Uganda (& Kenya)

After 3 weeks in the touristy country of Tanzania we decided to give Kenya a miss and head to Uganda. From the very start we loved this beautiful, lush, green country. We spent several days in the city of Kampala where we splurged on accommodation at The Tourist Hotel -- we had a TV with CNN and a movie channel in our room!!! Taking advantage of our luxurious accommodations, we had pizza (real pizza!) delivered to our room for our first night and stayed in to watch The Green Mile. (For anyone planning a visit to Kampala, it is important to note that the absence of any traffic lights, signs, or rules make it a dangerous place to walk around. When crossing the street, or even just walking on the sidewalk, it is imperative to look both ways and up to the sky because G-d only knows which direction a speeding automobile or moped will come from. In the month prior to our arrival, close to 30 people were killed in traffic accidents in Kampala. Despite this, Kampala is known for being one the safest big cities (crime-wise) on the continent.) The Kampala National Theater has a local band that has open jam sessions on Mondays so we spent a night packed in a tiny rehearsal room with 100 Ugandans listening to them rehearse. We were hoping to hear some African music, but this band played mostly popular western songs like Dire Strait's "Walk of Life". They also played "La Bamba" and because they don't know the Spanish words the singer just made gurgling noises to the music. The crowd went wild for both these songs totally unfazed that the words were missing.

From Kampala, we headed by Post Bus to the western town of Fort Portal (the Post Bus, as the name implies, carries mail from town to town, so we stopped occasionally to unload a few bags of letters). We stayed at the Continental Hotel, which is almost certainly the noisiest place in Africa. The Continental has 3 different TV's in common areas blasting 3 different programs at top volume 24 hours a day. Many townspeople come here to drink and watch TV, and at about 1 am, there were numerous loud intoxicated voices shouting things about America, mzungu (white people), and bin Laden. As our Swahili comprehension is limited to about 3 words, we weren't quite sure what the rowdy, drunk crowd was saying, but we kept our door securely bolted and eventually the drunks went home.

From Fort Portal, we caught a matatu (mini-bus) to Kibale National Forest. It took about 3 hours for the matatu to fill up with people (buses won't leave until they are filled to capacity and then some), then of course when we were past max capacity, someone realized the matatu driver wasn't there, so we all had to unload and pile into another matatu. Inevitably, fifteen minutes into our journey, the matatu got a flat tire and we had to disembark again. We had a moment of alarm when we realized there was no jack in the matatu, but the resourceful Ugandans used a rock and a piece of wood to help support the matatu while 6 men held it up in the air. The tire-changing was successful and we all jammed back in and continued on our way.

Our destination, Kibale Forest, claims to have the highest density of primates in the world -- over a dozen different species. We went primarily to see the chimpanzees, but were also hoping to see some of the other monkeys. In Kibale, we were staying in the thoughtfully designed campsite in an elevated banda. Our banda had a downstairs sitting area, an upstairs bedroom, and a wrap-around deck with views into the rainforest. As we had come to Kibale to see the chimps, we set out in the afternoon with guide, Charles, to find them. As can be expected in the rainforest, we were up to our ankles in mud, caught in a downpour and unable to find the chimps. The next day we went out with guide, Godson, and saw about a dozen chimps feeding in the trees. Seeing our closest living relatives was an amazing thing. Sadly, about 20% of the chimps are injured or disfigured as a result of being caught in snare traps set by locals to catch bushmeat (eg antelopes, bushpig, etc.). The snares unfortunately catch chimps as well and as a result many have lost fingers, hands, feet, and even limbs.

Seeing the chimps in the trees only fueled our desire for more and closer contact with these amazing animals, so we arranged for Charles to take us on a full day's hike with the goal of seeing the chimps on the ground. We observed the chimps in the trees again, and were able to get close to a lone female feeding on leaves on the lower branches of a tree. When the chimps came down to head by ground to their next feeding ground, we set off after them through the dense forest. The chimps pushed easily through the jungle on all fours with us clumsy humans stumbling behind on 2 feet. We were about 20 feet behind them, and every so often they would stop and sit and watch us struggle to push through the brush, occasionally erupting in a round of deafening screeching and hooting. They showed no fear of us at all and appeared fully aware of their superior jungle-navigating skills. Running through the forest with the chimps was a surreal experience. In Kibale, we also saw dozens of black and white colobus monkeys, red colobus, red-tailed monkeys, baboons, and grey-cheeked mangabeys. The forest of Kibale is beautiful, and the primates are fascinating to watch. Kibale is a primary rainforest and is so dense that spotting the other wildlife, such as green mamba snakes, goliath beetles (huge!), and bushpig is extremely difficult. Unfortunately, not as difficult to spot are the billions of red safari ants that quickly climb up your pant legs and deliver a painful bite (on one night-walk the attack was particularly aggressive). Even so, our days spent ankle-deep in mud with the primates was definitely a highlight of our trip.

Note: We agonized for about a year over the decision of whether or not we would visit the mountain gorillas in Uganda (or Rwanda). As you probably know, there is significant rebel guerilla activity near the Rwandan/Ugandan border where the mountain gorilla habitats are and some years ago several tourists were murdered by guerillas. In light of a state department warning we received a few days prior to our arrival, in addition to the fact that it costs $250-300 per person for one hour, we decided to forgo seeing the mountain gorillas this time.

Our next stop was the town of Jinja which is located at the source of the Nile River. Jinja is a beautiful, peaceful town. Transport is provided by boda bodas (bicycle taxis), and are a surprisingly comfortable and relaxing way to get around. We stayed at the Timton Hotel where the proprietor, Frederick, took good care of us and prepared us a special dinner of Nile tilapia, matoke (mashed green bananas), and sweet potatoes. We spent our days here walking and being cycled around. We checked out the source of the Nile and took a boat trip on the river and into Lake Victoria.

Eager to spend more time with the primates before our departure to Nairobi, we headed to Mabira Forest for a short hike. We saw loads of red colobus monkeys which just might be the cutest monkeys around, but are so fast we were unable to get a photo - sorry. Our ten days in Uganda were definitely not enough, but with our flight to Asia (Bhutan) quickly approaching, we headed by bus to Kenya...

Nai-robbery is the not-so-affectionate nickname for the capital city of Kenya. Nairobi is notorious for it's high rate of crime including petty and violent theft. Unfortunately, we arrived late at night, and sat (sitting ducks) in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way to our hotel. With its reputation for danger and significant Muslim population, we were more cautious than usual in our daily activities here. There had been an anti-American protest here a few days prior to our arrival, but thus far things have been peaceful and contained. In conversations with local Kenyans, we were advised during Friday prayer times, mosques are surrounded by police in order to preserve order. Many Kenyans expressed feelings of anger toward the Muslims and bin Laden who they see as aggressive and criminal (particularly after the Nairobi US embassy bombing, which killed about 200 Kenyans). Nairobi is a busy city with all the modern amenities (supermarkets, cybercafes, restaurants with a variety of cuisines, shopping malls, etc.) We spent 4 days rushing around, emailing, and preparing for our trip to Asia. We have mixed feelings about leaving Africa. It has been such a wonderful experience and there's so much more we want to do here; we've already come up with the itinerary for our next trip to Africa. However, for now our trip to Bhutan is planned and paid for and thus we must depart.

Uganda & Kenya Pics! (click picture for full-sized version)

Crazy Kampala Market (view from not-so-quiet hotel room) / Kibale rainforest