Uganda–The Pearl of Africa

Going through the border between Kenya and Uganda was quick and easy although we had a nasty surprise…..the visa for Uganda cost $50 per person. We stayed at Adrift, Jinja where they allowed us to pitch our tent under one of the kitchen canopy’s because of the possibility of rain. Adrift is better equipped for rooftop tent camping because the kitchen area for the campers and overland trucks are on the top terrace but the area where we were supposed to pitch our tent is on the lower terrace…..so we asked if we can rather pitch our tent on the upper terrace and under roof. It is beautiful there and we appreciated the fact that we were again camping next to the Nile…this time the White Nile. We saw at Bahir Dar, Ethiopia where the Blue Nile flows out of Laka Tana, we followed the Blue Nile for thousands of kilometers, saw the confluence of the Blue and White Nile in Khartoum, Sudan and now we were camping where the White Nile starts it 6000km journey!! It was also Arno”s birthday on the 24th and we wanted to have a nice braai to celebrate the day. My birthday was in Malawi and since then we were wondering where his birthday will be. Luckily the day was very nice but that afternoon the rain came down again!! We were eventually forced by the torrential afternoon rains to move on. It was a good idea to camp under cover but even that could not keep us dry and clean. Everything was red with mud!! Rain comes quickly and comes down like a waterfall. Uganda’s yearly rainfall is between 1.5 and 2.5 METERS. We wanted to stay longer but it was just to muddy. Jinja is also a favourite place for adrenalin junkies because the white water rafting starts from there as well as bungee jump. Suddenly we were surrounded again by Overland Trucks. We moved on to Kampala. We camped at Zoo Camp in Entebbe next to Lake Victoria. Very basic camp but with clean facilities. We saw the most magnificent birds, listened to fish eagles, heard our neighbours roar and laught (lions and hyenas) and thought it was real fun to camp in a zoo! Again we had torrential rain and had to hide in the tent while rivers of water were running past. Whatever were not yet red with clinging mud, were then red and muddy!! We had biltong and beer for supper Smile Impossible to cook under those circumstances. Yes, one can buy biltong (and beer) all over Africa if you really want! We bought biltong at Shoprite in Kampala for R200 kg.

We decided to drive straight to Lake Bunyonyi after trying to camp at Mbarara at the Lake View Regency Hotel and Camping which T4A navigated us to. It is a real smart 5* Lodge but the camping is actually an open space without any facilities, no electricity, no nothing for $50 Surprised smile We camped at Lake Bunyonyi Overland Resort. This is a very special destination and a must for anyone en route to Bwindi National Park. It is situated high on a hill near Kabale overlooking the lake and has the most fantastic facilities, including clean ablutions, hot water (if the electricity is up and running) and free wi-fi. We camped on grass next to the lake but were flooded when the normal late afternoon downpour like a cloudburst started! The Overlanders with their truck that used the banda as a hide, went to Rwanda the one morning and we asked permission to pitch our tent on the deck and under roof because we wanted to go to Bwindi early the next morning and would REALLY prefer to pack away dry equipment. When moving the tent from the grass to the banda, we washed (tried to) all the accumulated thick red mud of the underside of the tent before taking it to the banda. Arno also dumped the red muddy shade nets in the lake turning the lake to red but we had green shades again! It started raining (pouring) again while we were sitting high and dry on our cosy veranda, clean and dry. It was then that we decided it was time to turn the Hilux’s nose south to get away from torrential rain. Early the next morning we were of to Kigali in Rwanda. We will most definitely come back to Uganda for a longer period when it is dry season to do what we intended to do here! It is a fantastic country with very friendly and helpful people. It is also a beautiful country. Very much a destiny with beautiful scenery. Looks similar to the Ethiopian highlands with green terraces of farmed land as far as one can see. Uganda is more western than what we thought and it is sad that the country is mostly known by us as the country of Idi Amin.