East Africa - Tour

Kenya - Nairobi, 17 July 2003

I found the flights from Boston to Nairobi to be a bit of a long haul. I suppose the fact that I was hung over didn't help. Flying British Airways was a really nice experience (and that experience was made even better by securing exit row seats on both flights). British Airways offer everyone a personal entertainment system with 12 channels of movies and entertainment. I was excited to watch as many as four movies. However, as much as I would try to stay awake, I would invariably fall asleep an hour into each movie.

At Logan airport, I had my bug spray confiscated. Because bug spray is a flammable liquid, it is considered to be a potential weapon. However, during my layover at Heathrow Airport, I was able to purchase two cans of bug spray in the duty free shop. It's funny how airport security can be so inconsistent.

Nairobi is exactly as I had imagined it to be. I had read the rather unpleasant guide book descriptions of the city that is known among travelers as "nai-robbery". The arrivals area in the airport was the usual chaotic scene that is typical of third world countries, with hoards of locals jostling with one another in an attempt to secure your custom. After taking a few minutes to let the locals calm down, I got a really good fare for a cab into the city center. I got a fare of $12 instead of the quoted $20, which leads me to believe that the tourist industry must really be hurting in this part of the world after the recent travel advisories against coming to Kenya.

I took the cab to a budget hotel that I had chosen from my guide book. As I was checking in, someone from my tour group was checking out. This was lucky for me because my trip instructions had told me to secure accommodation for my first night in Nairobi because we would be departing the following morning. However, my instructions were wrong. The tour was actually leaving this afternoon.

I then made my way to the Boulevard Hotel for our pre-departure meeting. I met the drivers, Nathalie from England and Paddy from Canada. And our cook, Elton from Zimbabwe. The tour group consists of Daniel and Colleen from Vancouver, Luca and Elisa from Italy, Colin from Victoria, Randy from California, Catharin from Belgium, Marie from Sweden, and Kim from Toronto. They seem like a very quiet group.

Nairobi is a little intimidating. The park areas have menacing looking groups of adults huddled around fires. It is difficult to walk anywhere with being approached by glue-sniffing street kids who are begging for money. The buildings and roads have a shabby, run down feel about them. Most businesses and hotels have security gates, preventing unauthorized access, and a strong security presence. It is for this reason that we chose to explore Nairobi as a big group.

We strolled around the city, did a little shopping, and then grabbed lunch. I purchased a sleeping pad... beforehand I didn't expect that I would need one, but I was told at the pre-departure meeting that they are not provided. You can buy anything that you need in Nairobi. I was impressed with the availability of many western items that would be difficult to purchase in Asia.

Colonialism has definitely left its mark here. Everywhere I look I can see familiar store names and brand names. Everyone speaks English. And western food appears to be the norm.

We regroup at the hotel before departing at 3pm. I am exhausted. I have not had much sleep over the past couple of nights. We set up camp just outside Nairobi at Nairobi National Park. The truck we will be traveling in is really cool. They have thought of everything, from stereo speakers inside to cook lights outside. There are roof seats for game park viewing. And some seats have tables between them. The capacity of the truck is 23 passengers. There are 10 on our trip, affording each of us quite a bit of extra space.

After dinner, I went to the campground bar for a beer. At 7pm, I said that I would have "just one more beer" because I was so tired. At 1am, I was still saying that I would have "just one more beer". That night you could hear the lions roar. Well that's what I have been told anyway. I heard nothing, as I fell into a deep slumber as soon as my head hit the pile of clothes that I am using as a pillow.

Tanzania - Meserani Snake Park Campground, 18 July 2003

We got up at 7am and drove to Tanzania. The landscape immediately outside of Nairobi is spectacular with vast plains interrupted only by the occasional acacia tree. Soon after starting out, it becomes apparent that the people in this part of the world have retained their identity to a greater extent that people in some other parts of the world. The Masai people still wear their traditional clothing and live a nomadic farming life that has not changed over time. We saw quiet a few of these people herding goats and cattle as we drove along the road.

