The decision to spend our week long first half term break In Uganda was an easy one but how best to go about it took some pondering from Steve. With not having the luxury of time like the last time we were here going by matatu was pretty much out of the question. Do-able but we wouldn’t have been able to fit in very much and you know how much we like to maximise our holidays. In the end Steve found a car hire company just round the corner from where we live. Roadtrip Uganda provide 2 and 4 door Rav4’s for $55 & $65 respectively should you want the car for 5-9 days or more. Not only is this good value in itself but they chuck in a whole load of camping and cooking gear plus travel guides, maps and handy leaflets.
We also thought this might help us to finally make a decision about whether or not to invest in our own wheels. We don’t have any ambition to drive around Kampala on a regular basis but like the idea of being able to get off the beaten track particularly of a weekend. However, with 20 year old cars being sold at a staggering $5000 it’s not a decision to be taken lightly.
We collected the car Friday evening, loaded it up and were on the road by 7am the next morning with Steve driving and me navigating. Although we’ve now had a few holidays in Africa this is the first time we’ve had our own wheels here. Luckily we were well aware of how unaware fellow road users are, so were prepared to take our time and give them space to get on with their antics. With setting off early we’d reached the city limits within 30mins and it already felt great to be exploring Uganda again.
The Equator
We’d reached this invisible line around the centre of the world by 8.30am and knew there was a good café (Equation Café) to stop for a brew and loo break. Up to this point the road had been smooth and a vast improvement from the last time we travelled it 3 years ago. It’s a good place to break up a journey as you can do a bit of retail therapy in the numerous craft shops too. We didn’t linger long as we felt we’d just set off and were keen to get our adventure underway. The road was in good shape virtually all the way bar one stretch that was in the process of being upgraded. Lake Mburu National Park was clearly sign-posted and we reached Nshara Gate 5 hours after leaving Kampala.
Lake Mburo National Park
The last time we visited this small but lovely park it had been the height of the dry season so everything looked parched and beige. With October being the end of the rainy season we thought we’d come to a totally different national park; lush vegetation sporting a vast palette of vibrant greens. On entering the gate it took us a further 1 ½ hours to reach the lakeside campsite as we kept stopping to look at animals – basically a free safari. Well, not strictly speaking free as the usual Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) fees are levied here i.e. $35 per day for non-residents and $25 per day for residents plus it costs USh30 000 to bring in a car.
We’d enjoyed the park 5 years ago, hence were keen to come back, but we don’t remember seeing animals in such numbers and with such high frequency last time. Obviously part of that was down to the abundance of food for the grazers and browsers but the good news is that animals populations have increased. Impala now number 35 000 and we saw Burchell’s Zebra and topi at virtually every turn along with Duffasa waterbuck and bushbuck. If you’ve never seen a warthog then this is THE place to visit; these admittedly ugly yet affable chaps are all over the park. I can guarantee you’ll share the campsite with a family of them too who are very keen to have their photos taken.
The campsite itself is very basic although there is a new toilet and shower block now and a couple of bandas in which to cook should it rain. However, at a mere USh15 000 per person, per night you can’t expect a great deal. We knew from half a decade ago that the restaurant was worse than useless so went fully prepared with all our own food and beverage supplies. You’d be hard pushed to beat; cooking and eating on the edge of a hippo filled lake with warthogs pottering around and weaver birds frenetically nest building nearby. We’d put up the tent, sorted out our gear, cracked open the camping chairs and parked our bums ready to sup a tall cool one. We were feeling nice and relaxed in a peaceful setting and were ready to toast our first successful navigation of African roads.
Then…… a matatu pulled up and we were horrified and dismayed to notice it was stuffed full of huge speakers. Surely they weren’t going to be pumping out loud music in this natural setting were they? We would have stayed in Kampala if that was what we wanted. Indeed a UWA staff party was pencilled in for that very evening not 100 yards from our tent – err, I don’t think so. Steve let his feelings be known in no uncertain terms as they were setting up the gear in the hope that they’d stop what they were doing. But no, they carried on and by 3.30pm they were testing the equipment at mega decibel volume. Steve was smartly back over and had a seriously good rant but to no avail; in fact they just laughed in his face. You can imagine that didn’t do anything to improve his rapidly darkening mood.
