We walked down to the boat from the lodge and after our cruise cut through the brush back up to the main road; completely oblivious to our surroundings.  Sometimes being immersed in life on the African savannah is surreal and we get too relaxed.  This is serious wild country.  The point was driven home to us as we headed out in the Parks truck for a game drive towards Kasenyi, at daybreak the next morning.  First we heard the spine chilling roars, then came face to face with three enormous male lions, only 1 minute from the lodge.  They stared us down as we quietly pulled off the road to observe.  Awe struck, we could smell them as they sauntered by within 2 feet.  Roaring they gave us a parting glance before heading back into the brush, the same place we had walked through less than 12 hours earlier!  The worker hitching a ride in the open back of our truck breathed a sigh of relief.  Survival out here requires a healthy respect for Nature.

Riding through the back roads of the park we were able to see many buffaloes, grazing kob, and a lion pride in the distance.  Mom lion was going crazy trying to keep all the young ones in order.  Jumping, tumbling and leaping it was a hopeless cause.  Game drives may offer up close views of leopards, elephants, buffalo, warthogs, rarely chimpanzees plus 8 other primates, and endless types of deer whetting the appetites of the large cats.  Katwe explosion craters left behind a series of fascinating crater lakes, some fresh, some sulfur, some salty; home to local salt gathering fields and migrating flamingos.  The views from the crater lakes are lovely with the mountains as a backdrop.  Not able to go off road is good for the animals but bad for viewing.   This compounded with the slaughter of animals during Uganda’s tumultuous military rule, mainly elephants for their ivory tusks (over 200 pounds per tusk) has left the wildlife here struggling to once again build numbers in their herds.  As the numbers recover we were told funny tales by Janet, our guide, of a cheeky elephant breaking through the thatching on her hut to eat 2 small fish she had fried for dinner.  One interesting phenomenon we witnessed were herds of elephants, all with small tusks.  Seems this defect spared their lives during the butchery and so they rule the savannah.  No short tusk jokes amongst the animal kingdom here.  We found the QE Park and Mweya Lodge personnel extremely friendly and welcoming.  Don’t expect great numbers of animals in this reserve, but the overall experience is worth making the trip to the Queen’s namesake.

On our drive from Queen Elizabeth National Park near Katunguru to Kihihi we witnessed a magic show of Nature.  As we bumped along the dirt road we saw millions of butterflies for miles.  Blue, green, black, white, yellow, orange; a kaleidoscope with every combination of these colors.  We were going so slowly that I would put my hand out the window and several of the little beauties would land on my arm.  I became really present, noticing bright wild flowers of matching colors and began picking an imaginary gypsy bouquet as we crawled along.  We passed through the grassy Ishasha region, home to the unique tree climbing lions.  Hey, we used to have a dear, small Benji type terrier, “Simba”, who would climb 20 feet up into the Kukui trees surrounding our home in the forest of S. Kona, Hawaii.  Maybe the view is just better from up there!

It was all up hill from here.  Accessing  Bwindi Impenetrable Forest through these rough back roads was a challenge and a real adventure.  The scenery alone is spectacular at every turn.  Hitching the final leg up the mountains to Buhoma with a chef from one of the fancy lodges returning home from town with supplies, found us arriving at our goal just before dark.  Nkoringo, in the south of the park also has good tracking, but there are no reasonable places to stay.  Although outrageously expensive, our up close encounter with Mountain Gorillas, as described last month, was one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences to relish the rest of our days.

Buhoma is a lush interesting mountainous destination even if you decide not to splurge on gorilla tracking Buhoma Village Walk is an interesting activity to check out. (The day Before your gorilla trek.  Gets those legs and joints lubricated for the next day).  It provides a good look at village life around tiny Buhoma with stops at schools, a handicraft shop, banana plantations where they brew the local banana ‘hooch’, medicinal healing with herbs, and a visit, complete with singing and dancing, in the local Batwa Pygmy Village.  This easy walking tour guarantees all money goes back to the village people.  Twenty percent of all proceeds from the UWA’s Gorilla tracking is also supposed to go to the villagers living within the park boundaries, as their way of life has changed in favor of ecotourism and conservation of the endangered mountain gorillas.  With awful roads and no electricity we found this hard to believe. 

