So it's April 28, and even today I got a coupla notes and comments that brought back some memories.
Last year my friends Brian and Becca traveled around the world. They didn't hit Africa, but overall it was a much more extensive trip than mine and I'm still jealous.
Their blog is well worth reading, but for now you should really read some musings they posted while in China:
Read this
Then read this
Once you've done that, this might make more sense.
ia,
sg
When we left off, I was heading to Semuliki National Park. I headed to Semuliki National Park.
Semuliki is an extension of the "vast Itumi forest" of DR Congo. It's in extreme western Uganda, contiguous with the DRC border along the East African Rift Valley.
The drive there is absolutely gorgeous. I was in the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains, but if the road had been paved and if I hadn't been in a matatu with 23 others I might have thought I was in New Zealand.
Semuliki park itself is renowned for its diversity of flora and fauna. There are over 400 different bird species and 63 different mammals (including 9 different primates). And almost 400 different butterfly and moth species, most of which I bet I saw--they were _everywhere_. And I don't have numbers, but I know I saw oodles of lizards. Unfortunately, most of the park isn't really accessible to most visitors. Most of it is lush tropical forest--there are no roads or paths through it, and it's maybe not safe in the lowlands because of those darned Congolese rebels. So for the entirety of my visit I was within a mile or two of the east edge of the park.
There's a pretty big security presence in the park--only once did I walk between the main gate and the campsite (about 3km) without an escort. At one point several soldiers suddenly appeared in the campsite. Most had rifles but at least one had an RPG. They talked to one of the rangers and then disappeared back into the woods. I wanted to take a picture but really didn't want to ask them for permission (I wanted to keep my camera) so I did what I could on the sly. Then I altered the settings on my camera so there wouldn't be an audible click when I took pictures in the future...
I did see lots of different primates, especially colobus (black-and-white and red) and red-tailed monkeys. And baboons, though it might have just been one baboon that I saw several times. The monkeys hang out in the trees. And they're pretty shy, so they take off when they see me around. To travel, they take these flying leaps from tree to tree, grabbing hold of whatever leafy branch they happen to jump to, or the one below it if it's not sturdy enough. And these are big leaps, like over my head across the road, not just gingerly hops to the something a foot away.
The other thing the park has: hot springs. I took a nature walk with Bosco, who was born on 7/7/77. But we basically just walked to the springs. Did see lots more monkeys, lots of agama and monitor lizards, our baboon friend, and some birds. Didn't see any of the elephants, leopards, crocodiles or buffalo that are deeper into the park. I almost fell into boiling mud.
I left the park and headed back into Fort Portal for yet another night of transit. I stopped in Hoima the next day, and the day after that finally reached my final destination on my tour, Murchison Falls National Park. Murchison is Uganda's biggest park. It's bisected by the Nile and is named for the falls, where the Nile is squeezed through a channel about 20 feet wide. The water doesn't fall very far, but the resulting pressure creates what's said to be the most powerful natural water flow in the world.
My intention was to head first to Kaniyo Pabidi, close to the park entrance, where the forestry department offers the cheapest chimpanzee tracking in Uganda. I got to Masindi, the nearest town to the park, and hung out by the side of the road trying to catch a ride--it's about 35km to the park entrance from town, then another 8km to Pabidi. I thought I had a chance,
especially 'cause it was Friday afternoon so I figured people would be coming through on their way in for the weekend. But...nothing.
A motorcycle driver asked where I was going. I said "Too far. There's no way I can afford you." He insisted. I told him. I asked how much. He said "80,000 shillings." Almost $50. I laughed. "I might give you 10,000." "Okay." The other guys thought he was nuts, but he apparently wanted to drive the white man.
But when we got to the park gate they told me the campground at Pabidi was closed because there were a lot of lions there. And the huts had burned down and they hadn't built the new ones yet, so there was nowhere there to stay. My best option was to hang around and wait for a park vehicle that'd be coming through to take me to the campground by the main park headquarters at Paraa, about 80km away. So I did that. There's essentially no way to do the chimp tracking if you don't have your own transport. Rode the 80km in the back of a pickup, watching hundreds and hundreds of monkeys and antelopes scatter as we drove down the road.
I stayed at the campsite. Met some people who were there as part of a group tour--one was originally from Minneapolis and knows some people I know. The next morning I hung around the campsite and did some laundry. While the group tour people were on a nature drive--most of the animals are in the part of the park north of the river, while the campground is just south of it. The park has a huge number of leopards, lions, elephants and giraffes, but you can't really see them without going on a nature drive.
I did see an awesome spider (I think...it's called a velvet mite) all over after the rain. It looked like a raspberry with legs. (Even if you normally think spiders are icky or don't look at my pictures you should check these out...)