So much for the car being parked up for the day – back to the office we went to have a good old fashioned complain. To be fair to the chap in the office he agreed that with the campsite now having guests they would have to find an alternative site for their party. By the time we returned to the lakeside there was good news and bad; the music had stopped but we’d missed the boat ride we’d booked. So, it was back to the office to explain that we’d missed the boat but luckily we could join one the following day. To hire the entire boat for a private trip costs $40 minimum and to share costs $10 a head. In other words if you’re a group of 4 or more and want a private hire it will cost $10 per person for the 1 ½ hour trip.
Since we were in the car we decided to go on a self-drive mini safari. That’s the beauty of this national park; they don’t have any safari vehicles so you’re not expected to fork out for one. There’s not a huge plethora of game so if you have a basic knowledge of East African wildlife you won’t need to pay for a ranger either. However, for those new to Africa; rangers can be hired to join you in your vehicle to help spot animals and tell you about them. We knew we had enough knowledge so set off to see what we could find bearing in mind we’d already seen many animals on the drive to the campsite earlier.
The following day we were up bright and early despite having been able to hear the thud of the bass from the party until 3am. We were booked on an early morning walk and only hoped that at least one guide was up and about. Sure enough a few members of staff were up albeit a bit bleary eyed! We drove for about a quarter of an hour to where the walk began and it was lovely to be on foot in the perfect tranquillity of the park. The walk wasn’t particularly energetic or extensive but it gives you a different perspective of the area. Plus you get to visit an area otherwise inaccessible with the highlight being cresting a small hill. From the top we got an excellent 360o view of the national park and could fully appreciate its beauty. As an added bonus we found ourselves looking down upon a herd of zebra and more significantly a herd of eland.
Our next activity saw us taking ourselves off for a longer game drive with the aim being to do a big loop taking in the Eland track. It would have been good if the park had provided some basic information like; this track not suitable for anything less than a hard core safari vehicle. Or even; don’t attempt in a Rav4! But no, so we had to find out the hard way that we weren’t destined to do a big loop. The track narrowed, disintegrated, deteriorated and vanished forcing us to turn round and renegotiate a whole whack of track that we’d been happy to get past. However, we did see plenty of animals including dwarf mongoose and not surprisingly we had that entire section of the park to ourselves.
I’m pleased to say that the afternoon’s boat ride was mishap free and just as enjoyable as we’d remembered it to be. It’s a mecca for hippos and the lake supports one of the densest populations in Uganda. This time we were also lucky to see plenty of crocs and a whole host of birds. Plenty of the usual suspects; kingfishers, fish eagles, herons, hamerkop and so forth but we were also lucky to see some rarities too. First of all our boat man pointed out a white backed night heron and then much to his delight he found an African finfoot. Now I have to confess I’d not heard about this particular bird but funnily enough Steve had just read an article on them. Apparently they are extremely rare and high on the list of twitchers the world over especially those who like to find their feathered friends in East Africa.
All-in-all we’d had a most thoroughly enjoyable trip to Lake Mburo and knew that we’d see plenty of animals on the drive out the following morning. The beasties certainly didn’t let us down but we definitely don’t recommend using Sanga Gate if you can avoid it. In fact just go what appears on paper the long way round but believe me preferable as the track from Sanga Gate back to the main road was shocking. We had a brief respite and stocked up on supplies in Mbarara before heading off on the next part of our adventure that would see us in new territory.
Travel Day No. 1
Once we reached the road after leaving Lake Mburo the conditions were good all the way to Ntungamo where things seriously deteriorated. Part of the problem is the huge road improvement project that is underway so, along with limited amounts of tarmac and enormous potholes; there were all kinds of heavy duty equipment to squeeze past. Our final destination of the day was @The River campsite near the Ishasha Gate of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The proprietors had kindly given us detailed instructions as to how to find them and Steve had been in touch to confirm that all routes were open. We knew that the recent rainy season had left roads impassable due to the roads turning into thick oozing mud slides and that bridges were down. We were assured that all was well so set off.