The border crossing into Tanzania was a relatively painless affair, especially for me as I was processed first and not charged a fee for the visa. Everyone else was charged the fee ($50 for Americans and $20 for Europeans). However, Irish people enjoy the privilege of no-fee visas and priority processing. As a consequence of my special treatment, I enjoyed some good-natured ribbing for the rest of the day.

We stopped in a city called Arusha to change money and get some supplies. I used this opportunity to get on the internet for a few minutes. Arusha is a bit of a tourist hub and, as such, has its fair share of people hassling you wherever you go. They will try to sell you all sorts of knick-knacks, trips to see the wildlife, accommodation, trips to climb Kilimanjaro, and so on. I am relieved to escape the town for the nearby campground at Meserani.

After setting up camp and eating dinner, I enjoyed an early night. Each one of us in the group has a job to do. My job is to unload and reload the truck every morning. And then, every fifth day, I have cook group duties.

Tanzania - Karatu, 19 July 2003

After finally catching up on some of my sleep deficit, I feel refreshed this morning. Most of us are going on a camel trek this morning to a traditional Masai village. This was an authentic experience, which is nice. Too often while traveling in Asia, my visits to traditional villages were staged affairs. In this case, we just showed up and interacted with whoever was around.

The camel ride was very relaxing until the camel behind mine decided to choose this moment to establish his mating rights by fighting my camel. He did this by repeatedly biting my camel. Aside from struggling to deal with my camel's jolts, I had to contend with the possibility of the other camel biting me by accident. I was happy when the camel ride came to an end.

The only people in the village when we arrived were the children. There were maybe 15 children, aged between one and four or five. And they were left to take care of themselves. It is interesting to see how the Masai people leave their children to themselves for the day, with the older children (if four or five could be considered older) taking care of the babies. This is especially interesting when you consider that western parents worry about every tiny aspect of their child's environment.

The Masai people are a nomadic people who herd cattle and goats. They eat raw meat and drink a mixture of blood and milk. Their houses are made from sticks, with a mixture of cow dung and dirt filling the gaps between the sticks. After playing with the children for an hour or two, we made our way back to the campground and enjoyed lunch before leaving for a town called Karatu.

In Karatu, we had a little bit of time to spare after setting up camp. I went for a walk around the small town and stopped in at a local bar for a drink. I was the only white person (or mzungu as we are called here) in the bar. Immediately I started talking to a man called Rashid. After enjoying a few beers with Rashid, and having Rashid introduce me to everyone in the bar, he told me that there was an Irish person who lived in the town. Rashid called Rory, who then came out to meet us. After a few more beers, I went back to Rory's house for some food. He recently moved here with his Tanzanian wife and plans to open a campground in the near future. After a lovely meal that was prepared by Rory's cook, we went to a local disco. Once again, Rory and I were the only mzungus in the club. It was a lot of fun.

However, it completely slipped my mind to let my tour group know what I was doing. They were concerned and had started to ask around as to my whereabouts. So, as you can imagine, I heard about it when I got back. Actually, they weren't very upset at all. If anything, they were curious. Most of the group are too intimidated of local establishments to venture into them, and so were very curious to hear all the details of my experience.

Tanzania - Ngorogoro Crater, 20 July 2003

I was suffering from the hangover from hell this morning. I was so appreciative of the fact that Randy made sandwiches for my lunch. It would have been a struggle for me to make them.

We jumped in Land Cruisers for a tour of the Ngorogoro Crater. This is the crater of the biggest volcano that the world has ever known. It exploded millions of years ago. Today a 20-kilometer wide crater remains. The soil in this crater is rich from the volcanic ash that settled here all those millions of years ago, and as such is home to lush vegetation and an abundance of wildlife. On our drive around the crater we saw lions, elephants, rhinos, flamingoes, wildebeest, zebra, monkeys, baboons, antelope, hyenas, and hippos. And most of these viewings were "up close". It was an absolutely incredible experience.

That evening, we camped on the rim of the crater. The camping facilities were very primitive up there. However, we did manage to get a good camp fire going and had a lot of fun around it. I did sneak away early to get a good night's sleep (to recover from my previous night's exertions). Because of the elevation, it was quiet cold during the night. I was very appreciative of my "good" sleeping bag.