In the afternoon I went with the group on the boat trip up the river to the mouth of the falls. Just like on the other boat trips (Lake Mburo, Queen Elizabeth National Park) I saw lots of birds and animals during the 2-hour trip to the base of the falls. In this case, storks and geese and kingfishers and bee eaters and hippos and baboons and buffaloes and crocodiles.
I left the group when the boat dropped me off near the base of the falls so I could hike up to the top. Only about 40 minutes, but it was really hot out. Much sweating. I spent the night (alone) in a campsite near the top of the falls, much of the time huddled in the gazebo avoiding the big storm.
The falls: wow. It's pretty impressive. The total volume of water that passes through is tiny compared to something like Niagara Falls, but Niagara Falls is I think more than 20 feet wide. Well, I've heard--never actually seen it...
I went back to the falls in the morning when the tour group came through. And here's where I'm really an idiot: I'd left a bag at the main campsite so I wouldn't have to carry it with me up to the falls. So instead of being able to catch a ride to Masindi, or maybe even Kampala, at 9am on Sunday, I stayed around the top of the falls waiting for a way to get back to Paraa.
At 10:15 one of the rangers got a call that there was a morning boat trip. "What time does the boat get there?" "Oh, any time after, say, 10:30." So I hiked (quickly) back down the to the base of the path and waited for the boat. It came by about 15 minutes after I got there and picked me up. A small one this time, just one family, but they were nice enough to let me stay on instead of having to transfer to the really crowded big public boat. The ride back took about an hour. We did spot some elephants, but otherwise uneventful.
I got back to the campsite and grabbed my bag and ordered lunch. After lunch, maybe 1:30 or so, I headed over to the park HQ to wait for a ride. The HQ is right by the ferry, so any park vehicles or any others that are on game drives or such would have to pass through. But, yup, no ride. I waited until about 5, when a HUGE rainstorm came by. I moved inside and waited until about 6:30, by which point the rain had let up.
The park guy told me there'd be a park vehicle heading to town in the morning so I should try again at 9am. I headed back to the campsite, set up my tent and had some dinner.
In the morning I ate breakfast and went to the park office at 8am to be sure to catch whatever I could. The 9am truck left at about 10:30. We got about 20km out and...broke down. I dunno, something about a pickup truck carrying 23 people up some big hills... We all got out and they sent some students to find a water hole. When the truck cooled, the driver headed back to HQ while the rest of us hung out. A couple of us started walking towards town--a couple of miles ahead were the turnoffs to the top of the falls and one of the lodges, so we wanted to get on the other side of those to increase our likelihood of finding a ride as quickly as possible. The new park vehicle got there about three minutes after we'd stopped. On our way out we passed Pabidi, and what looked to me an awful lot like several tents in the campground...
The park guy let me off in Masindi and I headed to the taxi park at about 1:00. It was probably 3:00 by the time we left. We went about 25 miles (in two hours) to get to the main road. Then waited another 45 minutes or so for another taxi that was heading to Kampala. I got to Kampala at maybe 10pm, then had to get all the way across town to PABs' house. I arrived, probably 32 hours later than if I'd come down Sunday with the tour group.
So now I'm back in Kampala for a little bit, planning my swing east through eastern Uganda and Kenya and Tanzania and Rwanda and maybe even Burundi.
For now, pictures are up of Semuliki, Murchison, and my entire swing through the southwest.
Hasta,
sg
Saturday, April 7:
In the morning, I had this weird sense that there were people standing around talking about me outside my tent. Not so weird: there were people standing around talking about me outside my tent.
The tour bus that was staying at the same hotel/campground I was had arranged a show for 8am, before they left town. Basically dancing, singing, native dancer orphan fundraisers. The show field was to be where the manager had had me set up my tent, and they got there an hour early for the show.
Wound up taking a motorcycle out to the park in the afternoon and I camped right outside the park gates.
Sunday:
Turns out, I'm very irresponsible. Remember Allen E., my favourite travel companion/pillow? I left him on Peak 2 on our way down.
I climbed Mt Sabinyo in extreme SW Uganda. At the top--the junction of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. To get to the top--not easy. Through acacia forest, really cool bamboo forest. Totally steep in parts and the ladders, OSHA may not approve. Plus, we're at altitude. We (me, Mike the Canadian medical student, a guide, a guard) start at about 2300m (7500 ft) and climb to 3669m (1200 ft, more than 2 miles up). And with three different peaks to get to, there's a bit of down, too, so the total amount you need to climb is almost a mile.