Once we reached Ntungamo we turned off and headed towards Rukungiri we found ourselves on a brand new tarmac road and relished its smoothness. We knew that before too long we’d be way beyond tarmac and murram would be all there was. To be honest the murram road proved to be much better than the main road as at least it was a pothole free even though the surface is bumpy. On passing through one of the more sizeable villages Steve spotted a diversion sign but it didn’t make it clear which route was out of action. We were merrily driving along enjoying tracks utterly devoid of traffic and taking in the wonderful scenery. All the while we were congratulating ourselves on knowing exactly where we were on the map despite the directions not providing many landmarks to guide us.
The track took us down a steep sided narrow valley into the Rift Valley and as we descended we could see the road on the opposite bank. That’s when we realised that the diversion sign had been for our benefit – the bridge was in the river! I’m not exaggerating; it wasn’t a case of a bit had fallen off rendering it unsafe it was quite literally submerged in the Birira. Not to worry we’d not come more than 30kms so it wasn’t such a big detour to pick up the diversion sign. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but we should have been suspicious of the lack of traffic although we were in a very rural area where a very small minority can afford a vehicle. Anyway we got back to the junction and followed the arrow but at the very next junction our positivity began to falter. There was no further indication as to which way to proceed and as good as our map is it doesn’t mark on the tiny back roads. Now you think it would be easy to ascertain which the most major road is, but it isn’t as they all look the same. At this point I was still confident that I knew where we were and this belief was supported by us going through a village marked on the map.
However, the next handful of villages were not marked on my map and we soon realised that we didn’t really know where we were. Without any obvious landmarks to guide us and a complete lack of road signs we were beginning to get a little anxious. It reached the point that we both felt we were going in totally the wrong direction so next time we hit a village on a cross roads we asked the locals to point us towards Ishasha. How could we know they were telling us the truth? We couldn’t, so had to put our trust in people’s common decency. We kept going and kept asking for directions and in the end came out where we’d been headed towards all along. I have to admit that I’d expected us to come out in a totally different place and we were relieved to reach Kihihi long before nightfall.
From there the track went straight through national park land and we did actually see some animals along the way. However, by this point we were in no mood for an impromptu safari as we were eager to reach our final destination in daylight. The going was slow as the road was riddled with potholes many of which we could gage the depth of as they were full of water. We finally reached the sign showing us where to turn off for @The River and breathed a sigh of relief. That turned out to be premature as the lane to reach the campsite was in a shocking state. By the time we splashed our way through deep, muddy puddles there was a distinct burning smell being emitted from the bonnet!
Goodness only knows which route we ended up taking as many of the roads we used certainly aren’t marked on our map. But 8hrs after setting off we made it and are thankful that the majority of people in the world and helpful and honest. It was with relief that Steve switched the engine off and removed the key from the ignition. He felt he’d negotiated roads professional rally drivers would find challenging in an ordinary car! We calmed down and toasted our safe arrival with a cool beer before setting up camp.
@The River
We’d booked into the place as it was one of the few more affordable places in the area and with it being outside the park gates we didn’t need to pay the entrance fee until we were ready to go on safari. Plus their website advertised the hire of their safari vehicle and guide and Steve was looking forward to a break from driving following our epic adventure. However, one of the first things we found out was their safari vehicle was out of action so we’d have to use our own car. Now as excellent as the Rav4 had been to get us here on dodgy back roads our experience in Lake Mburo told us it wasn’t cut out for safari work. Drat and bother!
That aside @The River is beautiful with final finishing touches being added and gradual improvement being made. The work going on is very low key so the construction work doesn’t detract from the place in any way. The shower/toilet block was very good but they’re not really geared up for self-catering campers as they haven’t built kitchen facilities yet. That said we were made to feel very welcome and were invited to use the tables and chairs set up on the small beach area on the river bank. Unfortunately you have to park some distance from your tent so lugging your gear backwards and forwards can be a bit tedious. We decided to leave it out knowing that it would be safe from theft and cheeky monkeys but hadn’t factored in and almighty downpour. We were on safari at the time and the staff very kindly moved it to their kitchen for us.