Tanzania - Serengetti, 21 July 2003

We got up early this morning, only to discover that there was a problem with our truck. The pipe carrying fluid to the clutch and brakes was cracked. We couldn't have chosen a worse place to have a problem. After a while, a couple of people managed to get a lift to the park entrance. After that we managed to get someone out to weld the pipe. In the meantime, our drivers had stripped the engine down to access the broken pipe. The rest of us just hung out, had a beer, and did some reading. In the end, we were delayed only for a half a day.

With the exception of the Italians, who have separated themselves from the group, everyone is getting along really well. No cliques have formed thus far, although some people do get along better than others. At the moment, I get along best with Randy and Paddy. We have similar outlook and interests.

They finished work on the truck just in time for us to leave the park 24 hours after entering it. If we had stayed longer than 24 hours, we would have to pay for another 24 hours, which would have come to over $500 for the group. Because we were running late, we were then in a bit of a hurry to get to our campground in the Serengetti before they closed the gates. Even though we were in a hurry, we still took some time to stop and watch any time we passed any animals. The highlights of today's drive were seeing a leopard and an owl, both of which are quite elusive.

It was dark when we set up camp. We are camping literally in the middle of the Serengetti. The Serengetti is a national park that is the size of Northern Ireland. There are no barriers or fences anywhere. When setting up our tents, we formed a circle and left no space between the tents. We were told that this setup would deter lions from entering our area. We were also told not to go to the toilets at night; we should go just outside our tents. I didn't give any of this much thought until just after midnight, when I was in my tent and I heard the lion's roaring. The lions and the hyenas fight at night, and it makes quite a racket. The lion's roars actually woke me from a particularly disturbing dream. A dream that was so disturbing that I did not want to go back to sleep. And then after I heard the lions nearby, I had a bit of an anxiety attack. It took a while for me to calm myself down and I didn't sleep very well for the rest of the night.

Tanzania - Musoma, 22 July 2003

We arose in darkness at 5.30 in order to get a good head start for today's drive around the Serengetti. The highlight of the morning was watching 10 lions scoping out a coordinated kill. It was fascinating and exhilarating to watch the lions maneuver themselves. It all happened around us... we were never more than 20 yards from the lions. Unfortunately, we didn't have the luxury of staying around for the actual kill. Once again, we had to race to get out of the park gates before our 24-hour time period expired. This time, it would cost us $800 if we stayed past our 4pm deadline.

We hurried along the dirt roads of the western corridor, trying our best to maintain a light-hearted atmosphere as we were thrown around in the back of the truck. Any clothes that we were wearing were covered in dust. So much dust and dirt that I knew they were ruined for further use. But this is something I am used to with traveling. You realize that clothing, even new clothing, is impossible to properly clean after travel. That's why you never bring light colored clothes; and also why you never bring any clothing you really like.

On our passage through the western corridor of the Serengetti, we were lucky enough to catch the tail end of the mass migration of wildebeaest. We then passed through an area infested with tse-tse flies. This threw everyone into a mad panic because the tse-tse fly is carrier of the infamous sleeping sickness. Any time a fly got into the truck, everyone went into a frenzy to kill it before it could bite someone. While a bit scary, it was comical to watch people in a state of complete panic over a fly or two. We made it to the park gate with 10 minutes to spare, but we were definitely the worst for wear after being thrown around for a few hours.

After leaving the Serengetti, we were back in rural Tanzania. It was wonderful, with children running to the road whenever we would approach and waving frantically at us. After a while, my arm began to tire from all the waving and I adopted the royal wave - a faint wave that the queen has learnt to use in public.

This evening we camped on the beach at Musoma on the banks of Lake Victoria. This is a beautiful, serene setting and a wonderful contrast to the seemingly endless plains of the Serengetti. After a few dirty and dusty days, it was nice to finally enjoy a shower. Even if the water was cold and it barely dribbled out of the shower head. Feeling all fresh and clean, we then adjourned to the bar to enjoy a few drinks and celebrate my birthday. We emerged from the bar into a cloud of bugs. The cloud of bugs really was incredible (and I didn't escape unscathe, suffering quiet a few mosquito bites).

