Rwanda - The Gorillas

Monday, 19^th January

We entered Rwanda last Friday and headed for a national park called ‘Parc National des Volcans’ which runs along Rwanda's borders with the DRC and Uganda. This park has five towering volcanoes as it’s backdrop, is home to Rwanda’s mountain gorillas and is also the place where Diane Fossey conducted her research and where the movie about her work was filmed (Gorillas in the Mist). During the seventies, Diane Fossey, who was influenced by the conservation work of Jane Goodall and Louis & Mary Leakey, embarked on a massive publicity campaign to save the mountain gorillas from extinction. Before her campaign, stuffed gorilla heads and hands (used for ashtrays!!!) were widely available as souvenirs.

So it was no wonder that ‘Gorilla trekking’ was back on our minds. 

The number of daily permits to see them is strictly controlled so as to minimise the impact of tourists on their habitat and it is usually difficult to get a ticket without having booked long in advance. Well, guess what?

Don and I took a drive to the booking office and tickets were available for the following day. Ian and Heather and also Don had declared themselves out so it was just me. Seeing the gorillas in their natural setting had been top of my ‘bucket list’ so it is hard to describe how excited I was. Needless to say I hardly slept that night.

We set off far too early to make sure I would get there in time and as we left our camp the mist was rising in the valley and it looked like this:

This particular park is home to twelve mountain gorilla families and numbers to trek them are restricted to eight people in a group per gorilla family. The difficulty rating for the trekking ranges from relatively easy to hard, depending on how high up in the mountains the particular group you are observing resides. Of course they move around a lot but apparently most families stay within a range of about five square kilometers.

I was assigned to a 'medium' group and there were only two other people in this group. So off we went. The park is mostly rain forest and lies on the lower slopes of the volcanoes but to reach the perimeter of it involved a two to three hour steep climb. One of the woman in my group was not able to cope with the strain so she turned back (leaving just two of us, plus our guide).

We reached the edge of the park and were joined by another two guards armed with rifles. That was because the park is also home to buffalo and elephant. Just as well, as soon as we entered, our guards had to chase a buffalo away which had been hiding in the bush.

Another hour or so of serious trekking, this time no foot path, just jungle type vegetation and the guard was ‘cutting’ the path with his panga. This part was very tough, there was little visibility, we were surrounded by six foot tall stinging nettles and you had no idea where you were putting your feet due to the undergrowth. But I was too excited to worry about snakes and spiders!

And then suddenly the ranger stopped and signalled to us that we had located ‘our’ family. We carried on for another ten meters and there they were; a huge silverback, four females and a six months old baby. That first sighting of them was unbelievable!

Park rules stipulate that one should get no closer than seven meters but since our family was resting in a small clearing we were close enough to touch them but of course that is not permitted. However, the baby was very curious and kept coming towards us and gosh, I would have loved to pick it up!

...not unlike my own Silverback...

We were permitted to spent an hour with them and it went in no time at all. I don't know whether it was that they were 'resting' or not, but they were incredibly docile and apart from the baby running around and coming up to us, didn't take much notice of us at all.

Wow what a day! I have wanted to see the Gorillas ever since reading about their plight in the seventies and here I was....

                                                   ...another tough day in Africa!

Uganda - Murchison Falls and Rwenzori Mountains

Saturday, 11^th January

Uganda is turning out to be one of our favourite countries so far and we are finding that the longer we are here the more we want to see. The only problem is that we now have a time limit. We have finally booked our flights home for early March and we still have to cover 5000 km just to get back to Durban.  Ian and Heather have until the end of May before they head back so at some point in the next few weeks our ways will have to part and Don and I will probably head back in one long stretch just so that we can delay our parting and maximise our time together.

After our water-rafting adventure we stayed at the ‘Nile Explorer’s camp for a couple more days.  It is one of those great ‘over-lander hang-outs’ where the longer you stay the harder it is to leave. This particular camp has the most amazing views over the Victoria Nile river; it is set high up on a hillside and the sunsets are some of the best we have seen so far.

We left the camp on Wednesday and headed north west to visit the Murchison Falls, another dramatic natural spectacle, where the entire Victoria Nile River is forced through a six meter gap in the rock to plunge into a frothing pool below with unbelievable force. It is almost impossible to capture this with a still picture since the sound is even more impressive than the sight.

We first took a boat to view the falls from the bottom and had many sightings of hippo, crocodiles, a lone elephant and an abundance of birds. The water at the base of the falls is so turbulent that the closest you can approach the falls is what you see in this picture.