Within the grounds they have self-contained chalets and permanent tents with food and drinks being served in their fantastic raised wooden bar area. We heard only good reviews about the food but it pays to order early. To pitch your own tent only costs $10 a night and the chalets sounded like good value at $160 per double at full board. Don’t expect to find creature comforts such as electricity down there; you’re way off the beaten track and nowhere near a power line. In fact the track has barely been beaten!!
We awoke the following morning to find everything sopping wet from the early morning dew and mist but hoped the sun would dry it all out later. We weren’t overly concerned as we were supping fresh coffee on the river bank watching the birds and colobus monkeys. Plus we were talking about our impending safari and wondering if we’d be lucky enough to find the tree climbing lions.
Queen Elizabeth National Park – Ishasha Sector
A bit of a mouthful the official title to this area and everyone knows it better as just Ishasha. The usual park entrance fees apply i.e. $25 / $35 resident / non-resident, USh30 000 for the car and USh 10 000 entrance fee for the guide. Along with that @The River charge $20 for the services of their guide. We were actually in a 2-vehicle convoy so shared the cost of the guide; some colleagues (who actually live in our block) were doing virtually the same road trip as us. We pointed out to our guide (John) that we didn’t have the best car for a safari but he assured us it would be fine and he’d be able to direct us through the deepest potholes.
Let’s go on safari! The park itself is stunningly beautiful with the wide Rift Valley bordered by grey-blue mountains and the entire area studded with acacia and ancient fig trees. In fact it’s these very same old twisted, gnarled trees that are the favourite resting places for the lions. John knew exactly which trees to direct us towards and there’s no way we’d have found the little tracks without him. At one point he told Steve to turn off the main track but all we could see was grass; it wasn’t until we actually had the wheels in the slight ruts that we realised there was a way through. Much of this off-roading involved going to an ancient fig and circumnavigating it looking for rather large cats.
There were very few other vehicles in the park but on passing one they told us where they’d seen some lions earlier. Obviously we headed straight over there expecting a jeep jam to alert us to success. In truth vultures circling alerted us to a kill and a few minutes later John spotted a warthog skull in the grass. Granted this is only a wee snack for a pride of lions but true to their nature they were ready for a rest. It didn’t’ take John long to locate their tree and were we amazed to see the lazy lumps dangling over the old branches. There was ample room for our 2 cars to park underneath the tree so we all had an excellent view of the 6 snoozing, tree climbing lions. Even more amazingly we didn’t attract the attention of other vehicles in the park so got to experience this in peace and quiet.
We watched and photographed the lions for a good half hour before forcing ourselves to move on and to leave our feline friends in peace. The lions had behaved just as we’d expected from seeing pictures of them; spread-eagled on a thick branch with huge pawed limbs loosely dangling. It’s incredible to think that we were mere metres away from Africa’s top predator – in fact half a dozen of them.
Obviously we’d already experienced the highlight of the safari but had plenty of time to enjoy the park further and see what other beasties we could find. It was now time for our packed lunch so we headed to a riverside campsite. It transpired that the river actually forms part of the border with DR Congo – we were stood in Uganda watching hippos wallowing in Congolese waters. You’ve just got to love hippos and it was a great place to stretch our legs and chat about our wonderful lion encounter. There were also vervet and red-tailed monkeys leaping through the tree tops above our heads and a rarely seen giant forest hog family had dashed across the track as we entered the camping area.
None of us were ready to drag ourselves away from the park just yet so we exited via the northern circuit. The views from atop the ridge were incredible; pale yellowy-green grass, tall emerald-green trees, indigo-blue mountains and a thunderous sky. We found the park to be far from teeming with wildlife but we did see hundreds of buffalo and Ugandan kob interspersed with topi, waterbuck, baboons and warthogs. Our guide agreed with me that the only way the park could be improved would be the reintroduction of giraffe to majestically mooch across the plains.