Kenya - Kakamega Rainforest, 23 July 2003

Today, we drove back to Kenya to the Kakamega Rainforest. This is the only rainforest left in Kenya. It was once part of a rainforest that stretched all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Now, it is isolated from any other rainforest. However, the Kenyans are currently undertaking considerable efforts to protect and expand this equatorial rainforest.

The drive to the rainforest was fairly entertaining. The roads, when they were constructed, were barely wide enough for two vehicles. And now, after years of neglect, they have eroded on both sides so that there is barely enough room for one vehicle. This makes it very interesting when you encounter oncoming traffic. Especially seemingly suicidal bus drivers.

En-route, we stopped for supplies and I managed to get on the internet for a few minutes. We stopped at the only major town along our route. The town was a teeming mass of humanity, with the locals providing us with no end of hassle. Now that we are back in Kenya, we are getting a completely different vibe. The people in Kenya are not as nice, and there is a threatening air about the place. This is a significant contrast to our experience in Tanzania. In Tanzania, we were constantly greeted by waves and smiles. In Kenya, we are being greeted with shouts of "Osama [Bin Laden]".

We were glad to leave the town behind us and get out to the rainforest. Although then we were presented with a new "problem". The road to the rainforest is, like many roads we have encountered, not paved. Until now, these unpaved roads have been dry and dusty. In the rainforest, they were wet and muddy. It didn't take us long to skid. By the time we stopped skidding, the bus ended up turned around 90 degrees. I was just glad that the truck was still upright, especially when we skidded into the ditch and then the embankment. After a bit of digging, we put sand mats under the tires and scattered a few branches across the road and made it to camp without much more drama.

The pace of the past week has been particularly fast and I am a little worn out. I am feeling very tired between being so busy before leaving Boston, flying non-stop to Nairobi, and then immediately joining the tour. Tonight, I take it easy and retire to bed particularly early in the evening.

Uganda - Jinja, 24 July 2003

We arose in the darkness for a guided walk through the rainforest as the day broke. Like all other guided rainforest walks I have undertaken, I found the walk to be very interesting. And because it is the first equatorial rainforest that I have visited, I found the guided walk to be particularly interesting.

After returning from the walk, we had breakfast and packed everything up for our drive to Uganda. We were all delighted (and surprised) that we navigated the road out of the rainforest without getting stuck. And then it wasn't long before we were at the Ugandan border. In much the same way as there was a noticeable difference in the levels of friendliness when we crossed from Tanzania to Kenya, there was once again a noticable difference when we crossed from Kenya to Uganda. Thankfully, we were back among happily waving and smiling locals.

We have been straddling the equator for the past couple of days. The landscape along the equator in Uganda is fairly lush, with rice paddy fields stretching as far as the eye can see. I had not anticipated that there would be so many rice paddy fields in this part of the world. It is a sight that I have become very fond of after my time in South East Asia.

Before long we reached our campground at Bugugali Falls (near Jinja). The campground is beautiful. It is on a hill overlooking a stretch of rapids and falls in the Nile River. Jinja is the official source of the Nile, where it flows from Lake Victoria. You can walk down a set of paths from the campground to get to the Nile. Along the way, you pass the campground showers. The side of the shower building that faces the Nile is open. There is no wall there; so you can have a shower while watching and hearing the Nile River thundering by. (And there is no chance that anyone can see you showering because the river is so wide at this point as to make it impossible.) It is quite spectacular.

This might sound strange, but the toilets at the campgrounds are almost as impressive as the showers. They don't provide a platform for experiencing the falls, but they are sit-down toilets. I never thought I would say this, but it is such a luxury to not have to squat over a hole when going to the toilet. And not only are they sit-down toilets, but they are clean. And to top it all off, there is toilet paper! Naturally I am considering returning here after the tour ends.

Uganda - Jinja, 25 July 2003

A day without driving... hip-hip-hurray! Today we didn't have to take down the tents, get thrown around the back of a truck for the day, and then set up camp again. What a treat!

