THE PENULTIMATE BLOG - YET ANOTHER ROAD TRIP!

Rock Hyraxes Rock!

If this blog was really to do our road trip through Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya justice I am afraid that it would go on for several pages.  As it is we thought that we would just give you a very brief glimpse of where we went and what we saw during our two week adventure.  Those of you who come to see us during the next year or so that we are in UK will no doubt get the full photographic extravaganza - whether you want it or not.  Since I couldn't find a suitable photo of the two of us together as an opening picture I thought that instead you could be greeted by the highlight of the trip - a Rock Hyrax.  They also feature in their full acrobatic glory below for those of you able to run the video clips.

Here is a map showing the route we took: 

Ronnie spotting another bird with Tyson our youthful guide

One of the places in Uganda we had not seen was Lake Bunyonyi in the South West and so we started our trip by spending a night on an island there.  I was looking forward to the 50 minute journey across the lake in a dugout canoe to get there - that was until I discovered that we were a key element of the motive power employed.  Needless to say we took the motor boat option coming back! We had a brilliant day here mainly observing birds and getting back into the exploring spirit that was going to be needed for the rest of the adventure.

The next stage of the journey was our first time crossing an international boundary with the car.  A truly chaotic experience in each of the 4 times we did it - with much queueing, form filling, form stamping, more queueing, tout avoiding and general wandering trying to work out which hut to visit next.  We chose not to take photos at the border crossings so as not to attract even more attention than 2 Muzungos in a Ugandan vehicle who clearly have no idea of the rules already did - you'll just have to try and imagine the scenes. 

Rwanda was our first new country and it struck us as a remarkably well ordered, law abiding society with astonishingly good roads.  In Kigali the drivers actually obey the traffic lights and the boda boda drivers and their passengers all wear helmets even in the sticks.  We had a night in Kigali and so were able to visit the excellent Genocide Memorial which is incredibly powerful.  It's only 21 years since between 1 and 2 million Rwandese were killed by their own people in a total population of only around 7 million at the time.  Travelling round the busy, sophisticated capital it was really hard to imagine how it could have happened at all.  There are clearly lots of lessons for all of us however civilised we think we are and most especially for South Sudan where this sort of inter ethnic violence is a real danger.

Just some of the names on the Genocide Memorial Wall of Names
It was a chaotic time and the number of victims is not clear so the list is far from complete

The general sense of efficiency, orderliness and punctuality continued in the Akagera Game Park where we enjoyed great service and expert guiding.  We were really pleased to see some species we hadn't seen before including the Roan Antelope and Striped Kingfisher.  

Next we had a break from game and ventured into a battlefield tour of some of the engagements in the First World War that took place around Lake Victoria.  First stop Bukoba then Mwansa with some interesting (value) hotel accommodation on the way.  It wasn't on the standard tourist trail and we encountered some suspicion but generally the trip was smooth, the roads variable and the coffee and cotton-growing hills beautiful.  In 1915 when the country was mainly tsetse fly and mosquito infested bush and swamp the travelling was probably not so easy.

The CWGC Cemetery in Kisumu, Kenya

Jumping slightly out of sequence, but keeping in with the military history aspect of the trip, I should mention our visit to the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Kisumu in Kenya on our last but one day.  It was a moving sight and held some interesting graves, which as well as answering some questions, actually raised a number more.  Seeing the graves of 28 South African ex-POWs who had been returning home on 11th of July 1945 was particularly poignant.  Their Dakota DC-47 aircraft crashed on take off, killing everyone on board.

Three nights in the Serengeti came next, along with our expert guide Peter who we picked up in Mwansa.  We enjoyed the freedom that self driving gave us along with the luxury of our own dedicated guide in the maze of (very bumpy) tracks. Much of the game was similar to that we'd already seen in Uganda and Rwanda (although there were a few we hadn't seen before) but denser and the park was enormous.  We saw tens of thousands of wildebeest, plenty of gazelles, zebra, lion, elephant and giraffe, some jackals and hyaenas, one sleepy leopard and some amazing birds.  The highlights for me were the dwarf mongooses and the rock hyraxes.

The accommodation was perfect for us - not ridiculously luxurious, but very comfortable, with good food and cold beer available!

This picture sums up our time at Kati Kati camp -
Ian and Peter wearing coats at night, but both of us in shirt sleeves during the day

Grant's antelope - a first for us

One of many lions we saw in the Serengeti National Park

There were a lot of family groups of elephants like this one - the tiny ones were very smart

Who wouldn't want a dwarf mongoose to take home?

Ronnie catches up on some reading by the pool

The remaining two nights comprised a brief stay in Kisumu and then, after the most chaotic border crossing of them all from Kenya back into Uganda, a relaxing day unwinding at my favourite hotel in my favourite place in Uganda - Jinja.  We managed to get Lucy washed there as everything was inevitably covered in dust and grime. However, apart from managing to leave our front number plate somewhere in the Serengeti, we didn't have a single mechanical problem the whole time - an amazing achievement.  Well done Lucy!

The final leg of the journey from Jinja back to Kampala on Saturday was very straightforward and made us realise just what seasoned African travellers we have become.  All that remained was to unpack and to put everything into the wash - including Levi and his sweaters as he was by now a very grubby badger.  

Levi on the line after the great wash

 
To finish, there is just one more photo to put up - that of an open-billed stork.  Ronnie decided that it didn't rate a place in the main part of the blog as we had seen open-billed storks before (she even has them in her compound in Juba) but I felt it was such a good photo that it had earned its place - so here it is.

The next blog will not be posted until I am back in UK and will be the last, just to round off the story.