Travel Day No. 2
The thunderous skyline we’d seen the previous day didn’t affect us whilst on safari as the clouds dumped their loads beyond the valley we were in. Directly on top of @The River hence the staff scurrying to collect in our camping gear. The trouble is it had turned the already appalling track to the campsite into a serious quagmire. With John’s guidance we’d splashed our way through successfully the previous afternoon but now we were on our own and were desperately trying to remember the suggested route through. Everyone else had bigger cars than us but luckily we were ready first so decided to go for it before the heavier vehicles churned up the muddy mess further. A Pajero had already got stuck the previous afternoon but John assured us our lighter car would be fine.
We squelched, slewed, slipped and skidded our way out but only just. At one point the passenger front wheel just wouldn’t catch and the wheel sprayed thick coats of mud all over the car. Thank goodness I’d chosen to keep my window shut! Finally we skidded to the right and all four wheels gained traction so we inched our way out of the bog. Steve then asked me which side he thought we should go to tackle the next big puddle but all I could see was a windscreen full of mud! Astoundingly we hit the murram road without getting stuck but had to pull over so I could try and clear enough mud from the windows to be able to see out.
The first 30kms of today’s journey would see us travelling through Queen Elizabeth National Park so I had animals to look out for. The road was far from good but it was considerably better than the boggy lane leading to @The River. Besides which we weren’t in a hurry so took it slowly; basically another free safari. Along the way we saw; kob, waterbuck, buffalo, baboons, black and white colobus monkeys and plenty of bird life. The scenery was delightful and to our immense satisfaction we were even lucky enough to spot a couple of elephants.
Once we exited the designated national park area we found tarmac and enjoyed a much smoother ride for a while. We reached Kassesse in good time, about 4hrs since setting off, and kept our eyes for Mbara Safari Lodge as it got a good write up in the guide. The trouble was they didn’t bother to put a sign board up so we didn’t find and ended up carrying on towards Fort Portal. To make the journey more interesting we detoured through the crater lakes area with the aim being to enjoy the views and brews at Ndali Lodge. This top range lodge’s sign boards also let us down and we ended up missing that place too. By this time we were fed up of poor roads so pressed on to Fort Portal.
Fort Portal
Having spent the previous nights in a tent we were determined to treat ourselves to a bed for the night so looked at a couple of mid-range places on the outskirts of town. The beautifully restored Mountains of the Moon had rooms but at $120 a night it was above our budget and probably a bit too posh for this trip. Besides which the reception staff looked at me with utter disdain so I didn’t feel they warranted our business. Next we tried the Rwenzori Guesthouse where we were warmly welcomed but unfortunately they were full; however, I think we’ll try there another day as it looked like our kind of place. So we drove back towards town with the intention of returning to the guesthouse we’d stayed in 3 years ago.
However, along the way we spotted a sign for Golf View Guesthouse so popped in. It’s basically a colonial house that’s been converted into a small family run guesthouse – basic but clean and we were made to feel very welcome. It wasn’t the treat we were hoping for but at USh 70 000 B&B it was well within budget. To be honest a hot water shower and sleeping in a bed were all the treats we needed!
That evening, once the rain had eased, we walked down to The Gardens Restaurant for a bite to eat. The food isn’t outstanding but it’s tasty and good value. Again this was a place we were familiar with from our previous visit but it was nicer than we remembered and they now have a craft shop too. Obviously I couldn’t resist taking a peek and found it was substantially cheaper than Banana Boat and the crazy asking prices at the equator. I relieved them of a giraffe who now stands proudly in our front room.
Fort Portal itself is the usual functional town but is quieter and more relaxed than many in Uganda. Plus it has the added bonus of being surrounded by stunning scenery. There are a number of good places to stay suiting all budgets and there’s a heap to do in the area ranging from day trips to week long hikes in the Rwenzori Mountains. We didn’t have time to go trekking this time and in fact we here to go primate spotting.
