U G A N D A

After a fickle English summer the thought of a 4-month jaunt through Africa enroute to Aotearoa was a pleasing one indeed. But Africa is a big place with many wonderful visitor attractions including some where the attractions are not just physical. We knew Kenya was to be our first stop and then onto Zanzibar, but that left 2 weeks to fill in. Kenya is the dominant tourist spot for East Africa but 35 years free of colonialist yoke has lead it to be lazy towards the tourists almost taken them to be granted. Nairobi is just plan shit and whilst there are some beautiful beaches and wonderful reserves we wanted something extra. Hiking in the Siemen Mountains in Northern Ethiopia was definitely on but so was the war with Eritrea. Climbing Kilimanjaro sounded great but a lot of hard work and very expensive (Park fees alone of $100 US a day) and anyway if you are going to climb mountains why not do it in the mountains not the plains of Africa.

Then an inspired TV producer suggested UGANDA. Like hundreds of others we had not even thought of Uganda because of the slaying of the Gorilla trekking tourists just months before. How wrong we where not to though as we discovered on our voyage of discovery. The guide books where fairly skint on their advice on Uganda and not wanting to join the masses going overland in a mobile version of the Walkabout Tavern our adventure started in Nairobbery. The local tourist operators weren't keen to send you there, as they wanted us here. One overland guide suggested that we locate Nile River Backpackers in Jinja so with that bit of knowledge we left. It was virtually a matter of getting the compass pointing east and catching a bus going in that direction.

Well at least we have been going in the right direction was our thought when we arrived at the Kenya Nairobi border, but that still did not help the confusion as people livestock and shit were flying everywhere. After paying the appropriate fee Uganda was entered on foot in search of a Matuta (minibus) to Jinja. I don't know if Barry Crump ever did any ads for the Toyota Hi ace van but he could learn a few tricks from the East African Matuta drivers, anything under 20 people in a van was considered not enough plus there had to be at least one goat per van, then just drive straight and fast using the horn as a brake. The scenery changed from the dry plains of the rift valley to the verdant landscape around Lake Victoria the mother of the River Nile.

Finally Jinja was approached in a misty tropical haze (actually full blown thunderstorm) and the next mission was to find the so-called Nile River Backpackers. Young boys were anxious to take us there on their boda boda's (bicycle taxi with a padded carrier seat for the passenger) even though this muzingo (white person) with pack was coming in at 120kg. They had faith so I had faith and off we went on trip around town to find our digs. Struggling through the rain with the locals pissing their pants at us somehow we ended up at our destination.

What an oasis it was cold beer and satellite tv and grade five whitewater, but that was not the best part. We could stay in town or be taken to the campsite 5km out of town on the Banks of the River Nile. High above the river on terraced steps we set up camp in amongst the Banana plantations and the local village. The shower and shitter had a spectacular view of the rapid known as the Silverback and after the 15hr trip from Nairobi it was heaven.

The next few days where spent getting a lot of downtime on the river due to mad French guide and learning the environs of Jinja. Before Amin came along Jinja was quite a prosperous town to escape to for the weekend.There were some stunning art deco places now infested with weeds and the local country club had a golf course swimming pool plus squash and tennis courts.

The rafting was only $65US for the whole day including lunch on the river and beer and braai afterwards. The locals where more than happy to help out the tourists showing you around the market and showing you whom had the biggest melons.

An overnight trip to Queen Vic Falls was to be arranged but with time always a factor the decision was made to head to the SouthWest and find some gorillas. The boys at the backpackers did some ringing around and instructed us to get to Kabale and find a bloke could Roger at the local Hotel who would arrange for our permits to see our cousins. Like any journey in Africa 500km in a matatu was through a myriad of landscapes but we arrived in one piece and were once again amazed at what we saw. Leaving the lush green surrounding Lake Victoria traveling through vast plans of the hinterland before hitting the mountainous and very green SouthWest.

Terraced plots have been hacked out of the tropical jungle with the rich soil ready to be swept down into the rivers and lakes below with the next downpour. This part of Africa has been called little Switzerland for its mountainous terrain and numerous lakes. It also has one of the highest population densities in rural Africa. This puts a strain on the land as precious tropical jungle is cleared for agriculture. The combination of altitude and latitude give rise to climate that is never to dry for growing leading to an abundance of tropical foods

Arriving in Kibale at dusk the Imans' call to prayer added to the confusion of a bustling market town on a frontier of the wilds of Central Africa. We located the dude who would arrange for our gorilla passes. After filling out several forms in triplicate we had secured what we had came for - tickets to see our closest primate cousins in action. The dude arranged for us to stay at his campground; initially sceptical it turned out to be the most magical campground in Africa. Over a pass from Kibale we found Lake Bunyoni nestled at the foot of a huge flooded valley. Utter serenity except for the truckload of overland boguns getting drunk to bad kiwi/aussie rock. Fresh fish and rice where prepared and the heavy rain soon drowned out yet another rendition of the Dude's"Bliss".

We could have stayed an age but the gorillas where to be seen with another mutatu to be caught to get to Kisoro - the nearest town to Maningninga National Park. This wasn't an ordinary ride however; the world record of 25 humans, two goats and 500 copies of the local rag where shoved in the Hiace. Put that with torrential rain on a corrugated dirt track over a mist laden mountain pass made for a harassing journey. Somewhat white knuckled we arrived at Kisoro taking some 3 ½ hours to travel the 70 km to a town that really was on the edge of civilisation. Within 15km of both the Rwandan and Congolese border the proximity of such atrocities showed on the demeanor of the locals.

The posters in the park headquarters in town where an indication of what was to come. They where proclaiming friendliness towards tourists as tourism was a lifeline for regions such as this. Sadly since the incident with some Rwadan rebels where several western gorilla seekers were hacked to death, tourist numbers had dropped by over 50%. Where before the incident punters waited up to a week to get on the six person daily excursion we were the only people to visit the fellas in the bush that week.

Shem from the local village at the entrance to the park came down and picked us up in his Ute to take us back to his patch. Whilst dodging the ubiquitous goat potholes and wandering people he told us of the great feast planned for the evening in honour of an American biologist who heading back stateside after 3 months studying the local birdlife. With good humour we sat down and drank, ate and danced with the locals and talked about local coming and goings. Shem had big ideas - we had tired bones and the excitement of tomorrow lead us to bed.

With a platoon of Ugandan army regulars patrolling the jungle we felt safe and the local guides were cheerful in fact extremely happy to show some mizungo their local treasures. Due to the rain of the last week the gorillas were not far away as they didn't need to walk far to find water. This would save us from a fruitless 10-hour slog through dense jungle at high altitude that some gorilla searchers endure. After a mere 1 hour we came across sign of gorilla habitation, a large shit in a nest the family had used the previous night.

The next hour seemed timeless as first the two silverbacks tested our mettle with a couple of runs just a few metre's in front of us pounding their chests with the enthusiasm of a testosterone charged bogun. After the silverbacks sat back the rest of the family including 3 females 2 juveniles and two infants came out to gawk and laugh and the stupid humans.

With rolls of film snapped off, the trek back down the hill, over the pass in the mutatu along the plains and through the valley to civilisation was begun.

Happy memories of friendly people eager to please, scenery so diverse and mountains of tropical fruit, Uganda was departed and the next verse of the African Odyssey was entered.

Contact: framoors@yahoo.com