Today's map
Today we basically got up late, what a treat and then Ronald
picked us up for a tour of Kampala.
We had a decent lunch at a local restaurant that caters for western
tastes– Café Javas. It was extremely popular with the locals and tourists and
was absolutely packed. I asked if they made chapatis and in no uncertain terms
was told no…Ronald said that chapatis are viewed as food for the locals, and
mot served in such places.
From there we spent the rest of the day inside the Ugandan
museum, it was an interesting experience in that they have a lot of history but
most of the displays need a lot of work. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable
which was great. The thing I found most interesting is that there wasn’t one
mention of Idi Amin’s regime, but we did run out of time so perhaps that was
covered in a different area.
After that we headed back to the hotel and were lucky enough
to see a wedding procession on the way. Weddings are a good way to show off
wealth, so this one had a group of rented “bikie” types on hotted up
motorbikes, then the fancy bridal car with LED lights etc, then more bikes,
then a bunch of black Range Rovers. Quite a statement!
This is what a wedding procession looks like in Uganda
The brides car
When we got back to the guesthouse we had dinner, finished
packing and went to bed. And then it started to pour down, there was an
impressive storm, how “I missed the rains down in Africa”
The next morning Ronald picked us up and took us to the
airport, (5min down the road) it would have taken Ronald about 30min to get to
us. It was nice to be able to say goodbye, Ronald had been a great guide for
us.
So confession time, I was really concerned about this leg of
our tour in that there was a lot of unknowns. Ronald’s company, Kajie Safaris
was a local company and we didn’t know if it was a scam, but now having meet
and toured with Ronald and seeing the lengths that he went to, to cater to us,
I have nothing but praise for him and would recommend him and his company.
So, my thoughts on Uganda in general.
We had a wonderful time, learnt a lot and got to see a lot
in a very short space of time. If we go back we would just do Uganda but at a
slower pace, whilst the road infrastructure is improving daily there is still a
lot to see and do.
The highlights were obviously the Gorillas and the rhino
walk, both things are not common experiences in Africa and given they are both
endangered species and seeing what lengths the locals are prepared to do to
save them gives me hope for their future and restores some of my faith in
humanity.
Seeing the sheer number of Elephants was also an incredible
sight and hopefully their populations will continue to grow as well, and who can
forget Giraffes, they are always high on the list of highlights. Going up to Murchison Falls on the boat with Monkey as
Desiree and I did when we were kids was just nice. (not that I remember doing
it as a kid, but I have a photo of us there)
The accommodation through out the tour was just spectacular,
the food was always somewhere between good and unbelievably good (4 course
dinners). The rooms themselves were perfect for what we had wanted, it was
glamping in safari tents with shared toilets and spectacular views. Listening
to the animals so close at night adds a whole new dimension to the experience.
Uganda was absolutely worth doing.
No comments:
Post a Comment