Kibale Forest Reserve
The 40kms drive to Chimp’s Nest on the edge of this primate reserve took 2 hours – that indicates the state of the road quite adequately. Although I have to admit that the final 5kms or so saw us stopping several times to watch monkeys. The road cuts through the reserve and we’d read that it’s a rare occasion monkeys aren’t to be spied by the side of the road. Sure enough your trusted wildlife spotter (me!) found just what we were looking for without having to fork out for the park entrance fees. We found; olive baboons (about 100 of them blocking the road), the beautiful red-tailed monkeys and black & white along with red colobus monkeys. Plus we were very lucky to get a glimpse of a troupe of L’Hoest monkeys crossing the road ahead of us but they quickly disappeared into the forest. Finally, a new sighting for us in the grey-cheeked mangabey
Chimp’s Nest is just about set up to accommodate self-catering campers but you really do need all your own stuff. The shower and toilet block was just being finished off while we were there and there’s no camp kitchen. However, there’s a large open sided banda in which to cook and a nearby stand-pipe for washing pots. At only $10 a night you really can’t argue and we had the entire area to ourselves. Accommodation is available in the form of cottages dotted around their fabulous grounds and the bar/restaurant area is a nice place to relax in.
That afternoon we took ourselves off to the nearby Bigodi Wetlands reserve and for only USh40 000 per person you can hire a guide to take you on a 2 – 3 hour walk. You basically circumnavigate this small swamp area which is home to a plethora of birds and if you’re lucky you can spot up to 8 different primate species. We saw only 4 of them during our walk but of course had already been lucky on the drive through the forest. It’s an excellent spot for bird lovers and the guides are extremely knowledgeable. At one point you cross the swamp via a boardwalk and our guide told us that not so long ago hippos used to live in the area. However, the reserve is too small to support them now but he did say that during particularly wet seasons they walk all the way from Queen Elizabeth National Park to enjoy a holiday!
We found it a very pleasant walk and it was good to know that all profits raised go straight into the local communities. To date they have built 3 schools and are now in the process of providing fresh water supplies for all local residents. It made a pleasant change knowing that our money was going to a good cause instead of filling UWA’s coffers. We also think things seem more ‘real’ when prices are quoted in the local currency not dollars.
That evening we signed up for Chimp’s Nest’s night-walk which cost $10 a head and lasted about an hour. It takes place in their extensive grounds that have been left the way nature intended so it really is luck of the draw as to what you may see. It wasn’t an extensive activity but there was only Steve and I and we did spot a couple of lesser galagos (bush babies) and a snake curled up on a branch.
Back to Fort Portal and back to Kampala
The following morning we slowly drove back through the forest reserve and again we rewarded with sightings of olive baboon, black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys and grey-cheeked mangabeys along with a squirrel.
This time in town we definitely wanted a treat and luckily Dutchess had a room; a huge, well-appointed room with lashings of piping hot water. They have an extensive menu and everything we tasted was excellent and you can choose to eat in the restaurant, on their terrace or in the garden. It turned out the guesthouse is a favourite of fellow KISU employees so I bumped into a number of colleagues. We didn’t do much that day other than potter into town to see if anything had changed but it hadn’t. We had a couple of drinks and people watched whilst mulling over what a fabulous week we’d had and totting up how many different birds and animals we’d seen.
We were on the road by 9am and enjoyed 4hrs of smooth tarmac all the way back to Kampala. The good surface meant the car lost one of its rattles but it still complained bitterly whenever we had to turn left. Steve recalled that to get the car back to the yard he only had to do a right-hand turn so we thought they wouldn’t discover the extra clunks and grunts until we were safely out of the way. However, the chap kindly offered to give Steve a lift home and it seemed churlish to decline! Luckily the people who run Roadtrip Uganda are sensible and know that the condition of Uganda’s roads means the cars will need attention on being returned. It was good for us to be able to hand over the car and let someone else worry about the running repairs. I’m sure it we took our own car to a mechanic we’d not only be ripped off but they’d replace fully functional original parts with cheap, inferior quality ones.
That said we enjoyed the freedom of having our own wheels and not having to worry about packing lightly. Having enough boot space for camping and cooking gear was a real treat and we loved being self-sufficient. So has it made us go out and buy a car? Not yet but then we need to give public transport a real test before making a final decision. The good thing is that in the meantime we know we can pop around the corner to collect a car from Roadtrip Uganda and set off another exciting adventure. This really is a stunningly beautiful country and we can’t wait to explore further.
