Uganda

We took the bus to Kampala on Saturday morning. As we stepped off the bus, the first things we saw were gigantic marabou storks. They are the scariest birds I have ever seen in my life, they live in the city and fly around like dinosaurs, eating rubbish. They kind of set the tone for Kampala. It’s big, it’s dirty, the traffic is insane. OK, we enjoyed the time we spent there, it’s a cool city, but idyllic Rwanda has us a bit spoilt. We’re not used to chaos! On the way out of the city we made the mistake of getting on boda bodas, with our rucksacks, in the pitch dark, and telling the drivers – we’re late for our bus, go as fast as you can! Being late for a bus seems to mean that you are exempt from the rules of the road, my driver shouted something at the traffic police about our bus and the policeman stood back to let us speed head first, the wrong direction, into oncoming traffic.  Seriously, it was scarier than white water rafting.

But apart from being scared of Kampala, I really loved Uganda. The first day Rose and I went white water rafting in Jinja. Aaaagh!!!! Is the only word to describe it. It was terrifying, in a brilliant way! We had so much fun. Even when the boat flipped over and we all went flying into the rapids, to be dragged along by the upside down raft, it was still brilliant. I’m surprised at how much I liked it, I’m not really a very brave person. In between rapids there was calm parts where we could chill out and go for a swim. The most surreal part was when I found myself swimming along in the Nile, having a chat with a man from the Indian army, who was nonchalantly telling me how to catch and kill a snake when you need to survive, a la Bear Grylls.

Then Rose, Isy and I went to Murchison falls. That was amazing! The first thing that happened when we arrived was a little pep talk, where we were warned about the hippos and warthogs that live in the campsite. Now, warthogs may look cute and fluffy, gormless even, but we were warned that if they smelled any food in our tents they would come barging in, ripping the tent to shreds, and then they would have no choice but to KILL us. (that last bit sounds dramatic, but it’s a direct quote)Thankfully, we managed to survive the threat of warthogs, but he did put the fear of God into some people, for example the unfortunate Portuguese man who put a lot of energy into getting rid of any trace of food from his pockets before he went to bed that night.

The three day safari was amazing. We had a drive around, and saw elephants, giraffes, hippos, zebra, buffalo and the best bit – lions and their cubs! There’s something really lovely about just seeing the animals hanging out in their own environment, and not cooped up and sad like in the zoo. We also went on a boat trip, we saw loads of crocodiles and elephants and buffalos and beautiful birds, and then we walked up to the top of the waterfall. That night, there was one more hippo sighting, right beside Isy’s tent. Then the next day we went chimp trekking. First we saw a chimps nest – I didn’t know they made nests. We heard the chimps before we saw them, shouting and jumping around the place. Then we got a bit closer to where they were feeding and saw a few running across the ground before they climbed up into the trees. We ended up standing right underneath a big group of them, and watched them swinging through the branches, eating and play fighting.

After all our excitement, we had an overnight journey to spend the last two days in eco domes in Byoona Amagara. For the last bit of our journey we clambered into a canoe, made from a hollowed out tree, and were rowed 50 minutes across the lake to the island. Along the way our driver (rower?) pointed out an island where unmarried mothers used to be left to die. When he told us that, the lake which had seemed quiet and serene, just started to feel a bit eerie. The Island we stayed on was like paradise. We slept in these big domes, which are kind of opened up so you kind of feel like you’re sleeping outdoors but you have a shelter. It was really quiet, somewhere beautiful to go when you feel like doing nothing and eating loads of food and reading and talking. A word of caution though – after a while in such a quiet place you might get restless, so if you’re thinking of going to Byoona Amagara make sure to bring people with you who you wouldn’t mind being stranded on a desert island with. The sort of people who will be happy to entertain you with games, singing, and murder mysteries, and not care if they confuse innocent Spanish ladies who happen to be around J

And that was our amazing holiday. Back to work tomorrow