Uganda in September

   

8th September 2016

Our trip to Uganda has more or less been planned over two years. Our Lesotho group (earlier volunteers we worked with in Africa) had agreed to meet in Uganda. This was because we have met once a year at Whitsun for the last 30 years, and because two of our number are working in Uganda at the moment, it was here we would meet to celebrate our 30th anniversary,

We were 22 altogether, but we all booked our accomodation and trip down individually, because some would stay longer than others. Our meeting would be in the form of a safari trip to Queen Elizabeth Park. Karen and me decided to stay at Carpe Diem in Entebbe. A fantastic place to stay. Good rooms, breakfast out on the big terrace they had overlooking the garden and the airport in the distance. You could just choose what you wanted for breakfast. I had English breakfast for he three days we stayed there. Yes we are in paradise again.

 

Breakfast on the terrace of Carpe Diem

We were a bit spread out in Entebbe, but we all eventually met up at Lise and Jespers house. They had invited us to a welcome get together. Drinks food and entertainment, plus someone from the Danish embassy who brought us up to date with the situation in Uganda today. We tried out the golf course in Entebbe where Jesper and Lise play. Not the best course we have played on, but the excercise was good.

12th until the 14th of September

After three days we were ready for our first trip. Because we were so many, we needed three mini buses for the trip to Queen Elizabeth park. Karen was in charge of a system, where we were moved around, so we didn't travel in the same bus, or with the same people everyday. It was great. After breakfast every morning, Karen informed everyone which bus they were travelling in. It was the surprise of the day.

 

 
 

We have been in Uganda before, but it's not a country you get tired of visiting. The scenery around Queen Elizabeth is quite fantastic. We all had a fantastic view from our accommodation at the Baboon Safari Lodge. We could see a bull elephant down in the bush. We think it was his area, because he stayed there for a couple of days.

 

 

 

Definitely keeeping an eye on us

Local bus service???

   
The accomodaation at Baboon Lodge was first class, as was all our accomodation throughout our joint trip. The whole lodge is built on he side of a mountain, so the views were out of this world. During our two game drives we saw impala, buffalow, loads of hippo, lions and a few elephants. One of the buses had a puncture and another broke down. Well we are in Africa. Our driver was held up at a police road block where they implied that his tyres were unlawfull. We were directed into a nearby field where we had to wait for some decision from the police. The other vehicles had gone on, unaware that we had been held back.

The driver came back and told us that he had to pay a fine for driving with defect tryres. Maybe his tyres weren't new, but they were not illegal, but you don't argue with the police who want some extra pocket money for Christmas. We eventually got on the road again after the fine was paid and eventually caught up with the others.

 
 

14th until the 17th September

After breakfast everyone climbed into their alloted vehicle and off towards the south area of the park in the direction of Savannah Resort. We were lucky enough to run into a herd of elephants. No, we never get tired of spending time looking at them. This is where Karen and me would normally switch off the engine and settle down and enjoy the view, but no, we have to press on. As we drove on, the vehicles pulled into the side and the drivers were confering with Lisa who was our acting guide. We had lost one of the vehicles with brake failure. A garage was working on it and it was hoped it could continue its journey to catch us later. It rained most of the afternoon and was still raining when we arrived at the resort. Luckily the vehicle with brake problems arrived about an hour later.

A nice place with good food, but the weather kept us indoors unfortunately.

 

 

Yes  - the acccomodation was first class! Lake Bunjonji

 
 

Today the 15th was my birthday and Karen and everyone gave me a good start to the day. Presents, flags and singing - wow it was great!!! Off on the road to Lake Bunjonji.

As we neared our destination Arcadia Cottages, one of the vehicles had to become the centre of attention again. This time one of them overheated, with steam pouring out of the radiator. We were sort of getting a bit used to it by now, but we are in Africa and we all just smiled and hoped the troubled vehicle could climb the last couple of kms to the resort, after a cooling off period. We managed it. Lisa insisted that all the vehicles should be driven down into a nearby town where there was a garage. Here they could be checked over, so we didn't have anymore delays with breakdowns.

 

 
  All our accomodation overlooked the lake and it was simply fantastic. Karen and myself started with a cup of coffee and just enjoyed the view. Later we went for a walk around the area. We attempted to walk down to the lake, but gave up bacause it was slippery trying to make our way down. We walked around the resort to see what they were building and to see the view from another angle. It started raining at about 6pm, and continued for the rest of the evening. It certainly cooled things down a bit. No sitting outside this evening.

The next day, two of our number (Thomas and Jesper) would leave us and go on a gorilla safari. We would meet again in Entebbe. We drove to Lake Mburu National Park. Again we drove through really beautiful areas, but again the rain set in and it was difficult to see much on game drive We saw giraffes in the distance. We were all tired at the end of the day but Lars, Alice and us two enjoyed a good night drink in the bar. Tonight it was cold outside.

It was a long drive back to Entebbe. We would be leaving again early in the morning to get up to Mount Elgon. Karen and me stayed at Carpe Diem again.  

18th until the 21st

We were up early and waited for the vehicles to arrive. On the road at just after 6am. Edward is the guy who is supplying the two vehicles for this part of our trip. He will also be one of the drivers. Jesper and Lisa will not be with any of the vehicles on this part of the trip. We have more or less been devided into two groups now. One group to Mount Elgon and the other to Murchison Falls.

Now we were in vehicles with air condition and all that jazz, but the drivers were a bit boring. They didn't say much at all. Had lunch in Jinja on our way up to Sipi River Lodge. The lodge was great. We all had different accomodation. Karen and me had rented a rondavel, close to the river. We could see one of the many waterfalls from the river. The evening meal was great, especially the sticky pudding dessert. Again, too cold to sit out during the evening. The bar was okay.