Viewing the falls from the top is amazing. You can hear the droning sound a few hundred meters away and you get a real sense of the enormous force of the water partly because you can get right up to the water’s edge.

After visiting the falls we first travelled east to the confluence of the Victoria and Albert Nile Rivers and then headed south for a couple of overnight stays along the shores of Lake Albert, which forms the border between Uganda and the DRC. Our aim was to slowly make our way towards Rwanda but as we reached the Rwenzori Mountain range on our right (which forms Uganda’s border with the DRC), we decided to stop and explore.

The Rwenzori maintains are the tallest mountain range in Africa and several of the peaks are permanently covered by ice and glaciers, despite the fact that the mountains are located on the Equator. The view of the peaks is especially amazing since the white tops are covering black volcanic rock and the contrast, when you see it, is stunning. However, like most tall mountains  they are usually engulfed in mist, particularly after mid morning. We found a nice hikers’ camp in the foothills of the mountains where to see the two highest peaks involves a six hour steep hike to the top of the nearby hills. Guess who won’t be going?

Monday 14^th January,

Today is our third day in the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains. We spent yesterday doing a forest walk in a tropical rain forest. I was sure I was finally going to see my first snake of the trip, but the only wildlife we saw were some giant ants, monkeys and this chameleon which changed colour as it was sitting on my hand.

Earlier today Don and Ian, together with a local guide, set out at 6am to climb up a nearby foothill to catch sight of the two highest Rwenzori peaks (Margherita and Stanley) and the glacier that connects them (remember, we are on the Equator!) and both of them are now so stiff that they can hardly move.  They did however manage to get a clear sighting of the peaks and the glacier and feel jolly proud of themselves.

Heather and I decided to visit the local village instead where we met a story teller, a spiritual healer and a group of woman doing local crafts. It was a nice experience and felt authentic since we visited these people in their own homes. The story teller was particularly interesting in that even in this day and age, the tribal history is passed down the generation by word of mouth and there is little by way of written record of it.

The story teller with his son

We were less impressed with the spiritual healer who removed his Coca-cola cap and digital watch as we entered his yard to be replaced by animal skins. He then performed an elaborate ritual with some wooden sticks and told us via our translator guide that if the sticks would stand vertical, the spirits would be present.

The spiritual healer...

...and his standing sticks

Well, we think super glue played a part here!

Thursday, 17^th January

We left our camp in the Rwenzori mountains on Tuesday and continued to head into the most south western corner of Uganda. This part of Uganda has been termed ‘little Switzerland’ and is absolutely beautiful. This is also where we had intended to go ‘gorilla trekking’ but after much deliberation decided against it. Not only does it cost $500 per person (FIVE HUNDRED!) but there is also no guarantee that one will see them during what could be a two day trek. The reason being that there are three national parks bordering right next to each other (the other two are in Rwanda and the DRC) and the gorillas have an unpredictable tendency to cross from one to the other. Perhaps we will rethink once we get to Rwanda.

The second main attraction here is Lake Bunyonyi, which is a contorted lake surrounded by steep hillsides and encircling 29 islands, all of which can all be visited by canoe. We had intended to spend a couple of days here but it rained when we arrived so we decided to make our way towards the Rwanda border sooner than planned.

Uganda - White water rafting

Saturday, 5^th January

So, whilst you guys were busy returning your unwanted Christmas presents we decided to take on the mighty river Nile. All in all we covered a distance of 25 km and spent 5 hours being hurled down rapids, being turned upside down (twice!) and feeling generally like being left in a washing machine for the day. But what fun!

I think the pictures need little explanation except to say that I am the one in the yellow safety helmet and the white knuckles,  Ian is next to me and Don in front of Ian. Heather decided to have a day ‘at home’ to catch up with her blog.

At this point Ian is trapped under the boat trying to get out but the pressure of the water is too strong. I was hurled about 20 meters away  and did a few somersaults under  the water before coming up for breath only to be smacked in the face by a massive wave and taken under again. As I came up coughing, spitting and looking and feeling pathetic, I saw Don on the other side of the boat being swept downstream ‘in the fast lane’  (nothing new there…!) so he was not able to help me. Luckily a Kayaker coming past grabbed me by the scruff of my safety jacket and pulled me up. Phew!

P.S. Don says I am exaggerating again and wants me to mention that HE didn’t even get his hair wet…haha..

