaving our way through a maze of bamboo when the ranger just stopped and said "gorillas". WHAM. Right in front of us was the silverback just hanging out. We were about 8 feet away when a member of our group committed a cardinal gorilla trekking sin - she used her camera flash. Crash, bam, boom that silverback came charging out of the bamboo like kids coming down the stairs on Christmas morning. If I had any reservations that this was going to be like a visit to the zoo they were promptly scared out of me at that moment.

Lucky for us it was just a harmless warning. He settled himself comfortably on the grass nearby and we proceeded to take flashless photos and oggle every time he yawned or scratched himself. In all seriousness you could have given the guy a cup of coffee and a paper and he would have looked like any overweight guy on a Saturday morning. Soon we noticed another visitor peeking through the bamboo - a female gorilla and her 2 month old baby. They were quickly joined by the older brother who solicited a few "awws" from the girls in the group as he played lovingly with his dad the silverback.

We proceeded to move through the bamboo to see the rest of the troop. It was amazing how close we got to them - really just a few feet away. At one point, when I was a bit ahead of Colin, I turned back to motion to him to take a picture. As Colin was trying to decipher my "take a picture of this" hand movements, the silver back came strolling about 6 feet away from him - ripping through the bamboo like it was cotton candy. I almost screamed "Looook ooooout!" but then remembered cardinal rule number 2: No Shouting. It was totally intense and just about the coolest thing I've ever seen. We have plenty of pictures and video to share when we get home.

You can only spend an hour with the gorillas (which feels like 3 minutes) so we left unwillingly but totally satisfied by our encounter. The hike back to the base was much shorter as we all slid down the "path" which had turned into a river of mud. Exhausted but elated we said goodbye to our guides and headed back to our lodge. Note that the lodge we stayed in, Travellers Rest, has a rich history with the gorillas. It was the place Dian Fossey would come to take a break from her work. I was reading a book about her while looking out at the volcanic mountains where she conducted her research. It was one of those moments...

Special thanks to our friend Lee for her story which made such an impact and inspired this trip. Yay Lee! See you in Botswana! And another special thanks to Dian Fossey for all her early work with the gorillas. She may have gone off the deep end for awhile but her pioneer studies have helped keep these majestic and beautiful animals around for a while longer.

Okay - so I still haven't told you about our driver. Again, that is best saved for another post. Let's just say he's 28, South African and answers to the name Skank (or Skanky - which I prefer). The name suits him in many, many ways. Colin and I have grown incredibly fond of this character. He's almost impossible to describe in a blog so I might not even try. Thank God he's a good driver, though, as driving to Lake Binyoni - where we are hanging out today - was pretty trecherous. He also has a good way with matatu drivers - the crazy minivan drivers my friend Pat told me to watch out for (Side note to Pat: some little kid in one of the towns asked if we had a balloon. Hilarious.) His "good way" involves yelling "where did you get your license" out the window at them and tossing a random vegetable or whatever is handy at their car. Awesome. I can't fault the guy because he makes an amazing mac and cheese. The one thing I do give him endless razz about is his love of the show According to Jim. I need to beat it out of him.

Alright - must go. Skank is trying to lure us down to the bonfire for a Nile Special where I'm sure Colin and I will continue our debate as to whether Tuskar or Nile is the better African beer. Go, go Nile says I.

We head off to Jinja tomorrow for the "best white water rafting in the world." Also home of the mango worm that lays eggs in your damp clothing where they go on to hatch in your skin. Hmmm. Seems like we'll have to stay on the raft.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!