We got up to a great breakfast on the porch of the dining area. We went for a walk up to Moses and went into Rock camping where Karen and me had stayed on an earlier trip. The view from the camping site was just as fantastic as we remembered it. Lis, Jonna and us two sat on a wooden balcony and had  soft drinks. The local camping guys were trying to sell their services to us, but we just wanted to relax a bit. We sauntered back to the lodge, enjoying the view all the way back. Karen had to talk to Lise in Entebbe, because there was a bit of a missunderstanding regarding how much money we had to pay the drivers. Karen was in charge of the accounts and money, but despite difficulties, she got the job done, plus a bit of laundry African stye. Wash and spread out on the grass -  it works:

 

 

Egg transport in Uganda

  After another good breakfast we split into two groups. Karen, Lis, Jonna, Henning and Anne went for a walk to one of the many waterfalls in the area. The rest of us decided to go for a walk up the tarrmac road to the next village, and ses what we could see. Met some interesting people and saw a fantastic waterfall from the road. The others were a bit tired when they got back, because they had done a bit of climbing.

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Jonna, Karen Margrethe, Henning, Lis and Anne made it to the falls

 

 
  It's been a good three days here at the lodge. We have relaxed, walked, eaten some good food served by the excellent chef and also spent a few interesting hours in the bar. Unfortunately it was too cold to sit out during the evenings, We are pretty high up, so it had to be expected.

After breakfast we were on the road to Jinja. Here we ate lunch and saw the origin of the Nile. When we arrived in Kampala, the other vehicle continued to Entebbe, while we were driven to the Emerald Hotel where we would stay and try to hire a vehicle for a few days. We ended up spending two good days here.

 

23rd until the 27th

Birgit, Peter, Leif and Aisling were also staying at the hotel, so we were not alone. Gin and Tonics in the evenings were the order of the day, reading in the hotel gardens during the day and two fantastic restaurants where we dined in the evenings. The two days passed by quickly.

We contacted a guy called Roland who rented vehicles out. He brought two to the hotel so we could see them. We chose a landcruiser, which was in supurb condition, apart from the back tyres. 400 crowns per day it cost us, with new tyres fitted when he delivered it to the hotel on day three. We got Rolund to drive us across Kampala and point us in the right direction for Murchison Falls, our next destination. He jumped out and caught a bus back to the office. Kampala is probably the worst city we have ever visited. The polution and traffic problems cannot be put into words. This is why you always use a taxi and don't walk anywhere. We stayed in the confines of the hotel most of the time - we felt safer here.

We had a great drive up north. The road was a lot better than the one up to Mount Elgon, but our Landcruiser can manage everything if things change!!! Stopped for coffee and cake at about 10am and did some shopping for our visit to our sponsor child Adong Sarah tommorrow. Around mid afternoon we found Hotel Kanbera, but the only problem was that the road outside was under repair and we couldn't drive into the hotel area. We were told that we had to park the vehicle on the road, and because we didn't really think it wise to do that, we decided to find another hotel.

Gracious Hotel was more or less around the corner from the Kanbera, and they had vacancies. We got a nice room with a balcony. Only problem with the hotel was that they didn't serve alcohol. We managed okay and enjoyed our stay. Next morning we drove to Adong Sarah's school and after Karen had taalked to the donor organisation people in their offices behind the school, we were taken to her village by two guys from the office. We had of course supplies for the family, plus clothes etc. and they had to be carried. One of the poor guys from the office had the job of carryibg tthe heavy stuff. It was really hot and I felt sorry for him, but he insisted on doing it, even after I offered to help.

Great to see Adong Sarah and her family, epecially her parents Francis and Joyce, who we really like a lot. We felt really welcome, even though we were a day later than we had told them. They were grateful for the food and clothes and I even found a United T shirt for Francis. It wasn't one I had intended to give away, but it was in a good cause. It was hard to leave them, but after 3 enjoyable hours we were on our way again. We drove to a Murchurson Falls viewpoint, or it had been maybe at one point. We couldn't see much. I (John) was unfortunate to be bitten by a tetse fly. We were fortunate to see some Red Harter Beast, buffalows, impala and waterbuck - yes Africa is great. You never know what you are going to se or experience next.

We stayed at Para Safari Lodge. A beautiful place and I got a nurse there to look at my face, which by this time was all swollen up after being bitten by the tetse fly. She organised some tablets which should help.

 

We were really able to relax her. The woman who runs tthe place came round to our flat to tell us that there were some Ostrich chicks at the water hole. Not often you see that. They looked after us very well at the lodge. A nice ending to our trip up north. Next day it was raining, so we didn't drive out to Muchurson Falls, because the roads are not really safe to drive on when it rains so heavily. Called in for a bit of lunch on the way to Kampala. We contacted Roland and suggested we met just outside Kampala and he could drop us of in Entebbe, then drive back to Kampala. He had to come to Entebbe to pick up the vehicle anyway - this was easier. As it turned out getting from Kampala to Entebbe would have been a nightmare if we had tried it ourselves. It took the driver Roland had sent to meet us, three hours to negociate the roads out of Kampala and into Entebbe.

An enjoyable afternoon and evening with Lise and Jesper. I played nine holes golf with Jesper, while Karen went for a walk. Lise and Jesper have made this holiday even better with their friendlness and endless hospitalitty - a big big thanks from us two. Goodbye Uganda

Adong Sarah standing in between her mum and dad with some of her family