We went up in about 4 hours, which I guess (and I think) is pretty quick. We went slower on the way down, in about 3 hours. With time at the top, the total trip length was about average. I had not the easiest time, and I was pretty sore.
And, again, I left Allen E at the top of Peak 2.
Headed back to town. I finally met Joseph, the local tour guide who Lonely Planet says can be found around town--it took him a full day to find me. I didn't have time to do some much needed laundry, but I got a room anyway to sleep in a bed, which cost me an extra $7.50.
Monday:
The bus picked me up at 5am. We got to Mbarara at about 11am, right about when Phil and Paige passed through on their way back from Queen Elizabeth National Park but we didn't connect. I checked my email to get some financial details from George and filed for my tax extension--I hope the Uganda postmark shows the date... I bought some groceries.
Took a taxi to the town near the main gate of QENP. Up to 22 people, with bags, including 7 people in the first row of benches. The chatter, with thanks to
Then I got a shared ride to the park. Nine adults and one baby in a compact hatchback
It's kinda weird bargaining with a guy, saying you can't afford $17, or even $12. Then, when you agree to pay $3, the whole carload of people has to wait around while I paid my $40 to get into the park--they all probably work there for like $2/day and get in free.
I was alone at the campground. Briefly. Then, just as I was figuring out where to put my tent a busload of 14 year-olds showed up, I paused in my deliberations and let them set up first.
I had a fight with a
At night I finally did some seriously necessary laundry using some tubs the ranger left for me. I looked over--there's a hippo! Wandering RIGHT by my tent! Hippos look a bit ridiculous, but they weigh about four tons and run faster than I do. They kill more people in Africa than I think all other animals combined--both upending boats and accidentally trampling people when they get freaked and try to get back to the water. (And if you don't die, they may spray dung all over your tent.) So I was a bit nervous camping in their path.
I headed to the bar to ask someone whether I should be worried. The bar was closed, but I got there at the same time as three Ugandan guys.
Ug: "Hey, aren't you that crazy mzungu that walked from Bunyanyi last week"
sg: "Uh, yes. Should I be worried about the hippos?"
Ug: "No."
Ug (to friends): "blah blah mzungu blah Bunyanyi"
friends: [laughter]
sg: "Okay, thanks. See you later."
So I went back, and went to sleep. Fitfully.
Tuesday:
I kept hearing animals grunt, walk past, etc... I assumed it was the warthogs.
At, I guess (from phone records) 4am, I heard more. I peeked out: "hey, that looks like a feline, with babies." I pulled out the Lonely Planet, turned on my headlamp, and looked at some mammals. No spots...nah, couldn't be. LP again. "I think it's a lion." LP again. Peeked out again. Lay down.
Now they're playing with my laundry tubs. Hey, those are, like, four feet from my head....
I tried to take a picture through the ceiling webbing, but it didn't come out.
I saw the campground manager in the morning. "Yeah, it's probably a hyena." "I don't know, it looked awfully feline." "Well, there is a lion around with two cubs." He finds the second tub off in the grass, with bite holes. Lion bite holes.
Wow.
Oh, in the morning I heard the "warthog" grunt again: Nope, they were mongeese.
I wrote some postcards, some with diagrams, some with a list of my activities in a busy first part of the week.
In the afternoon I took a boat ride in the channel. Not overly exciting--I saw some birds I'd seen before, and LOTS of buffaloes and hippos. Some kob. Some waterbuck.
I ate two dinners, and drank a lot so I could maybe actually fall asleep. Then I had to find someone to drive me the 200 yards to my tent because there were four hippos in the road...
Wednesday:
I caught a ride out to the main road with some local university students. They dropped me on the main road. I caught a taxi to Kasese, then a taxi to Fort Portal.
Thursday:
I saw a really nice bus, the nicest I've seen in Uganda, full of Japanese tourists. They came to the restaurant where I was eating lunch and were all dressed in identical jacket/vests and hats. Weird.
Then I took a taxi out to the Rwaihamba market, wandered for a bit, and walked the mile back to the Lake Nkuruba Community Camp Site on one of many nearby crater lakes. (And, as I write this Pastor Bosco is sitting next to me, so here's a link to the orphanage's site...)
Friday:
I'd planned, tentatively, on a (5-6 hour) walk to Muhoma Falls. But I was tired, so the walk was easily abandoned in the (at times heavy) rain.
My tent, which we're calling Doogie, he is not so waterproof. And thank god for earplugs--loud rain in a tin-roofed building, with school lessons for the orphans that seemed to involve a lot of screaming, was not that conducive to reading.