We heard drumming about 5 pm one afternoon near the park entrance and followed the beat down to a little stage full of lively orphans performing local dances.  They put their heart and soul into their work and it was one of the best performances we have seen – what they lacked in glitz they made up for in excitement.  The only ones there, the group was easily spurred on by our joining in with clapping and dancing in the sidelines.  Our smiles were returned exponentially!

Hitching a ride back down the mountain we spent hours surrounded by stunning scenery as we navigated the bumpy dirt roads towards the highway to Kibale.  Life is relative.  After 10 days of roughing it, we were thrilled by the simplest amenities: paved roads, electricity, internet, a much needed ATM, and snacks at an Indian run store.  Heck, we were even excited to see some backpackers at the funky House of Edirisa.  Luring our new Irish friend and serious traveler, Yvonne, out of the noise of Edirisa to our place next door, we found out about Wilson’s dream island in Lake Bunyonyi.  Lake Bunyonyi (place of many little birds) is hands down one of the most beautiful lakes in the whole country.  Surrounded by green terraces, the 29 island gems are covered by a blanket of mist in the mornings.  The lake should first be appreciated from one of the many viewpoints above.  Stay in Nature, on your own Island!  A forester by trade and a  wonderful progressive guy, it took Wilson 10 years to buy all the parcels of clear cut land on his island and replant trees.  Fifteen years later he harvested some of the trees and fashioned 5 cabins from mostly natural materials.  Still rustic, he is busily improving and upgrading his camp and guesthouse as we speak.  Beautiful views, wind through the pines, lapping waves, and total serenity surrounded us for 4 days and 3 nights.  We cooked Easter dinner over the coals, sharing with the helpful staff, Moses & Sam (and 2 of his 3 wives and 4 of his 11 children).  Joseph walked around with Wilson giving him sought after business advice for his newly named “Island Paradise Campsites and Guesthouse”.  Wilson surprised us when local villagers paddled over in boats to dance and sing for us.  We ended our relaxing stay with a quiet night around a roaring campfire, under the brilliant blanket of stars.

Kisoro isn’t a place to pass through, but rather a place to seek out.  They say Swahili was born in Kenya, grew up in Tanzania and died in Uganda.  Going even further into this remote corner of Uganda we heard mainly local dialects.  The only road to this out of the way place, bumpy but breathtaking from Bunyonyi to Kisoro, is a treat to the eyes.  Nicknamed the “Swiss Alps of Africa”, the surrounding scenery with verdant volcano peaks and terraced farmland is brilliant.  Just head out in any direction for a pleasant stroll through the surrounding countryside.  There are striking volcano peaks, hiding gorillas and other wildlife, looming from the Congo, Rwanda and S. Uganda.  The town, in total disarray would make the Swiss organizers have a total meltdown, but then again Switzerland would have a hard time rivaling the colorful Monday and Thursday regional farmers market.  Tongue in cheek our bus arrived 4 hours late in true Swiss efficiency, taking us through the volcano peaks into Rwanda.  We bid a fond adieu, after 3 months to Uganda, a true Pearl of Africa.  

And so it goes…………………………………..Next month join in the healing process of Rwanda, 15 years following the genocide that killed over 1 million Tutsi’s in 100 days.  Mankind, unlike the animal kingdom, is capable of wiping out not only whole segments of humanity, but also total species of animals.  The animal kingdom is wondrous, with so many fascinating secrets to share.  Until our next page let’s take time to connect to Nature, learning the wisdom, past and present, offered for the asking.  Thanks for sharing our webpage with all your family and friends.  Put aside the fear and get the word out what a truly amazing world we share.  Starting out with a following of 4, we were surprised when statistics were added to our website’s control panel last year.  This month had 76,000 hits from over 150 countries.  Welcome everyone!  Glad you stopped by.  Thanks for keeping in touch!