This morning, a volunteer for the local school system took us to visit a couple of schools. First we went to an orphanage. This was a very touching experience. The children were incredible, but very tiring. I never knew that lifting them up in the air could create so much excitement for them. I also never knew how tiring it could be for me. Especially when they all repeatedly wanted to experience 'the thrill'. Another big thrill for them is trying on our hats and sunglasses. It's endearing to see such simple things providing people with so much excitement.

After a couple of hours, we were worn out and ready to leave the orphanage. We then went to a primary school. We walked in on a few classes, generating great cheers from the class whenever we would take one of their photographs. We then walked in on one class without a teacher (who was out sick). Incredibly, they were all intently studying. Mum and dad... I know you probably think different, but if we had no teacher when we were in school, the only thing you can be sure of is that there would have been no studying.

After lunch, we then made our little contribution by helping with the construction of a new school for the orphanage. Some of us painted teaching aids, some of us worked on the garden, some of us helped build a playpen, and others did various odd-jobs. My job for the afternoon was to build a brick wall around the playpen area. It was a lot of fun, especially when the orphans were attempting to help me. It was nice to feel that I contributed to the development of the people here. Even if it is a tiny act on my part.

After my afternoon's work, I hired a motorcycle taxi for $1 t take me on the 20 minute ride into Jinja town. Jinja is a nice, laid-back little town. The kind of place that a traveler could easily kick back and relax for a while. After a little spell on the internet and a short stroll around town, I went back to the camp site and took it easy.

Uganda - Kampala, 26 July 2003

Today, we enjoyed a day to ourselves. Some people went rafting, some people went quad biking, and others did nothing. I did nothing. I felt I needed a day to chill out and get back on track. I went back into Jinja, strolled around, spent some time on the internet, and went to the Source Cafe for lunch. I met some missionaries while in town. They have invited me to come visit them and their orphanage if I came back here after my tour. If I come back here I will definitely take them up on their offer.

It turns out that Prince William was rafting today. Only two of our group went rafting - Kim and Catharin. It turns out that Prince William was in the raft behind them. The said that he is the scrawniest looking individual that they have ever seen. As you can probably gather, there is no fear of either of them being star-struck.

After our day of relaxation, we packed up camp and drove to Kampala. Kampala appears to be a much nicer capital city than Nairobi. The people appear to be friendlier, the streets less intimidating, and there is a general laid-back air abut the place. Everyone speaks English and you cannot go anywhere without a chorus of hellos echoing in your ears.

We are staying at the Red Chili Hideaway - a camp ground on the outskirts of the city. Because it was dark and we were all weary from taking down and setting up our tents, we each spent $1.50 to upgrade to dormitory accommodation. I had forgotten how good it is to sleep on a mattress. Oh, and a pillow... let me tell you, I now reckon that the pillow is probably the best invention after the wheel.

Uganda - Lake Bunyoni, 27 July 2003

We got up early this morning to visit a mall before undertaking the long drive to the south-west of the country. We went to the mall primarily to stock up on food. While Elton was busy food shopping, I took the opportunity to look around. In the supermarket, I surprisingly noticed many goods with western brand names. Interestingly, the CD section included quite a few Irish Music CDs (each for $3). Yet, the CD section included no "chart" music. I also noticed that a big bottle of Smirnoff Vodka is $6 (it is distilled in East Africa). And a membership of the attached gym is $850 for a year, which seems expensive even by some western standards. The attached movie theatre is showing most of the recent blockbuster releases (a movie costs $4). So it looks like, as poor as Uganda is, there are still plenty of people earning enough money to support these businesses.

After our expedition to the mall, we got on the road. The landscape along this route is spectacular, with every inch of the terraces mountains used for one crop or another. Our truck didn't appreciate the rough roads and the big hills, as it overheated a couple of times. But we did get to our destination eventually. By the time we set up camp and ate, it was time to go to bed. It was another long and tiring day.