Uganda - Lake Victoria

Thursday 3rd January

Well, up until yesterday all we really had in terms of news was our unusual entry into Uganda (of which I will tell you later) and then we went in search of the elusive Nile perch again, this time on Lake Victoria, when this happened:

...and even me:

All in all we managed to hook eleven Nile perch, apparently a record for this particular fishing boat. This good fortune was thanks to Neville and Ina, a South African couple who live on the Lake, who we met in our camp site on New Year’s Eve and who were intrigued by our adventures. South Africans being what they are in terms of their hospitality we were invited to spend the next day at their house on Lake Victoria for a braai and for a fishing trip the day thereafter. It was their son Shaun and his friend Jack who know all the good fishing spots on the Lake who offered to take us out on their boat. Well as you can imagine, it was a great day, the perch just kept coming. So finally, a  BIG item on our list of things to do can be ticked off. And a great start to the New Year!

Friday 4^th January,

Coming back to our exit from Kenya, we finally managed to tear ourselves away from Lake Turkana on 29^th December and headed west, taking what we reasoned was the shortest route towards Uganda. The plan was to cross into Uganda as far north as possible to enable us to explore some of the more remote northern parts of the country. There seemed to be no consensus between our maps, GPS or indeed local people whether there was an official border crossing point in the vicinity or not, so we decided to take the risk and headed out on a barely discernible dirt track in a westerly direction from Lodwar. The border crossing point that we had singled out was about four hours’ drive away and we reasoned that if there was a problem in crossing the border at that point we could always turn back and then enter Uganda at one of the established border crossings further south. Well, that was the plan anyway.

The track was reasonable initially, but then it became a very narrow and rocky mountain pass and after five hours of solid driving there was still no sign of a border post or much else for that matter. It was only when we received text messages on our mobile phones to welcome us into Uganda that we realised we had inadvertently crossed the border somehow.

Being European, where you can travel freely from one country into another, this didn’t particularly concern me but the boys were worried that we had entered a country ‘illegally’. What to do? By this time we had little appetite for re-tracing our steps because the track had been so difficult. We carried on for a little while longer thinking that we may still come across a border post and eventually we pulled up beside what turned out to be a Ugandan army outpost. The soldiers were incredibly helpful and seemed to understand our predicament. So a few phone calls to their commander later we were told to head towards a village an hour’s drive further into the country where ‘someone’ would stamp our papers. That we did and were met on the edge of the village by a very nice young man in plain clothes called Henry (the ‘commander’ we had earlier spoken to on the soldiers’ phone). He took us into an office where another army official (also in plain clothes) asked us to fill in the visitors’ book (!) and then we just sat there chatting, not sure what was going to happen next. Did they want a bribe? Did they actually have the authority to give us visas or stamp our carnets etc. It wasn’t clear but we all realised after a while that these guys could not possibly have the means or authority to sign us into the country legally.

Henry then offered to accompany us to the nearest official border crossing the next day which was a full day’s drive away and we agreed a ‘fee’ with him. We stayed the night at another mission station then headed off early the next morning towards the border. We weren’t sure how this would all work out, entering the Ugandan border from the wrong side without having been stamped out in Kenya.

So we made room for Henry, who turned out to be an army lieutenant, and left early the next morning. The road was mostly reasonable but there was a stretch of it which Henry was worried about and as we approached it we could see several trucks stuck in deep mud. The whole 300 meter stretch was a total mud bath!

We navigated our way through slowly, falling in and out of deep ruts with guys pushing and shoving us along and mud splashing right up to the top of the car. Eventually we made it, but Ian and Heather’s vehicle ended up with three punctures in the process.

Three tyre changes later and another rescue  (of another truck which needed to be towed out by us) we were on a better stretch of the road again and finally reached Malaba, our destination, where we were met by a friend of Henry’s who, for a fee, would help us get sorted. We then proceeded to walk across the Ugandan border into Kenya (nobody tried to stop us!) and handed in our passports to be stamped out of Kenya. Then walked back into Uganda and were stamped in. Meanwhile the third guy, who had also negotiated a fee with us, sorted out our car papers and about an hour later we were ‘official’. So not actually much of a story when you read it now, but Don and Ian were seriously worried at the time.

We ended up camping the night in the car park of a very run down hotel but which served up a delicious Indian curry and served enough cold beer for us to relax after such an eventful day.

Next day we made it to our current destination which is great camp overlooking Lake Victoria where we have been since NYE. We plan to spent another two days here then head up towards Merchison Falls game park.