We hit our tenth country, 9 months on the road and the most northern point of our adventure in Uganda.
Apart from being a milestone, Uganda is beautiful and has some of the friendliest people we've met. We'd originally planned to turn around after the gorilla extravaganza in the DRC, but we're happy we didn't. South-Western Uganda is an extension of the tropical green delights of Rwanda and the Congo, though Uganda also has lots of crater lakes.
Outside of Fort Portal the lakes are especially tiny and surrounded by patches of rainforest. When we showed up one morning, three different kinds of monkey ran rings around the car. Red Colobus, hideously gorgeous Black and white colobus and Red-Tailed Monkeys. If monkeys don't do it for you, the lakes are a bit of a twitchers dream too.
Strolling through the forest we spotted our first blue turaco. "What's that!??" Girl asked Guy. "Looks like a turkey" was Guy's reply. This became quite hilarious (not just because of the clever rhyme). The guidebook had actually described it as "a turkey with a box of face paints". It took us a second to click, but we couldn't have described the Blue Turaco in a better way. When the turaco flew away, we jumped on bikes to explore some more. It didn't end well.
On the road, cruising the byways and lakes when torrential downpour turned the corrugated clay into slippery slush. We finished the ride on an impressive downhill, got up way too much speed but couldn't stop because the brakes were so dodgy, the road was so steep, slippery when wet AND we had our hands full of supplies from the village market. We hung on for dear life and hoped to stay upright, jittering and shuddering on the corrugations so much we were blind.
At the bottom we handed the bikes back. The young man collecting them came out and stopped with wide eyes. He was too polite to say anything, but he did ask if we were ok. We looked like hell! The fresh eggs were smashed in their bag and both of us were covered from top to toe in sticky mud. Faces, arms, legs, backs and clothes that were trashed! Combined with the smashed eggs, he thought we'd come off. We had cold showers and sat out the rest of the storm with a hot chocolate.
To get across to Fort Portal we'd driven some of the most scenically beautiful roads in Africa. Lake Bunyoni and the trail through Queen Elizabeth National Park were outstanding. Mountains, volcanoes, green farms and plantations that plunged steeply into lakes, as well as some savanah with flat-topped acacia trees. As far as road trips go, it was easily one of the better ones. We also crossed the equator and officially transited into the northern hemisphere!
Super friendly people and super fresh, delicious food added to Uganda's appeal. Massive avocados worth less than 20 cents, green bananas for stews, potatoes and taros fresh from the dirt and fruit off the tree. We even found a Dutch couple making gouda and artisanal bread. Uganda was one amazing place to turn around. We headed to the 'Mountains of the Moon' and got our hiking fix in too. We didn't tackle any summits because the rainy season meant the hills were shrouded all day, but we'll add them to the bucket list and come back when it's dry. If Ptolemy could rave about them in 300AD, we figure they're probably worth a second look anyway.
We learned lots about growing food and camped with fire flies buzzing about for our own private fireworks show. We also managed to find the 3 horned chameleon; a tiny reptile that's big on attitude and only lives in the Rwenzori's, which was incredibly exciting.
At some point we had to leave the gorgeous scenery behind and make for Kampala. The capital. Nerves were tested and frayed on that particular journey. Driving skills haven't improved in the north. The things people do on roads is mind boggling. Mostly, people overtake on crests, rises or bends. In situations like that they're usually coming at you with a friendly flash of their lights. Just in case you hadn't seen them, or you'd assumed they might return to their side. It's also important to be on your game at all times in case someone decides to wander into the wrong lane, brake for no reason, break down, offer chickens, cross with goats, sell food or just plain stop in front of you.
We made it all the way through Kampala and into Jinja without incident (plus a few more greys!) and parked up with Billy the 4x4 travelbox for a few days of lounging and debriefing.
As the last frontier of the guygirlandgoat adventure, Jinja is also the source of the Nile. Knowing that from there it was all downhill had guygirlandgoat in denial! Luckily Martine and Andrew had plenty of beers, laughs and comfort food to ease the pain.
Being a momentous occasion and the source of a momentous river, we thought we'd end with something... momentous. Telling guides we were up for some grade five Nile River rapids, we jumped into a raft without really knowing what grade five rapids were. As Guy later explained, grade five rapids are about "One wave shy of shitting myself" rapids. Once we'd hit the water, a safety briefing was the first indication that maybe Grade Five was a bit intense. Apparently its the toughest commercially viable white water rafting experience you can get (we didn't really know what that meant either). When the safety brief included the importance of curling up into a tight ball to maximize our chance of "Getting out of the washing machine" that would continuously force us underwater at a spot called "The Bad Place", accompanied with the words "Don't panic", the adrenalin started flowing. When we got close enough to see "The Bad Place", that adrenalin was enough to give Girl the shakes. There was no time or place for a nervous poo.
Each time we came up to a new rapid, we were hit with a terrifying wall of water, lots of bumps, a good thrashing and more than once, a capsize. We made it past The Bad Place and out the other end safely, though it still felt like we'd been through that washing machine! Out the other end we were grinning from ear to ear and jumping in the river for a leisurely swim til the next terrifying rapid. Even without the cold beers, the food and the company thrown in, rafting The Nile was definitely momentous.
That night, still high on life after spending much of the day fearing for it, we settled in for a Braai at Nile River Camp (sticking with the Nile theme). Apart from being the best BBQ we'd had in months, the company was brillant, the views were good and we scored an eye opening insight into the "Bujagali Sunset". Although the name says otherwise, it had nothing to do with views and everything to do with high-alcohol-consumption madness. Anyone who's ever considered getting dizzy, setting their palm alight and burning their left nipple as part of a drinking activity should definitely try it. Guygirlandgoat would not recommend!!
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