We are traveling to the south-western corner of the country in order to see some mountain gorillas in the wild. Tracking the mountain gorillas is a tightly regulated affair, with permits being purchased a year in advance. Only six people a day can track the gorillas and anyone who is sick cannot go. Because gorillas share 98% of our genes, they are especially susceptible to human illness. And if someone brings an illness into their group, it could have devastating effects. All week, people in our group have been sniffling and sneezing. Everyone is terrified that they will get sick and not be able to see the gorillas. At the moment, Kim and Marie are in jeopardy. And everyone else is nervous.

Another health-related matter that is prominent in our conversations is the taking of Lariam to avoid malaria. I have taken Lariam in the past and think that I have had no side-effects. However, over the past few years, I have come across quite a few people who cannot take it because it induces various undesirable effects on their psyche. On this trip I am no so sure that Lariam is not affecting me. I wonder if my mild panic-attack in the Serengetti (when the lions were prowling around during the night) was related to my Lariam usage. Most other people in our group think that Lariam has this effect on them. Lariam is taken once a week. Tonight is my Lariam night. I will be curious to see if I feel any anxiety after taking it tonight.

Uganda - Kisoro, 28 July 2003

Thankfully, I enjoyed an anxiety-free night's sleep. A few colorful dreams, which usually accompanies the taking of Lariam, but no anxiety. We got up early and negotiated a boat ride with a fisherman to the other side of the lake. The 90-minute boat ride, on beautiful calm waters, was a much appreciated break from the truck. Our crew took two and a half hours to drive the truck around the lake to meet us. No doubt they were thrown about the truck like laundry in a washing machine as the negotiated the hilly dirt roads.

On the far side of the lake, we got off the boat at a collection of three or four houses. We provided no end of amusement for the locals, who typically see very few foreigners. None of the locals could speak English, but that didn't matter as a charades-like series of conversations induced a hearty degree of laughter from both sides.

We arrived at our destination of Kisoro in the early afternoon. Kisoro is a small town that is about as far as you can go in the south west of the country - 10 kilometers from the borders with the Congo and Rwanda. In the past, this has been a very volatile area, with incursions by rebels from both the Congo and Rwanda. A walk around the town revealed a noisy, bustling, colorful, but undeveloped town.

Our campground is on the outskirts of town. It is nice to be able to walk in and out of town, as most of our campgrounds have not afforded us this luxury. And surprisingly the campground has hot showers! Although they are a bit too hot. A couple of people are employed by the campsite to constantly keep a metal drum full of water and to keep a fire burning underneath it. There is no cold water; only very hot water. I try to take my showers soon after they climb the ladder to refill the drum with water.

One of the activities that I had planned to do in Kisoro was a hike up one of the nearby volcanoes. However, we were told upon getting here that the volcano hike is cancelled because of instability along the border. Then we were a little concerned when we saw a couple of guys with AK47s enter the campgrounds. However, there was nothing for us to worry about... it turned out that these guys were sent to guard us. But then upon reflection, we became a little worried again. Why would they send guys with AK47s to guard us if there was no reason? Anther thing that was playing on our minds was the fact that less than four years ago eight tourists were killed in this part of the country by rebels who crossed the border in an attempt to kidnap them. Not exactly the prefect precursor for sweet dreams :-)

Uganda - Kisoro, 29 July 2003

We are tracking the gorillas at nearby Mount Mgahinga. Only six people a day are allowed to track the gorillas. This means that six of us are going today and six of us are going tomorrow. My permit has me going tomorrow, but we are rearranging things for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we want to let the people showing signs of sickness an extra day to recover. And secondly, we want to keep the couples together. So I have swapped places with Daniel. I am glad because it means that, at this stage, I don't have to worry about possibly picking up the bug that is currently going around the truck. However, this means that I must memorize Daniel's details and remember to fill them in when registering at the park entrance.

The state of the roads in this part of the world has given me a newly found appreciation for tarmac. How I miss tarmac! All those little stones and that beautiful tar forming a wonderful flat surface. Our journey to the park entrance was on a rocky surface with a little bit of dirt thrown in for good measure. It was a mechanical-bull like ride on the back of a pickup truck. But we all managed to hold on. It took us an hour to go the 13 kilometers to the park entrance. Along the way, the smiling children of Uganda had been replaced with stone-faced children barking "give me pen, give me money, give me sweet" with their hands outstretched in anticipation of any handouts.

