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.