Saturday:
It started raining in the morning again at about 6. I quick grabbed my stuff and ran it to the covered area, then went and grabbed my tent and did the same. Then I hung out there until about noon, by which time the tent was dry, I'd eaten breakfast, and I'd finished my book. I packed up my stuff, slowly, and about 1pm started the 20km walk back to Fort Portal.
I got about half way, by which point I was close enough to feel not too bad about paying ($1.20) for a motorcycle to take me the rest of the way.
Sunday:
I took the day off to stay in town, maybe avoid some rain, make some plans, do a bunch on the internet, and maybe help TY with her taxes. (She didn't need the help.)
Monday:
I finished this entry and loading the pictures I've taken so far on my southwest swing. Now, I'm gonna grab lunch and catch a taxi to the Semuliki National Park.
This coming week I'll see monkeys, hopefully chimps, maybe giraffes, and the most powerful waterfall in the world.
Chao!
Have you been to Kisoro, Uganda? I didn't think so. I'm stranded here for a day, so I have time to write this, knit a sweater after learning to knit, whatever.
I started my swing southwest on Monday, catching a bus to Kabale. I sat next to Phionah, who's now sent me six text messages, in none of which do I have any idea what she's talking about. Got a hotel room in town (for $4) and went to sleep.
Tuesday I headed out to Lake Bunyonyi, a "magical place" with "beguiling beauty [that] defies description". I walked the 9km, more for the walk than to save $2.50. Camped out for two nights on the shores at the Bunyonyi Overland Resort, for which I spent $25 including food and drinks. On Wednesday I joined some people (Leonie, Louise, Tobias, someone else) who were on a group tour--we rented a boat and headed across the lake to Kyevu market, where we all shared 6¢ worth of sugar cane and sat there for an hour entertaining the villagers while we waited for the boatman to return. Leonie and Lou and I played cards (Five Hundred) that night. I lost, badly.
Thursday I walked back to town. I dawdled a bit and missed the bus to Kisoro, so I got my hotel room again rather than try to get a taxi. Friday I woke up too late to catch the first bus, and the second one was full (FULL), so I didn't actually leave town until 1pm. On another bus that was pretty full--maybe 80 people, and a LOT of stuff, on a 50 seat bus. As crowded as any bus or subway I've been on...I stood in the aisle, one foot on the ground and my other knee resting on my bag. For 65km, which took about 2.5 hours. Unfortunately, Kisoro is 80km from Kabale--we got stranded for hours when a truck got stuck across the road. I finally pulled into town at about 7pm.
So today I have all day to get out to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, about 14km outside of town. (I may pay $6 for a ride, I may walk.) This is the one of the parks where the mountain gorillas live, and is contiguous with Parc National des Virungas in DR Congo and the Parc des Volcans in Rwanda. Tracking the gorillas is really expensive and you need to plan ahead, so I'll be climbing a volcano. The park has three, and I'll probably climb Mt Sabinyo (3669m)--Mt Muhuvura (4127m) is higher and might have slightly better views, but the peak of Sabinyo is where Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda all meet. So when you wake up Easter morning, I'll be in one of those places.
Chao!
sg
So one of the things I've been trying to figure out is what I'll do when my trip is over. Now, finally, I've got plans. (You know I love it when those come together...)
A few of you know that before I left I, because there clearly wasn't enough going on already in my life, spent my last week frantically scraping my act together to finally get people to write me some recommendations for graduate schools. Then, I spent much of my early time in Australia finalizing my applications. The results are in, and I've accepted an offer!
For a while I've been fascinated by the Metaphysical (and meta-Metaphysical) ideals of the pre- (and post-) Aristotelian Utopia(s), but I had a hard time understanding how to apply my ideas to my work and my life in any meaningful way. Well, starting this fall (late September...) I'll be attending the brand new program in Metabusiness at Harvard Business School! That's right, I'm moving to Boston!
And I'm super-excited about it. I'll surely miss Minnesota, but for now at least my intention is to come back at the end of the program. (Probably just the Masters to start, so just 2-3 years, though who knows what'll happen once I really get into it...) Robin's sister, the fool, agreed to live in my house while I'm gone, once Bridget and George go off ...wherever... for his program. Soon, my debt status will approach Andrea's!
In other, less exciting, news, I'm taking off tomorrow on a trip through southwestern and western Uganda, starting down by Lake Bunyonyi and hopefully ending up in a week or two or three at Murchison Falls. Then, I'll head back through Kampala to plan a more extensive eastern swing through eastern Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and maybe Burundi (if it's safe) and Rwanda. I'm not sure how the timing will work out--there's probably a pretty good chance I'll wind up extending my Africa trip, especially as I don't really need to be back now until September.
And, finally, there's no coherent story they tell but there are lots of Kampala pictures up for mom.
Chao!
sg