Once we got to the park entrance, we signed in. Thankfully I remembered to sign in as Daniel Shiu from Canada and we were off. The six of us were joined by six armed guards, which seemed a little strange. In a little less than an hour of walking up the extinct volcano of Mount Mgahinga, we stumbled upon the gorillas. There is one troupe of gorillas in this area. There are 13 gorillas in the troupe, including two silverbacks. We had a tightly regulated one hour in the company of the gorillas. It was amazing to see the gorillas up close and personal. Their raw power was incredible, as they tore down young trees to clear a path through the dense vegetation. The highlights of our time there included when one of the silverbacks decided to sun himself about 4 meters away from us and then proceeded pose for us, and then later when two of the younger gorillas decided to play in the branches about 3 meters from us. It was an incredible, breathtaking experience that ranks right up there with the best experiences of my life.

When we got back to the park entrance, a smiling Daniel Shiu (me) was all ready do his native Canada proud when signing the comments book and revealing an unnatural attraction to the mountain gorillas. Not to worry Daniel would get his own back on me tomorrow when signing the book as Conor O'Mahony :-)

Uganda - Kisoro, 30 July 2003

Today, while the remainder of our group visited the mountain gorillas, a bunch of us went to visit a pygmy village. This proved to be a bit of a disappointment because the pygmies are no longer very small. Over the course of a number of generations, and with the pygmies mixing with normal-height people, they are no longer very small. When you add this to the fact that the entire affair was a bit of a tourist trap, with everything staged for our entertainment it was a bit of a let down. At least we enjoyed a nice hike through the countryside to get to the village.

When we all got back from our various activities today, we packed up and drove back to Lake Bunyoni.

Uganda - Lake Bunyoni, 31 July 2003

Today was a chill-out day. We sat by the lake, chatted, played board games, and read. It was nice to relax for the day. The distant sound of drums from across the lake and the sight of the fishermen in their traditional boats provided the perfect backdrop.

Uganda - Kampala, 01 August 2003

We arose refreshed and ready for our long drive back to Kampala. After getting back to the Red Chili Hideaway and setting up camp, we enjoyed a beer or two in the evening. Then, later in the evening, Elton (the cook) dragged a few of us to a concert in Kampala. This proved to be quite an experience. Lucky Dube - a South African Reggae star - was playing on the grounds of the Nile Hotel. After quite a bit of jostling at the entrance, we pushed and shoved our way through the crowds towards what proved to be a great show.

It was surprising to see bottled beer sold at the show. In fact, the ground was so littered with empty bottles that it was impossible to take a step without treading on an empty beer bottle. It is a long time since anything was served in a glass at a public event in the first world. But there wasn't a hint of trouble, as the crowd enjoyed the show.

I also noticed a level of enjoyment and participation in the show that I have not seen for many years. It seems as if the shows that I have gone to in the past few years have been fairly devoid of atmosphere; especially when compared with this show. Maybe it is the fact that people make more of an occasion like this when there is not much else in their lives; maybe it is the fact that this was a stand-up event with a large swaying crowd and no shortage of beer; i am not sure what it is, but the difference was evident. After the show, we retired to the well-known Al's Bar for a few beers before calling it a night.

Uganda - Kampala, 02 August 2003

The penultimate day of our tour was spent on Ngamba Island in Lake Victoria. Ngamba Island is a sanctuary for chimpanzees. It houses the Jane Goodall Institute, which attempts to care for orphaned chimpanzees. It was fascinating see the chimpanzees up close. They are much bigger than I expected, being just a little smaller than some of us. And they are quite aggressive, with some of them throwing rocks are us. However, it is immediately evident upon watching them that they are our closest relative in the animal kingdom. Observing and picking up on their personalities proved to be a very interesting exercise.

Back in Kampala, we enjoyed our farewell meal as a group in the Speke Hotel. After enjoying a couple of quiet beers, we then made our way back to the campgrounds.

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